---Correspondent---
---Unwungunug’s perspective---
I stand behind the desk, my front legs locked in front of me, my back legs behind.
I grip my outsized work holo between my three fingered hands.
“Remember…” says the producer “…don’t ask where she’s going or what she’s doing! You can mention her absence but nothing more!”
“This isn’t my first day, Vorganq. You only needed to say it once.” I say, dryly.
She nods and steps back from the set.
I look down as she counts us in “And we’re on in 5, 4, 3, 2…”
The on air light illuminates and I look up into the number 1 camera.
Speaking in my usual deep, level voice, projecting the air of calm unflappability that has become my trademark, I start “Greetings, gentlebeings all, and wishing you well wherever you are. My name is Unwungunug and this is Galactic News… Our top story this cast is the discovery of Nowe Mazury, a lost colony of the UTC that has been isolated from all outside contact for around [4 centuries]. Hailing from Earth, the sole complex life producing planet in the Sol System, the UTCCS Pilecki embarked to ferry colonists to the designated colony world, Nowe Pomorze, in the Terran Calendar year 2291 when the Terran expansion was still in its infancy, relative to now. Reports indicate that it suffered a critical failure of Navigation, leaving all those aboard stranded in deep space for [decades]. Having located a planet that could support them, they landed and spent the intervening time subsisting through traditional agriculture. Upon discovery, contact was made, subsequent to which the community leaders convened and formally requested to be granted the status of UTC [protectorate], a position that would allow Nowe Mazury to benefit from the development aid and mutual defence agreement of the UTC, without obliging them to contribute taxes or maintain open boarders with other UTC worlds. The governments of Sol and Nowe Pomorze have already voted to accept this status and it is expected to pass referendum on other UTC worlds with little opposition… A spokesman for the government of Nowe Pomorze has pledged that they will lead the efforts in developing Nowe Mazury to the point where they are able to join the UTC outright…”
I pause here for a few moments to separate that segment of the story from the next and allow the audience time to digest it.
“…This development has met with some condemnation from those outside of Terran Space, the Parliamentary delegate for the Battan saying that the decision to develop rather than evacuate the system was, and I quote ‘a move motivated by naked territorial ambition and nothing more than an insidious attempt to gain a foothold at the doorstep of Citadel’, stating that she would vehemently oppose any transfer of the exclusive economic extrastellar space from the R’qali and Nothar, who’s territories this system straddles, to the UTC. Many have likewise expressed discomfort with the UTC acquiring this system that is set to become their furthest coreward yet…”
I turn from the camera to my right, where a video feed is about to be displayed.
“We go now to our correspondent aboard the ship that made contact, the R’qali owned, multispecies vessel, the Bright Plume. Long time viewers may recognise her as our former correspondent to Earth; correspondent Soo. It’s good to hear from you, Soo.” I say to the Suigu who’s ‘face’ appeared on screen while I introduced her.
I wasn’t simply being polite when I said it was good to hear from her. The Suigu, though a bit of a Terraboo weirdo (as evidenced by the fact that she, almost exclusively, presents herself shapeshifted to look as much like a Terran woman as is possible while made of blue jelly(!)) is, nonetheless, a consummate professional in the field of journalism. My heart sinks a little every time there’s been any news from the Sol System since she was replaced with that (much less good) Varnap boy.
My colleague smiles with her shapeshifted Terran mouth (though without going so far as to simulate their unnerving habit of baring their teeth to express joy) and says “It’s good to see you too, Unwungunug!… I’m standing on Deck 1 of the Bright Plume, overlooking Deck 0, access to which has been, temporarily, restricted. As you can see behind me, bedding has been set up for the 261 Mazurzy who were selected to be taken off planet, either to benefit from regeneration or to care for those that are. A high proportion of those below me are Mazurzy children and elderly but there are also some with debilitating long term injuries or other health conditions. Triage has been established to prioritise the order in which those that need it are able to access the single regen tube on board. With me now is a man who has already undergone regen and has agreed to be interviewed, a Mazurzy elder and community leader, Bzowy Witold.”
The camera pans to include a slim Terran male with long, thick, grey hair and a clean shaven face.
“Bzowy Witold, can you tell me how you’re feeling, right now?” asks Soo, morphing her 'hand' into the shape of a Terran hand holding an old fashioned, Terran style microphone.
Microphones are unnecessary for picking up voices (the camera is more than capable of doing that itself) but are very useful for indicating to interviewees when they are and aren’t expected to be speaking.
“I… uhm… it feels… surreal!” says the man, holding up his hands and looking intently at their backs before turning them around to show them to the camera “I’m young again!… My hands are smooth! I can see clearly! My back doesn’t ache! I feel fit and energetic in a way I haven’t for decades!… I shaved my beard, just to get a better look at my face… it’s incredible! It’s just the way I looked when I was in my twenties… though with grey eyebrows!… I’m not a superstitious man! I know that this is simply very advanced technology but… from where I’m standing, it feels like magic!… I keep expecting to wake up and realise that this was all simply an amazing dream!”
He reminds me of the footage that was shown when I reported on the first Terrans to receive regen after it had been cracked. Looking at themselves with dazed amazement that this would have become possible in their lifetimes!
“That’s fantastic to hear!” smiles the Suigu, with ease “…Could you tell us how you’re finding the conditions aboard?”
Focusing on Soo, the Terran answers “I have absolutely no complaints. At first, I was a little confused about why the way was blocked between our floor and the higher levels but it was explained to me that, since there are so many children who may find it difficult to grasp the difference between us and ‘gardenworlders’, it was a safety measure… Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve fully come to grips with being told that I’m a ‘deathworlder’… I’m sort of used to thinking of my species as being at the bottom of the food chain, only able to survive by our cunning and ingenuity(!)”
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Soo laughs “I’m sure many Terrans who’re not in your circumstances feel the same! How are you finding the food? The sleeping arrangements? Bathing? Are you being looked after well enough?”
He smiles “It all seems very luxurious to me… but the Terran crew keep apologising for it(!) The food is plentiful, nutritious and flavourful but the cook says he’s having to cut corners in order to feed so many and that it doesn’t taste as good as it could if he were allowed to take his time with it. The bedding is clean and comfortable… There’s not much in the way of privacy but that is rather to be expected under the circumstances!… They told us, when we came aboard, to make as much use of the bathing facilities as we liked… We thought that this was something they were saying out of courtesy since, to us, bathing in hot water seemed quite ludicrously extravagant… After a few days, they clarified that this was not a simple courtesy and that we needed to keep ourselves clean, both for our own wellbeing and that of the gardenworlder crew… I understand that our pathogens can be quite deadly to other species… On the whole, I can’t say I remember a time in my life that’s felt more indulgent than this!”
Soo smiles and nods before asking “Bzowy Witold, your people were isolated for First Contact and throughout the entire War… what did you think when you learned about it?”
The Terran's face falls and, sombrely, he answers “I was… shocked, of course… When the group that came to our town showed me the recordings of nonTerran beings… I thought it might have been some sort of… joke they were playing!… When I first actually met gardenworlders, I was extremely nervous… but they quickly put me at ease… It was also… extremely saddening to learn how my species had been viewed, upon our discovery… the things that we’d had to do! The need to resort to the kind of brutality that I thought the Terran Union had permanently made a thing of the past… at least for those living within it.”
Internally, I baulk at the implication that those outside of the UTC are more brutal than those in it but Soo expertly clarifies “You mean that life was brutal on Nowe Mazury?”
He nods “Yes, it certainly has been!… The main threat we faced has been from zmory… large, powerful predators which have never learned to fear Humans or Human habitation… Our entire settlement had to be ringed with two defensive walls to defend against them… Our ancestors built them in the time when the Pilecki still had enough power to be capable of raising and lowering its access ramp and there were still few enough of us that everyone had living space aboard. In the centuries since, we’ve simply maintained them, replacing the parts that broke or rotted. If they hadn’t had the foresight to build those walls, we wouldn’t have survived…”
“There were other threats too?” asks Soo.
The Terran answers “Historically, there has been a single significant war in Mazurzy history… In 2567, our population had grown to the point where we thought it prudent to establish a colony on a lake shore, around 150km from the resting place of the Pilecki. It was called Braniewoszyce and we were hopeful that it would be the first of many. However, it quickly succumbed to the fascistic, strongman rhetoric of a Fojtordenter named Jarosław. He was made ‘king’ and then attempted to conquer Malbork. The resultant war depopulated both settlements to the point that separation was no longer necessary or viable… Though… the main killers on Nowe Mazury were nothing as dramatic as wars or beasts! Most Mazurzy to die have died of hunger, cold and disease… solutions to these things are what I shall request be prioritised in the aid Mazury receives.”
Soo nods her ‘head’ like a Terran “I see… What are your plans for after we arrive in Citadel?”
“Well… I’m told that the local ‘ODR’ is arranging appropriate accommodations for us and that most of us will quickly be returned to Nowe Mazury, to coincide with the first few aid ships' arrival… I, however, am to be conveyed from there on a tour of Terran Space, where I will act as a, sort of… spokesperson for my people… I am told that I’ll definitely be visiting Nowe Pomorze and Earth but other stops are yet to be decided.”
Here, I cut in “I understand, Bzowy Witold, that there was an altercation shortly after your community leaders voted to request protectorate status. Could you tell us about that?”
The Terran purses his lips briefly before saying “Yes… our Guardcaptain returned from an expedition outside the town, entered the council chamber shortly after the vote had concluded and, I presume feeling somewhat snubbed by the fact that this historic moment had happened without him, decided to make a snide comment about the gender balance of the contacting team… the leader of the team answered in kind and he very quickly became so enraged that he struck her. He was instantly arrested by her bodyguard and is being transported with us to face charges of assaulting a representative of the UTC. I am extremely ashamed of his conduct and apologise, on behalf of my people, for him.”
“I believe we have footage of that event… yes, I’m being told we’re playing it now.”
The live feed is replaced by prerecorded footage of a Terran male and female of equal height standing around [1.5m] apart with the bodybuilding celebrity, Thran ‘Gimli’ Hunter, stood behind the woman.
“Unfortunately, all I see is an arrogant rooster…” says the taller woman, witheringly, and repeated by a third woman who must have been acting as a translator.
The man steps forward and hits her in the face with a strike that would have shattered most species’ jaws.
With lightning speed the short woman has slammed him to the stage and is twisting his arms behind him, reaching for a pair of handcuffs.
The live feed is returned.
“Thank you correspondent Soo, thank you Bzowy Witold. Sorry to say but I’m afraid that’s all the time we have. On behalf of all of us here at Galactic News, I bid Nowe Mazury welcome to the galaxy…”
Soo and the Terran nod to the camera.
“Now… coming up next: Splurg fruit, healthy snack or dangerous health risk?… The answer may surprise you…”
---Waqa’arc’s perspective---
They stink…
As I look down from the railing on the seventeenth Deck… it occurs to me that that nest of Terran primitives down there manage to smell strongly enough to offend my nostrils from [90m] away!
That Suigu journalist play acting at being a Terran female has just finished transmitting their propaganda piece on Deck 1.
The disgrace of a woman, unfit to bear her mother’s name and the name of our Clan’s founder appears from the mid section of the ship, spots me and takes flight in my direction.
She alights on the railing beside me and turns to face in the same direction.
“Did you catch the news segment, Waqa’arc?” asks the insufferable brat, smugly.
“Yes I did, Tcakqaal… The one slanting this as a heartwarming tale of rescued waifs instead of a bloodchilling one of a band of deathworlders who, upon being marooned on an inhospitable planet of famine, disease and formidable predators, managed to stubbornly cling to survival for [centuries], rather than having the decency to become an archaeological site!… Not to mention the opportunistic way the deathworld empire seized the chance to gain a foothold behind R’qali territory, leaving us vulnerable to future flanking attacks! Oh and, lest we forget, the way one of their community leaders immediately assaulted someone upon meeting her!”
“Oof! Tell us how you really feel, why don’t you(!)” she responds, flippantly.
“I’ve spoken to your Terrans, Sister… I’ve found them to be every bit as unpleasant as I had always predicted.”
“Yeees… they’ve told me about you’re needlessly inflammatory needles and nitpicks with untied shoelaces and the like… as well as your demeaning comments. Not exactly what I had in mind when I said you should meet them but… it does do quite nicely to prove my point about them, nevertheless… See how you’ve utterly failed to get a rise out of them stronger than gritted teeth? You don’t think, if they were as bad as you believe, you would have by now?”
“They’re better at repressing their true nature than I would have believed.” I concede “But they’ll show themselves for what they are, eventually.”
“No doubt they will!” she laughs.