Kensho, part two (Claimings) (Patreon)

Liam had been nervous about dealing with humans without Ondry, but he had promised himself that he would not allow his past to turn him into a frightened rabbit hiding behind Ondry his whole life. So he had insisted on coming alone. Liam was glad he had. 

As he followed Colonel Ito to the car, he saw how people looked at him. They were shocked. Awed. A little scared. Liam could see it in the way they twitched and backed away a step. 

Liam really liked being seven feet tall. 

That probably wasn’t the healthiest reaction. However, it did give him confidence he had lacked the last time he had negotiated with humans. Of course that time he had been dealing with an entire room full of high-powered generals and politicians and colonels. Now he only had to negotiate with Colonel Ito.

Unlike those generals who had spent days arguing the finer points of a deal with the Grandmothers, Ito had a quieter presence. His silences were thoughtful—not predatory. Perhaps he simply hid his greed better. If Ito lacked ambition, he never would have made it to colonel, after all.

“After you,” Ito said as he gestured to a ground car. A year ago, Liam would have described it as opulent and unnecessarily large, but now he had to hunch down and slide into the seat while Ito walked around to sit behind the driver. Most transport used computer guidance systems, so if Command had sent this car around, they were particularly concerned, either about ensuring Liam’s safety or about some threat against the computer network.

“Sir,” the driver greeted Colonel Ito as he settled in.

“Tsang Gallery, 181st and Jollety Drive.”

“Yes, sir.”

Liam watched the military personnel walking briskly from one building to another. When Liam had first joined Command, he had always felt like everyone had a task and a purpose except him. He wondered how many others had felt the same.

“You signed up at the station near here, didn’t you?” Colonel Ito asked.

“I did,” Liam said even though the boy who had signed the enlistment paperwork with a shaking hand had been someone else. Liam still carried that person, but he no longer was him. “So, who is Aizen….” Liam hesitated to pronounce the second half of the name. It was clearly not an English name, and he didn’t want to offend Ito if this person was someone of historical or religious significance to him.

“Aizen Myo-o,” Ito said. “He is one of the Wisdom Kings remembered by the Buddhists. His name translates as the Love-stained Wisdom King.”

Liam raised his eyebrows. “Stain is an interesting word.” And one that made Liam wondered if Ito was trying to subtly insult him. Zach had commented that several people in the linguistic program had wondered if Liam and Ondry had a sexual relationship and associating love with stain would suggest corruption of love in some way. If Ito hoped to exchange insults, Liam would happily insult him back. He just needed to be sure first.

“Spoken like a linguist,” Ito said with a laugh. “I am not a master who understands secrets of Buddhism; however, I know that Aizen is the patron of erotic love.”

Rather than continue to dance around the issue, Liam directly asked, “Are you referencing the rumors about my relationship with Ondry?” 

Ito did a double take and his eyes widened. 

“I can promise you human and Rownt sexuality is highly incompatible,” Liam said. That was technically correct, and Ito could draw his own incorrect conclusions. “I could point you at some disturbing pornography staring Rownt. They tend to have sex in public because it has no function other than reproduction. The vids used to get passed around on the human base on Prarownt.”

Ito cleared his throat. “It is passed around on many bases. However, Aizen is also the being who can help people avoid the pain that comes with unhealthy love. He transforms physical desire into spirituality and pure love as well as helping to ensure a peaceful home and good business fortunes.”

Liam still wasn’t sure if Ito was hoping to trade insults, but he had to admit that would appeal to Ondry. A unique gift that represented the shared values of humans and Rownt would please the Grandmothers. “The Rownt would be interested,” Liam said, using the most bland terms possible.

“I thought so. But I can’t promise you anything. Charles Tsang sees himself as a guardian of the artifacts he’s purchased, and no one can determine any pattern in who he chooses to sell to. He’s a difficult man to buy from.”

Liam nodded to show he had heard, but he kept his gaze on the street as they passed through a business section of town. Several children were playing in a fountain as they passed a park, and a number of people rode the mechanical sidewalks that lined the edges of the road. Liam wondered what one of them would say if he stopped and asked what sort of life they had. He wondered where his younger siblings fit in this world.

After a long silence, Colonel Ito asked, “How did you meet the Imshee?”

Liam pulled himself away from his sad thoughts and concentrated on the trade. Ito had offered information, both on the merchant and on the trade goods. Liam would not dishonor Ondry by failing to provide the information he had promised in return. “The Rownt trade with them regularly. After we left Earth, we went to meet an Imshee ship.”

“And what are they like?”

A sharp bark of laughter slipped out before Liam could control it. It was such a human sound, one had had stopped making on the ship. However, in this case, it fit. “Disturbing,” he said as he remembered his time on the ship. “Physically, I mean,” Liam added. He still found Anla psychology far more upsetting, but Imshee were the ugliest of all the aliens.

Ito frowned. “In what way?”

“Imagine a pony sized insect with ratty, mangy hair.”

“That is disturbing.” Ito shivered.

“They no doubt find each other attractive, but they are unimaginably ugly when judged by a human aesthetic. They have a lot of technology. The Rownt are cautious around them because an Imshee ship once destroyed a Rownt ship with all the children and families on it.” Liam meant that as a warning. Ito’s face lost all expression, so Liam assumed he understood the significance of that fact. Humans tech couldn’t touch Rownt and Rownt tech was equally useless against Imshee.

It took Ito a long time to response. When he did, he spoke slowly, carefully, and softly. “From what I have read of the Rownt, that would cause significant distress.”

“It did.” Liam didn’t elaborate. He watched the city pass as the silence continued. Usually humans were quicker to fill the world with words, or perhaps Liam’s memory of human interactions cast them in the worst possible light. That was an option.

“And yet they continue to trade?” Ito eventually asked.

Liam smiled at him. “I think their ability to do is related to their inability to grasp the logic of war. The suffering of a great loss does not justify continued loss or retaliation.”

“That makes them sound like saints.” Ito didn’t hide his incredulity.

“Until you realize they will also cheat you out of your last pair of socks and brag about leaving you in poverty.”

“So, not saintlike.” Ito smiled. “So what are the Imshee like psychologically?”

Liam wished he could share some great piece of insight, but he and Zach had long conversations about the fact that they didn’t know enough to come to any conclusions. “They don’t use singular pronouns and they seem very concerned about which individuals belong to which group.”

“That’s an important insight.  Do you have any others?” Ito took out a pad and started recording information with a few quick taps.

Liam waited until he had finished before he added the one piece of information Command really needed. “They are scared of humans.” In Liam’s experience, fear didn’t lead to good decisions. 

Ito looked up from his pad. “What?”

“They see our history of persistence hunting as evidence that we’re dangerous. They appear to believe that if our ancestors could take down large prey through sheer determination, then we are dangerous to them no matter how much superior technology they possess,” Liam explained. Ito madly typed on his pad. “I’m not sure if they believe the Rownt are brave or stupid for trading with us. If Imshee do come to this part of space, you may want to tread carefully.”

Ito nodded slowly. “That’s important to know.” The man projected a calm determination even as he tapped madly. “Is there any chance the Rownt will allow Captain Mora to brief his superiors?”

“No,” Liam said. Ito’s head came up and he frowned at Liam. Liam explained, “The Rownt believe that transitions are difficult for palteia and that old loyalties will continue to exert influence for some time. The Grandmothers are going to want to protect Zach from feeling any conflict over whose interests he should serve.”

He put his pad down on the seat next to him. “That might cause some concern in Command. The assumption was that we could contact him.”

“No one could contact me for months.”

“And it has been months,” Ito said.

Liam sighed. “But Zach has stronger ties to Earth and Command. The Grandmothers recognize that.” Zach had family he had wanted to visit. Liam had family, but he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to visit them. He’d left them and he didn’t want to drag the past and his own bad choices into their lives. Luke would be an adult by now. Jae would be a year or two shy. But Liam couldn’t offer them anything other than part of his salary, and he had already set them up to get part of his salary.

Ito put his hand on his pad, but he didn’t type anything in. Instead, he stared out the front window past the silent driver. They had crossed several pedestrian bridges before Liam said, “I’m impressed. You haven’t asked what happened to me.”

Ito looked over with an expression that made Liam think the words had surprised him. He’d been lost in his own thoughts. “You mean your height? That question seemed rather personal.”

“It’s related to the Imshee. They made a mistake that put me in danger, and tinkering with my genetics was their form of an apology.”

Ito’s fingers tightened around the pad. “It must have been a serious mistake.”

Liam shrugged. “I didn’t think so. They made a simple mistake with environmentals, but alien species are rarely logical from a human perspective. I’m certainly not going to complain about the gift.”

“And does this gift come with disadvantages?”

“On Rownt ships, no. On Earth, I’m finding the transportation rather small.” Liam rested his hand on the back of the seat in front of him. His knees were pressed up against the back of it.

“I can see where that would be an issue.” Ito sounded amused. He shook his head, and it took Liam a second to recognize the gesture.

“I’ve surprised you.”

Ito shifted in his seat to study Liam. “I had expected this trade to be more confrontational.”

“You offered quality goods.”

“Did I?”

Liam figured Command would have to redo their Rownt trading matrix after Ito turned in his report. “How difficult is this Mr. Tsang?”

“Exceptionally.” Ito enunciated each syllable. “Unfortunately for most of the art world, he is also brilliant at finding antiquities and artists trust him to protect their legacies so he manages several portfolios. He’s the bane of more than one museum.”

Humans would never understand how much Rownt would respect an individual like that. “Then perhaps I have offered too little,” Liam said. Ito frowned, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t ask for anything. The silence gathered between them, and it felt a lot like trust—like Ito was trusting Liam to choose trade goods that he would want. This was one human Liam didn’t want to cheat out of his meat. “There is a word the Rownt use. Blestata.”

“Is this an important word?”

“It is. It translates to something between insane and untrustworthy.”

Ito drew in a breath. “A word to avoid then.” He picked up his pad and tapped it.

Liam turned his attention back to the pedestrians riding the walks under the shade of the tall buildings. “Do you know the worst thing Colonel Thackeray did on Prarownt?”

“I would say the opinion is equally divided between disrespecting you publically and trying to push past a fourteen-foot tall, eight hundred pound Grandmother.” Dry humor colored his tone. “Both are considered fairly stupid.”

Liam couldn’t exactly argue. He had no idea why Thackeray thought he had the strength to move a Grandmother, much less the eldest Grandmother of Janatjanjay. Liam was a little embarrassed that he had been so afraid of an idiot. “Those are minor indiscretions compared to his suggestion that the Rownt reopen the discussion of pharmaceuticals.”

“I understand why that would be foolish,” Ito said slowly, but he sounded unsure. He didn’t get it. “Rownt anatomy is different and they have never been known to change their minds, but from my point of view, I fail to see how that is worse than publically attacking you or a Grandmother.”

“It suggests humans might be blestata.”

Ito was silent for a time, and when Liam looked over, he was quietly entering info into his pad. When Ito saw Liam looking at him, he asked, “And what evidence would one use to make that determination?” It was a good question—a wise one.

“If changing circumstances cause an entity to demand renegotiation, that is blestata. It is a term the Rownt created to describe the Anla.”

Ito drew himself up. “And Thackeray’s ridiculous request implied that a change of commanders would lead to a reopening of closed negotiations? I can see where that would be a problem.”

Liam hoped Ito was as insightful as he appeared to be. And he hoped his commanders would listen to him. He had a high enough rank that someone should listen. “As Rownt move into human space to trade, I would hate for them to discover rules such as bankruptcy make trade with the human species an exercise in insanity.”

“That is a word I will definitely share with Command, then. Certainly, trading rules and regulations can be devised to avoid it. And what would you like in return for such valuable trade goods?”

Liam smiled. For the first time in a long time, he found he didn’t want anything in return. “I have family here. Friends. I would not want to see humans and Rownt at odds.”

Ito stared at him. Liam stared back.  

After a time, Ito said, “You are surprising, Tuk-Liam.” He punctuated that with a subtle bow.

“So much so I surprise myself at times,” Liam agreed. No doubt a ka-ranked trader would call him a fool for giving away a piece of information that Command would find so valuable, but he had to believe that Ondry and the Grandmothers would approve. And even if they did not, they would understand. Liam looked out at the passing city and smiled. Then he hit his knee on the back of the seat in front of him and cursed the Rownt gods of travel.  Damn that hurt.

Ito laughed. “Cursing in every language sounds the same.”

“It does.” Liam leaned back against the seat and rubbed his knee.