Education

"Tell us about your people!" Amy cried.

Marcus looked at Shildy, as if to ask for her permission. Shildy met his gaze, and found that she couldn't speak. What IS this effect that he has on me? Shildy asked herself. She felt her cheeks getting warmer. Whatever it is, I think I like it. She raised her glass, and nodded in his direction.

"The ayes have it," Marcus said ceremonially, "a history lesson it is."

He took a deep breath before starting. "A very long time ago," he explained, "even before we ventured out to the stars, we were an aggressive and confrontational people. We warred among ourselves for years and years, fiercely determined to win at any cost. Eventually, though, we started to see ourselves as brothers and sisters rather than adversaries – although many lives were lost before that happened. We licked our wounds, we healed the planet, and we coalesced into what we thought was a truly advanced civilization. Eventually, we developed space travel, and we launched ourselves into the void. We seeded many worlds, founding colonies as our sphere grew. We started to think of ourselves as the masters of the entire universe."

"So what happened?" Catty asked.

"The same as you," Marcus replied.

"Huh?" Amy asked, confused.

"They met their first alien race," Shildy explained.

Marcus smiled at her. "Just so," he said. "When we had our first encounter with a race not our own, we immediately attacked them. We considered ourselves to be superior in every way, so it didn't occur to us that anyone else would be on an equal footing. Our arrogance and xenophobia landed us in a war that lasted for decades. Our historians refer to it as 'The Age of Madness'. Both sides lost billions of lives."

"How did you get out of it?" Spea asked.

"It took the total destruction of several planets before we came to our senses," Marcus told her. "When both sides finally sat down to talk, it turned out that our 'enemy' was only defending themselves from our initial attacks – it was our own inability to see that it was our own aggressive nature, which we thought had been suppressed, had come back to haunt us. We were lucky enough to realize this in time to prevent our total annihilation."

"Very lucky," Shildy noted quietly.

"Both sides were terrified by what was happening, and took steps that would put a stop to it. A ceasefire was agreed upon, negotiations began, and an armistice was reached very quickly. From there, the groundwork that would prevent such things from ever happening again was laid. Ever since, all of our interactions with intelligent beings have been peaceful and cooperative – and we take steps to ensure that all of our contacts with new races are the same."

"Sounds wonderful," Catty whispered.

"Now, I'll grant that there have been some bumps along the way. Not every new contact shares our attitude. Usually, though, they all eventually come to see that communication and cooperation are better alternatives than warfare and destruction."

"Why hasn't that happened with us?" Spea wondered.

"I don't know," Marcus answered honestly. "Maybe you haven't seen the alternatives available to you – it may take an outside agency to help you see them. That's where we're going – if I can show your leaders that there are alternatives to wiping each other out, it's quite possible that your war can be stopped... without resorting to the total destruction of one side or the other."

"Or both," Shildy added.

"Or both," Marcus agreed with a nod. "If we can show that the benefits of peaceful cooperation outweighs the cost of ongoing warfare, I'm pretty sure we can get them to come around."

"How long until we get there?" Amy asked, hiding a yawn.

Marcus closed his eyes for a moment before answering. "About nine hours now. You have enough time to get some sleep, if you like. The lounge here is also available, if you're hungry. There's a nice variety available, so feel free to experiment – the ship won't give you anything poisonous."

"YES!" Spea shouted, making a dash for the wall slot where Marcus had gotten their drinks from. She noticed Shildy giving her a stern look, and said "What? I haven't eaten since this whole thing started – I'm STARVING!" This drew a chuckle from Marcus, who only said "Just don't deplete my stocks totally."

Catty pulled Amy to her feet, since she had closed her eyes and seemed to be snoring lightly. "I think the two of us will find a bed for a few hours, if that's okay?" She said as she looked at Marcus anxiously.

"Pick any room you like," Marcus told her. "I'll ask the ship to notify you when we're thirty minutes from our destination. Meet us in the control room."

"Okay," Catty said, as she pulled Amy's arm over her shoulder and half-dragged her out the door.

"That leaves you and me," Marcus said to Shildy, who blushed deeply when he looked at her. "Can I offer you anything, or would you like me to show you to a guest suite?"

"Not hungry, not sleepy," she said to him. "Tell me about your society – Solnoids are geared for war, I'm guessing that Solnarians are not. What else is there?"

Marcus thought for a moment. "Well... that's a very wide question to answer, because there are so many different occupations. You know we do planetary engineering for colonization – there's also exploration, many different forms of engineering. We have extensive libraries that need to be maintained. Medical and life-sciences is a popular choice. There are the entertainment arts – literature and music..."

Shildy looked at him quizzically. "What is... what is 'music'?"

Marcus blinked, then shook his head. "You HAVE lost a lot, haven't you?" he said. Standing up, he offered Shildy his hand. "Let's allow our friend indulge herself in private – we can continue this in my suite, if you like."

Her heartbeat quickening, Shildy took his hand and rose to her feet. He escorted her to a different door than the one they had entered through, and into a smaller corridor. Before the door closed, she looked back at Spea, who was gleefully carrying two trays of odd-looking – stuff – which Shildy presumed was the food she wanted to try. The thought occurred to her about how much exercise the girl would have to do in order to burn off all those calories, then pushed it out of her mind...

On the way, Shildy picked up on something she heard him say. "You – you consider us to be your friends?" she asked.

"Of course," Marcus answered. "Why would I not?"

"Well... we DID hold you captive, and treated you rather badly," she admitted.

"And then you helped me get away. That evened the balance," he explained. "When it came right down to a decision, you made the compassionate one. That matters, and I'm grateful to you for it."

Shildy looked at her feet, unable to meet his eyes. "Thank you," was all she could say.

"Here we are," Marcus said, as he stopped in front of a doorway that was marked "Captain's Suite". The door slid open as they approached, and he gestured for her to enter first. The lights began to glow as she did, revealing a comfortably-furnished set of rooms. One large window to her left showed approaching streaks of light, telling her that it looked out towards the front of the ship. Many of the furnishings she recognized, but there were many trinkets – the purpose of which she could not fathom.

Marcus gestured towards a set of cushions – she sat on them as he walked over to lift a strangely-curved device with metal wires from a stand. She thought that it must hold great importance to him, if he displayed it in such a manner...

"This is called a Lyrat," he explained as he showed it to her. "The strings produce tones when you pluck them, and you can control the length and volume of the tones with the dials on the side, here..." He showed her the knobs he was talking about. He then struck a few notes to show her what he was talking about.

"I see..." Shildy said, a touch of skepticism in her voice. "And this is the 'music' you were talking about? It doesn't seem that impressive to me."

Marcus chuckled at her comment. "No, no," he told her, "the music part comes in the way the tones are combined. Let me play you something... but bear in mind that I'm only just learning, so it might not be very good." He sat down, placed the device in his lap, and began to play.

Shildy listened to the sounds he was making, and soon discovered that it was stirring feelings within her that he hadn't felt for a long time. While calm and soothing, it also brought out longing and sadness. Is he trying to convert to sound the loss he's been feeling all this time? - she wondered.

He continued playing, and soon his music became lighter – still calm, but energized in a way she couldn't explain. He copes with his pain through this – she realized. He's sharing with me something that no Solnoid would dare to expose to others. She laid her head on the cushions, amazed at how at ease this simple act was making her feel.

She closed her eyes, and the sound of the music faded until she couldn't hear it anymore...