Mutually Assured Destruction (29/?)

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Memory transcription subject: Captain Tak of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: November 21st, 1982

The main-sequence star the humans called Altair was not conducive to life. A relatively young star, clinging to its bassinet of dust and gas, Altair bathed everything in a harsh, radioactive white-blue glow. Even through the electronic viewscreen, I felt a sensation of being scoured. I could almost hear the warnings of my hindbrain, the part that dealt with danger: the crackling of a rad-counter.

Governor Sam sat next to me. He looked like he’d been through hell, which of course he had. The harsh light of Altair drove shadows into every nook and cranny that lined his tired face and frayed clothes: the trials and tribulations he’d faced in the last five years. They say he conducted the war from the front, overseeing battles personally.

I thought back to my conversation with him prior to the meeting. I'd asked him why he chose me of all people to accompany him to meet the Federation. He'd laughed hoarsely and slapped me on the back.

"Out of everyone I can think of, you're the bravest out of all of them. Eight years ago, you disobeyed my direct order to stand down, on the principle that you needed to stand watch over the Pluto installation. Then you fought me for eight years out in the belts, and came through alive. That takes balls. I'll need that bravery with me if I'm to stand up to whoever the Federation sends. They look down on us, you know. Never could figure out why."

Then his face grew serious. "Also, there needs to be representatives from both sides to make the meeting fair. You're the highest ranking officer left alive to represent your side."

So that was comforting.

I racked my brains on Governor Ratio, the Federation representative who sat across from us. Elder of the Farsul, a professor tenured at the Academy, first and foremost school in the Federation. He taught mathematics, which the Farsul considered sacred: the language of the universe, in which the laws that govern existence were written. Ratio specifically belonged to the more fundamentalist type of Farsul, and so his classes were almost like mass. Governor Ratio, provisional head of the Federation -or what was left of it. The Farsul, of course. The Post-Kolshian creatures. The Dossur machines, some of whom came here with Popov’s expedition. The Krakotl, who'd been besieged as the Farsul were. The Zurulians, surprisingly, who came through relatively unscathed. Us Venlil too, he hoped.

The humans were barred from the meeting. They were indignant, of course, but Ratio stood firm - unusually so, considering his - our - stance on humans. In the end, it was only a technicality that kept the humans out of the conference room - the humans were not members of the Federation, and therefore could not attend. The male human, their Navy liason, shot me a withering glare as he and the female took a seat in the atrium, covered by a rather nervous-looking Farsul guard. Oddly, Sam looked unperturbed by this.

Ratio tapped at the table and it lit up, delineating the terms to ensure cooperation between both sides. Mediating, in a way. Pulling myself out of my musings, I picked out concessions, reparations, border delineations and a hundred other minutiae meant to appease both parties.

Sam cut Ratio off with a cough, slapping his tablet down on the table. “Thank you for drafting the terms for us, but I believe I have a much better plan for going forward. From here on out, the Venlil Federation hereby ceases to exist. All prisoners of war and former citizens of the Venlil Republic will be placed in secure quarantine until they have been sufficiently deradicalized, upon which they will be re-granted Venlil citizenship and allowed back into the fold. To ensure a peaceful transition, the Federalists will be allowed to create a political party, to express their view in more… conventional means.”

I stifled my surprise. After everything that happened, he was letting us back in? What's more, he was allowing us to form a political party. Given the last eight years, the horrific sieges of Mercury and the grueling campaigns in the Belts, he might as well be giving us a slap on the wrist after all we’ve done to each other.

Maybe he felt the war was punishment enough.

Ratio looked taken aback. “Now, now, Sam. Let's not be hasty. Surely your two factions can coexist. Both of you can coexist with your own autonomy…”

His voice was querulous, his idea was terrible, and we both knew it. Dual states were a nightmare to maintain and were rarely happy. Not to mention that such systems only existed as puppet states for opposing powers - without foreign intervention, one state always consumed the other. Like what was going to happen now.

Sam raised a finger. “Captain Tak has agreed to unconditional surrender. He is the highest-ranking member of the Venlil Federation still alive to agree. With all contested areas under Republic control, the Venlil Federation has neither territory nor assets to claim as their own. Ergo, it has already ceased to exist. This signing is a formality that you insisted upon.”

Ratio drew himself up, looking ruffled. “Now, now, Sam. You forget your place as a governor. You answer to the Federation, and the Federation dictates the terms.”

Ratio straightened his coat and gestures to the table again. “Allow the Federalists space on Luna, Phobos and Deimos. We’ll set up installations there and aid the Federalists in their endeavors. I understand that this unpleasantness occurred due to disagreements in your population. We can provide a place for your people to cool off, after which they can settle their differences.”

Phobos and Deimos? Right. The twin moons of Mars. The request - order, really - came out of left field. But I could understand: Mars was an Arxur reservation now. Terraforming plans were in the works, and the humans had envisioned a cold, watery planet speckled with fjords, warmed by geothermal springs - a close match to the Arxur cradle of Wriss. Ratio wanted a colony of anti-predator fundamentalists in orbit over Earth and Mars to watch the humans and Arxur.

Us Venlil would be fine, of course. We were based on Mercury, and we had plans of terraforming Venus. There would be nobody watching us but our own. The humans wouldn't like the idea, and the Arxur less, but it would be their problem. An easy plan - logical, rational, efficient. Placate the Federation, get rid of the rebels, check the predators - all with one stone.

“No,” said Sam.

Ratio’s anger showed only for a moment; a twitch and nothing else. He sighed and got up from the desk. He scrutinized Sam.

“The humans, you care for them. This is why you refuse?”

Sam nodded, quick and decisive. “They are sapient. We have to contend with this new power and I’d rather have them as friends.”

A scoff from Ratio. “Friends? They are no friends of yours. They scheme to use you as a stepping stone to power. They align themselves with Arxur remnants. Ultimately, they are predators. They do not have the right to be called friends.”

“But they have empathy, emotion, culture. The humans can be reasoned with.”

Now Ratio was pacing the floor, hands clasped behind his back. “You think this has to do with empathy, or emotion, or reason? No. This has to do with nature.

“Sol is a rarity. The cataclysms of late have left the galaxy devastated. Aafa and Talsk are frozen wastelands. Other cradles are soon to follow. We can rebuild on Earth, terraform Mars and Venus. We can set forth from a new Aafa, a new Talsk, and build our Federation anew. But we cannot do these things while predators infest the Sol system.”

He turned to us, tapping the table again. Holograms of planets appeared and lit up in yellows and greens: fertile areas, resource deposits.

“We prey species are unique amongst the stars. Our hardships in antiquity developed intelligence and our intelligence developed culture, civilization. It is by our hand that the galaxy is transformed into a better place. Despite our efforts, however, some things cannot be changed. As much as we would like things to be otherwise, the galaxy is ultimately subject to the laws of nature. And nature happens to favor those species that are brutal and cruel.

"The predators aim to depose us, Sam. That much is clear. The Arxur campaigns are evidence enough; they would have us all in cages, fodder for their table. They have the aggression and the drive to make it so. And in a world subject to the laws of nature, it is the predators who will thrive.

We broke from that ruleset, Sam. We built for ourselves a new world, but it is under threat. We are pushed to the edge, and for our Federation to live, we must have space. We must be allowed room for our peoples to grow, lest the predators outnumber and overwhelm us. The world is cruel, and under its auspices not every species is granted the right to exist. To live in such a world, we must wrest from nature our right to exist. We must take the Sol system. It is the only way.”

Sam stood up too. He crossed his arms in a very human expression.

“Humans are no threat to us, as long as we treat them carefully. They are naive and young, and they deserve the chance to grow. Humans show promise, Ratio. They can be reasoned with. If we do this properly, there will be no need for fighting. Your extermination will leave Earth as broken as all the other cradles of the Federation. Do this right, and they will give us our living space freely.”

“You cannot be so sure. Their history has shown them to be jealous over their land.”

“And yet they have shared it. We’ve made exclaves on human territory. They’ve shown us kindness and hospitality for the most part. We’ve evidence of thirteen years of successful cooperation with the so-called savages, and everything points towards centuries of continued prosperity. We can work this out without bloodshed, Ratio. We need allies, almost as much as we need living space. Do this my way, and we can have both.”

“And what of the Arxur? I hear that scattered ark fleets are congregating around Mars. Their history is beyond dispute. Surely you won't defend them?”

Sam coughed. “The humans believe they can be rehabilitated. We’ve supervised both species extensively and have seen no sign of threatening movements. Not to mention that Mars is not a hospitable place. It is a harsh life there, even for predators. I feel exile is punishment enough for what the Arxur have done to us. Given a few decades, perhaps they can join society as the humans have.”

Ratio's voice turned ice cold. “You are insane, Sam. Not only do you spare our old enemies, you let them fester right under our noses. The Arxur should be exterminated, every last specimen, for what they’ve done to us. We cannot let them survive.”

“The humans should've done the same to us, for the attack on their own. Yet they haven't. The secret’s been out for a while now, and everyone who knows is in a position to act. I imagine that there will be war crime trials. A lot of my people are already going through legal procedures; the humans will not be lenient. But nothing else has happened. We expected genocide, Ratio. Is it really such a stretch to at least return the favor?”

The two governors stood at an impasse, a hologram of Earth between them. Seconds of silence ticked out on the table’s clock.

In the end, Ratio did not relent. “You choose your new friends over us. Fine. We’ll begin measures to excise the Venlil Republic from the Federation, and strip it of all protections and privileges of a member state. You and your people are predators now, Sam. And we will treat you as such.”

I made to stand up, but Sam motioned for me to stay. He drew himself up to his full height, his expression set.

“So be it. If you want another war, I’m afraid I will have to oblige.”

Pathetic. Blind and fractious even as your doom approaches.

The voice was quiet, so close it felt like someone was whispering in my ear. But Ratio paused and looked around, while Sam flicked his ears in a gesture of confusion. Everyone had heard it too. The voice continued, and a sudden feeling of formless anger enveloped the room.

From the moment you broke my children and scattered them to the stars, I have hated you.

Millennia of progress, erased by your stupidity.

An alliance of treacherous vermin, proliferating despite our efforts.

Now we arrive to finish what we have started.

Sam opened his mouth. He looked confused, but Ratio looked worse. His expression of bafflement turned to understanding and horror as the whisper got louder, though it never got anything close to yelling; it was like turning up the volume on a video. Shadows dappled the walls, and Sam’s earpiece buzzed.

Something large blotted out the light of Altair. Something rectangular.

Mutated wretches of tainted meat, twisted to ignorance by your fear, you think you can oppose us?

We, the monsters of your past, come to steal your future?

Sam pressed his earpiece, shouting orders to his fleet. Ratio gibbered and collapsed into his chair. He curled up into a ball.

“Not again, not again…”

Sam strode towards Ratio, grabbed his coat and yanked him up, shook him.

“You know what this is, don't you? Tell me! Damn the secrecy, tell me!”

Ratio's eyes rolled in his sockets as he fainted. He hung from Sam's hands for a moment before Sam let him drop into the chair.

The voice continued. It rang through my head as the starlight outside flickered, the monster outside engulfing the viewscreen.

The birth of the stars announced our ascendancy. And the death of your kind shall herald our return.

For we are inevitable.