Captain’s Log:

The Craton remains stationed in the neutral territory of Gohhi, crossroads of a dozen major travel lanes through zerospace, repairing after our battle with P’G’Maig Hev forces.

Though there is no danger from the Gohhians, and even the fascist sect of humanity that call themselves Glorians mostly respect the neutrality of the region, there is still tension.  The Gohhians still cling to an ancient form of economic system, private ownership, with a handful of their number possessing nearly all wealth.  These Lord Executives value the credit and their power above all else, and they tolerate the Union solely because we are the great producers of known space.

The melting pot nature of Gohhi attracts not just capitalists but also outcasts, loners, and artists.  In a few short days our ship will be honored to host the Qhenber Theatre Troupe with their production of Ussa and Usser: A Tragedy of Ancient Earth.

Qlerning plays are renowned throughout known space, and the author of this one, Klezul Hoshe, is held in particularly high esteem.  Some have questioned the ethics of one species writing a play based – however loosely – on the history of another.  I do not know the answer to that, but I expect it will be interesting viewing.

I look forward to it, and while work always continues, I look forward to at least having our problems be ones of cost and supply rather than violence.

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Ussa:

“O Father, I bring to thee the heads of twelve of thy enemies.

Do you see upon their faces the grim rictus of death?

In your name did I kill them, yet you do not shower me with your praise.”

Breon:

“O Daughter, you have brought me the heads of those I held in scorn.

They were not slain in righteous warfare but by a lowly knife in the dark.

To you they are but twelve heads, but now to their families I owe an honor-price.

There is no glory in these deaths and their cost far outweighs any joy I feel in their passing.”

Ussa:

“O Father, father who I love so deeply.

Your enemies are dead, and next I shall take from their kin their land, their gold, their pride.

I will lay them into the soil of the Earth weeping red tears.

Then you will speak no more of petty costs and honor-prices.

Who is to be paid when no enemy is left?”

Breon:

“Daughter, these words are a horror.

We are not monsters but honorable people who hold our pride in high esteem.

Not murderers!

Tell me you say these words in jest!”

Ussa:

“Do not tear at your clothes, father.

Your tears are not genuine and your sword has plunged into many a foe’s back who took you at your word and let their guard slip.

Your pretense of honor is a facade, a lie told to the gullible.

A hook upon which to hang your cloak.

It is not your true face.

All I am I have learned from you.”

Excerpt from Part 1 of Ussa and Usser: A Tragedy of Ancient Earth

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“Oh god, why does the running not get any easier?” Apollonia panted, leaning against a planter.

The tree above was pleasant and green, its leaves would have provided great shade had there been an actual star above her head.

But they were still on the Craton, in Gohhi.  There was no star for light-years around them.

On some level it bothered her.  Even on New Vitriol she had theoretically been orbiting a star, and it was marginally brighter than the others.

But at the moment she was more bothered by the fact that she couldn’t seem to gulp enough air.

“It’s your third day doing this,” Jaya commented.  “It will take some weeks before your body starts to get used to it.”

“Weeks?!”

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“It will get harder before that,” Jaya continued.  “But it will be worth it.”

“Yeah . . . sure . . .”  Apollonia saw a bench and sat down on it, leaning back.  “I think I need some energy.”

“Hm, well we could get you a snack, I suppose.  I see that you skipped breakfast . . .”

“You can tell that?”

“Well, Y can,” Jaya said.  “He’s started giving me updates, since you’re exercising.”

Apollonia sat up.  “Is he like . . . monitoring me?”

“He monitors all public data most of the time,” Jaya said.  “I think he just does it because he gets bored, honestly.”

Well, he was a hyper-intelligent AI, Apollonia thought.  That did make sense.

“But how can he tell what I’ve eaten?”

“I don’t know.  Perhaps by your weight upon the decking not changing from the last time you went out?  Or by measuring the total private usage of meal consumptions?  He aggregates a massive amount of trivial data, and uses that to understand . . . well, almost everything that happens on the ship,” she said.  “Most people pay it no mind since he’s not breaking any rules.”

“But you pay attention because it’s your job.”

Jaya nodded.

“Well, I think I want something sweet,” Apollonia said.  “Like . . . oh, chocolate!”  She pointed at a young man who was eating a bar as he walked by.

He was not a Craton native, Jaya noticed.  His clothes were in the style of Gohhi, and he was walking purposefully towards a crowd of other visitors, around a docking port that went up to the roof of the Equator Ring, where a large shuttle was docked.

“Y does say you should gain weight,” Jaya said reluctantly.  “I suppose that would be fine.”

“Already ordered!” Apollonia said happily, tapping away on her tablet.  “I’m really starting to like this ‘having money’ thing.”

“You have put on a little weight since you got here, haven’t you?” Jaya asked her.

“That’s not exactly a polite question . . .”

“I’m asking for medical reasons.  You are still underweight for your age and height, Apple.”

Apollonia squinted at Jaya, noting the nickname, but deciding not to speak out against it.  Part of her liked it, but having a nickname that wasn’t an insult was still new to her.  One day she’d get used to it.

A drone approached, giving Apollonia a bar of chocolate.

“Geh’jool,” it told her.

“Bless you,” Apollonia replied.

Jaya almost laughed.  “It’s a Qlerning phrase that means ‘please enjoy’, just much more emphatically.”

“Oh, is that what it meant?  I thought the drones just had bad speakers or something,” Apollonia replied, already taking a bite of chocolate.  “Why a Qlerning phrase?” she asked through her chewing.

“Because they’re known for their politeness, I imagine,” Jaya said.  “Are you really going to eat that whole thing?  It has a lot of calories.”

“We agreed I need more calories,” Apollonia gargled around the chocolate.

“Well, yes, but perhaps you should get more good calories.”

“No.  It’s chocolate for me, all day, every day.  Until I’m as round as the ship.”

Jaya arched an eyebrow.

“What?  Think about how easy it would be for me to get anywhere.  I could just roll.”

“I may have to institute a rule while we’re running,” Jaya said, frowning.  “No more exaggerating.”

“But that’s nearly everything I say!” Apollonia protested.

“And there you go again.  I think most of what you say is just complaints, if we’re being honest,” Jaya said, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Oh Dark, you can joke,” Apollonia replied.  She took another bite of her chocolate bar, watching the crowd.

There was a man watching her back.

She had felt it before she saw him.  The hairs on the back of her neck rising.

He looked away.  But her disquiet remained.

“Who are they?” she asked Jaya, her voice softer.

The other woman caught her change in tone.  “They are rich Gohhians who have come aboard for a tour.  It’s a service we offer since . . . well, they’d do it anyway, but dangerously crowd space around us otherwise.  Allowing it also helps spread good sentiment.”

“Do we really want these people as friends?” Apollonia asked, sizing up the crowd again.  Most wore jewelry and the fanciest clothes she’d ever seen.  Many of their outfits were wearable screens, showing bright shapes and patterns, even family crests or logos, scrolling and shifting.

They were like walking billboards, she thought.

The people were talking and laughing as if they owned the ship, not even noticing or caring how their mass was blocking most of the way.  Craton natives veered around them with little trouble, but still . . .

Their entitlement rankled.

“No,” Jaya said.  “Frankly, we do not.  But politics makes for uncomfortable bedfellows.”

“Because Gohhi is in such an important position . . . yeah, I know,” Apollonia said with a sigh, leaning her head back to stare upwards.

Above them were the transparent blocks of titanium that looked out into bare space, and in the distance she could see specks that she knew were some of the thousands of space stations that made up the territory known as Gohhi.  In some places the deck subtly curved, the gravity plates in the floor along with it, so that one could stand and look straight out into the stars, but in this area the ‘windows’ were directly overhead.

Who named this place, she wondered.  Was Gohhi even a human name, or had some aliens dubbed it that?  For all she knew, it meant “I don’t like your face” in some alien tongue, and early humans out here had taken it for the name . . .

Taking another bite of chocolate, she then sat up quickly.

“Who is that guy?” she asked, nodding towards the man who had been staring at her.  He now had his back to them, in queue for boarding the shuttle.

“His data is set to private as is the norm on Gohhi,” Jaya replied.  “We respect that, aside from security checks . . .”

“Yes, and you’re Chief of Operations,” Apollonia said.  “Use your security clearance.”

Jaya looked surprised at the request.  “I can’t do that just for curiosity.”

“It’s not curiosity . . . call it a feeling,” Apollonia said.

Jaya opened her mouth to reply, clearly in the negative, but then paused.

“All right,” she said.

Apollonia was surprised.  “You trust my gut?”

“You are a Cerebral Reader,” Jaya replied.  “And no one can even quite tell me just what that means in practical terms, but . . . I am going to interpret it to mean I should give more credence to your feelings than most.”

Apollonia felt an odd buzz of pleasure at that.

Not that she’d been acting on an idle thought here, but it was nice to be treated with some value when it mattered.

“That is Jan Holdur,” Jaya told her.  “He is Vice Lord of Holdur-Gollc Shipping, a subsidiary of Holdur Conglomerate.  His father is the owner, so it’s probably a nepotistic posting, especially considering his many minor criminal reports . . .”

“Crimes?” Apollonia asked sharply.  “Are we certain it’s safe to have him on the ship?”

“They are somewhat old,” Jaya said grudgingly.  “And rather minor – a minor physical altercation, some bouts of public intoxication . . . but he is not drunk now, nor does he have any drugs in his system.”

Apollonia opened her mouth to ask a question, but Jaya interjected.  “We just test for those before someone comes aboard.  You should see the list of chemicals many of these people have in their systems . . . but as long as they’re within certain levels we allow it.”  She sighed.  “Does your gut insist I should make an incident with Mr. Holdur and detain him?”

Apollonia considered it.  She hated being stared at, but really that was all the man had done . . .

Sure, something about him gave her the creeps.  But she didn’t have anything really actionable.

“No,” she decided.  “He’s probably a creep, but I guess that’s not a crime.  I would guess he’s on his best behavior here.”

Jaya nodded, looking to the man.  “There is security on the shuttle, so I wouldn’t worry.”