Lessons of Our Legends

By Greg Pommen

Befuddled Taroq feels the crushing weight of his family's expectations. All on their own, his mother and sisters raised their small kindred to be a major power within the Dineh, on Mothers' Home, and all their colony worlds. However, when the Dineh are invaded by the inscrutable and alien Schuniga, he soon finds himself in trouble of a sort he'd never conceived of before. Captured, without hope, and far behind enemy lines, he must overcome his inherent cowardice as the fate of an entire species rests in his many arms!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Greg Pommen
• Release date: Feb 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781775277309

Book preview

Part 1.1 - Class Begins

She slowly opened her many eyes to pitch blackness and then the sight of another swooping straight at her! She momentarily panicked and then remembered her training. The creature uttered something that was translated to Sorry as it disappeared into the void. None of this was real yet it felt so incredibly vivid! It was as if she was floating in the Great Hall of Learning with billions of other students flying around as unencumbered by gravity and physics as she was.

She remembered her training and tried not to think of this as a simulation beamed straight into her brain. Instead, she just tried to think of moving forward. It didn't work. What was it the instructor said? Yes, don't think it, just do it. The system was designed to feel as natural as walking or breathing. You didn't have to think to move, you just did. Remember your training she whispered to herself. Close your eyes, calm your hearts, breathe slowly, and relax the muscles in all your limbs. Now open your eyes and just move somewhere. She saw a cluster of creatures below and to her right that looked promising. So she moved towards them, slowly but she was doing it! They all scattered long before she reached them but that seemed normal in here. Creatures from over a billion worlds, swooped, arced, and spiralled around in loops playing in games she couldn't begin to understand. She felt out of place but knew she just had to be patient. It was just a matter of time and practice.

Movement slowly got easier and before she knew it she was flying around! Slowly, and with little grace, but she was getting it. Her first interaction with creatures from another world came unceremoniously as she accidentally ploughed through a study group. The overall sensation felt no more traumatic than a blade of grass brushing across her skin but was disturbing enough to the group to elicit shouts of Watch where you are going! in vocal tremors the likes of which she had never imagined before. She reflexively shouted back, Sorry! before bursting out laughing at the bizarre humour of it all. So many of her species had studied in the Great Hall of Learning before but it still felt no less wondrous to her. She really shouldn't have been here. Many thought she hadn't performed well enough to study in the Great Hall. She was here on a technicality, and many favours called in by her clan, so Calmain felt the weight of great responsibility in her many arms. She almost felt sick knowing how many of her clan were counting on her for a good performance. However she allowed herself to enjoy the freedom of such unencumbered movement, even if it was simulated, for a few moments.

All too soon responsibility brought her back to the reality of her situation. She was here to learn and her performance would help determine if, and how many, of her clan would be allowed to study in the Great Hall in the future. In the Great Hall, she would have the opportunity to learn from the best instructors the known universe had to offer and she didn't want to waste it. The class would be starting soon and she was swept automatically into her assigned position. A transparent study orb formed around her and sealed her off from the cacophony around her. There were already a few other creatures in their orbs beginning to demarcate the great bubble around the stage where the professor would be instructing, most likely adding the finishing touches to their assignments in advance of class. For her part, Calmain wanted to learn the controls of her orb before the class started. She had been in the physical simulator at home but this still felt foreign to her. She took great care in selecting her controls. It would be very embarrassing to accidentally have the sound of her breathing reverberate around representatives of billions of worlds! However, she was amazed at how natural the system felt. She had been warned there might be a few unexpected glitches, since her species was still relatively new to the Allegheny network, but so far it performed flawlessly.

As Calmain focused on her orb's controls she didn't notice other students slowly moving into position. Despite their earlier frivolity, she knew that her fellow students were the brightest and best of multiple galaxies. She felt humbled in their presence knowing she was not considered to be one of her planet's best. It was not an easy thing to link a world into the Great Hall in real time over such vast distances. It required a serious commitment of planets wishing to participate. Calmain knew that she would be expected to disseminate the knowledge she obtained to her clan.

As a vast bubble of students started to form, stretching around the stage farther than her eyes could see, Calmain began to understand just how vast the network was. In reality she knew the bubble was just a representation too. Every student in the chamber saw the stage directly in front of them and all the other students as points on the bubble. Their physical positions were little more than positions in the great memory matrix of The Great Hall. It was not possible to represent all the other students visibly on the bubble and what she saw was merely a sample of how many there really were. If there were others of her species here at the same time she might never know it.

The Hall started to slowly strobe red, signalling the class would start very soon. Red to her, other colours or signals significant to other species. Feeling more confident in her orb, Calmain took a moment to take a virtual tour of the other students around her. No one else would notice her missing and as soon as the instructor arrived she would be whipped back into position. The diversity of other species astounded her, the shapes, colours, sounds of them all. Many were normal like her, multiple eyes and breathing orifices separated from feeding ones, but for some they were the same orifice! She had read about such things but couldn't quite grasp how you could do both from the same orifice. Calmain was amazed and revolted at the same time, although she was ashamed by her latter reaction. She knew there were many strange things her species would need to become accustomed to. In a very brief period of time, her world's universe expanded from being the shining light in an uninhabited universe to a small mote in a multi-galaxy spanning Alliance!

Suddenly Calmain was whipped back into position and all the surrounding pinpoints of light went dim. All light of the stage was focused on a simple chair in the middle. The chair was behind a circle pattern with a low holographic fire in the middle. In the dim part of the stage she saw the first signs of The Professor moving towards the chair. It appeared to be in no rush and grasped a long, gnarled wooden staff as it hobbled across the stage. The Professor lumbered along on 2 legs, standing upright. It had only two grasping limbs with four digits per limb, one opposed. She could see uses for the digits but she thought they looked too weak to remove or pry anything open. Only 2 eyes inset in a very large swelling at the top of what she recalled being called a neck. It must have contained the brain. It had separate breathing and feeding orifices. Its mouth seemed to open at the base of the neck, although she wasn't sure how it masticated its food. Unidirectional air flow, it breathed in on one side near the shoulder and exhaled on the other. It was like something had taken a normal creature, squished it up into a ball and reformed it into a simple upright walking creature. Odd, but at least it wouldn't have much trouble seeing over things. Its ochre skin resembled a type of inorganic clay. Its extensive internal skeleton was fairly interesting too but she thought that many complicated hard parts would be easy to break and difficult to heal. Overall fairly unremarkable but she couldn't help but stare at the heavily knuckled wrists poking out from the sleeves of the cloak draped around it. The material of its clothing looked soft and comfortable but the colours were bright and almost hurt her eyes. She couldn't get over the feeling that having that much cloth wrapped around her would be very uncomfortable but Calmain remembered her own species did the same thing at northern latitudes. She then made a mental note to never live at northern latitudes.

The Professor then bent at its knees and unceremoniously sat on the chair, letting loose a painful sounding rasp as it did so. After squiggling around and smoothing its robe The Professor raised its head to face the crowd of students. Calmain couldn't figure out what The Professor actually saw since its view had to be as artificial as hers. Perhaps the bubble rotated around, did all the students wink in and out and giving equal face time? With billions of students that would have to be incredibly annoying. She decided it was a question for another time. She had to focus. The Professor raised its bony arms in a gesture to get everyone's attention and shouted something that translated to Let's get started. She found the automatic translation a little disorienting. It was hard to understand how the modulated clicking exhalations of The Professor's shoulder orifice translated into her own language's lyrical low pitched rumblings.

I was able to look at a few of your assignments from two meztli ago. Some of your local instructors thought to forward a few of them to me. I would like to highlight two essays in particular. These will be forwarded to your orbs and you can review them at your convenience. Dracor nik Taylon of Ag'ra and Cis Boleti of Cii-5, said The Professor and at its pronouncement two orbs were moved from the bubble shell and their occupants magnified for all to see, Your essays on the effects of sub-light Overworld travel on civilizations were excellent for students at your levels.

The Professor allowed the two to bathe in the limelight. Calmain thought nik Taylon looked a little uncomfortable with the attention, but then she couldn't really tell. Perhaps she was just projecting her own fears on the honoured student. The Professor continued, Obviously I couldn't read all of your essays but the statistical curve of grades in your work reported by your local instructors was excellent. Those of you on the bottom of the curve should contact your local instructors for assistance in understanding your grade and what you can improve. Take a bad grade as an opportunity to improve.

The Professor allowed the students a moment to collect their thoughts. Calmain couldn't help but think The Professor was unbelievably old. From the deep furrows of wrinkles in skin of its face, the mottling of its skin, its slow and careful movements, and crackling voice The Professor oozed age, and to her mind, a deep wisdom. She had to be careful in applying traits of her own species on others though. Still, even when it turned and faced her she felt as though its two eyes looked through her into a deeper universe. It was silly to think The Professor would notice her at all but Calmain got the impression it would be a very powerful presence in the flesh.

Up until now we have discussed history in generalities, movements, and trends, continued The Professor, letting loose a nasty sounding cough between statements, With so many worlds represented here it would be impossible to discuss specific incidents for all of you. That will be the job of your local instructors. In general it is not necessary, the vast majority of worlds that have achieved the minimum state of development to be here have followed somewhat analogous trends. However, in a few cases there are a few specific incidents that have shaped the course of the known universe. Unusual incidents that have acted as a nexus, if you will, and shaped history. You will be learning about specific nexus incidents relevant to your worlds with your local instructors. I will be covering a very specific incident that changed the course of history for all our worlds in over a hundred galaxies.

One student, in a moment of boldness that shocked Calmain, floated forward in their orb. Calmain guessed it was a male but couldn't be sure. Across the multitude of galaxies of the Alliance it asserted, Professor, what could possibly have changed history for all of us?

It was impossible to read The Professor's mood at this outburst, but as it turned its head towards the bold student's orb, there was no mistaking its intention to be heard. More calmly than Calmain would have imagined, What event? Of course I speak of the Taroq Incident!

Calmain heard a plethora of reactions. Some were of awe, some were of derision, and many were like herself and had never heard of the Taroq incident. However none doubted The Professor's determination to enlighten them and it spoke, The Taroq Incident is considered so important that we have been allowed to take two learning cycles to review it, in case you were wondering about the modifications to your schedules. You will be required to study the official story in depth on your own between cycles. No set of events in the universe has been studied in more detail. In many ways though, it has been so long that the events of the incident are as much legend and myth as documented facts. However, like any great story we need to start at a beginning ...

Part 2 – First Encounter

Ponciaco peered out of a tiny porthole into the Overworld that was almost as black as her inky pupils. There was nothing but tiny points of light from distant stars to illuminate the blackness. There were better portholes and viewing platforms on her umiak but none so quiet. Few on-board knew of this short corridor and even less had a reason to come here. Ponciaco tried to incorporate it into her daily walk of the Namid. She could come here and think without the continual jostling of her crew, husband, or children all attempting to grab chunks of her time. Here she could take a few moments to think, breathe, and look out into the expanse of the Overworld which was her whole reason for wanting to live on an umiak. In a strange sort of way she felt closer to the Great Mothers here than she did anywhere else.

Still, she understood the fear so many felt out here on the frontier. The black appeared endless, and depending on your view of the universe, it was. Many said they felt chills looking out into the Overworld this far away from Mothers' Home. It was as though Wendigo was sliding up and wrapping them in an icy blanket. She understood it but never experienced such things herself. Ponciaco did not miss Mothers' Home a great deal and with her husband and children on board she had everything that mattered to her close by. Besides, Ponciaco could sense the Namid’s spirit was good and she felt comforted on board. She ran an arm slowly down a wall trying to soothe her umiak and could feel its power coursing through her.

Feeling recharged she continued her walk and exited her private corridor. The bustle of umiak life enveloped her again as crew members walked past her at varying rates of speed. Even for a small iqyax class umiak Ponciaco needed to remember far more names than her crew who just needed to utter sachem and keep moving. Some of the crew were such specialists that she hardly ever saw them. Still she regarded it as a responsibility of being a sachem to know everyone on board. These were more than just crew, they were kindred.

Ponciaco was still fairly young and quite happy in the Cofitachiqui kindred but even she thought of starting her own kindred in the future. Get her own umiak and strike out on her own but then she would have had to deal with all the bureaucracy that entailed as well. This way she could engage in her first love, exploration, and let the kindred administration deal with the politics of making the kindred successful. Still, she knew the thought would always be in the back of her mind. Most females entertained the thought of creating their own kindred at some point in their lives. All had their own reasons, but she liked the idea of creating a legacy that her own daughters would take over eventually. However that was far in the future. Her daughters were still young and umiaks were expensive. For now, it was still nice to be a sachem of an Overworld umiak and to be able to remember the names of all her crew. She was pretty sure that a sachem on one of the really big umiaks, especially the new Seminole class war-kenu, hardly knew any of their crew by name.

She tried to know what made each of her crew special, even the bland ones. However a few of her crew couldn't help but stand out and none more so than Aponivi, Kuraka of the 2nd shift. If Aponivi made any attempt to mask her emotions, Ponciaco had never seen it. From the time Ponciaco first saw her to the time she called out Aponivi’s name, the Kuraka had gone through four colour changes at least. These were not the subtle changes that any Dineh went through. These were bright and profound changes announcing she was mad, sad, ecstatic, and on and on. At least Ponciaco, or anyone for that matter, had no trouble understanding the intent of the Kuraka’s moods. You either watched her colour and responded accordingly, or watched her boil red enough to melt the deck.

Aponivi was still limping from a training injury she sustained a few tonalli ago and hadn't recovered her normal, fastidiously smooth walk yet. Most Dineh loped along rhythmically but not Aponivi. She insisted that a proper Dineh never bounced! It was such an old attitude and Ponciaco had no idea where someone of Aponivi's age had absorbed it but it was not the most unusual quirk on the Namid. Long range iqyaxes seemed to attract the less conventional Dineh and was one reason why Ponciaco loved working in the Overworld so much.

Trouble? quizzed Ponciaco. If one didn't know Aponivi they would think there was trouble all the time but Ponciaco had known her longer than most.

Nothing a lash couldn't fix. replied Aponivi dryly.

Ponciaco’s colour brightened, I suspect the co-operative aspect of our circle meetings would be ... disrupted if you started using one but I'll see what I can do. They've been banned for several hundred tun but perhaps the Inner Circle will grant you a special dispensation. In the meantime would you like to tell me what's got you so perturbed?

The new crew figure they know everything. Standard protocol is to report all sensor blips to the sachem or a kuraka on duty. Aponivi's colour started turning a pale shade of red, However, I found out at the end of my shift that our new Navigator figured she could just filter what she thinks are important blips!

Ponciaco darkened slightly but kept her calm, A certain amount of initiative is to be commended. She probably just thought she didn't need to bother you with anything trivial. A kuraka has a great deal to do.

Aponivi held her data tablet at the end of one of her arms, Trivial you say? What do you think of these?

Ponciaco's eyes narrowed as she stared at the screen, flipping through the sensor reports before looking up at Aponivi, Uh oh. I'm assuming you have thoroughly explained to our Navigator why we need to know these right away and not at The Circle meeting.

Oh yes, but in the meantime we've lost the better part of a tonalli. Whatever it is could be in another system by now or it could be waiting for us, weapons hot!

Ponciaco's colour lightened again, Probably not that bad. In all likelihood it's just an eccentric meteor, but we really need to make haste. Order a course change. I want us in a high orbit around that planet by the end of the tonalli. Schedule an early meeting of The Circle, I want all section sagamores present. Alert the Kindred Circle on Mothers' Home with what we know so far. Also notify my husband and tell him to be prepared just in case.

You don't think we'll need the War Sachem do you? Aponivi turned bright yellow.

I certainly hope not but if we do I want him prepped and ready.

NORMALLY PONCIACO DIDN't see her kurakas except at the beginning and end of her shift. However this was not a normal situation. Normally The Circle was filled with quiet chatter but now it was noisy with hurried preparations as her kurakas and sagamores raced to prepare. I like first contacts better when they don't have Overworld travel, muttered Aponivi, flickering colours racing across her skin.

Ponciaco felt the tension and struggled to keep her colour a calm shade of green. The last thing the crew needed was their sachem to be showing signs of fear. She calmly said, I need to be put on umiak-wide please, and pointed an arm at her Communications Sagamore, who acknowledged that the system was ready.

If I could have your attention, Ponciaco waited for the umiak-wide din to calm down before continuing, This is a momentous event! We are about to make contact with a species that no other Dineh has probably even heard of before. While I think we can all agree this is incredibly exciting and we all have a thousand thoughts and questions in our minds about what they are like and what is going to happen, let us not let the spirit of fear tamper with our better natures. We are trained for this. We are the best at what we do and if we take this calmly and rationally, we will all be telling our children and grandchildren about what transpires here. Who knows? They may even tell stories about us! That is all.

The din returned but Ponciaco felt a tonal shift, as though the crew were more focused. She hoped her ego was not getting in the way of her judgement. However, Aponivi was as sensitive as a weather vane to wind for the mood of the crew and even her colour flickering calmed down somewhat. It was as good as Ponciaco could have hoped for.

For a sachem the time leading up to a first contact was the worst as there was very little she could do except to look confident and to guide her crew. They all knew what they had to do, she just had to direct them. She had the advantage over everyone on board in that she actually had been at a first contact. It had been many tun ago, but Ponciaco had been a young sagamore stationed in The Circle of the explorer iqyax Kwatoko, an ungainly and rather ugly umiak, when they encountered a species now known as the Poecilonota. Her sachem was not confident or inspiring and would have been happier running simulations on Mothers' Home. Unfortunately her sachem had misinterpreted several warning signs and insulted the Poecilonota grievously. That the Kwatoko had escaped with relatively minor damage and light casualties was a gift of the Great Mothers and the Kwatoko’s speed. It was an ugly umiak but a very fast one. The incident is now a case study in first contact studies. Unfortunately relations with the Poecilonota have remained strained and both sides still have war-umiaks patrolling an ill-defined border that neither is particularly happy with.

Fortunately the Dineh had learned a great deal over the ages on how to approach first contact situations. Incidents such as the Kwatoko encounter were the exception rather than the rule. However, Ponciaco knew that case studies could never completely prepare them for a new species. The greatest care needed to be exercised and she needed to be fully cognisant of everything around her. She needed to prepare. How long till we are in high orbit?

The navigator barely had to check her screens, Under 2 gaaw.

Please let the War Sachem know I would like to see him when he arrives. If the target changes its course I want to know within a micro-shoo of it happening! Ponciaco then hurried in to her office. She needed to relax and meditate. As soon as the door closed behind her, wild colours started flickering all over her body, her arms were quivering, and she felt sure that last night's supper was going to reappear at any inti. She quickly shucked off her sachem's robe, grabbed a comfortable meditation robe from the small closet, and sat down in her personal kiva. She folded her walking arms underneath her body and let the soothing ocean colours of the robe completely cover them. She closed her eyes and raised her grasping arms above her head to completely open her breathing passages.

Ponciaco inhaled deeply on both sides, let it pass through her gill sacs, and exhaled to her underside. In, through, and out, remember to chant, keep the rhythm. She had become very good at it with constant practice over many tun. It did not take her long before the tension melted from her body into her personal kiva. Not that she was one to name drop but Ponciaco felt very privileged that her kiva had been blessed by a Mide of no less a stature than Omawnakw himself! It had been a kindred Elder that received the kiva and then given it to her but it was still Omawnakw that had blessed it and she felt comforted by that.

She tried to meditate whenever possible. It sharpened her senses, calmed her nerves, and improved her decisions, both in accuracy and speed. She would need to be at her best for a first contact. It could be a mistake though. Unknown umiak designs were as common as planets and it wouldn't be the first time they had encountered one only to find it was another species already known to the Dineh. Even the Namid was quite unorthodox for Dineh type umiaks and it would be ironic if their counterparts thought the Namid was some alien species never encountered before.

Ponciaco remembered a previous assignment when they encountered an umiak of unknown configuration. The excitement was short lived when an old friend of the sachem made contact from the other umiak and they realized their alien counterpart was just mapping and sampling unknown worlds using the latest and greatest iqyax of their species. The excitement was short lived but the celebration wasn't. Ponciaco's sachem and the alien were good friends from long ago so they decided to celebrate their good fortune with their crews. Ponciaco didn't quite remember everything that happened after but somehow she had picked up the nickname of 'Rainbow Warrior'.

However, Ponciaco's instincts were telling her this was a real first contact and she wasn't going to take any chances. She finished her meditation feeling as prepared as she could. She took off her meditation robe and was just about to put on her sachem's duty robe when she felt a need to look out her window. The windows were merely monitors as it was too dangerous to have The Circle close enough to the outer hull for real windows. Even if it was a fake she frequently felt drawn to look out hers. The Overworld called her and she would take any opportunity to look into it, even if it was for a few moments before returning to The Circle. The sad reality of travelling on an Overworld umiak is that one didn't actually see the Overworld much.

She was about to break away from the window when the door to her office opened. She whirled around quickly to see the War Sachem standing in the doorway. He was an impressive male. He walked in to the room with a smoothness that belayed his size. His muscular walking arms stretched his battle tunic and grasping arms did the same. He had several combat scars from his time in a military kindred and he still wouldn't tell anyone how he sustained them. Ponciaco would not want to be his opponent. He admitted once, a typical one-on-one combat technique was to entangle an opponent in his limbs then evert his beak and inject a killing bite. While she was glad none of his opponents got the better of him, Ponciaco couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy at the terror they must have experienced in their final inti of life.

The door closed behind him and he reported, Preparations for the worst have been made. Children are in the evacuation pods. Damage control teams are distributed through the umiak as are armed warriors. Combat sagamores are at weapons stations in The Circle on standby. I'm not happy with our response time though. We need to conduct more drills. His colour was a pale red. Even though the likelihood of military action was unlikely, she was glad to see he was staying alert.

And our children? queried Ponciaco, not entirely successfully suppressing her colour change.

Takoda grunted and his colour changed to orange, Don't worry, they had a good meal first and finished their homework. Naira was already asleep when I put her in the escape pod. The rest were supposed to be going to sleep but I have a feeling they are still awake playing games.

Ponciaco sighed,Well perhaps they'll regret it when they still have school tomorrow!

Perhaps, but children seem to have an inexhaustible supply of energy sometimes, Takoda moved in closer and grasped her naked body, holding her tight, while using his remaining arms to massage her skin. He knew the way she liked it. Steady, deep pressure with one arm, while using the suckers on the other for a light skin massage.

Mmmmm, that feels nice, I have such an ache in my hind arms again, Ponciaco whispered.

I told you to take better care of yourself, he whispered soothingly to her. You work too hard. The children miss you. I miss you!

Ponciaco replied, I'll make it up to all of you ... soon. It's just been so busy lately.

Takoda released his grip on her, colour turning a dull red. He never could hold back his feelings. He said pointedly, You are the sachem on an iqyax, it will always be busy, and you never delegate either. I didn't give up military life just so I could spend it alone on another Overworld umiak!

She protested, The crew is so young! They need guidance.

They are highly trained and they'll never learn anything without making a few mistakes.

They do make mistakes and that's why we are violating first contact protocol to pursue a potentially hostile umiak at high speed. Not exactly the first impression we wanted to make and one that could have been avoided.

Takoda snorted, You mean avoided if you had been there.

Avoided if a new crew member knew what the policies are and understood the importance of following them! That all takes time. A mistake was made and now I hope it doesn't plunge the Dineh into a war as a result.

Takoda flared bright red and threw up his arms, By the Great Mothers, you are impossible! If only you could use the same logic with your children!

That's not fair, I spend as much time as I can with them and ...

A voice from the com system interrupted, Sachem, we are in high orbit and closing in on the other umiak.

Ponciaco responded, I'll be there immediately.

Takoda merely waved a dull blue arm towards the door, Duty awaits my love.

She stopped and nearly said something but instead briefly flashed red before throwing on a robe and heading out the door to The Circle.

PONCIACO REENTERED The Circle with a decidedly different mood than the one she left with. The War Sachem had his warriors stationed and ready. Their very presence changed the mood of everyone. She had to resist the urge to bark orders with them around.

It hasn't altered course, orbit, or velocity, and has made no recognizable attempts at communication, summarized Aponivi, we are still on an intercept course and speed. How close do you think we should get Sachem?

Ponciaco thought for a moment, partially to gather her thoughts and partially to keep a cool demeanour for the benefit of the crew, Keep us at twice their relative speed until we are just outside our weapons range and then match their orbit, course, and velocity.

The Namid’s newest kuraka, Urika, was not one to speak unless she had something useful to say. The sachems that Urika served with previously said she wasn't leadership material and was not forceful enough in her opinions. Yet, Ponciaco had learned during the course of Urika’s brief service that even her simplest questions and statements were never simple under the surface. She was like a newly sprouted plant, the hint of the green above the surface was backed by a complex network of roots. So when Urika uttered,Should we attempt to communicate? Ponciaco knew not to treat the question lightly.

Yes, we don't want to sneak up on them but keep it to a simple hail, responded Ponciaco. Have we obtained any additional data on the umiak?

Ponciaco hadn't asked anyone in particular but all knew she meant Urika. She was a master at digesting large volumes of data quickly, analyzing, and responding in a manner so brief she made it look childish. It was something else her previous sachems had not understood. Urika briefly and calmly answered, They are somewhat larger than us but using relatively larger drive sections. Exhaust analysis indicates inferior design. Without getting closer I must conclude they are technologically inferior to us.

Although it was tempting, Ponciaco resisted the urge to question Urika further as she knew Urika would then bombard