The Libel of Blood

By Z. M. Wilmot

In the third and final installment of the Jakken Trilogy, the introduction to the Juxian Mythos universe, stowaway-turned-ambassador Jakken Jalhalla Servidos returns to his home planet Earth at the head of a host of alien ambassadors intent on integrating the Human Empire into Juxtani Civilization. But even before Jak sets foot back on Earth, events spin wildly out of control, and he soon finds himself standing between mankind and complete annihilation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Z. M. Wilmot
• Release date: May 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476182209

Z. M. Wilmot

Z. M. Wilmot was born in Rockville, Maryland, but grew up in Carlisle, Massachusetts. He started writing seriously around the age of fourteen, primarily in the form of fan fiction set in the Warhammer Universe. In September 2009, Zachary (Zack) began working on his own universe, what he has dubbed the “Juxian Mythos.” In November of that same year, for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), he wrote the introduction to this universe, The Loneliness of Stars, his first novel. He is also a huge wargamer, roleplayer, budding esoteric, browncoat, GIRophile, and all-around geek. Major influences on his writing are H. P. Lovecraft (and his circle), J. R. R. Tolkien, David Brin, Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge, and Lois McMaster Bujold. Other writers I enjoy include Tamora Pierce, Brian Jacques, George R. R. Martin, Scott Westerfeld, Orson Scott Card, and Terry Pratchett. Z. M. Wilmot listens to metal (Hammerfall, Nightwish, Avantasia, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Turisas, Lordi, In Extremo, Eluveitie, Rammstein, Rhapsody of Fire, Luca Turilli, Apocalyptica, Sirenia, HolyHell), progressive and older rock (Rush, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, Supertramp, Jethro Tull), Irish folk (Lunasa, Solas, Gaelic Storm, The Chieftains, Bothy Band, Cherish the Ladies), and Nox Arcana when he writes. He himself plays percussion (mostly drum set), tin whistle, and bodhran. He also is a fan of Firefly, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Bones, BBC’s Robin Hood, Invader Zim, Trapdoor, Murder, She Wrote, and Phineas and Ferb. He likes tacos.

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The Libel of Blood

Z. M. Wilmot

Published by Z. M. Wilmot at Smashwords

Copyright Z. M. Wilmot 2011

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Books by Z. M. Wilmot

The Jakken Trilogy

The Loneliness of Stars

The Light of Civilization

The Libel of Blood

Other Works

Dark Aeons

For a current and complete list of books, go to:

http://zmwilmot.com

Thank you to Michael Ireland, my fearless editor, for taking the time to painstakingly go through the entire draft of this novel and tell me everything about it that I didn’t want to hear – without his tireless efforts, the work before you would be far less worthy of your attention.

Prologue

My name is Jakken Jalhalla Servidos. I am a human, a stowaway, a pilot, and a diplomat. I have survived the mental predations of a giant blue slug, the bodily predations of a psychotic serial killer, and the political predations of most of the civilized universe. I have held the entire fate of the human race in my hands, and have not even lived yet for two decades. I have spoken with the dark gods of the apocalypse, and with the terrible weavers of fate. I have travelled along the thrumming Ley Lines that lie under the fabric of Space, and learned combat and wisdom from a man whose deadliest weapon is a single flip-flop. I have seen what lies outside of the sphere of our universe, and what dwells in the vast blackness between our stars. I have felt the loneliness of stars and witnessed the glory and darkness of the light of civilization. My descendants will forever alter the course of history for mankind and the rest of Juxtani Space, and my name shall forever be remembered as exposing the truth of the libel of blood.

My journey began not so long ago, as a naïve young boy with a desire to see the stars and make more of his life. This young boy stowed away on a starship, setting out on an expedition led by his favorite captain. Since that moment, his life was never again destined to be ordinary. He found love on that ship, the infamous Ambassador, and death as well. The political turmoil on board the vessel resulted in its crash landing on the barren planet of Kiefan, and the emergence of the savage Edenite Deviants killed off most of the remaining crew. The terrible Kreton Psy, one of the oldest beings in all of Space, set his sights upon me and used his psychic powers in an attempt to dominate me and make me one with him. I escaped his advances, but almost fell victim to the treachery of one whom I thought was my greatest friend on the ship – Vincent Magritto. When he revealed his true self, the serial killer Vinzetti Chavez, I almost died – both spiritually and physically – but managed to hold on to the spark of life and turn the tables on him. I killed then for the first time, crushing Vincent’s ribcage beneath my weight and spitting upon his dead body.

In a strange turn of events, we were then rescued by a team of aliens identical in appearance to humans. They called themselves Shortel, and they were members of Tracking Unit 12 – a scientific effort devoted to following the psychic, slug-like being Psy, who I had only recently been able to drive away. On the promise of returning us home and introducing us to their society – a conglomeration of empires and races called Juxtani Civilization – we agreed to travel with them. As we flew back towards their civilization, the four survivors of the Ambassador disaster – Mikhail Nikkelei, Adam Sansson, Michaela Jonson, and myself – were educated in their ways. Before we could reach Port Ryfe and Shortel civilization, however, we were attacked and taken over by pirates, who operated under the banner of Banditry – a massive legitimized empire of organized crime spread throughout all of Juxtani Space – and imprisoned there. I managed eventually to escape with the help of my Shortel companions Jalakk, Jarken, and Thyrak, forced to leave the others behind.

We then embarked upon an amazing expedition. We arrived at Port Ryfe, frontier center of the Shortel Empire, and took a device called a slingshot to the Shortel planet Koruskanti. While there, I was once again kidnapped by the forces of Banditry, and then shortly thereafter was rescued by the hated enemies of the Shortel – the Dassens. The leader of the vessel that took me, Admiral Matekis, gave me perspective, and allowed me to see that the Shortel civilization was flawed – just as the Shortel had allowed me to see that the Dassens civilization was imperfect as well. In time, I was rescued – or was it kidnapped? – again by the Shortel, and eventually became reaccustomed to their company.

But I was betrayed. After exchanging ships on the planet Tarreg, Jalakk turned on us, revealing herself to be an agent of Banditry, and handed me over to her superiors, who interrogated and almost tortured me. Jalakk’s masters had found from me that their agent had made a mistake, and she was killed for her folly. I saw Jalakk’s mutilated corpse before I left the ship, and my hatred of Banditry grew to previously unknown bounds – for though she had betrayed me, Banditry’s lies and cruelty had taken their toll on me, and her death still hurt. Fortunately for me, I did not suffer the same fate, for I was rescued – for real this time – by the Ayakk Seer Kalkkis, who taught me philosophy, self-defense, and how to travel on the Ley Lines – travelling almost instantaneously across vast distances through space. I learned from him about how I was being used as a pawn by the Shortel, Dassens, and Banditry, who wanted to use me to claim their rights over the newly discovered race of humanity, so that they could be our guiding patron.

Kalkkis did not have these motivations at heart – his true masters were the shivvos, those terrible gods of the apocalypse, of whom some had spoken to me in person and helped me avoid the predations of Psy. It was while under Kalkkis’ care that I had banished Psy from my mind forever, though his curse will now descend upon my descendants – a line of children that will culminate in someone called The Witness, as I am called The Progenitor.

At Kalkkis’ behest, I confronted the Juxtani Council and demanded humanity be accepted into the fold of Juxtani Civilization with no patronal strings attached, and when I was refused and an attempt on my life was taken, I used the Ley Lines to flee to Kiefan, from where I then sent my mind into the depths between the stars, and talked with the weavers of fate and destiny: beings terrible to look upon, who controlled the passage of major events and the currents of fate upon their massive looms. After serving as their psychiatrist, I was sent back with a gift – the Seal of Loriel, which still proudly hangs about my neck – and my fate was altered. With the Seal, I convinced the Council to do what I had asked, on the condition that I was to become the Chief Ambassador of the Juxtani Congregation to the Race of Human, in order that the ambassador was one who they thought could be easily manipulated.

They were wrong. The Third Thiefking of Banditry, Roland van der Tyke, had given to me back as a gesture of good will Michaela, Mikhail, Jarken, and Thyrak – Adam had died while I was away, much to my dismay – who became my official advisors, and began to turn the tides on the appointed committee that helped me determine the terms of the relationship humanity was to have with the rest of Juxtani Civilization.

And then we set out with that committee from the central point of Juxtani Space, Juxia, heading back towards Earth, the diplomatic committee still in tow to finish working out the terms of humanity’s entry into Juxtani Civilization. We – the survivors of the Ambassador expedition – were returning, finally, to Earth, and would lead humanity into the light of civilization, leaving us no more amidst the loneliness of stars. I was no longer the poor dockhand Jakken Jalhalla Servidos – I would not come back a small boy afraid of the world, but as Jakken Jalhalla Servidos, Chief Ambassador of the Juxtani Congregation to the Race of Human – and I was not going to be a pawn any longer. I would be the one making the moves now.

1

The floor beneath me shook violently and I fell to my knees again, for what felt like the thousandth time in the last five minutes. I squeezed my hand around the handle of the plasma pistol to make sure it was still there and scrambled back to my feet, only to be knocked down as the ship lurched and groaned under the stress of another titanic collision. Swearing violently, I got up again and grabbed onto a sheet of metal that had been ripped out of the wall by the force of a collision. The edges were sharper than I had been anticipating, and dug deeply into my hands, causing me to yelp with pain and withdraw them immediately, staggering backwards – but not falling this time – as the ship shook again.

I slowly made my way forwards, my hands numb and covered in blood, barely feeling the pistol in my hand, trying to reach the end of the hallway, and the door I could see even now that promised salvation. The escape pod was within my reach – just ten more meters to go…

The next collision caused me to be thrown forward, sliding along the floor, getting me closer to my goal. I was on the ground again, and as I struggled to get back on my feet, I heard the mockingly drawling voice of Roland van der Tyke, Third Thiefking of Banditry, come over the Integrator’s hijacked intercom. "All personnel and staff on board the Integrator will be spared if they make their way to the main cargo bay and wait there for further instructions. Any information regarding the whereabouts of the fugitive Jakken Jalhalla Servidos would be greatly appreciated, and any information leading to his capture will be amply rewarded. If you can hear this, Jak my boy, surrender now – it will be easier for you this way."

Yeah right, I thought. Easier if death is the way I want. I lay on the floor for another moment, my attempt to stand having been foiled by another impact on the disintegrating Integrator. The Seal of Loriel tumbled out of my shirt, glowing with that inner light it always had, yet still cold to the touch. I grasped the Seal with my left hand and closed my eyes, hoping that the green-cloaked Loriel would come to my aid, though I knew that there was no such hope. No one would come to save me – I was on my own.

I tucked the Seal back into my shirt and after the next impact clambered to my feet and moved as quickly as I could towards the escape pod door. I managed to advance about three more meters before the ship shook violently again. I managed to steady myself against the wall, and paused in my flight for a few moments to catch my breath. The ship suddenly lurched a second time, catching me by surprise and causing my pistol to slide forward another meter or so. A few moments later I heard voices behind me.

I shuffled forward as quickly as I could and grabbed the pistol with my slippery hands, turning around and leaning against the wall as my finger again rested on the trigger. Four Ayudari – presumably Humans – ran around the corner from the left, saw me and began to open fire. I, however, managed to shoot first. My first shot went wide of any target, but my second hit the leg of the nearest man, causing him to fall down. I wished that there was more cover in this hallway, but had to make do by pressing myself closer to the wall, getting what little cover I could from the ripped and bent sheet of metal protruding into the white hallway, stained with my blood.

My third and fourth shots both struck true – my lessons from Michaela had paid off, and I was exceedingly glad that she had managed to talk me into learning how to properly use firearms. I would thank her profusely later. If I ever see her again. Two more men went down, my plasma beam going straight through their hearts. Beams from the surviving two hit me then – one passing clean through my calf, and the other grazing my left hand. I bit back a scream of pain and fired my fifth shot at the downed man, sending the beam directly through his head. Had I been in complete control of my faculties, I would have been horrified at my actions – but I was not, and I was exceedingly grateful for it at the time.

The last man began to shout into his headset, calling for reinforcements and reporting my location, which distracted him long enough for me for me to make a hole between his eyes, cutting him off in mid-transmission. Unfortunately, the device could almost certainly be tracked, so I didn’t have much time left. At this point, the ship was in a constant state of violent shaking as the Fiend slowly moved its bulk through the weaker hull of the Integrator, firing the occasional weapon burst at the prone vessel.

Summoning up new reserves of strength that I didn’t know I had, I got to my feet again, ignoring the unbearable pain in my not-quite-whole legs, and sprinted – or did as close as I could get to a sprint – most of the rest of the way to the escape pod doors. Another explosive impact sent me crashing forward into the door, and sent my energy pistol – which was out of shots anyway – flying out of my hand and skittering back down the corridor, the walls of which were now beginning to crumple.

I lay on the ground, dazed, for a few moments before finally collecting enough of my mind to grasp the handle and pull myself up, opening the door as I did so.

Or so I thought I would. In fact, the door was sealed shut – it was locked, and there was no way for me to open it. I frantically pulled harder, and even pushed, but nothing worked. Somehow, over the chaotic din inside my mind, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned around to see eight Ayudari, clad in the brown uniforms of Banditry, flanking a figure whose face I was overly familiar with – that beautiful face marred only by the metal plate and glowing red eye on its left side, with his dashing feathered musketeer hat, antique rapier blade, and leather shirt and pants topped by a thick cape. He smiled at me – his amusement and mirth both grim and strangely warm at the same time – and drew his blade, its dazzlingly brilliant shaft blinding me for a moment. He pointed the tip at me and then spoke. Jak! Fancy seeing you here! What a pleasant surprise… do you care to join us?

I spat back in his direction. Never, you bastard.

Roland sighed dramatically.Ah, well – one can always hope. He squeezed his hand on the grip of his rapier, and a brilliant glimmer of light shot out from the cross-guard, travelled along the length of the blade, and shot out of the tip, heading directly towards me. I swallowed and closed my eyes – death had finally come for me.

***

Approximately four months earlier:

The flagship of our ambassadorial fleet was called, semi-appropriately and also rather arrogantly, the Lightbringer. It had the appearance of a massive chrome manta ray, complete with wings, tail, and head fins. The head pilot, a friendly being by the name of Terethos, sat where the ray’s mouth would normally be, on the highest floor possible. Terethos belonged to the Forlaki race, which had the appearance of cones about two meters in height, divided into three segments, each segment surrounded by a ring of a dozen or so tentacles. Their head was merely the point of the cone, and had three evenly spaced eyes about it, as well as a final tentacle on top. They moved via lots of tiny legs hidden under the green flesh of their cone, and did not have a particular need to face in any direction – something that I imagined must have been nice.

The Lightbringer was customized just for him – a look at the pilot’s room could have told any observer that. Though I had in the past taken control of a Juxtani vessel, those controls had been designed for an Ayudaric being – the controls that Terethos so kindly showed me during our long journey were utterly alien to me, and required at least eight limbs to work effectively. I was four limbs short, if I counted my legs, and I imagined that those wouldn’t be of much use anyway.

I had a lot of time to explore the ship, which I did so with my four companions and diplomatic advisors – Jarken, Thyrak, Mikhail and Michaela – and found it to be truly massive. The Lightbringer was three and a half floors tall – the half floor being an upward bulge near the ray’s mouth where the pilot sat – with the engines located in the perfect center of the ray – probably to protect it from enemy attack – and was surrounded by a multitude of suites and cabins, of which I had the most grand. There were two galleys – one on each wing of the ray – eight mess halls, four excercise rooms, and an unbelievable amount of other areas – arcades, a pool, a theater, saunas, spas, and all manner of similar things. It was more luxury than I had ever seen in my life, and it made me slightly uncomfortable to be aware that all of it was mine; it had been made clear to me by Supreme Grand High Lord Councillor Loreinan that the Lightbringer was a gift from the Council to their new Human ambassador, doubtless to keep me in their thrall. As if they could contain me now.

For such a spacious ship, though, surprisingly few people inhabited it at the present time – presumably, upon our arrival in Human space, I would staff it with my own men, though how I would pick out those men was well beyond me. Would I pick my family? My dockhand friends? Famous politicians? Government ambassadors? It was too much to think about only a few days into the journey back – which would take about two months of ship-time – so I focused on the moment. Other than the five of us, there were four shuttle-drivers, three minor statesmen, thirty security guards, a representative from Juxia, two doctors, three pilots, ten commando soldiers, two doctors, three cooks, and five engineers on board. As such, the ship was largely empty most of the time, and I found myself spending most of my free time with my Shortel and human companions and the Forlaki pilot, Terethos, whom we had all taken a liking to. Due to the necessities of the head pilot’s job, most of that free time was spent near the pilot’s room or in the pilot’s break room, talking mostly about trivial affairs and sometimes playing games of Juxo – the Juxtani equivalent of spissyx.

Unfortunately, I had far less free time than I had had on my previous long space journeys. Before, I had not had any real responsibilities – now, however, I was an important diplomat. Additionally, my own obsructionist actions – fueled by the support of my four diplomatic advisors – had led to the necessity of our negotiations continuing during our journey back to Earth. As such, most of my time was spent in lengthy committee meetings, held always in the large meeting room – called the Gygian Room, for whatever reason – on board the Lightbringer. The other diplomats all had their own vessels, and every space-day flew to the Lightbringer to attend the meetings.

The committee – entitled The Central Committee for the Advancement of Human – consisted of twenty-one members: myself and twenty others. Ten of these others were representatives of the races whose civilizations were nearest to my own: the Shortel, Dassens, Banditry, Mountaneans, Narrut, Cijadi, Ailak, Tornen, K’Lak’Ti, and Prime Ruhedyans. The first three of these were all Ayudari, and the next three were alien races - the Mountaneans resembled blue, fanged, crested, reptilian humanoids, the Narrut were two-headed wolf-people, and the Cijadi looked like green spiders about half my size. The Ailak, Tornen, K’Lak’Ti, and Prime Ruhedyans were all Pseudo-Ayudari, looking similar to but not completely identical to humans.

The next group of beings, also ten in number, were diplomatic experts from farther afield, brought along to help ease the process – though so far, they had only been making things more difficult. They consisted of two Ayudari of the Elfviyat and Ayakk persuasions, two completely alien beings – the balls of tentacles known as the Tenticali and the floating conglomerations of slimy spheres called the Yarogg – and six pseudo-Ayudari: the Ayidians, Formaldians, Vallyr, Tylani, Torophants, and a representative from the Nevwai Republic.

Krizera Peacemaker – the Elfviyat representative – as a member of the most respected race in Juxtani Space and due to his high rank in the central Juxtani Government, was technically in charge of the committee meetings, and had taken to his job with great zeal while we were still on Juxia, but had gradually begun to relinquish responsibilities to a pseudo-Ayudari who I learned was his superior – Lord Majias of the Vizeri, the representative of Juxia and the Juxtani Council’s watchdog.

Majias had deep black skin and could easily be mistaken for an Ayudari, until you noticed that his ears resembled fins and that his head was divided in two by a bony ridge resembling a spine that began in the center of his forehead. His skin was flawlessly smooth, and he had thick white hair tumbling down to his shoulders, as well as a very long, thin beard that resembled an elongated goatee extending down to his knees. He began to take on the role of final decisionmaker in the group and moderator of the discussion, even though that was technically Krizera’s job. Krizera did not seem to object, and I actually preferred Majias to the Elfviyat – the Vizeri was more calm and composed, and far more reasonable than Peacemaker was.

I met with the other diplomats daily. The meetings used up about two-thirds of my day – not counting time spent sleeping – so I had to make the most of my free time. Unfortunately, I spent at least half of that free time discussing what had happened that day with my four close companions and advisors – and sometimes with Terethos, though I technically wasn’t supposed to – who were not allowed to attend the meetings. They helped me to understand the diplomatic jargon – though I was getting better at interpreting it myself – and gave me advice. For the first time in my life, I had the ability to choose whether or not I wanted to listen to their advice; a thought that made me swell with pride and sent shivers down my spine. Of course, I almost always did listen to them – I was still very young and inexperienced, and though I had accomplished much, I still had a lot to learn.

The negotiations that had taken place on Juxia had lasted about two weeks. The Juxtani Council had hastily planned out this whole ambassadorial mission, due to the power of the Seal I now carried, and had set a date for departure in the very near future, wanting to get this whole Human affair out of the way as quickly as possible. Imagining me to be easily manipulable – an image that I could honestly not blame them for subscribing to – they had guessed that they could force me to sign agreements that limited the rights of the Terran Home Rule and the Human race before they were even allowed into Juxtani Civilization.

They were wrong – my near-brushes with death and the knowledge that I could use the Ley Lines to escape if absolutely need be gave me a courage that I had not previously had, and with that courage came a drive to not let these bullies run me into the ground. Leaning on Mikhail, Michaela, Thyrak, and Jarken, I had succeeded in standing up on my own and resisting the steamrollers in the Juxtani Congregation – to an extent.

My first four or so meetings I had gone through without any advising, and I had signed away more than I had realized or would have liked. It was after the fourth meeting that I had complained to my Shortel friends about my confusion and my feelings of being ring-led. Thyrak had then heartily agreed with my views; he had told me that I was absolutely being ring-led, but that Roland had given me a way to save myself. Upon my questioning this statement, he said that he had released two Juxtani officials into my care – one of whom was an expert in communications and a trained diplomat himself.

From day five on, then, I had begun to use my companions as resources to draw on, and I had learned much, especially from Thyrak, who gave me what essentially amounted to private lessons on diplomacy, and explained to me exactly what it was I would and should be doing, and how to interpret the ridiculously overcomplicated jargon that all diplomats were so fond of using. For the first two days it was unofficial, and then at Thyrak’s suggestion I formally filed a request to allow into my service my four companions. The Shortel embassy was all too happy to attach Jarken and Thyrak to me, perhaps in the hope that they would push me towards favoring the Shortel – which, of course, they did – as well as a gesture of goodwill towards humanity. Michaela and Mikhail had official profiles created on the Juxtanet and were also added to my staff, and then my diplomatic revenge began to gather full steam.

I used article sixty-two, code four, of the Juxtani Protocol For Newly Rediscovered Civilizations to force us to renegotiate all early contracts and deals made on the assumption that I was not properly informed of the entire situation, and my filed complaint was grudgingly allowed through, essentially setting negotiations back a whole week. We then began to rewrite everything, and spent the whole second week at Juxia catching up.

Of course, all of this diplomacy meant that I never really got a chance to see much of Juxia itself, the fabled center of Juxtani Civilization, though I had wanted to very much. Instead of delaying the expedition, the Juxtani Council decided that we would carry on our discussions on the way to Earth, and had sent us off quickly.

The Lightbringer was given to me by the Congregation as a gesture of goodwill, but the staff of it was only on temporary retainer, and I was expected to fill it with Human staff when we arrived in Human space. Of course, none of the ship’s pilots were Ayudari, and the pilot’s room was not even possible for one Ayudari to use, which might present a problem when the time to acquire new staff came around.

Our discussions and agreements were, of course, not finalized – they had to meet the approval of the government back home – but these drafts were to be the foundation of humanity’s terms of entry into Juxtani Civilization, and theoretically the changes to the terms of agreement would be minimal. I somehow doubted that this would be the case; while the Juxtani Congregation might recognize my authority, the Terran Home Rule did not know that I even existed. Mikhail assured me – and the diplomats – however, that I did have legitimacy granted to me by my government, under the Revised Protocols for First Contact of 3189. The Protocols stated that in a situation in which a group of humans made initial contact with a sentient alien species, the highest-ranking governmental member of the group – or anyone he or she chose to delegate authority to – would have full responsibilities and rights with regards to actions directly related to the alien civilization. As part of the military, Michaela was the highest-ranking government member, and she had officially delegated the necessary authority to me back on Juxia.

The terms that need to be discussed were wide-ranging, and often consisted of things I wouldn’t have thought about. The very first thing that we discussed was the nature of the Human Empire, including customs, holdings, political structure, and technological level. Following that, we moved on to lay out tentative plans for the integration of every spacefaring Human into the Juxtanet, the network that connected all of Juxtani Civilization together. Any citizen of a civilization that had the permission or ability to travel between planets was required to have a Juxtanet profile, that held all information on him (or her or it), and was used to pay intercivilization taxes and fees. Of course, this integration required every spacefaring Human to acquire a PAU of some kind, which required an organizational structure to issue and distribute these.

The initial arrangement was that – and this had seemed fair to me at first – the Home Rule government would pay Juxtani Civilization for a large quantity of these and then charge those who wished to have one to make up for the monetary loss. Thryak later pointed out that these pre-made PAU’s – and possibly my own, as well – might be bugged, and that it would be better for us to acquire a private contract with a PAU manufacturer, and then re-issue spacefaring permits – something that would be required anyway.

And so, when we began revising the earlier agreements, I actually successfully wrangled out a date for the arrangement of a contract with Juxenterprises, the largest PAU manufacturer in Lower Civilization. Following this arrangement, Jarken took my personal PAU and debugged it, which probably annoyed the Council greatly – but of course, they couldn’t formally do much about it. Or so I hoped.

Another factor of this integration would be the establishment of ISTA (Insterstellar Transport Authority) and ISCA (Interstellar Communications Authority) installations in Human space. Representatives of these two organizations would follow behind our expedition, once the initial groundwork for everything had been laid, and a diplomatic businessbeing from each intercivilization corporation were accompanying us now, residing in Krizera’s vessel. The two representatives each had very high-tech devices that allowed them to keep in direct contact with their superiors in Juxia. For the present moment, it was still possible for everyone to do so, but after we passed the frontier of Lower Civilization and entered uninhabited space, the transmitters would be out of range of the formidably far-reaching ISCA stations, and we would effectively be cut off from the rest of Juxtani Civilization – save for, presumably, the expensive and fancy devices that the ISTA and ISCA beings possessed. If we needed to communicate with anyone back there, we would have to go through them – of course, the ISTA and ISCA handled all inter- civilization travel and communication anyway, so it wasn’t that big of a deal; it was just an annoying reminder of their power and influence.

Currency was another prominent issue that we discussed. The way that the Juxtani economy was arranged – as explained by the Committee, Thyrak, and Jarken – was that each civilization had its own economy and currency domestically, but that for any trade with or indemnity payments due to foreign entities – as well as to pay membership fees to the Congregation – the national currency had to be exchanged for Juxtanos. Juxtanos were used solely for intercivilization purposes and tended to have almost no domestic value; upon receiving Juxtanos, most beings frequently exchanged them for the local currency. Juxtanos were, however, always accepted in spaceports, space platforms, and orbital communities, where tourism was more frequent. Officials from the Juxtano Currency Authority, or JCA, would be coming to Human Space either shortly after or with the ISTA and ISCA, to begin to establish Juxtano banks and decide on a fair exchange rate.

Only after the JCA, ISTA, and ISCA have arrived and all formal terms have been agreed to can tourism then begin, because only after that will sufficient communications, transportation, political, and economic systems be in place. The first tourists would, of course, likely arrive escorted by armed guards, and would initially consist only of wealthy beings from nearby civilizations.

Political rights were the third major issue, and had used up the majority of the Committee’s discussion time. Of course, a seat in the Juxtani Assembly was a given, but how much power would that ambassador – whoever it would be – have? Could they vote as a full member, or would there be a grace period during which he or she learned how things worked?

Then came the negotiations over ownership of astral highways – if there were any – that led to Earth. Astral highways formed the basis of trade routes, and consisted of some sort of charged energy particle emitted by stars into both the real world and the Interstices – the Juxtani word for what we called the Ethyr – that allowed ships to move faster and farther with fewer stops needed for refueling. Of course I advocated for Human ownership of these, or at least the areas closest to Earth – it only made sense – but that was one question left unresolved, and for the moment they would be – if indeed any existed – declared neutral territory.

After a few other things were resolved – like rights over resources found in nearby space, what space exactly would constitute the territory of the Terran Home Rule, and how to transfer biological records for research and to monitor diseases from both entities – we had most of a general draft of the terms of the acceptance of humanity into Juxtani Civilization. At this point, all that was left out was the creation of rough lists of exports and imports and the laying out of other tentative trading framework, which would be hammered out over the next several days.

So far, what the draft consisted of was a declaration of neutrality for astral highways more distant than five starleaps (the Juxtani equivalent of an Astral Unit) from any current star system under the administration of the Terran Home Rule, subjecting the Home Rule to Universal Beings’ Rights, giving us a seat in the Juxtani Congregation with a limit on voting only on matters directly pertinent to our affairs or on affairs of civilizations considered to be bordering on us for two subdateyns, giving the Terran Home Rule exclusive resource ownership over all natural – a very loosely defined term – resources within ten starleaps of any current Terran system, laying out groundwork and possible locations for ISTA and ISCA frameworks, and determining how to introduce the Juxtano currency into our system – through forced integration.

During those four weeks of diplomacy, negotiations, and bartering, I became someone else – someone that the Jakken Jalhalla Servidos of old never would have recognized, who had courage, cunning, and a developing edge of ruthlessness. It scared me a little to see what the devious predations of these hungry diplomats were driving me to, but I did not question it. I saw my transformation as necessary, and only a rapid continuation of the more gradual process of my past. It was my destiny to lead humanity forward, and I had accepted that destiny – although it wasn’t as if I had been offered the chance to refuse.

2

Now, onto the matter of trade – does your human civilization have any goods that would be worthy of our attention, Ambassador Servidos? The Elfviyat delegate and de facto moderator of the discussion, Krizera Peacemaker, was speaking to me, in one of the rare moments that Lord Majias, de jure leader of the discussion and watchdog of the Juxtani Council, was not stepping forward to guide the discussion. The Committee was meeting, as usual, in the Gygian Room, seated about an elegant elliptical table made of a glossy blue wood-like substance. Krizera sat on my right and Lord Majias on my left, with the other nineteen diplomats arranged before us. And what goods would you need yourself from larger Juxtani Civilization?

I was not entirely sure how to answer that question, and wished – as I always tended to – that my diplomatic advisors were with me at these meetings to give me pointers and tell me what needed to be done and said. They were not permitted to attend the meetings, and so were not here with me, leaving me on my own – I was easier to manipulate that way, I guessed.

But resources… what resources did we have? What resources did we need? In anticipation of this, my advisors and I had discussed what items we could export, and what items we wanted to import. My mind flashed to these discussions, and I tried to remember some of the items Mikhail had mentioned. Food. Well… agricultural goods are something that we could certainly make use of.

Krizera smiled – almost nastily – at me. And you claim to be a fully industrialized and technocized society… yet you don’t have enough food? How do you keep it running?

I almost bristled at his words and condescending, amused tone, and then calmed myself back down with a few covert, deep breaths. "We manage. Notice that I did not say they are something we need, but something we could make use of. There is a difference there." I could not quite keep all of the annoyance out of my voice, but I did my best. Krizera’s face remained graced by that obnoxiously amused smile as he nodded slowly. I was glad that I had not added any information regarding our society’s terrible distribution of resources, with the few at the top getting the lion’s share, but I suspected – mainly through hints from speaking with Kalkkis much earlier – that this was the case in many societies in Juxtani Civilization. Still, it was good that Krizera did not have more fuel with which to mock me and my race, of whom I had become rather protective of late – likely a result of my sudden, rather ridiculous promotion.

Very well then – agricultural goods. We can do that – I believe that the Cijadi and the Prime Ruhedyans are best equipped to settle this need- he amended his words with an amused twinkle in his eye at my annoyed glance, -supplement, yes?

Kikkilak, the Cijadi representative, clicked his mandibles in an ominous manner that I had come to tell meant Yes. His race resembled large, bulbous, bright green spiders that came up to about half my height. He began to speak in Kordic – the Juxtani version of English – which in the Cijadi’s case resulted in a strangely hypnotizing and utterly disturbing series of movements from the green spider’s insectoid manidbles. As he spoke, his words were accompanied by an underlying sound that reminded me simultaneously of a hiss and a metallic scraping. The Cijadi have always had an abundance of agricultural resources, and our edible exports form the backbone of many other civilizations, including the Narrut, the Mountaneans, and the Ailak. The representatives of these races sent a chorus of outraged glances at the Cijadi, who remained oblivious to it all. We would be happy to begin exporting foodstuffs to the Humans – new and exotic items that your people will never have seen before.

I nodded my thanks to Kikkilak as Lord Ryhen of the Prime Ruhedyans began to speak. His appearance was Ayudaric save for his hair, which consisted entirely of tentacles. We have a less bountiful supply of food than Kikkilak’s people, but we can spare some for trade with our new allies. Terming us allies seemed a bit presumptuous to me, and from the looks of some of the other ambassadors it seemed that way to them as well, but I did not give voice to any criticisms. The Prime Ruhedyans do our best to be a self-sufficient civilization, but we all know that it is not always possible to sustain, or sometimes even to attain, that goal, and so would be willing to open up trade negotiations with the Humans – though I must repeat the venerable Krizera Peacemaker’s second question – what resources do you have to offer? It was clear to me that Lord Ryhen was a rather inexperienced diplomat, just like I was – his wording was akward and sounded almost rehearsed, and his diplomatic language was less than exemplary.

But now I had to answer the harder question. I could remember more of our desired export items than our desired import items. Well, one thing we have in abundance is the element of Francium. That was the first item that Mikhail and Michaela had told me that we had abundance.

My announcement was met with blank stares. It was Lord Majias, the Council’s representative from Juxia, who had remained remarkably silent up until this point, who spoke first. Perhaps we use that resource by a different name – can you describe what it is?

That in itself was difficult; I had no real education, and had never actually seen Francium, which made describing it rather problematic. I’m not entirely sure what it looks like… but it’s a rare metal of some kind that we find on asteroids, and we harness energy from it exploding to help fuel our power generators.

My inadequate description was apparently helpful, much to my surprise. Krizera looked astonished and then smiled at me in an almost warm way, which was rather unnerving. That sounds much like the substance we call Kornoss. It is very valuable, and desired by many. Judging from a glint of greed appearing in the eyes of all of the ambassadors seated about the table, his words were true. It appeared as if I had a bargaining chip.

Do you then have any other resources that you might be willing to trade, or that you need? asked Lord Majias, gently and smoothly taking control of the discussion. You have what may be Kornoss, you want foodstuffs – surely there is more?

I began to list off a variety of items that I knew we had an abundance of to the ambassadors. Most of the items I mentioned were either unknown to the Juxtani or of no interest to them. The list supplied to me by Michaela and Mikhail was large enough, however, that by the end of our discussion we had a significant number of items that we would be willing to export, and a short while later had a much larger list of items to import, most of the second list being supplied by the other ambassadors, rather than by me.

One of the items that Mikhail suggested I mention for export were arcade games. On Human planets, arcades were popular social hot spots, and the arcade industry was hugely successful. I decided to bring them up – the more items we could export, the better. Well, we do have a great variety of companies that make arcade games. Krizera made a sound halfway between a snort and a cough, and a few of the other diplomats chuckled.

Thiefking Roland van der Tyke of Banditry took my suggestion more seriously. His cybernetic eye glowed a deeper shade of red for a moment, and the vents on the side of his face emitted a slightly thicker green smoke than usual. He gracefully folded his hands before him and smiled a viper’s smile, his musketeer’s outfit giving him the appearance of a dangerously charming nobleman. Just because you believe that the arcade is below you does not mean that others share the same opinion – look at the Juxtani arcade companies! Thrixian Manufacturing, EZGames, Dorollo Consoles – all three of them massive intercivilization corporations whose subdateynly growth is at least twice as high as any agricultural or appliance manufacturers! In fact, the arcade industry is perhaps the largest in Juxtani Space, other than the spaceship and munitions economies.

And the communications industry, Lord Majias said smoothly, a smile touching his face. "But he