Chapter Four: Inter arma silent leges
(During war, the laws are silent)
Trance stood in command mesmerized by the alien ship. She'd been there ever since Dylan and Harper had left three hours ago. A million different scenarios, or flashes as she called them, had been going through her head. Beka and Tyr dead, Harper and Dylan alive; Harper dead, Beka, Tyr, and Dylan alive; Beka and Harper alive, Dylan and Tyr dead; Dylan, Harper, Beka, and Tyr alive; Beka, Tyr, Dylan, and Harper all dead. There was no way she was going to be able to predict this one or even come close.
How can something so beautiful be so evil? She thought as she unglued her eyes from the ship, but chided herself when she realized how naïve it sounded.
"Um.Trance?" Rommie entered command with a weird look on her face. Her hair was disheveled and there were lines of stress marking her face.
There's no way you could tell she was an android, Trance mused then asked, "Yes Rommie?"
"We are uh, being hailed."
"What?! On screen."
A new alien which Trance assumed was a male greeted them pleasantly but briefly, "Hello, I'm Silek. I am wondering why you are here."
After she was over the initial shock of seeing a large, brown person with a weird head, sharp teeth, and pure black eyes, Trance answered, "Some aliens took two members of our crew right before we destroyed their tunnel.mostly. We chased after them in hopes of retrieving our friends."
The brown man nodded, "So you do not know that you've stumbled across a war?"
This shook Trance up a little, "N-n-no."
"Oh don't worry, there's been no harm done. Our people have been fighting their people for generations. I don't even remember what started it all, but the whole thing gradually turned into a quest for.genocide?.yes, that's the word, for both sides. My people, being the more peaceful and less savage of the two, have admitted they were in err in doing this. Now that the war is coming to a close and victory is all but guaranteed for us, our foes are trying to flee and take over a different universe. The technology they're using is nothing new but they destroyed billions of our suns and stars trying to gather enough energy to complete their 'tunnel' as you call it. There were hundreds of different universes to choose from, some populated, some not. They just happened to choose yours and I apologize whole-heartedly for their mistakes."
Rommie and Trance stared at Silek for exactly 5.22 seconds before Trance broke the silence.
"Wait a minute," she was so confused she didn't even know where to start. "How can you talk to us and how can we understand you? There's no way we both speak the same language."
Silek smiled, he liked this new species. They were kind and logical and they seemed genuine. He didn't think it would hurt to let them in on a few of his species more productive achievements.
"You can understand me because I am, in fact, speaking your language. I can do this and understand you because of a.processor that's been implanted in my brain. I can't really get into the details, but no, most of my species wouldn't understand you."
The explanation eased a few of Trance's fears, but not all, "Why are you here?"
"Like I said, this is a war and we're about to sabotage our enemy's main ship."
"You're going on that thing?"
Silek nodded.
Trance licked her lips and glanced at Rommie before asking as politely as she could, "Can I come with you?"
The brown alien turned around for a minute to talk to someone behind him. They appeared to be arguing. Trance hadn't wanted to start any trouble but this new development could change everything and she wanted to be involved.
Silek, facing the viewport again, smiled and said, "Yes, you can come. We're assigning a team to do the sabotage and another to go with you. We know the inside of their ship and I think we have a basic estimate on where your friends are being kept. I'll be by in a ylick.um, I mean.minute to pick you up. Silek out."
The screen turned black and Trance found herself staring at the enemy ship once again. She chewed on her lip as the odds of completing this mission successfully played across her mind.
"Trance," Rommie startled her, "are you sure this is such a good idea? We're placing an awful lot of trust in people we don't even know."
Trance closed her eyes. She didn't see the possibility of betrayal anywhere. Their new allies appeared to be true to their word.
"Yes, I'm sure."
Rommie crossed her arms across her chest in a very human manner. She didn't like this one bit. Having Tyr and Beka missing was terrible. Dylan leaving was bad. Harper tagging along with him was even worse. With Trance gone, there was no one left but her. If her crew died it would be devastating. She didn't know if she'd be able to keep going.
"I just-"
Trance smiled wanly, "It'll be alright Rommie."
The avatar frowned in anger and yelled, "It will, will it? How do you know Trance? Can you honestly guarantee me that? That you'll all come back alive? That you'll come back at all? What do you know Trance? What can you see?"
Trance sighed in apprehension before answering, "I can't promise you any of that. The only thing I know is that these aliens are honest in their offer and I think we need any help we can get because I don't see a perfect possible future right now."
"You said that when we had our encounter with the Magog Worldship and everything turned out alright," Rommie stated. "How's it different now?"
Trance was about to leave and head down to the hangar bay but she figured she owed Rommie a slight explanation at least, "Rommie all I can say is that this whole thing will either turn out to be a brave act or a senseless sacrifice."
With that, she left, leaving a stunned android in her wake.
Trance stood in command mesmerized by the alien ship. She'd been there ever since Dylan and Harper had left three hours ago. A million different scenarios, or flashes as she called them, had been going through her head. Beka and Tyr dead, Harper and Dylan alive; Harper dead, Beka, Tyr, and Dylan alive; Beka and Harper alive, Dylan and Tyr dead; Dylan, Harper, Beka, and Tyr alive; Beka, Tyr, Dylan, and Harper all dead. There was no way she was going to be able to predict this one or even come close.
How can something so beautiful be so evil? She thought as she unglued her eyes from the ship, but chided herself when she realized how naïve it sounded.
"Um.Trance?" Rommie entered command with a weird look on her face. Her hair was disheveled and there were lines of stress marking her face.
There's no way you could tell she was an android, Trance mused then asked, "Yes Rommie?"
"We are uh, being hailed."
"What?! On screen."
A new alien which Trance assumed was a male greeted them pleasantly but briefly, "Hello, I'm Silek. I am wondering why you are here."
After she was over the initial shock of seeing a large, brown person with a weird head, sharp teeth, and pure black eyes, Trance answered, "Some aliens took two members of our crew right before we destroyed their tunnel.mostly. We chased after them in hopes of retrieving our friends."
The brown man nodded, "So you do not know that you've stumbled across a war?"
This shook Trance up a little, "N-n-no."
"Oh don't worry, there's been no harm done. Our people have been fighting their people for generations. I don't even remember what started it all, but the whole thing gradually turned into a quest for.genocide?.yes, that's the word, for both sides. My people, being the more peaceful and less savage of the two, have admitted they were in err in doing this. Now that the war is coming to a close and victory is all but guaranteed for us, our foes are trying to flee and take over a different universe. The technology they're using is nothing new but they destroyed billions of our suns and stars trying to gather enough energy to complete their 'tunnel' as you call it. There were hundreds of different universes to choose from, some populated, some not. They just happened to choose yours and I apologize whole-heartedly for their mistakes."
Rommie and Trance stared at Silek for exactly 5.22 seconds before Trance broke the silence.
"Wait a minute," she was so confused she didn't even know where to start. "How can you talk to us and how can we understand you? There's no way we both speak the same language."
Silek smiled, he liked this new species. They were kind and logical and they seemed genuine. He didn't think it would hurt to let them in on a few of his species more productive achievements.
"You can understand me because I am, in fact, speaking your language. I can do this and understand you because of a.processor that's been implanted in my brain. I can't really get into the details, but no, most of my species wouldn't understand you."
The explanation eased a few of Trance's fears, but not all, "Why are you here?"
"Like I said, this is a war and we're about to sabotage our enemy's main ship."
"You're going on that thing?"
Silek nodded.
Trance licked her lips and glanced at Rommie before asking as politely as she could, "Can I come with you?"
The brown alien turned around for a minute to talk to someone behind him. They appeared to be arguing. Trance hadn't wanted to start any trouble but this new development could change everything and she wanted to be involved.
Silek, facing the viewport again, smiled and said, "Yes, you can come. We're assigning a team to do the sabotage and another to go with you. We know the inside of their ship and I think we have a basic estimate on where your friends are being kept. I'll be by in a ylick.um, I mean.minute to pick you up. Silek out."
The screen turned black and Trance found herself staring at the enemy ship once again. She chewed on her lip as the odds of completing this mission successfully played across her mind.
"Trance," Rommie startled her, "are you sure this is such a good idea? We're placing an awful lot of trust in people we don't even know."
Trance closed her eyes. She didn't see the possibility of betrayal anywhere. Their new allies appeared to be true to their word.
"Yes, I'm sure."
Rommie crossed her arms across her chest in a very human manner. She didn't like this one bit. Having Tyr and Beka missing was terrible. Dylan leaving was bad. Harper tagging along with him was even worse. With Trance gone, there was no one left but her. If her crew died it would be devastating. She didn't know if she'd be able to keep going.
"I just-"
Trance smiled wanly, "It'll be alright Rommie."
The avatar frowned in anger and yelled, "It will, will it? How do you know Trance? Can you honestly guarantee me that? That you'll all come back alive? That you'll come back at all? What do you know Trance? What can you see?"
Trance sighed in apprehension before answering, "I can't promise you any of that. The only thing I know is that these aliens are honest in their offer and I think we need any help we can get because I don't see a perfect possible future right now."
"You said that when we had our encounter with the Magog Worldship and everything turned out alright," Rommie stated. "How's it different now?"
Trance was about to leave and head down to the hangar bay but she figured she owed Rommie a slight explanation at least, "Rommie all I can say is that this whole thing will either turn out to be a brave act or a senseless sacrifice."
With that, she left, leaving a stunned android in her wake.