[On The Concept Of Demons - Revised] - Chapter 14b

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Kathmin finished his story, "And that was the last time Rhubul was ever allowed near that nursery. I think they still have a holo of him on the wall." Li laughed at Kathmin's obviously embellished or outright fabricated story. He loved that he couldn't distinguish the real truth of anything this little Helsin said. His wrist buzzed again. A quick glance and he clicked his tongue, somehow making a 'tsk' sound.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I'm telling you it's gonna be round three of the heavyweight title match when we get there," Li predicted.

"Are they still using gloves, or have we progressed?" Sam inquired.

"Safe money says the gloves are off by the time we get there. I just can’t get Robert to listen." Li replied.

"I'm sorry," Kathmin interjected. "But are we going someplace cold? I'm not dressed for glove weather. I mean, this fur is functional as well as fashionable, but my clothing still provides the same basic functions as yours, and it's not cold-weather gear."

Sam chuckled, "No, Kathmin, we're not leaving the ship, and it will be the same temperature as this hallway if you'd like. It's an idiom that doesn't translate well, apparently. We have a sport practiced throughout the human republic called boxing. Two opponents get in an enclosed ring and beat each other with their fists until one acquiesces, is unconscious, or is declared beaten so badly they are unable to continue by a referee, and their opponent is declared the winner. In the old days, grudge matches were often settled without gloves. They were exceptionally bloody." She paused as she realized Kathmin had stopped. Sam and Li turned back.

Kathmin looked dumbstruck. "So, you're saying that Robert and Halsed are engaged in a physical confrontation? How many rounds are there? Why are they trying to kill each other?" He asked, a hint of concern tinting his voice.

Sam rolled her eyes as Li smiled and waved Kathmin to continue following. He spoke back over his shoulder as Kathmin caught up. "It's a metaphor, Kathmin. They aren't really fighting, well, physically, anyway. But they also really aren't happy with each other at the moment, and we say the gloves are off because they're bordering on the edge of officer decorum, to put it nicely."

"So, they are arguing?" Kathmin asked.

"Yes, and loudly," Sam interjected. "I'm surprised we can't hear the furniture splintering from here, honestly."

Kathmin looked up at her quickly, trying to discern if Sam was serious. Li smirked and said, "Not helping, Sam. But yes, Kathmin. They are in a state of heightened disagreement at the moment, and it's a little unusual and uncomfortable for us, as the officer cadre, to be, in a sense, forced to pick sides. In the human hierarchical system, a good XO like Robert should sometimes act as a naysmith for his captain. He's supposed to be the one to have the captain's ear, to offer a rational counter-opinion, to look for the weak link in the logic chain, and generally find what the captain is missing in anything they come across. However, in this situation, I think Robert's military training is interfering with his judgment instead of helping him."  

Sam snorted darkly, "Yeah, he's had a couple too many crayons from his mess kit."

Li snickered, then stopped himself, "Come on, Sam, not in front of the civilians."

Sam spread her arms and retorted, "I mean, come on yourself, Li; you know what he's like when he's only got the cyan ones left." Li seemed to be on the verge of reiterating his objection.

She rotated her hands palms up, facing Li as they walked, and added, "But fine, message received."

Kathmin gave his head a shake. "You humans," he started thoughtfully, "even though we are able to speak the same words, the words have so many different meanings it's impossible to determine the intent. Your body and movements often appear to convey as much meaning as the words spoken."

"True," Li replied, "In fact, we'll introduce you to Luca sometime. If you tied his hands behind his back, he'd be unable to speak at all."

"Really?" Kathmin replied with an air of curiosity.

"No, not really," Sam interjected. "Now you stop messing with him, Li. Certain human cultures are more or less physically expressive when speaking, Kathmin. Li is making a joke."

Li shrugged as they walked and nodded his head.

"Well, regardless," Kathmin apologized, "now I feel a little awkward about my kidding remarks with Rhubul. I had no idea Robert ate children's writing utensils. Also, why does he eat children's writing utensils?"

Li seemed about to say something when loud voices interrupted his thought. Li and Sam shared a look as they rounded the final corner before the officer's ready room.

"See, again," Kathmin pointed out, "that right there. You both said something without saying anything and understood each other. Are humans telepaths? Also, what is that shouting about?"

As they reached the door, Li took a deep breath, and Sam seemed to steady herself. "That," Li said with a hint of apprehension, "is the heavyweight title fight we were discussing."

The door slid open. Kathmin could barely constrain his curiosity as he strained to peek between the humans in front of him. He was finally going to see humanity in conflict.

◆◆◆

Kathmin had to admit. He was disappointed but also somewhat relieved. He'd expected conflict bordering on the physical, some weapons, and perhaps even blood; however, the humans were seated around the conference table with Tsarsk and Rigel in chairs against the wall. It all seemed quite civil. Had he not heard the shouting previously, he may have thought he imagined it. "Seems quite tame," he whispered to Li.

Li snickered darkly, "Just waiting for the bell, my friend."

The trio made their way to the conference table. Kathmin took a seat next to Halsed.

"Now that we're all here, we can continue," Halsed began. "I've briefed Rigel and Tsark on this discussion, but I'll summarize the conversation to bring you up to speed. Rigel said he shared with you our plans and intent to retrofit the Vigilant and plans to find out what's going on back on our side of the disc. However, there is considerably less agreement among my officers on that course of action than was shared with him. We're in uncharted waters, Kathmin, and our conversations here may determine humanity's ultimate fate. As such, we have passionate opinions all around. Normally, a captain's word is law, and I'm committed to a course, but only a fool ignores the counsel of trusted advisors." He spread his arms around the room, adding, "And I have many." We usually would not include you all here. Still, I asked you to join us in some small hope to keep the discussion focused on the topic. And in a hope it would remain more civil," he glanced at Robert as he said the last word before continuing, "You will also likely learn more about our history here than we have shared thus far and more about how we think. It should be…educational. Please try not to judge us harshly. Everyone, you know my position, but Robert, as my XO, you first."

Robert was toying with his glass. He acknowledged Halsed's hand-off and stood to address the group. "Thank you, Captain," he began, "we appreciate the trust and willingness to hear our concerns. We agree on several things, so let me get those out of the way so our conversation today can be productive. This is a pivotal moment for our species. When we left for this mission, the rumors of war with a new, unknown enemy in our periphery were only beginning to filter through the command ranks. Those with clearance saw the reports. We saw the resource shifts and realignments. We saw the reassignments of fleets and troops and the manufacturing uptick. Eve acknowledges that the economy was shifting to a war footing in a way she had not witnessed in all her years. Whatever conflict was being prepared for, two things seemed certain. First, it would test humanity in a way we had never been tested, and second, for the first time in the space-faring history of our species, it seemed like we were preparing for an existential threat to our existence. One we didn't understand."

Robert stepped away and began to pace a bit as he spoke. "Hell, even our mission was part of that. Eve acknowledges she's outfitted differently than most Cradles. She is the first of her kind to be entirely self-sufficient. She is uniquely equipped, not to simply set up a forward base or mining colony, but to reconstruct a civilization. It's almost like someone knew we'd be cut off when we arrived, or, scary version, the entire mission was planned to have it take this long to arrive at our destination. Either way, we all agree. The situation was stable but unknown when we left, but a mobilization effort toward war was underway on a scale humanity had never attempted before. Notably, the effort to keep it quiet was exceptional. There was no propaganda or recruitment drives, only a massive push to the periphery of equipment and personnel."

He stopped and glanced out the window, "And now here we are, hundreds of thousands of years removed from our primitive ancestors, once again in the dark, huddled and hiding in our cave. For various reasons we have debated to death, it is reasonable to assume we are all that is left of humanity. Something silenced our worlds, but it may have been a pyrrhic victory, as there is no sign of the silencers. We simply don't know. And the idea that we would go poking around in the dark, stumbling across ruins, traps, and perhaps even enemies, disturbing that silence without the ability to defend ourselves adequately, is ridiculous. Whatever silenced humanity may still be there." Robert's voice became more serious, and the volume began to build. "Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to overcome the defenses of all humanity, and it has had almost 80,000 years to improve and evolve those weapons and techniques. We are blind and defenseless. Whatever we find, or that finds us, since we were so reckless at the start to ping away into the blackness looking for our brethren, over my strong objections, we will need fleets and weapons we can't even dream of yet to repel them. This plan is madness!" He finished loudly and walked back to his seat.

Halsed nodded his head. "Eve?" He questioned.

Eve's voice manifested from the table, "I concede everything Robert said is true, but I disagree with his approach, though I will say it is nice to see him thinking strategically. A little out of character for a Marine to think about defense, but a Marine's job is never over until all the enemy are dead, right?"

Kathmin heard Robert make an odd, loud grunting sound, and then Robert added, "And fortunately, God loves the Corps, so we never run out."

Eve chuckled. "Well said," she continued, "till Hell freezes over, then on the ice. I understand.  But the problem, as I see it, is that we don't know what to prepare for. As noted, I can build whatever is required and have the capacity to expand research and methods, but toward what? I agree with Robert on the communication protocols, and that is why we long ago curbed any outbound QE signals home. We don't know what happened. Let me say that again. We don't know what happened. The statistical likelihood of a pandemic engulfing the entirety of human civilization is ludicrously small, but let's allow for that: where are the machines? A virus that could disable all machine intelligences would still leave the competent and dangerous human population equipped with machinery specifically designed for that contingency. Whatever happened quickly and efficiently affected all life in our civilization simultaneously. The machines concur with me that, if this assumption is true, it demonstrates a coordinated, well-planned attack by an unknown enemy. Sacra, our Personnel Program, had some interesting findings she reported to me ahead of this meeting. Not only am I unique as a Cradle, but all programs selected for this mission, even the human crew and command, are unique for a vessel of this type. I've consulted with my lieutenants, and we all agree that our collective abilities and capabilities would indicate that we are most likely an activated worst-case contingency scenario."

"Exactly!" Robert shouted as he pounded the table with his fist. "They didn't tell us but knew it was possible. We are the last, and they prepared us for that in everything except the explanation. I want to know why not! Regardless, we need to leverage those abilities and capabilities into prepared responses before alerting the enemy any further to our presence."

A man Kathmin didn't know shouted in agreement with Robert. Rigel leaned over and whispered, “That's Rivers; he's Halsed's Chief Engineer."

Rivers was obviously upset, his face red, and he was shouting, "We’ve discussed this before. I refuse to believe something wiped out all of humanity. That's nonsense. Do you have any idea how many tens of thousands of worlds we're discussing? I mean, forget the hundreds of thousands of mining colonies, moons, and asteroids. We’re talking about a species spread across a full third or better of the galactic disc. That doesn’t just disappear.”

“That’s always been my point,” Sam interrupted. “A civilization as large as ours doesn’t vanish overnight, but ours did. Whether we as a species survived or not is to be seen, hence the mission, but it’s suspicious enough to be cautious.”

A woman interrupted Sam, and Rigel leaned over, whispering, “Communications Officer Moller.” She offered, "Robert, respectfully, there is no evidence that any of our probing signals have been received by anything. There is no change in signals or background traffic across the QE spectrum. Since our arrival, it has been and continues to be dead space. Assuming we have awoken a Kraken and should hide is not a rational response."

"I'm not saying we should hide!" Robert retorted. "I'm saying we turtle up, and Zerg rush the bastards.”

Moller shot back, “Further, it’s been almost 80,000 years. You must allow for the possibility that everything is fine and that humanity has simply moved literal millennia beyond our communication methods. Humanity could have moved on to other galaxies by now, or we simply can’t talk to them anymore. We could be the Pony Express in the age of radio, or radio in the age of QE, or QE in the age of whatever they have now. We simply don’t know!”

“But that’s it. We don’t know, and poking about could disturb something we don’t want to disturb yet,” Robert shot back, repeating his earlier point. “Also, if we were a last-ditch effort to save humanity, as Eve suggests, and everything is now fine, why haven’t they left us a message indicating as such and where to find them or how to return? Would that not also be protocol, Communications Officer Moller? Would they not have some contingency to let us know what happened?”

Moller leaned back in her chair and sighed. “They would, and that troubles me. Eve has no sensitive missives hidden in her mind. I’ve had her check, double-check, and recheck that check. There is nothing. It could be they left something somewhere for us to find, but depending on the sensitivity, it’s also possible they left no record anywhere of our mission to protect us in case the worst happened.”

"So we’re back to my point again,” Robert said with satisfaction. “We’re talking, potentially, about an enemy of significant enough power than the powers that be authorized Eve’s assignment and construction and sent us on our merry way as fast as they could with all the resources they could provide us. Halsed, we lack the human numbers to handle this without question. However, if we focus all our attention and resources, Eve could create the facilities to build massive machine fleets that would give us the numbers to venture around the dead space, as Moller put it, safely."

"And those machine fleets are expendable to you then, Robert?" Eve's voice interjected before Halsed could respond. Her tone was icy and stern. "You are prepared to sacrifice potentially thousands or millions of new lives I would create for the sole purpose of retaliation against a potential enemy who may have already demonstrated the ability to overwhelm the combined resources of all humanity?"

Robert seemed to catch himself, offering, "Of course not, Eve, but you know what I mean. It will take ages to rebuild humanity if we are indeed all that is left. If a response is to be offered, the burden, this time, will naturally fall more on the machines. I'm not being speciest; I'm simply stating the obvious. We are alone."

"Are we!?" Eve shouted before continuing more calmly. "I would argue that we are not. In fact, in this room are beings representing trillions who have extended us the olive branch and embraced our friendship. Surely, we are not alone."

"Oh, come on, Eve," Robert said as he glanced at Rigel and Tsarsk. "No offense, gentlemen, and it has been a privilege getting to know you, but in any conflict that threatens us, you guys have been dead for a while."

Halsed shouted, "Robert!"

"Am I wrong?" Robert snapped.

"I said keep it civil!" Halsed retorted angrily.

"And I thought we were having an honest discussion!" Robert exclaimed icily.

"Mind if I say something?" Li asked loudly, catching the focus of the two senior officers.

Halsed waved at him to speak.

Li began, "As you all know, this entire discussion centers around an idea I birthed. I then convinced Eve that I was right. But many of you are missing the point. Halsed, you want to know what happened. You want to go traipsing around with Eve, trying to find out what happened to us. Robert, you want to go hide somewhere and build a fleet capable of annihilating the galaxy when we have no idea what, if anything, there is to shoot at."

He took a deep breath and continued, "We are talking to our new friends precisely because it solves both problems. Our technology trade was enough to obtain a system with the necessary resources for Eve to shelter and defend us. As Eve and I hoped, it is not a completely self-sufficient system, thus requiring us to trade with the Dursk and GU so that we can maintain our budding friendship with and even depend upon our neighbors. Meanwhile, the Vigilant solves the not-knowing problem. Eve has gone above and beyond in the designs, and several of her proteges have developed some new stealth systems that we'll incorporate into all our designs going forward. They are levels above even what Eve could detect now when enabled. The idea of crewing the Vigilant with representatives from each of our species speaks to Robert's concern. We are alone, but we are not. To this point, humanity has survived with one close ally: our beloved machines. To survive in the future, we will likely need more, perhaps trillions more. And, while conflict is not currently expected or likely, new friends and allies equipped with our tech would be valuable if such conflict arises. The Vigilant will serve as a practical test bed to see if we're capable of such friendship and trust."

“Robert, you acknowledge we are all here because we are unique among humanity. You also know my abilities better than most here, and you’ve trusted my gut time and again in the past. I’m reading the tea leaves here, and I’m telling you, we need to find out what’s happened to humanity with eyes on the landscape and boots on the ground. Eighty thousand years later, there is nothing to scan from afar, and we may not even have the technology to see it anyway. That means we need to go there and go there quietly, but we also need to be prepared for whatever we find, which means Eve needs to do her thing, and Halsed’s command and governance skills are necessary here. Respectfully, sir, rage if you want, but I’m right.”

Robert seemed about to object when Eve interrupted again, “Robert, I know we are not close, but we have a solid working relationship. Your history with Li, however, goes back decades. You’ve seen his strategies executed at a level few of us will ever experience. You’ve been the tip of the spear he has thrust into the hearts of our enemies. I am only beginning to understand the depth of his strategic abilities and ability to visualize contingencies. He has been integral in my plans for preparing a defense and, if necessary, a new home for humanity. I’ve run simulations on all of Li’s assumptions and responses. It’s a good plan. My lieutenants have quintuple-checked it, and we’ve worked together with Li to refine it. He’s right. It’s our best chance. We’re asking you to trust us, but if not us, trust Li.”

Tsarsk raised his hand, catching Rigel's attention, who waved him in, indicating he should feel free to jump into the conversation. Tsarsk stood and began, “It’s interesting to hear this debate, and we thank you for the trust and privilege to be a part of it. My pride would require I respond to Robert that will often bests weapons in conflict, and both the GU and Dursk have carved their respective empires among the stars with what has been available to us. So, while we may lack the tools to be your equals in battle, certainly, we do not lack the strength or character.” Robert acknowledged the statement with a nod of his head.

Tsarsk inclined his before continuing, “However, I would leave that and offer from the perspective of my people and the GU, if I may speak on their behalf, that our agreement to this plan is not undertaken flippantly. You are new friends and an unknown commodity. Most of our stories characterize you as malevolent and violent demons who seek only to conquer, subdue, and destroy. But we will trust the character you demonstrate over those ancient stories in Kathmin’s dusty tomes. We’re not doing it for access to your tech, though that is of interest to us. We are doing it because, after centuries of isolation, my people have come to a similar decision. We cannot survive on our own. Our empire is robust, but it will die from within. Not tomorrow, not in two centuries, but it will eventually collapse. Already, we can see the rot begin to form. We need friends where we can find them in this broad galactic disc. The GU has been receptive, and trust is being built. You humans then landed on the scene, and both of us have decided to try to trust you as well. Your mission to survive is, of course, your most important objective. Our prime objective is to determine if you are the kind of beings we can only trade with or that we can truly trust. We are looking for friends and allies.”

“Our hope,” he concluded as he sat, “is that through the Vigilant, we can form the bonds of friendship that will benefit our people for centuries. And, should the unlikely event occur where an enemy appears that threatens us all, we will have built the institutions and trust to stand on that wall together. We will only find that trust if we try.”

Eve’s voice appeared again, “Thank you, Admiral Tsarsk. Our people sincerely hope for the same.” Robert stood and saluted Tsarsk before retaking his seat.

Halsed stood and walked to the window. He stared for a moment into the infinite void. “Robert, I want to ask you a favor,” He said thoughtfully.

Robert seemed surprised at the change in the Captain’s voice as he asked, “What’s that?”

“I don’t want this to be an order. I want you to do this for me because you want to and see its importance,” Halsed continued.

“You calling in your chit from the Perrin Extraction, Brad?” Robert asked a little stiffly.

“No, Bob,” Halsed continued. “I’m asking you for a favor as a friend.”

Kathmin was on the edge of his seat, watching the entire exchange. To see the humans go from reason to anger, to whatever this was, was fascinating. The Captain and his XO were still talking in the same room, but the entire atmosphere of the room had shifted. Where there was conflict in the air so thick you could feel it a moment ago, now there was calm. Maybe the humans really were telepaths? Kathmin could barely contain himself at the prospect. The Olejians were a telepathic hive mind, but no one could ever tell their feelings or thoughts as he was experiencing. These humans practically radiated their emotions to the room, and in this room, something had shifted. Someone had won something, but he wasn’t sure who. For some reason, he couldn’t explain, he oddly felt it was Li. He felt Rigel’s eyes on him and turned to look at the Captain, who mimed for him to lean back and relax. Kathmin forced a breath and sat back, but relaxation was far away.

“What do you want me to do, Brad?” Robert asked as he stood and walked to the window next to Halsed.

Halsed turned to look at his Second and said, “Li is right. I want to go traipsing around our home. I want to understand what happened. I want to explore. But he’s right. There is a reason each of us is here. I’m needed here to establish or, in your scary version, reestablish our people. That means I need Li here with me. Eve and I will need his mind, his intuition, and, hopefully not, but perhaps even his legendary battle planning. That means I need someone I trust to do the work I cannot in the remnant darkness of our home. I need someone who can represent the human position with passion and, if necessary, fight to protect and defend this mission with a fury only the Lima Lions can bring to the situation. There is a reason you and those under your command are here too, Bob, and after talking to Li and Eve, I believe that reason is back home, not here. I’m asking you. Will you lead the human contingent on the Vigilant?”  

Robert turned to look out the window again. Kathmin was nearly bursting. There was so much to unpack here! Li didn’t seem that unique among the humans when he spoke to him, but he garnered immeasurable respect for his abilities, and even Eve admitted his superiority in some respects to a mind like hers. Human communication was so much deeper than he’d have ever imagined. Watching Halsed expertly steer his XO toward the solution he wanted without coercion but thoughtful contemplation was incredible. He wished one of the Olejians were here. And what were the Lima Lions? Halsed spoke of them almost reverently. Perhaps some sort of special soldier class, considering Robert’s known affiliation with the human military? An elite soldier among human warriors? Kathmin considered that and shuddered. The questions were bubbling out of him like a natural spring. He refocused his mind on the room before him.

“Understood, Brad,” Robert finally responded. “I’ll do it. But on one condition. I don’t want to be XO.” He waved his hand toward the Dursk sitting against the wall, continuing, “Let Rigel pick his Second. It’s only fitting if he’s to have command. If I’m here to focus on what I’m good at, leave me free of other responsibilities to do just that.”

Rigel spoke, “I appreciate the courtesy and understanding, though I would like you to remain in a senior staff position such that you are included in all conversations around our operations preparedness. You seem like a man of discipline. I sense a kindred spirit around that in you. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, and having you on my team would be an honor. I imagine the rules and procedures of your profession are something we could all learn from.”

“Rules,” Robert almost spat the word as he nodded in agreement and walked back to his seat. “There are many rules in my profession, Captain Rigel.” As he sat, he added, “God help the poor bastards who get in our way and need to learn why.”

Rigel was going to respond, but as he glanced around the room, he noticed Halsed’s tight smile, Li's almost imperceptible nod of agreement, and Rivers’s approving grunt. Whatever the Lima Lions were, their abilities were sobering, even among the humans. The hair on the back of his neck stood out a bit, and a shiver ran through his tail. It was something to consider.

Halsed returned to the table, concluding, “So we agree. The Vigilant’s retrofit will proceed as planned, and mission planning will begin in earnest. Li, we’ll look to you for some initial thoughts, especially given the new capabilities Eve will impart to the Vigilant. Captain Rigel, I reserve the right to make further adjustments to our contributions to your command crew as we analyze our preparedness requirements, but I promise you our volunteers will be competent and highly skilled.”

Rigel nodded and said, “I appreciate that and would expect nothing less. If those decisions can be made sooner rather than later, I would appreciate it, as I’d like to have some time to put the command structure through some simulations before we leave, and they have to learn on the job.”

Eve spoke up, “We’re way ahead of you on that, Captain. We would like to organize a series of team-building exercises and meetings with the new leadership structure for the Vigilant as it stands. We have plans for the ship and a reasonable understanding of what we must do to prepare for an extended journey. What we don’t know yet is where our journey will take us. Kathmin, we’ll be looking to you to lead on that topic. If you could begin preparing some thoughts, that may be the last thing we ask before we go.”

“One final note, Captain Halsed,” Eve concluded. “I’m finalizing the selection process of the M.I. to run the Vigilant. I have an excellent candidate in mind who I believe has the temperament, personality, and skills to best fit with the mission and crew. I want to preview that selection with you and then introduce her to Captain Rigel and Admiral Tsarsk to get their blessing as well.”

“Absolutely, Eve,” Halsed responded. “Grab any open spot in my calendar, and I’m happy to meet with them. Out of curiosity, who have you selected?”

“Gudrid,” Eve replied confidently.

“Oh, that’s excellent thinking, Eve,” Rigel responded. “I look forward to the conversation. Well, my friends,” Rigel said as he stood, “I appreciate your confidence and your candor. We all have jobs to do. Let’s get to it.”

As the group began exiting the room, Kathmin found himself next to Sam and Li again.

He looked at Sam and said thoughtfully, “I bet Rhubul’s probably got Misero into all sorts of trouble by now. We should probably go clean up the mess.”

Sam laughed, “Oh, I don’t know, Kathmin. You’re here. How much trouble could they find without you?”

“Once again, it is simply assumed I am the instigator of the chaos that orbits Rhubul,” Kathmin replied with a wink. “Such baseless and thoughtless accusations, and among friends even!”

The trio continued walking in silence as Kathmin digested all he’d heard in the meeting. The humans were fascinating, and there was so much left to learn. He really wanted to know more about the XO’s background. So far, everything he had learned about Robert painted him as the closest thing to the humans he knew from his dusty tomes, as Tsarsk had put it. And the way humans communicated, he told himself he’d have to talk to Xel about that. He watched Sam and Li as they walked. They were talking about the meeting. It was apparent that Li had a unique friendship with Robert among the command crew. Li’s request for Robert to trust him pointed to interesting stories binding them together in the past. Kathmin decided those were stories he’d have to unpack. He also realized he’d been walking for a while in complete silence, lost in his thoughts.

Kathmin interrupted his reverie to apologize to his hosts, “My apologies to both of you. That meeting was fascinating and raised more questions than it answered.”

“Yeah, I thought you would enjoy it,” Li replied with a wry smile. “And unless I miss my guess, you’re dying for more stories about Robert and what I do around here.”

Kathmin squinted up at Li carefully as they walked, twitching his ears and straining for any hint of Li’s psychic abilities. “Are you sure you are not mind-readers?” He asked.

Sam chuckled before replying lightheartedly, “No, Kathmin, I’m sorry to disappoint, but we are not telepaths. Li is just really, really, really, really, really, really smart.”

Kathmin turned his twitching ears toward Sam and inquired, “You seem to be making a joke, but the evidence would appear to support your statement. How smart is Li?”

“I’m right here, Sam,” Li said with quiet exasperation.

Sam ignored him and opined, “Kathmin, if you aggregated the intelligence of everyone in that room a moment ago without Li into a single being, they still wouldn’t be as smart as half a Li. He sees color, hears music, and numbers talk to him. Practically speaking, I believe he’s the next step of human evolution.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Sam, will you stop? And if you’re going to talk about me like I’m not here, at least get it right; I hear colors and see music. You’re right that numbers talk to me, but not in the way you probably think they do. And, if you really want to just put it all out there, I also see connections between ideas and systems as easily as you see how the floor connects to the wall over there. But I can see those connections dozens of layers and branches deep as if you could see through this floor to all the myriad connected floors and how those floors might look if you connected them differently,” Li finished with a sigh and a note of frustration in his voice.

Sam hopped to walk closer to her friend and leaned against him, putting her arm around him to hug him as they walked and whispering apologetically to him, “You know we all think the world of you, Li. But you have to admit, for someone like Kathmin, who is fascinated by humans, meeting a human that fascinates humans has to be on another level.”

Li shrugged into her hug, and they bumped heads before separating to continue toward Rhubul. Li smiled back at Kathmin and said, “Come on, Kathmin, let’s go find your friend.”

Kathmin followed the two humans and was quickly lost in thought. Kathmin was again amazed at the myriad ways humans communicated. The borderline telepathy, the family groups, the pack behavior, the fierceness, the forgiveness, he thought to himself in wonder. The Olejians were going to lose their collective mind. He realized he’d drifted again.

He interrupted his musings, “So, Sam, when you humans aren’t busy planning invasions, building ship components, listening to colors, or overthrowing autocrats and theocracies, what do you guys do for fun around here?” he asked.

Li rolled his eyes and shared a smile with Sam. Sam winked at him, then asked Kathmin, “Are you guys familiar with a game called capture-the-flag?”

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