First Contact

Nakteti stood on the balcony, overlooking San Angelos, able to see the blue water of the bay from the height of her luxury penthouse. The city itself had been ruined many times by earthquake, tsunami, terrorist nuclear detonation, and glassing. Nakteti looked at the city and sipped her drink. She'd taken to trying out the various types of Terran drinks modified for a Tnvaru's biological system. She was more leaning toward the sweeter alcoholic drinks, usually with fruit, than the other complex drinks. Although she had to admit she had a soft spot for "Cyber-Queen's Reserve" from Bongistan although it tasted like paint thinner mixed with jet fuel. She liked it chilled with liquid nitrogen.

There weren't the thunder storms that rocked the city like in New Mombasa, but rather storms that came in off the mountains to the east and pushed the air back into the ocean. The entire city was made of chrome and neon, brick and mortar, a dizzying confusion of styles and eras.

Right now she was watching the sun set into the ocean, sipping her drink, and watching the city slowly go from daylight to the glowing neon of its night life.

The "movie" was going well. There weren't many Tnvaru in the Sol System so the movie company had to go to computer generated for the characters. Apparently they had gone with 'based on a true story' so they could really 'punch it up' for the story.

What she had seen so far, she had enjoyed.

"Captain Nakteti, you have a visitor," the room's AI told her.

"A moment," Nakteti said, setting down her drink. She called up a holo-reflective surface and checked her jewelry and clothing. Her species didn't really wear jewelry any longer, Unified Council species considered a sign of primitivism, but the beings of San Angelos wore it prominently, a sign of social status and wealth. Her clothing was the latest Tnvaru style (she'd worn it and had a timed upload for the template for clothing for the stuffy version of her) adapted for Terran cloth and materials.

She saw Major Carnight was standing near the door, the pistol in his hand. She frowned a slightly.

"It's a Tnvaru, they just cleared customs but it's taking time for the data to reach me," Major Carnight said. He tilted the pistol, looking at the tell-tales, all of them red.

"Why are you worried?" Nakteti asked, smiling. She'd gotten more and more into human habits. They felt nice, now that she'd come to grips with the fact that her people's culture had been erased by the Lanaktallan. "They're of my people, I doubt they have come here to harm me. If they had to clear customs, as you said, they weren't part of the crew of the Sweet so whoever it is had to travel thousands of light years to see me."

Major Carnight didn't bother to tell Nakteti he could think of a dozen reasons that someone of her race might want to harm her, how many reasons he could think of that the Lanaktallans might engage someone to harm her, and the hundreds of different ways that she could be harmed.

Instead he just nodded tightly, relaxing outwardly but keeping his smartgun link warm.

The door slid open at Nakteti's touch on the panel and she just stared in shock.

"Nakteti," the older Tnvaru said, holding her gripping stick and staring Nakteti in the eyes.

Major Carnight's implant alerted him that Nakteti was under extreme emotional distress, even though she was just standing stock still staring at the other Tnvaru.

"Mother," Nakteti said, lowering her head and her gripping stick into the submissive pose.

Major Carnight shut off of the alarm. He suddenly knew what was causing her anxiety.

"Nakteti," the older one said. She looked around. "You appear to be doing well."

"Yes, mother," Nakteti said. She stepped to the side. "My home is your home."

The older Tnvaru swept in, almost imperiously. Major Carnight half expected to see escorts and syncophants following the older Tnvaru female. She moved like royalty.

She moved from room to room, making noises to herself. Based on his implant Major Carnight was able to compare the stress levels to the the sounds the older one, Nakteti's mother, made as she explored.

It ended on the balcony, the older female staring out at the brightly lit night-scape of the megaplex.

"May I offer you something to drink or eat, mother?" Nakteti asked softly.

"That would be good," the older female said. She sat down in the chair and looked surprised as it suddenly altered its form to make the Tnvaru more comfortable. "Why is this chair moving beneath me."

"The Terrans call it 'ergonomics', it's designed to ensure you get the best physical support and comfort from the furniture," Nakteti said. "It will adjust until you're comfortable."

The older female, Sangbre, waited for the chair to stop shifting then sighed with pleasure. "Oh, this is nice. Such luxury."

Nakteti nodded, still feeling an ominous feeling of dread. Her mother was highly respected by the Tnvaru, having been the one who had successfully argued that the Tnvaru were ready to oversee the colonization of another planet. There was silence as Nakteti punched up a sweet drink full of fruit with only a little alcoholic content and handed it to her mother.

"I saw the many replicas of our people being held by immature Terrans," Sangbre said, still looking at the city. She sipped at the drink. "This is delightfully tasty. What is it?"

"A Lava Flow, mother," Nakteti said. "A Terran drink."

Sangbre nodded, sipping the drink and looking at the city. "They are an active people, are they not?"

Nakteti frowned slightly, wondering what was going on. Her mother was usually stern, brusque, businesslike in her dealings since Nakteti had become an adult. "Yes, very active."

"The space port I landed at was full of murals on the walls. A Terran male told me that the mural, which was something called fireglass and quite beautiful, was the first FTL flight that humans took. I had expected it to be tens of thousands of years in the past, but instead it was only slightly prior to eight thousand years ago, prior to something called The Glassing," Sangbre said, taking another sip of her drink.

Nakteti made a mental note with her implant to make sure there wasn't quite as much alcohol in the drink at the rate her mother was sipping it away. She went to answer but her mother kept speaking.

"This entire city was glassed. Tens of millions of Terrans killed in an instant," Sangbre said softly, staring at the city before her. "They rebuilt it. Right where it stood. Rebuilt it almost in defiance of it being glassed."

Sangbre sipped the drink more. "The human male Terran walked with me through the space port, showing me the murals, talking about the ships. He introduced me to his pair bonded mate and their five children, three of whom were very young. One of his offspring was so young as to still requiring feeding from mammary glands and clutched to his mother like one of our own young would."

Nakteti had recognized that her mother was monologuing and stayed silent.

"The young ones had soft replicas of you and the surviving crew of the Tastes So Sweet in their arms. One, which could barely walk, wanted me to touch it and tell it that I loved it," her mother said.

Nakteti could almost see the disapproving look and glare her mother would have bestowed upon that Terran child. Could almost see the Terran child burst into tears at her mother's cold rebuffing.

"Terran children are quite strong. Luckily, as a mother myself, I understand that children do not know their own strength and so I did not take offense to the child's embrace," Sangbre said softly, sipping at her drink and staring at the city's lights. "I have never seen a being take such joy in embracing another. It told its mother repeatedly that I had hugged it."

Nakteti almost spit out her drink at the idea of her mother embracing a Terran child.

"The infant was bright and curious for its age, only three months. Its eyes constantly sought out movement, bright or shiny objects, and interesting things," Sangbre said softly. "The mother allowed me to smell it and hold it for a few moments."

Nakteti ordered up her mother another drink and handed it to her.

"The Terran family was nice enough to share a transport ride with me. They offered to show me the sights, and I spent several hours with them while they showed me the landmarks and points of interest of this city," Sangbre said. "I accepted their invitation to go to the beach. I walked with their children on the sand, felt their ocean brush my feet, and looked at Terrans playing beach sports and enjoying time with one another."

As she took another sip of her drink she reached into her pocket and pulled out a greenish-purple piece of glass with rounded edges.

"The children found this for me in the sand and gave it to me. It's called 'Lossglass', formed during the glassing," she sipped her drink as she looked at it.

Nakteti had never seen her mother in such a mood, never seen her mother act in such a way.

"I can almost feel it. Almost feel the horror and rage in this piece of plasma formed glass," Sangbre said, her voice quiet. "The child who gave this to me was literally quivering in excitement from finding a piece of terrible history to gift me."

Her mother took a long drink and set the lossglass on the table, which immediately identified it and tagged it as non-disposable.

"The children, the Terran family, were willing to share their lives with me for an afternoon for no recompense, nothing more than to share in my wonder and experience," Sangbre's voice was full of wonder. She turned and looked at Nakteti. "Do you know why I came here, my daughter?"

"No, mother," Nakteti admitted.

"I had come to ask you why you would sell us into bondage to the humans, how you could put us into slavery, since obviously there was no reason for them to sell you the entire rights to a solar system and even transport our people there," Sangbre said. "I had been terrified that we had escaped the debt slavery of the Lanaktalann only to enter into slavery with the Terrans."

Sangbre tapped the lossglass. "Now I understand."

Nakteti swallowed thickly. "Understand what, mother?"

"That it isn't a trick. It isn't some plot to enslave us," Sangbre said, her voice full of wonder. "Everywhere I looked I saw small children holding representations of you and the rest of the Sweet's crew. I spent the afternoon with a Terran family."

Sangbre looked at Nakteti. "As you are an exceptional starship captain I am an experienced negotiator. I saw no guile, no falseness in the Terran family. I watched the Terrans around me closely. I watched how every moment was filled with thought, with movement, with socialization, with pleasure and contentment and happiness."

Sangbre took another sip of her drink. "I had stopped by the new colony. There is already cities built, fisheries, manufacturing plants, all of them owned by our people. Schools are created."

Sangbre sat a small holo-emitter down. "I wish you to see this." She triggered it.

The hologram was of Tnvaru sitting in a classroom with a Terran teacher. She recognized what they were learning to use.

Creation Engine template programming applications.

The hologram switched. Now it was of Tnvaru children being taught in classrooms that looked much more comfortable than the creche classrooms that Nakteti had attended.

"They are learning. We chose what they will learn, no Overseer approved it, the Terrans just said it was up to us what we taught but they had suggestions," Sangbre sipped at her drink. The hologram shifted to show Tnvaru watching robotic workers plant long rows. "Farmers."

Nakteti watched the holo go through dozens of different jobs.

"Our new homeworld is our homeworld now," Sangbre said softly.

"What of our homeworld back in Unified Systems Space?" Nakteti asked.

Her mother shook her head. "It may be where we are from, daughter, but it is not ours in the way that this planet is the Terrans homeworld. Destroyed, riven, glassed, bombarded by atomic weaponry, and they have rebuilt it to be their homeworld again and again," Sangbre said. "Our 'homeworld' has no trace of our people. Our buildings are built how the Overseers say they should be built, factories and farms are where and how the Overseers say they should be built."

Sangbre reached out and tapped the lossglass again. "Their world was destroyed, their colonies were destroyed, the Mantids pushed them almost into oblivion. They yet endure."

Sangbre shifted the lossglass with a single short stubby claw. "Our people have no culture. Nothing of our own. Everything on that world we are from is Lanaktallan."

She waved at the city beyond. "It was glassed. Before that, this location was the site of an amphibious invasion where power armor and tanks fought in the streets. It was hit with an atomic weapon," she gave a low chuckle. "Twice this city was destroyed when a giant lizard exited the ocean and not only physically attacked the city but then used atomic fire breath."

She chuckled again. "I asked the Terran male if he expected me to believe that. Do you know what he replied?"

Nakteti smiled at her mother. "Oh, it's obviously bullshit, but it's cool, so I choose to believe it."

Sangbre did something that Nakteti never expected.

She laughed.

"Yes. That's exactly what he said. Just before his child ran up and handed me this lossglass," Sangbre said. She shook her head. "The Lanaktallans glassed our planet and rebuilt it in their own image in a way. Only they were the ones who wrote the history to please them, not us."

Sangbre touched her daughter's shoulder. "I am here, my daughter, to ask your assistance in something. When I initially set out, it was to show my disapproval that you had chained us to a new slavery, but now, I am willing to plead with you."

"For what, mother?" Nakteti asked.

Her mother took out a data block. One of the big ones that held massive databases. "This is what I could download of our people's history. There is not much. It has been stripped down, rendered sterile."

Nakteti nodded. "There are no tales of Tnvaru heroes, no mention of who created the jumpdrive or what it was like for our people to create it. No ancient heroes attempting to bring our people from primitive tribes to one unified people. No names of brave heroes who crossed oceans."

Sangbre nodded. "I understand that you are very wealthy by our people's standards."

Nakteti nodded. "I accrue wealth each day."

"Are you willing to use even more of that wealth to help your people? Already, you should be legendary, in historical records for purchasing a star system and assistance in our people colonizing it as well as paying for our people to be transported to it."

Nakteti nodded, her mouth going dry at the fact her mother was asking for her assistance rather than the other way around.

"Our people need you, Nakteti," Sangbre said. She hugged herself. "I apologize, my daughter, I feel distress in laying this burden on you."

Nakteti moved over and embraced her mother, waiting until the distress eased, then sat back down, bringing up a pair of drinks for them.

She added a bit more alcohol to her mothers.

Sangbre took a long sip off of her drink. "This is very good."

They sat silently, looking the brightly lit city in motion beneath them. Finally her mother set down her drink after half of it was gone.

"I need you to help me do what the Terrans did after their history was destroyed," Sangbre said. She looked at Nakteti. "Help me, help your people, my daughter."

Nakteti nodded. "Help you build our history. Give our people a culture of their own, not what the Lanaktallan created for us."

Sangbre nodded. "The Lanaktallan have nearly destroyed us, my daughter. As the Mantid almost destroyed the Terrans. Help me save our people."

Nakteti smiled. "Tell me, mother, do you know what a 'movie' is?"

Sangbre shook her head.

Nakteti gave her mother one of the human smiles she had practiced in the mirror.

"Let us go to the home theater in my home, mother," Nakteti said. "I'll introduce you to movies."

Sangbre frowned as she stood up, tucking the lossglass back in her pocket and grabbing her drink. She followed her daughter into a lavish room with a huge Tri-Vid screen, blank white walls, and movable chairs. She sat down at her daughter's urging.

The 'movie' was part horrifying, part exciting, and part hilarious. It involved a complex plot of betrayal, violence, exploration, and politics.

After the movie Nakteti looked at her mother. "That's called a 'dramatization', mother."

Sangbre blinked several times. She'd consumed several of the Lava Flows and felt slightly intoxicated.

"It's like a historical documentary, but more exciting, with false parts in it to make it more enjoyable for the viewer," Nakteti explained.

"It was fascinating, daughter, but why show it to me?" Sangbre asked.

Nakteti smiled again.

"Because, mother, I'm having one made about our people's discovery of the Terrans. A wild young race of primates that nobody has ever heard of," Nakteti said. "About how our people discovered the Terrans and it led to the Precursor War and more and eventually helped us throw off the chains of the Lanaktallans."

Sangbre blinked, feeling pride in her daughter grow inside of her.

"From our point of view. A story of our people, mother," Nakteti said.

Major Carnight , watching the byplay through the security monitors, understood perfectly why his alarm went off as Sangbre dropped her gripping stick and drink and rushed over to hug her daughter tightly and start to cry.