-Conrad-

Conrad headed straight for his cabin as soon as he left the Chief's office. He wanted to work some things out and organize his thoughts before he sent another message to Master Silva. He knew that she had spent a lot of time out amongst the Galactic Community as a part of an integration program, this left her probably the only Human resource and sounding board he had for what he was involved in. He knew that the information that Ruufarrl had given him was only the tip of this iceberg. This at least was enough for him to understand the significance and import of being recognized by the Ruulothi. There was far more that had yet to be addressed, but Ruufarrl seemed to be biding his time and dancing on the line of telling him. Almost like he was trying to drop subtle hints to pique his awareness of that which was going unsaid. Trying to prepare him for something.

Regardless, Conrad knew damn well that Humanity was still essentially alone among the stars, even though they had met a massive conglomerate of hundreds of races. They desperately needed some sort of beneficial relationship with an established race. This had been a talking point for years among the politicians and theorists and really anybody with letters in front of their name. Though he was born on Earth he had grown up on the Fringe for all the years that had mattered, and life here had taught him a number of things. Foremost among them, we were alone out here, and selfishness gets people killed. A colony wouldn't survive if it remained every man for themselves, and no one was coming to save you. They needed to work together, and even sacrifice of themselves to see the Colony itself prosper. Right now, Humanity as a whole had become just another Fringe Colony to the Galactics. What he did now could affect the entirety of the Human race, and he would be damned before he saw himself fail because of personal misgivings.

"Hell, it might even go down in the history books. Imagine that! Little old Fringe Worlder me, simply too dumb, stubborn and ornery to know when to give up."

He shook himself as he finally made it to his door, "Never mind all that. Start thinking like that and your ego will get you killed, fool."

Once inside he sat down and pulled the one thing he had brought with him aside from his essentials, his Portable Terminal. It booted itself up as he unfolded and expanded its screens, a visual display on top and an input display on bottom. It was of Human design, and the only thing it had in common with GalCom equipment was an accessory that allowed it to charge remotely using a Terminal Conductor intended for use with wrist terminals. He couldn't even connect directly to the GalNet with it, but that was what his room terminal was for.

As soon as it completely initialized he brought up a literary program for recording notes and other such things, and began noting down as much information as he could remember. Maybe actually having it down where he could visualize it would jog something loose in his head and he would see some of what was being alluded to. It was a trick he had learned in school. Sometimes writing something down would allow you to remember something new or follow a different path of thought and see something connected where maybe you had been blind to it before, even if you were writing it down again. As he wrote, he decided to include things related to the attack in his notes. Crew reactions, difficulties, the attack itself, the events leading up to it. After nearly two hours had passed he had over five pages of notes, and he still wasn't done.

He looked at the clock before sighing and sagging in exhaustion, "Damn, looks like I'll have to finish tomorrow." He double checked and made sure his work was saved before he put his PT away and went to bed.

"It's not like a message can go out again until our next stop anyway since we can't use the Network Buoys thanks to the Captain. I have time. Let’s see, any ship mail?"

He browsed through the menus and found a couple of internal messages. The first stated that there had been another change in loading orders, "Of course there is. Can't leave well enough alone, can we?" The second was a direct message from the Captain stating that his resignation had been received and approved, and that his final paycheck would be taken care of when they arrived at Nueva Rios. "Wait, received and... Approved?"

Conrad frowned at this and looked over at his PT, eyes squinting in suspicion and concentration. "Guess I should just add it to the long list of circumstantial nonsense, at least until I have something solid that connects some of these scattered dots. Who the hell APPROVES a resignation?"

He shook his head at his own thoughts and yawned suddenly, "Right, been up long enough you fool. Get to bed, your easy day just got complicated."

He turned out the lights and lay down, putting his naked back and a foot to the cool metal wall, and was snoring within moments.

________________________________________________________________

The following days were almost normal in their routine. He got up, ate, worked, ate, had lessons with Ruufarrl, and slept. Well, the new normal at least. Aside from conversations with Kivan during shift and a few fleeting glimpses of Jjatha, he was still essentially on his own.

His continued lessons and burgeoning awareness of something hiding in the shadows meant that his list of notes continued to grow. He was beginning to feel like he was getting paranoid. But he heard somewhere that you never thought you were paranoid if you really were, so maybe it was a good thing that he was considering it. Either way, he felt as though he was standing on a hill overlooking a massive minefield that he was going to have to cross in the near future.

"But that is a problem for another day. Right now I just have to get through this shift."

Ruufarrl had proven to be a surprisingly good teacher. He had plenty of patience and was willing to entertain Conrad's many questions. The Ruulothi valued personal merit, skill and bravery over other attributes. Their government, from what he could compare to human standards, was a challenge based Meritocracy. You could not serve in a position until you had accumulated enough "proof" that you were worthy of serving in said position. Once you had the proof, or merit, you could appeal to those you wished to serve for approval. Only when the people gave their approval could you then challenge for the position, rather than put things to an election. These challenges varied in nature depending on the age of those involved and the position desired. While Ritual Combat was the most common and most lauded of these challenges, others were available. If you succeeded, you claimed the position.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

But to issue a challenge was to put yourself on the line, win or lose. If you lost the challenge, the victor had the right to assign you a job or position. Most times, as a sign of respect for the opponent and of the trust the people had given the person, the loser would be allowed to continue to serve in some capacity. If it was the challenger who lost, this would be to learn more about the position they wanted to attain and, perhaps, challenge again at a later date. If it was the challenged, they would be positioned so they could continue to contribute and, at times, to see why they had been deposed as the challenger's policies took effect. Other times, whether because of bad blood or other considerations, the loser would be cast out and would become a Sheathed Claw like Ruufarrl. Sent away from home and clan and never again allowed to hold a position of Political Authority. Though Ruufarrl claimed that his claws were sheathed for a purpose, it was not always the case and it was for this reason that Sheathed Claws had high mortality rates and stigma associated with the position.

Their basic etiquette and manners were almost beat for beat the same as humans. It consisted of the same deference to elders and superiors, not speaking out of turn or interrupting, treating each other's time as valuable, etc. Their table manners were different, though. In human societies, it was most often the Head of the table that ate first. With the Ruulothi however, they allowed the youngest to go first, after permission from the Head. Conrad assumed that this was a tradition built from ancient practices in less civilized times meant to ensure the young survived.

Social etiquette was similar, but complex. The greatest change lay in the deference to certain achievements and titles, such as the Bloodclaws. In this it was more of a feudalistic affair. The closest human comparison Conrad could come up with was the nearly dead custom of Knighthood. They were socially elevated in what they were permitted to achieve in the clan, and many elite groups and leadership positions required one to have at least earned their Mantle to be considered for them. Despite this, many Bloodclaws simply continued what they were doing before, only with more authority in getting support for it. This is because most civilian Ruulothi who earned the Mantle did so much as Conrad had, through the whimsy of Fate and circumstance. It was only among the Clan Holds and those with ambition that earning the Mantle was considered to be a necessity. In this Conrad likened it to Noble Families, blood relatives of those who ran and ruled the Clans that were held to the similar minimum standards as those that came before.

Each Ruulothi was expected to be their own Arbiter, and were fully responsible for themselves and their own actions. They could not blame another for controlling them or manipulating them or cast responsibility for their actions on another. For the needs of Justice, such things would be followed and seen through, but there was no avoiding responsibility and repercussions for actions. Those convicted of minor crimes would be sent to labor camps. Those seen as a threat to order and people would be cast out as Broken Fangs. They would be marked with a brand on their shoulder, stripped of any and all accolades, any and all merits, dropped well outside the walls of the cities and left for the Wilds of Ruuloth to claim. Some survived and could cause trouble later for travelers, most did not.

When Conrad asked why the Ruulothi did not use jails or simply execute them Ruufarrl had said, "We will not burden our society with the need to support those that would destroy it. All Ruulothi know how to fight, any these Broken Fangs could come across would be either on equal or better footing than they are. We do not travel long distances on land anymore, as we use primarily aerial conveyances. Any who were brave or foolish enough to be walking through the wilds have already taken their lives into their own hands. They will be prepared for it, or they would not be there. Their actions, their responsibility. Though I suppose I should explain a little further. The Wilds of Ruuloth are isolated areas in which not even we have been able to tame. Great Forests, Hidden Valleys and Craters, Frozen Wastes, Vast Deserts, Dangerous Islands. Places inhospitable for standard living. All either were naturally, or artificially, sealed off in some manner to prevent their... natural inhabitants from coming forth to cause harm to our civilians living outside the cities, our homesteads and farms. Isolated incidents of Broken Fangs escaping these confines DO occur, but they are rare. Regardless, any Broken Fang who manages to survive and shows his face again is immediately hunted down and killed. We have deemed the risk of this type of escape to be minimal, and the threat and potential costs they pose at that point to be less than that of jailing them and releasing them into the heart of our cities again."

The method of punishment might vary depending on the conditions of the colony and planet, but the general idea was always the same. Their sense of Justice was far more black and white than humanities had been for a VERY long time, but it worked. Conrad couldn't say that he hadn't considered such measures inappropriate in some cases back home, the Ruulothi were just willing to do it.

In addition to his lessons on Ruulothi culture, he was also given lessons on Galactic politics. These consisted mostly of warnings on barriers that humans would have to overcome. As newcomers, they would be, and were already being, assessed for aptitudes that were beneficial to GalCom. Due to humanities propensity and history for war, it was likely that they would be tapped to fill that role, as there were precious few in the GalCom that could manage it. But their other skills threw some doubt into the mix. Humanity learned and adapted incredibly fast in comparison to other races in the GalCom, their progressions and inventions came quickly and readily. This, Ruufarrl had told him, would likely be of some concern, because it meant that Humanity was not likely to be kept long in whatever box the Galactics decided to put them in, despite membership policies and other such things. Humanity had, at least so far, avoided getting put into debt by the GalCom. This debt of theirs didn't always present as financial but could show in the owing in some other manner for “services rendered”. Because of the geographical position of Human Space in the Galaxy, they had been given time to expand and grow on their own, without outside interference. This gave them a huge bargaining chip and advantage, one that no other races had upon approaching GalCom thus far. None other than the original founders of the GalCom, the Old Ones, had this advantage to bring to the table.

Conrad suspected that such a variance in power could cause some issues, but he could not get Ruufarrl to talk about it. In fact, much of the time Ruufarrl spoke of the Galactic policies and politics, he seemed to be...careful. Again Conrad got the feeling that Ruufarrl was trying to drop hints without actually saying something. Conrad's suspicions were reinforced when he got return mail from Master Silva. She also seemed to be trying to lead him in a direction without actually saying it. In her case he knew that when she did this while teaching it was because there was something she wanted her student to discover for themselves. But to do it for this...

He went back to her message to listen to the last part because it hadn't made any sense. She had quoted a tale about Sun Tzu. A story about how when he was tasked with turning a Lord's harem of concubines into body guards, he had beheaded several of them that would not stop talking during his instruction. Something that put the other concubines immediately into line out of fear.

"But why would she..."

"!!" Conrad stopped in shock as suddenly several puzzle pieces abruptly fell into place. "It is a warning!"

She was telling him to be careful with his words and his questions, and doing so in a way that avoided detection. She was telling him that his messages and questions could be overheard...and him dealt with.

Cold suddenly started to gnaw at his gut and the hair on his head seemed to crawl as goosebumps formed on his body. Things that he had ignored or put down to circumstance flooded back as he looked at them in a different light.

Jjatha's sudden workload, isolating him from friendly support.

Kivan's words to him over a private comm channel, "It is...complicated" and "I may not get the chance or be able to do so later."

Ruufarrl's shielding and guiding of him, and his avoidance of certain topics and cryptic answers.

The way GalCom handled new petitioners to the Community.

"Resignation Approved".

Conrad shuddered as he thought about what else he may have missed. Signs that were there if one knew where to look or was paranoid enough.

His last day couldn't come soon enough. He needed to get off this ship and back among his own people.

He needed real answers.