Chapter 26
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The British prime minister looks me up and down and says, “You looked taller last time I saw you, Captain Henrix—probably because I had never been in a room before with someone of your stature. Physically or professionally.”
“Heh. Well, you actually look taller to me this time,” I tell her.
“It’s the shoes.” She lifts one to show me how tall the heels are. “I assume Jaxus has grown taller too, since our last chat.”
Lady, you have no idea. “He has.”
“And I also assume, once this new alliance is secured, he will choose to become a hybrid and fully assimilate with your lot.”
“That would be a wise assumption.”
“Will you do me a favor and tell him not to be too rough on us when he’s asked why? I wouldn’t want this alliance to begin with negative headlines.”
“Nor would we, Prime Minister. We will make sure Jaxus speaks positively about finding a home with us, without disparaging humanity.”
“Lovely.” She gives me a smile that reaches her eyes, unlike a lot of the dead stares I’ve seen at this base today. “I’m off to the loo, and then we can go back into that madhouse together, Captain.”
She’s talking about the war room they’ve kicked me out of ten times. Seven heads of state are in there, discussing the Earth’s next steps while they are conferencing in several others. They’re concerned that some of their people aren’t happy about what’s happening on Mars.
In the message Xan delivered to humans, about the threats they face, he mentioned us working on a backup planet to make them more secure. And now the humans have kicked me out to yell at each other while they question or defend his decision.
I’m trying to think of ways to reduce the tension in this meeting when I go back in, going over the best responses I can give to the humans’ rising pile of concerns, but my mind is occupied with questions about Jay.
How did he sleep?
Did he have nightmares about the bears?
Has he healed completely?
I would ask Numbers, but I had my thought transmitter removed, since I have no idea if there could be more Exxlars hidden among these influential humans.
That is one of the many things they are concerned about: hunting those unfriendly aliens down, if more are here. And we have no clue who eight of the Exxlars were in before they body-jumped into bears.
“Just remind them we’re in this together, but you don’t have to be.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, torn away from my thoughts when the prime minister comes back down the hall, heels clicking.
“The humans, so we’ll stop making this so bloody difficult,” she explains. “Remind them that if your people so choose, they can walk away from their commitment to helping us and lose nothing. So it’s time for us to become better interstellar neighbors.”
“Thank you for the suggestion,” I tell her sincerely. “Would you mind if I run a few things by you, before we go in?”
She shakes her head as she leans back against the thick metal door I can’t hear anything through.
“Go for it.”
“I would like to suggest explaining to their people that they are located too far from the Deppoxyl System to survive a sudden mass extinction event.
It would take weeks to evacuate billions and travel back and forth from the Earth to Eppo, even while using every rescue shuttle we intend to help you build, and NV ship we have to spare.
“That is why—despite the difficulties, given the makeup of other planets in the Solar System—we are determined to terraform as many backup planets as we can.”
“I’ll stop you right there, Captain. Don’t focus too much on doom and gloom when describing the benefits of backup planets.
Humans don’t respond well to it, and we don’t make the best decisions when we’re under a lot of stress.
Make the prospect of backup planets sound a little funner.
Maybe even offer to open a resort on one. Or a theme park.”
“A theme park?”
She shrugs and says, “It might sound silly to you, but building fun resorts and theme parks are one of the few things we can all agree on—as long as there’s no environmental issues or problems caused for the locals—all of which won’t be a concern on another planet.”
“Then I will do my damnedest to convince the Council that a theme park will be necessary,” I assure her.
“Fantastic! You should visit one of ours. I’m sure you’d have a smashing time.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
“Although,” she says, frowning as she taps her chin with her finger, “you may not fit on many rides…” Another shrug. “What else did you want to run by me, Captain?”
“There are some customs of ours that we want humans to respect, even if they are in conflict with some of your current laws.”
“Such as?” she asks, arching a thin eyebrow.
“Multiple partners in some marriages, rather than just two. Three Givers, for example, in a marriage with a fertile partner who can carry hatchlings, would not be unusual on Eppo.”
“That might take some getting used to,” she says evenly, “but I’m sure—in interest of being better neighbors—humans will come around.”
“And humans should be nicer to spiders,” Braxton throws in, which makes the prime minister jump. Despite his considerable height and width, he managed to sneak up on us. “We do not like it when beautiful creatures like them are mistreated.”
The prime minister clears her throat and straightens, before she tells him, in a very serious tone, “I will see what I can do about that, Commander.”