38.
“I don’t care what you say, he’s lying. There is no way that humans mastered FTL on their own since the end of the Liberation Wars,” came the whiny voice of a giant pink balloon. “While I admit to human ingenuity being a significant factor in the explosion of technology resulting from the wars themselves and the recovery and reconstruction period, the fact remains that they lack the computational power to process dimensional mathematics in their mind. Additionally, they lack the <
Captain Anders frowned, waving his hand to turn the hologram off before it repeated itself. Frustratingly, the Yonohoan government was only providing unfiltered access to the universal networks to Diego, but Diego had been forwarding a number of noteworthy pieces to the command staff in recent days.
“I knew that it would get attention,” he muttered to himself. “But I didn’t realize how much vitriol it would earn me.”
“To be fair, Captain, you only gave them something to latch on to. Those pink balloon guys were ones who used to love to make our ancestors fight entire wars for their sadistic amusement,” Diego said, his hologram appearing nearby to continue the discussion that they’d been having before bringing up the opinion clip. “They hate us because the treaties to end the war really fucked them up the excretory sphincter. Which they happen to also use to eat and breathe.”
“But yet you forwarded it to me,” Anders pointed out. “You thought it was significant.”
“It was representative of the disbelief your claims of total isolation and an independent tech tree,” Diego explained. “Most of the other people calling you out are less hostile about it. They suggest that we obtained this peace of the puzzle through our ancient texts, or that piece of the puzzle was handed down by oral tradition. They remain convinced that the original secret to FTL and inter-dimensional mathematics were a multi-species coalitions that spread their foundings throughout the universe billions of years ago.”
“And why are they so convinced of this fact?” Anders inquired.
“Because they’re terrified of us, Sir,” Diego said, shrugging. “We stomped everyone who got in our face during the liberation wars. Including ourselves. Then we all retired to darkworlds for a few generations, and once everyone had calmed down a bit we came out smiling and ready to pretend that nothing bad had ever happened. Some of the species have racial memories going back to before the start of the Liberation wars, let alone the end of it.”
“So they admire our martial prowess, but they still don’t respect us as equals?” Anders questioned.
“No, that’s the issue. They want us to be their equals. What their afraid of is that we’re better than them,” Diego clarified. “You see, while we’re the ones who fought and died in the Liberation Wars, we’re not really the ones who get blamed for them. Most people blame the pink balloons and the other races that gave us weapons to begin with. And then those that prolonged the conflict by having us fight each other. They still want to think of us as the weapon and not the ones pulling the trigger,” Diego clarified.
“It was humankind that ended the wars, however,” Anders said. “Eodar and others like him, was it not?”
“Yes. Eodar wasn’t the only human hero who championed peace and reconciliation, but he was one of the most famous. If it was up to the pink balloons of the universe, then the humans would still be blowing each other up endlessly while they sat in their space stations around red giant stars and laughed,” Diego explained.
“And it is humans who maintain the peace?” Anders asked.
“Peace through vigilance. Yes sir,” Diego agreed. “The truth is that this is the most tumultuous time since the last ceasefire of the final phase of the Liberation Wars. Everyone is preparing for the Last Son of Eodar to die. The aliens who got screwed by the treaty are hoping to use it as an opportunity to renegotiate the worst of the punitive measures. The ones who are restricted from expanding are hoping that they’ll be able to win concessions in exchange for behaving. The ones that are happy with the status quo are frightened and they’re preparing for Armageddon. It’s been a very tense few centuries.”
“I can imagine the pressure this is putting on you, since you now share Eolai’s burden,” Anders said.
“I’m not certain that you can, Captain. If I’d known what Eolai was getting me into before hand, I might have run screaming from the holographic campfire,” Diego confessed.
“Will you be consenting to enter stasis, as Eolai does?” Anders asked.
“I don’t know. I’m told that it’s painless. Apparently you just blink and ten years have passed between one breath and the next,” Diego explained. “But it has a sort of tragedy to it, watching everyone you love grow old and die. There are laws about it’s use that specify the length of time that it can be left in place, but they’re just laws. I have no idea how long a session of stasis can last, but apparently the answer is in the triple digits.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“They could freeze you forever and claim that you’re immortal,” Anders argued.
“No sir, they can’t. Everyone agrees that while you’re frozen, you’re not alive,” Diego explained. “They’ve got a Shroedinger’s cat thing going on with Eolai. Nobody except the Topokan knows where he really is or whether he’s in stasis or not except for us. They move him around between the Yonohoan worlds occasionally. And whenever anyone questions whether he’s alive or not, they’re forced to bring him out to make a rebuttal showing that he’s not dead.
“Adding to the layer of confusion is that there are also thousands of treaties which specify Eodar’s grandchildren,” Diego continued. “Which means that Eolai has a duty to reproduce. However, the Yonohoan have views on the right of a father to know who they’ve fathered, and the right of a child to know who his father is. Eolai insists on speaking with his children at least once a month for ten minutes or until they end the conversation until they decide not to participate in the ritual anymore, and he refuses to have more than one child every ten years.”
“That sounds … tragic,” Anders said.
“Yes sir. He says that his life is very joyful, as he spends all of his waking moments speaking with those he loves. But between hanging up the phone and picking it up again, they age a little bit. It must be like watching a person grow old and die in time lapse,” Diego said, shuddering. “I don’t know how he does it.”
“I don’t think I could do that,” Anders said. “What do his people think of him?”
“They love him and respect him, sir,” Diego answered. “He’s not their leader. The truth is that we haven’t even spoken with their government directly yet. They’re withholding contact out of respect for him. Because he is taking joy in our interactions.
“Captain, he’s a symbol of everything they take pride in about themselves. Steadfast through the ages, preserved through time, and older than he looks. Self sacrificing, yet he takes joy in life and loves his family. Not every son of Eodar has been so honorable. The rest of the fleet? Well, some of them are like Eolai, important people with the weight of the universe on their shoulders. But most of them are just Eolai’s friends from when he was young. They have decided to help him share his burden by suffering with him in unity. Most of them plan to wait until he is dead and then live a normal life with the remainder of their time. They’re minor celebrities in their own right. But he is a living hero.”
Captain Anders sighed. “This talk is making me depressed. Do you think that the Yonohoan government will reach out to me directly once you leave with the Keeper to complete the science objectives?”
“Most likely, sir. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to them either. Most of what I’ve been learning has been Bob whispering in my ear,” Diego said. “I think that he really can read my mind. He answers questions that I haven’t thought of yet. I mean, he starts answering them just as they’re forming in my head. It’s almost a little creepy. He assures me that he can’t actually read my mind, and that I will make leaps of logic that he is incapable of.”
“How exactly does your brotherhood oath help earth again? I understand the broad strokes, but not the specifics.”
“Eolai is sworn to protect earth for as long as my family is alive. Specifically my grandmother, mother, and siblings. I didn’t think to include my nieces or nephews, unfortunately for Earth. That means that Eolai and the forces that protect him will be obligated to protect Earth from attack for at least one generation, Captain. They’ll patrol space for us and turn back anyone with nefarious interest. That will give us time to build up a fleet to defend ourselves once when the curtain comes down.”
“Okay. I can see how that increases our political capital,” Anders agreed, nodding for Diego to continue. The man sighed.
“Eolai was going to do it anyway, no matter how things turn out. But since I’ve become his brother, there’s pressure to train me to be the next Last Son of Eodar. If I have children that are Yonohoan, then they can argue that all of the treaties are still in effect for the duration of my lifetime. They want Eolai to train me on my responsibilities, and then they want to put me in stasis until Eolai dies,” Diego explained.
“And you’re considering it.”
“I could save a lot of lives, Captain. Maybe the alliances will unravel eventually, but I could push it back by centuries. Extend the peace.”
“I understand your dilemma, Sergeant. My first priority is Earth, however. How does your position benefit us?” Anders asked.
“The prestige of being the birthplace of the Last Son of Eodar is a significant political boon, Captain. Additionally, as long as I’m alive, or at least not deceased, I’ll be able to speak for Earth. On top of that, until I’ve disgraced myself in the eyes of the Yonohoan people, they will absolutely love everything about us. And by disgrace myself, I mean I’d have to do something major. I could drown a sack full of puppies and kitties and drop the corpses in an orphanage and set the orphanage on fire and they’d forgive me. The only crime which would cause them pause is if I killed a Topokan.”
“You could kill a Yonohoan, but not a Topokan?” Anders asked.
“Yes. I asked specifically. I’m allowed to kill anyone I want and not disgrace myself. Except no Topokans.”
“Why is that?” Anders asked.
“Because only Eodar is allowed to kill a Topokan and retain his honor. I have no idea why that makes sense to them, but that’s what I’m told.”