33: "If you had a Name, what would you like it to be?
Tanak did not know where he was, or how he had gotten there. He was fairly confident that the humans were involved, that he had been abducted somehow for reasons unclear, although what use the humans had in a lowly Nameless like himself he couldn’t imagine. He just checked the food drops to keep the Aurealian game from starving to death, he certainly wasn’t anyone important.
More pressing at the moment, however, was deciphering the use of the room’s toilet. The commode’s purpose was obvious, but the differences in Jurassian anatomy made the use of the object somewhat tricky, because there certainly was a trick to it. Once Tanak had figured it out, however, he was greatly relieved.
He had been held captive for two or three hours when a tone chimed, and a voice filled his chambers.
"Hello. I am Captain Nathan Sawyer. You are currently being detained aboard my ship, the UEOSC ship Theseus. You are not being accused of any crimes at the moment. Would it be permissible to discuss your legal status with you at this time?"
"Um, yes?" Tanak answered, and a hologram of a young man appeared in the brig with him.
"I apologize for all of this. Do you have a name of which I should be aware?" the human asked politely, sitting in a chair that wasn’t there.
"I am Nameless."
"If you had a Name, what would you like it to be?" the man questioned.
"Tanak," Tanak answered without hesitation.
"That was quick. Is that something you think of often?"
"Many Nameless do, I am nothing special in that regard. We are permitted our little dreams, so long as we perform our work."
"I see," the human said, as though he had gained great insight into the Jurassian condition instead of something everyone knows. "Is it permissible to call a Nameless by their chosen name? Would it be okay for me to call you Tanak?"
"It is done often, between family or close friends," Tanak answered, wondering why the human was so interested. "My mates tease me when they call me Tanak, but even if I did not wish it was my name, I have tanak here, it is how I earned the right to breed in the first place, and I will always be proud of that accomplishment."
"I see. In that case, I believe it may be better if I do not address you as Tanak," Nathan said, his voice wistful. "I do not wish to use your hopes and aspirations to forge an artificial bond between us. I only need a few answers to determine your legal status."
"I do not understand why I am still alive. Why you have taken me hostage. I can answer no questions outside the schedule of food drops, and their locations."
"Food drops? For the Aurealians? You feed them?" Nathan asked, each question leading into the next as he understood what Tanak had been doing in the preserve in the first place.
"Yes. Well, I ensure that they have the food to feed themselves. But I know no military or economic secrets beyond that. I simply ensure -"
"Have you ever killed an Aurealian yourself?" Nathan asked, cutting in.
"What? I would be flayed were I to dare such a thing. Sometimes it is very hard not to chase the little ones who hide in my paths, but chase them is all I do. And it is good for them, it teaches them when to run and when to remain still, for when the real hunters come. It is actually very hard for me, you know, to stop chasing them once they start running. But I would not be trusted in the preserve, lowly as I am, unless I could be trusted not to harm them. They are for the Elite, not scum like me."
"That is good. Just one more question and I will have determined your legal status. After I have made this determination, I will explain your rights and status to you. Have you ever killed another Horthian, either Nameless or Named One?"
"Of course not! I tell you I am unworthy of killing an Aurealian and you think someone else would let me kill them instead? Even if it was murder, they would have scarred me badly in their self-defense, and I have only the Tanak scars to prove that I have fought the mating competitions in my youth."
"I see." Nathan frowned and made a motion, bringing up some holographic documents. "I’m very sorry, then, to have drawn you into this. As I said earlier, you are not being accused of a crime, but my government does give me some latitude in detaining innocent civilians for security purposes. You witnessed a military operation, whether you realized what you were seeing or not, and the success or failure of that mission will be determined by how and when it is discovered by your government. For that reason, I have determined that you will be detained until your knowledge no longer poses a threat to that mission. At this time I cannot tell you how long that will be, but reasonable attempts to make you comfortable and respect your dignity will be honored. We have obtained some food-stuffs for you and will be bringing you a meal soon, although I am uncertain how they are prepared."
"Raw is generally acceptable to the Nameless," Tanak informed the human. "Named Ones cook and prepare their food, but although they enjoy the flavor this adds, they do not do the task themselves."
"Then, if you request it as such, your food will simply be preserved for you until you are ready to eat. You are allowed cooking and eating utensils, although they will be made of a material designed to pose little threat to yourself or others if used as a weapon."
"I am simply relieved to still draw breath," Tanak admitted to the holographic human in his crisp white uniform. "If you were the Deathsworn of my people, I would have simply been given a choice. Death, or swearing the Death Oath, which is effectively the same thing. I would never return to my home or …"
Tanak trailed off as the thoughts occurred to him.
"Human, how long will I be detained? Will I be required to disclose what happened when I am returned?" he inquired.
"The answer to the first question is ‘I don’t know.’ We might be able to return you tomorrow, or it might be weeks. I will keep you updated as best as I am able, but the longer the mission goes on, the higher its chance and rate of success. As for what we will do for you afterward, we will return you to where you were taken. Unless there is somewhere you would rather be returned to, in which case we will take you there instead. Any location on the surface of either Horthus Prime or Secondus would be considered a reasonable request."
"In that case, may I request that, if I am to be detained for longer than two days, you execute me and return my body to the hunting grounds where I was taken?" Tanak asked mildly, somewhat nervous about the topic.
The human captain was stunned by the humble request. "May I ask why?"
"If I do not check in with my superior for longer than that amount of time, then it will be assumed that I am either dead, or that I have abandoned my post," Tanak explained, as though he were speaking to a tadpole. He knew from the human’s constant harping about being ‘detained’ and ‘legal status’ that the alien species did things very differently. "If I am dead, then all is well with my family. I died in an honorable profession, and their right to exist is maintained. If I am determined to have abandoned my post, then my mates and especially my offspring will suffer. I believe my request to be a reasonable accommodation, is it not? My death should not impact your military operation, you may disguise it as misadventure. I promise to cooperate with such attempts."
The human was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke softly. "I sometimes forget how different, and yet also similar our two people are, Tanak. I make you the following promises. Every attempt will be made to protect the right to exist of both you, and your family. Every attempt will be made to shield them from reprisals from your government from the actions of mine. Every attempt will be made to reunite you with them at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately, the military operation still comes first."
"I understand. Thank you for your consideration. As long as my family is protected, I will cooperate with you," Tanak promised.
"Thank you. I apologize for this, Tanak, truly. I have never actually spoken with a Nameless before, but I feel that you are an exceptional example of your people. I will remember our conversation and consider hard its lessons in dealing with your people," Human Captain Nathan Sawyer said. "If there is anything you require, you can gain the attention of the ship’s computer by addressing it directly; it’s name is ‘Athena.’ For example, you may request to speak with me, or the current time, or the amount of time until your next meal is served. Do you have any questions for me before I leave you?"
Tanak considered for a moment, then shrugged his neck. "If I think of anything I will ask ‘Athena.’"
"Thank you, Tanak. And again, I apologize for detaining you like this. It is not something that you deserved to have happen to you, you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Nathan said.
"I understand, human. If you were Deathsworn, you would have simply murdered me to secure my silence. I am fortunate that such an event will only occur if it is necessary to protect my family."
"We will find a way to protect both you, and your family, Tanak. There is always a middle ground."
"As you say," Tanak said, unable to argue with the alien logic. The hologram vanished, and Tanak was again alone in his cell.
"Athena? How long until I am served sustenance?"
"Your meal has been served and is ready to eat at any time. It is located in the stasis drawer near the entryway, which is now flashing a red light," a disembodied voice answered him.
Finding the indicated drawer and taking a moment to figure out how to unlatch it, Tanak pulled out a tray. Upon it was a recently killed trutin, a rodent-like amphibian commonly consumed by Jurassians, as well as a glass filled with a common beverage. Tanak tore into the trutin, ripping out its delicious, still warm entrails and savoring as they slid down his throat.
~~~~~~~~~~
"So I’m less grounded, is what you’re saying?" Simon asked. He was somewhat nervous, but he couldn’t keep the sass entirely out of his voice.
"I need you to help him and his family. So your computer restrictions are being eased back a few steps. You remain confined to the brig. Any attempts to circumvent that will be considered a violation of our agreement," Nathan told him firmly.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"Hey, I was watching. I want to help him too, Nathan," Simon said defensively. "And I know I really fucked up. I know that I belong in here, for now at least. Hopefully I can redeem myself, but the first step in redemption is owning up to your mistakes. That’s what I’m trying to do here. And that’s why I will help you keep this guy, and his family, alive. If I can."
Nathan’s hologram relaxed slightly. He had rezzed in ready for a fight, but Simon had already given him what he’d come to ask for. Of course, he had also given Simon what the chimpanzee wanted – needed to prove himself! Access. That’s all, just access.
"You know what happens if you fuck up like this again, right?" Nathan asked. "I’d say there’s no second chances, but you were already operating on so many second chances that it’s amazing you had any security clearance to even access Athena. I read your dossier, Simon, the classified one. I don’t know why the old man brought you along in the first place."
"Because I’m the best," Simon explained. "And that’s me being humble about it, too. There’s also the fact that nobody wanted me, which makes my actions easier for when we are inevitably disavowed by at least half of UEOSC space."
"You expect that to be a problem?" Nathan asked.
"Knowing what you do now, do you not?" Simon countered, and Nathan had no answer.
"I don’t know what to do with you, Simon," Nathan confessed after a moment of awkwardness. "I don’t hate you for what you did. Personally, I have already forgiven you for whatever drove you to do it in the first place. If this was just personal between us, we could both move on. But the Theseus is a military ship on a military operation. And god dammit, Simon, you sabotaged a military operation !"
"I know," Simon said.
"And I don’t even know why! Why the fuck do you hate me so much, Simon? What did I ever do to you anyway?" Nathan demanded.
"I don’t hate you. Not anymore, and honestly, I’m not certain I ever did. I was being an idiot, Nathan, and I’m sorry for how I treated you before. I didn’t understand why your ‘old man’ brought you in until you showed me up. Now I do, and I realize just how stupid I was being before."
"What the fuck does that even mean, Simon?" Nathan demanded.
"It means that I’m sorry," Simon said, shrugging, a gesture he had practiced. "And that I hope, somehow, we can find a solution to my legal troubles and we can work together again, without all the prejudicial bullshit. On my part, not yours. You go so far out of your way to be non-prejudicial against uplifts and non-humans that it’s a little disgusting to the people like myself, who profess to be advocates for the advancement of their species. It was one of the things I had trouble accepting about you, but that’s on me, not you."
Nathan sighed. "I have a solution. It’s just not one that either of us is going to like."
"Of course you do. You always have a third alternative," Simon said, grinning.
"We have a couple of options, actually. One is that you remain in the brig and cooperate with the rest of the crew in fulfilling the Theseus’s mission goals. At the end of the mission, you will be brought to Yosca space for a formal trial. Your actions in advancing our mission will be weighed against the sabotage in determining your consequences. Unfortunately, at that point, it’s out of our hands. If the Yosca judge determines that execution is justified, there’s nothing I can do except testify for you at your appeals. Same if he decides on lifetime confinement."
"I think I would prefer the first option to the second," Simon said, grinning wider. "Aside from a formal trial, there is more?"
"A field court martial. If we could try you outside of Yosca’s space, then the ranking officer could potentially overturn the results of the trial if he doesn’t like the outcome. The ranking officer in this case would be me. It would set jeopardy for when we return to Yosca space, although the fact that you’re a known saboteur would go on your official and permanent record. No more military contracts for you, ever."
"So let’s do that one, then. Unless you want me dead, in which case I’ll take my chances with the first one."
"I don’t want you dead, Simon. The problem is that we don’t have the people for a formal field court martial. Everyone on the Theseus was affected by your actions, not just me. I can’t be the judge because I’m also the victim. The commandos can’t be the jury because they’re also witnesses. The Rodentia can’t --"
"I understand. You want to use this option so that you can control the outcome, but you don’t have the kangaroos for your court to make it work."
"Yes, something like that."
"Thank you, Nathan. I really wish I hadn’t antagonized you so much. You’re a good person," Simon said. "But you’re not responsible for my fate. If I die as a result of my actions, then that’s on me, not you. You can’t control everything, Nathan. You’re only a man, not a god. Even if you are significantly more capable than I originally gave you credit for."
"Yes, well, you say that, but we have an injured Aurealian in medbay who might disagree with you," Nathan argued.
"If you had not shot her, you would not have disabled her implant, and we might not have learned of its existence in time," Simon argued. "It is unfortunate that Katherine is gone, she would be the one to extract it and examine it properly. Disabling it remotely is one thing, but the problem with network vulnerabilities is that they’re ‘network’ ‘vulnerabilities.’ I do not think I can patch them and retain control over them at the same time."
"Just do what you can. You’re getting good signals from the relays in the spears, right?" Nathan inquired.
"Yes. Once we knew that the Aurealians in the wild had implants to prevent them from wandering, the rest was an easy patch to the hardware already in those spears you’re passing out to them. Right now I’m focused on ensuring that the ‘remote kill’ option is disabled."
"Yeah, I’m not going to countermand you on that call, it sounds like the right one to make," Nathan agreed.
"Ideally we could just shut them all down, but they’re insidious and evil," Simon explained. "The only reason we were able to extract the Aurealian that you shot was because her hearts had both stopped for thirty seconds and the device marked her as dead. It assumed that she had been hunted and disabled itself. The alternative methods of shutdown … they’re all intentionally designed to kill the host. I’m not confident in my ability to circumvent this without accidentally triggering that."
"I understand. Play it safe. If you can just disable the geographic restrictions, that will also be a huge help. We can worry about disabling and removing them at a later date," Nathan agreed.
"Right. Is there anything else? Because now that I have some of my shackles off, there is a lot of work for me to catch up on, Nathan," Simon said.
"Just don’t make me regret this, Simon," Nathan answered. "Don’t make either of us regret this."
"I’ve learned my lesson, Nathan. Even if I haven’t, full cooperation is the best move for me logically, and you know I’m smart enough to understand that."
Nathan’s hologram studied him for a moment longer before abruptly de-rezzing from Simon’s small room in the brig.
"Oh Nathan, you brilliant idiot," Simon whispered to himself. "If only you realized how much I really regret all the stupid shit I’ve done to you. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s hypocrisy. That was always the source of conflict between us. Only now I’ve realized that I was the hypocrite , and you were the true believer."
~~~~~~~~
For centuries, the stealth capabilities of the Auealian fleets were a closely guarded secret. Used for scouting and planning, the ships were slower and poorly armed. In fact, they often consisted of little more than a skeleton crew, the minimum amount of life support required for their mission, a whisper drive, a skip drive, and a fission generator. Fission, not fusion, because the magnetic bottle created by a fusion generator would be detectable by active scanners, whereas fission generators do not run that risk.
They lack active camouflage not because they lack the technology, but because it is inefficient to waste the energy on such a thing when a simple paint job makes the craft look like a comet. Never was a stealth scout ship to come close enough to a known Deathsworn asset for their scanners to determine the difference, and any ship which even suspected pursuit was legally required to self-destruct in a manner which rendered all of its technology useless to the Deathsworn.
The occupants knew when they boarded a stealth ship that they would likely never return. Not because pursuit was common. The opposite was true; sitting light-hours outside of known systems, the stealth ships had never once been discovered. Not in centuries. They simply sat out in the oort clouds and watched. And watched. And watched, until their crew died of old age, and the ship was finally recalled for a new crew.
It was a tactic which had saved billions of lives. Whereas the Aurealians were forced to plan and hide their movements in shadows and secrecy, the Deathsworn broadcast their movements openly. The information the stealth ships gathered allowed the Aurealian military fleets to run interference for their civilians, keeping the Deathsworn occupied chasing the faster, lightly armed transport ships which never went anywhere near a population center. And when the spy ships detected a fleet aimed at a known planet or habitation station? The warning their FTL information networks sent saved millions from the peaceful death of the Urata, or the terror of combat against the Deathsworn.
And those truly were the only two options, for it was widely known that there was no defeating a Deathsworn in open combat. Their base species had evolved under heavy gravity in a world with a bright star. Only ranged weapons could equalize the difference between strength and speed of a Jurassian and an Aurealian, and once the Deathsworn were inside a ship or habitation complex it was too late. An unarmed Aurealian was simply unable to overcome the natural weapons of a Jurassian, and technology and weaponry simply widened that gap, rather than closing it.
The only option was to destroy their ships, their ship yards, their transports. Let the fires of their reactors, let the vacuum of space, let the explosions of ship-to-ship weaponry do what needs to be done. And it was the Stealth ships which told the fleets what needed to be done, and where.
But then the humans had arrived, and the paradigm had shifted entirely. Simply by watching a single ship defend itself a thousand times in a thousand ways from a thousand angles, the Aurealians had learned.
The Aurealians were very clever, always clever. Harmonious, but clever. War went against their nature, but they could learn anything given a proper example. They had learned war from the Deathsworn, who fought like Jurassians. This had forced them into the mindset of a Jurassian fighting a Jurassian, and it was this mindset which was killing the Aurealians. More than the Deathsworn, more than the Urata, it was simply poor tactics.
But then the Aurealians met the humans. And everything changed.
While all of the forces of Horthus and his generals were preparing for a swarm of Aurealians from the other side of the star system, three hundred stealth ships released a hundred missile pods, each containing fifty anti-spacecraft missiles. Each of the pods burst onto the long ranged scanners of the defending Horthians as they kicked on their TORCH drives and sped to take their enemy in the rear. By the time they were detected, it would already be too late to reposition.
Horthus was playing go with a human when he was told that he had already lost a third of his system’s defenses. It was simply a matter of waiting for the vectors to collide.