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Brooks paced his study with long strides. They took him to the side of the room in only three steps, whereupon he had to wheel and start again.
His system told him that Urle, Decinus, and N’Keeea were on their way up to his office, mere moments off.
And it was an effort to hide his anger.
The door chimed.
“Enter,” he said sharply.
The three came in; first Urle, showing no sign of being shaken up after nearly getting missiled, then Decinus – and N’Keeea last, but Brooks held up a hand.
“Ambassador N’Keeea,” he said gravely. “I’ll have to ask you to wait outside briefly.”
The Hev seemed more responsive than Urle had initially described him, but said nothing, merely nodding.
Brooks was not concerned with him running or causing trouble – his every move was being monitored. But he didn’t want the Hev to hear what he was about to ask.
“How is the Bright Flower?” he asked Urle.
“Her heat radiators deteriorated a little during the jump back,” Urle replied. “Which was not unexpected. Other than that she’s holding together fine. It will take her a little longer than normal to charge up for a jump, but that can’t be helped.”
“No crew dead or injured?”
“Some bumps and bruises. Captain Daa sprained two limbs holding N’Keeea in his seat, but they’ll be healed within a few hours. She’s not complaining.”
Brooks accepted it with a thoughtful nod, looking down and away.
“Excuse me,” Decinus said. “But I feel the largest matter here is the status of our negotiations. With an attack by the side we came to help, it seems clear to me that our presence is no longer wanted. We have little reason to stay in-“
“Wrong,” Brooks said. “We did not receive any official word to such an effect from N’Keeea, their ambassador.”
“But they tried to kill him as well as us!” Decinus protested.
“An unfortunate accident,” Brooks said, clearly distasteful of the idea of playing it down.
“Captain, I do not think you are being rational here,” Decinus said, his own words turning sharp.
“I am not,” he agreed. “However, I am right. Can you truly walk away and leave the Tul to die because of this? No one was killed, and the damage was minor. In a few hours we’ll have the Bright Flower repaired to the point where it will be like it never happened. It is a ghost in the data. But the Hev on Poqut’k are not ghosts – not yet.”
His eyes met Decinus’s. “Do you still disagree?”
Decinus sighed. “Now I see the truth of the rumors about you, Captain. No, I will not abandon those lives if I can help them.”
Brooks looked to Urle. “What did the Bright Flower find?”
“Find?” Decinus asked, looking confused.
Urle looked to the ambassador. “The Bright Flower has a great suite of extremely good sensors. We were gathering information during our entire time there.”
He looked back to Brooks, opening his hands. “What Hev are alive down there are well-hidden in deep bunkers. Poqut’k is smaller than Earth, and older, too, so they’ve been able to dig very deep – we’re talking kilometers under the surface. Short of a planet cracker, they’re going to be fairly safe. It looks like the Maig have launched a lot of nukes, even a lot of asteroids, but none yet have been large enough to kill them all.”
“Yet,” Brooks replied. “How many do you think are left?”
“That’s hard to tell, but our best estimate is around ten billion. How they’re faring is an even bigger question, but they’re still producing weapons – the parts of the missiles we recovered from the Bright Flower’s hull seem to have been manufactured in the last few months.”
“And they’re Hev design, not sold to them by the Fesha?”
“They don’t have any hallmarks of Fesha engineering. I already ran tests on it, and the ore likely originated from Poqut’k. They sent a fair few after us, too, so that suggests they’re not running low. This war could drag on for a hell of a lot longer, I think.”
Brooks began pacing again. “I think it’s already gone longer than the Maig would have liked. We’ve seen signs that they’re adding engines to a rock that’s fifteen kilometers wide. It may already be in transit – and then it’s a matter of months before it hits.”
“Bigger than the one that caused the K-T Extinction,” Urle noted. “The seismic waves alone will collapse all their underground bunkers even if it doesn’t hit them.”
“God,” Decinus said. “Do you truly think the Maig would do that? Will the Tul not surrender?”
“Let us ask our ambassador,” Brooks said. His voice rose. “Ambassador N’Keeea, please enter.”
The door opened, and N’Keeea came in. His head was not held high, but level, a sign that while he was not evidently feeling defiant, he was not going to simply submit, either.
“Why did your people shoot at the Bright Flower when they knew you were aboard?” Brooks asked.
“They view that I have failed them,” the Hev replied simply. “And I have. We have no hope left.”
“Will they truly not accept the idea of withdrawal if we can arrange it?” Decinus asked.
N’Keeea hesitated. “I . . . cannot say with honesty that none would wish to leave. But in practicality – no. None will.”
“Why?” Urle asked. “Surely it is better for some to survive than all to die!”
“We are not fanatics,” N’Keeea replied sharply, then sighed. “But during times of war, our military clans hold more sway than most. How can they not, when Hev wars are to the bitter end? All must be for victory. Dissent is not tolerated.”
The room fell quiet for a moment, then Brooks asked; “So are they executing those who wish to flee?”
“Most likely,” N’Keeea said. “The military clans are born and raised on the idea that nothing is too much to sacrifice for victory. And if victory is not possible, deny the enemy everything. Even our lives.”
His eyes whipped over them all. “Before you judge – for I know your kind view the universe differently – to be captured by your enemy is not simply a dishonor. There are no rules in a war such as this to protect those who are captured or surrender. The Maig will have no mercy.”
Urle looked to Brooks.
Brooks was only looking at N’Keeea, though. “As far as we are concerned, N’Keeea, you are still the Hev Ambassador. Do you wish for us to leave? Or continue to try?”
Confusion spread across N’Keeea’s face, followed swiftly by elation.
“I still request your aid on behalf of my people,” he said.
Brooks nodded. “Well, then. There we have it; a formal request. We’re going to have to have a talk, though, Ambassador. It’s going to be a very difficult talk that neither of us are going to enjoy.”
N’Keeea was silent a long moment. Then; “You mean about what my people are willing to give up to survive.”
The words sounded almost painful for him to say.
“Yes,” Brooks agreed. “This will cost you more than anyone. We can attempt a deal, without your government’s approval. It may be for nothing, but . . .”
“If we have something to offer, some may take it,” N’Keeea finished. “Enough that even our military caste can’t stop them.”
“That’s right. And once we have that hammered out, then I think that it is time we talk to Overlord Ks’Kull.”
Other Terrestrial 