Release date: September 21, 2026
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It took more than a day for the first response to reach us. The distance was to blame for three hours of it, but the rest was government dithering. Even so, all they did was ask for more verification. “Please detail survivors name, rank, and family den.”
The human embassy promptly sent the requested information, adding, “They are not prisoners, and we are not asking anything in return for them. We will gladly return them at the place and time of your choosing, regardless of further welcome.”
It was another day before the Embassy received another set of instructions: Deposit the survivors in the biggest crater on the far side of the outer moon, a small lifeless body perhaps two isquare in diameter. Leave them enough air for a day, and the Morelli would send a ship for them.
“Looks like they’re concerned about contamination,” I told the four Morelli, “We’ve been asked to drop you on your planet’s outer moon. Sergeant Mitrisa has inquired about a flight path, but she can’t get a response for at least another two hours thirty.”
At that moment, Ambassador DeelKonosh entered the room, along with Xenologist Tamana. I’m sorry, he sent telepathically to Tessa and the four aliens, Our experience in contact situations leads us to believe that in situations like this, the odds are that your government regards you as an embarrassment to be disposed of. We can offer you two other choices. We can set you down in a thinly inhabited zone of your main planet, or any other colony of yours, or we can take you to a human exile planet, as we don’t permit non-humans within the main part of the Empire, in which case you will at least still have every chance to live out your lives.
“WHAT? They’d simply kill their own people?” Belatedly, I realized it had come out more a shocked scream than anything else.
I kept telling you you didn’t understand, Tamana explained via datalink, Different species have different responses, but the responses of governments, at least governments not aware of M’Don’s Equations, are far more consistent. If they were willing to receive us, they might ask about cross-species diseases, rare as those are. But we had our Morelli guests checked for likely cross contaminants and they haven’t caught anything from the people they’ve been exposed to, and nobody has caught anything from them. Cross-species contamination is uncommon, and we don’t worry about it because of our healers, but most alien species have more limited experience. But if that was their worry, we’d work out a quarantine protocol, and they’d agree to accept our embassy.
If they simply wanted their people back but weren’t willing to accept the embassy, they’d have us bring them to a base somewhere, or make rendezvous with one of their spacecraft, Ambassador DeelKonosh continued, Instead, they’re having us drop the inconvenient survivors away from any other installation, where they can be disposed of with maximum ease.
“Would the Empire do something like that?” I asked, incredulous.
The Ambassador shrugged, sending a private datalink message. I’m not familiar with that ever having been done, but it the situation required it, yes. We’re not altruists. I can’t think of one, as our Viceroys are not subject to the same political constraints as most of those governments we encounter. Political embarrassment is not a threat to us. But our understanding is that the Morelli are governed by a class oligarchy, similar to many Earth nations
Suddenly, I knew the Ambassador was right. Heartbreakingly correct. Political embarrassment was everything. Earth governments – even the alleged democracies – relied upon inconvenient facts being buried. I suddenly understood that was a near universal truth among governments.
“I have to try,” Motafo declared, “I’m an officer of the Community forces. It is my duty to report what I have seen.”
Copyright 2026 Dan Melson. All Rights Reserved.
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