“So Ks’Kull is mad,” Siilon said.

With the Craton acting as intermediary, he’d started the FTL transmission with Siilon a few minutes before, sharing his minutes of the meeting, annotating where necessary.

“Yes,” Brooks agreed. “It seems that at least some of our reports on him have proven accurate. I do not think that he is going to be willing to negotiate the survival of the Tul Hev.”

“What I wonder is what the Fesha have to do with this,” Siilon asked rhetorically. “Selling weapons to the Maig – this does not bode well. I do not think this is even about the Mopu system.”

“I agree,” Brooks said. “This is a test of the new weapons they’ve received. If Ks’Kull likes what he sees, then his territorial aggression is only going to increase.”

Siilon closed her eyes, her head tentacles writhing in agitation.

“I have received a communication from my government,” she said. “They have not ordered me to recall the Bright Flower as I thought they might, and worse, they have told me that I may not provide direct support to your mission.”

“Did they say why?”

“Because of the Fesha. I was already on thin ice being present and sending in the Bright Flower, but if there is a Fesha ship here, then they fear the situation could escalate.”

It was sound logic; and the last open conflict the Sapient Union had had with the Fesha and Aeena had been a brutal and costly affair. One that no one was keen to relive.

Yet if they did not stop a genocide like this now, then it would not stop here. History had told them that.

“I think the Bright Flower should leave as soon as she can,” he said. “If the Maig turn hostile, it will be difficult for the Craton to defend her, anyway.”

“Let alone yourselves,” Siilon said grimly. “As good a ship as she is, those odds are steep even if I was present. I appreciate that the value you put in my people’s lives, though.”

“Of course – we are allies.” He grinned wryly. “I suppose you did request to assist us?”

“No,” she said. “I wasn’t even going to ask – but they know me. However, while I cannot interfere directly, I can put on a show of my presence. We’ve begun some military maneuvers within sight of Maig long-range scanners. If they have FTL comms, which they certainly do, then they will know we are here. They don’t have to know I am forbidden to help.”

“Thank you,” Brooks said.

“I only wish I could do more.” She said it in a cautious way, that made him wonder if she had a plan – but she said nothing else.

They fell quiet again, and Brooks tried to scour his mind for any other thoughts or questions he might ask of his old friend.

But he could think of nothing. Among them, he’d always been better at diplomacy, and Siilon better at combat command.

Brooks felt a heavy weight settle upon him – a mantle he felt he’d worn too many times; failure. Ten billion beings were about to die, and he could only watch.

“I will order the Bright Flower to begin charging for a jump out, and then meet with Ks’Kull one last time,” he finally said, pushing his self-pity aside. “I have one last gamble. No one will like it, but it might work.”

Siilon let out a hiss of frustration. “I will do all I can to make our exercise look good for their cameras.”

----------------------------------------

After talking to Ambassador N’Keeea on the Craton, Brooks prepared himself to re-enter the negotiating area.

As he stepped back into the meeting room, he saw that N’Keeea’s prediction had been correct.

“He will not send the same body-double again – for of course he has others on his shuttle. The last one will have been slain – his reactions were poor. Shamefully so!”

“So this stand-in is a normal protocol?” he’d asked.

“Yes,” N’Keeea had said. “And if you ask my opinion, you should do the same.”

“I will not use a body-double.”

“Then use a signal to broadcast.”

“If I do that now, it will be a sign of distrust. I can’t leave now that I’m here.”

N’Keeea had clammed up then, and Brooks understood that the Hev would not understand his motives – that putting himself into risk was a way of showing his sincerity.

Was it lost on Ks’Kull? Probably, he thought. The being was mad, drunk with blood.

But he was not walking into the lion’s den without a safety net. The Hev could fire on the meeting room – but the Craton should be able to launch counter-fire to protect them if that happened. If the guards should try to attack – well, there were security walls between them that would shut the teams off from each other. No weapons had been smuggled in, they’d been scanned and checked thousands of times by thousands of scanners. The only real threat were the shuttles themselves, but even those were submitted for scans by drones from each side – and those drones had all scanned each other.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

He felt safe enough.

Now, facing the Overlord’s stand-in, he saw it was indeed a different Hev. The differences were subtle, and if he’d not used his system to check for them, it would have been hard to tell.

The holographic image of the Fesha Captain appeared again, bowing to both sides – his bow deeper to Ks’Kull, but Brooks ignored the minor slight.

“Before all begin their words,” the Fesha captain said. “I must bless the Stars for this moment of time – for I am in the presence of great beings, and I shall never forget this day.”

His eyes went over Ks’Kull, but this time they lingered more on Brooks.

He realized that the Fesha were likely taking every image of him they could, utilizing every scanner on him that they controlled.

He, and the Craton.

“Overlord Ks’Kull,” Brooks began, dismissing the Fesha. Let them watch – it did not matter. The outside of the Craton was not what made her special.

“I notice your old stand-in is gone,” he said, wishing to make a point of it.

“He died for his failures – schemes, Captain, by enemies to brew hostility and discord,” the new stand-in said immediately, acting off the cuff. Yet his mannerisms of the Overlord were spot-on.

“I am a more senior voice for the Overlord,” the new Voice continued. “And you may treat me as you would the Overlord himself.”

Brooks questioned that, but the fact that this was a more experienced and trained stand-in seemed to be a positive step.

“Have you thought more, Overlord, about this predicament we find ourselves in?”

“I find it interesting,” the Overlord’s Voice said. “That you would call it a predicament. Where you see a difficulty, I see opportunity. You have one of the Tul that have escaped – Keeea.” He dropped the honorific before the Ambassador’s name, and Brooks let his displeasure show at that.

“Give him to me,” Ks’Kull said. “And it will be a magnanimous gesture on your part, Captain. Thus far, I feel I have given much – and received little but thinly-veiled insults.”

“I will not grant that,” Brooks replied. “N’Keeea enjoys diplomatic protections. Your own people observe these-“

“His government no longer exists,” Ks’Kull replied coolly. “Therefore he has no such protections.”

Brooks felt his heart hammer. “Did you attack the T’H’Tul in violation of our agreement, Overlord?”

“No, of course not – such insults again! I am a being of my word, as I have said. But dead now – or dead later, it makes no difference. For all intents and purposes, they are dead already. Therefore they cannot be a government.”

“Your concepts of causality seem to differ from my own,” Brooks replied dryly. “But you speak of us making a gesture – there are things in my power to do. There is trade that could occur between our peoples that could benefit us both.”

“Trade?” Ks’Kull asked sharply. “What could you offer me?”

“I am sure there is much,” Brooks said. “For you and for your people. We have technologies that will help with the chronic food shortages you face, for your people are numerous. We can help them live longer, healthier lives with medical technologies-“

“Weapons,” Ks’Kull said. “Are what we desire for trade. Show us what you have, Captain. I have scrap ships – perhaps you demonstrate the might of your weapons upon them? I have always longed to see a cratonic warship . . .”

The naked greed in his eyes gave Brooks a moment of pause. He felt a worm of nervousness. That the Craton would be one of the most valuable prize ships in known space was a given. But to see that naked desire for her in Ks’Kull’s eyes was another matter. He knew he revealed too much simply in the asking – yet he wanted to see it so much he did so all the same.

“We do not trade in weapons,” he told Ks’Kull.

“Then you have nothing to offer me.”

His eyes flickered, for just a moment, to the holographic image of the Fesha Captain.

And Brooks knew then, with certainty. The Fesha were trading weapons to the Hev.

“It seems,” Ks’Kull said laconically. “That we have found the impasse you so desperately desired, Captain. Could it be that you do not truly wish to save the Tul? That you sought to fail in your mission? I would understand it. They are detestable, are they not?”

Ks’Kull was taunting him, he realized, with shock. Trying to throw him off with anger.

But his blood was cold.

“If we cannot break an impasse, it only means we are not trying hard enough, Overlord. You do realize that when one civilization commits genocide like this, they are telling all others that they are not to be trusted, don’t you? To continue on your present course does not mean immediate war with the Sapient Union – but we will not forget. You may continue to buy arms from others, but they will have seen what you do with them. There are no secrets among space-faring civilizations. Those that live by the sword also die by the sword. Is that truly what you wish?”

Ks’Kull leaned his head back, but kept his eyes on Brooks. “I have given my word on this. I honor my word. The Tul must be destroyed. Let all see – for I do not fear.”

“I can see,” Brooks said, throwing out his last card. “That this is true. I respect your bravery, Overlord – as well as your honesty. You do not mince words.

“But to say we are at an impasse is to admit we are not strong enough to find a solution. I have a proposal in mind that will appease all parties – and leave you with greater honor and stature still.”

Which was not quite true, but he had to sell it. Indeed, he could read interest on Ks’Kull’s face. At least as much as he could read a Hev; with as many factions as he’d worked with in his years before joining the Sapient Union, he’d learned well their habits and tics, and they could vary far more than even among humans.

“If you wish for the Tul to be dead, then let it be so. But allow the remaining Hev upon the world of Poqut’k to leave alive. They will abandon their name of Tul to its death, and become a new clan – existing within the Sapient Union, where they can never wrong you again.”

His heart was pounding, and he could read nothing on Ks’Kull’s face. But the Overlord was listening intently.

“At this point, Overlord, what is there left to prove? You have killed nearly all your enemies here, their works lay destroyed, and they have no hope. You have much to gain from this plan. It would sate your honor, you would still be honest – for the Tul would all be dead. You would show your magnanimity and mercy. Your people and mine would have made inroads towards friendship.” The latter words nearly caught in his throat to say, but he had to all the same.

He stood to show that it was his last offer, and extended a hand, a Hev gesture Ks’Kull would understand plainly. “What do you say, Overlord? Shall all win?”

Ks’kull continued to watch him for several long moments, and Brooks held his pose. He could not sit back down until he’d received a response. He held, a bead of sweat on his forehead, threatening to run into his eye.

Please let it work, he thought.

Ks’Kull laughed again, but this time, it was not in mirth but in malice.