{"id":2553,"date":"2023-09-30T16:21:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T23:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/?p=2553"},"modified":"2023-09-30T16:21:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T23:21:02","slug":"friendly-neighbors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/30\/friendly-neighbors\/","title":{"rendered":"Friendly Neighbors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

prompt: Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available at Reedsy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soft eddies of air normally only felt \u2014 on bare dermis or by rustled hair, fur or feathers \u2014 were announced by the low whooshing sound of the air circulators. A sound that occurred at regular intervals but was so quiet that living ears rarely \u2014 if ever \u2014 heard it over the sounds of normal activity. The sudden, shocked, still silence in the court was anything but normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tall, furry plaintiff\u2019s attorney with six eyes, four ear-slits, and too many joints in each of his six limbs and four grasping appendages, blinked all his eyes at once. He was an eritarian, and the Trade and Colonization Bureau of his government was suing the lone human woman, Ambassador Tara Washington, sitting in the dock, in this courtroom on his home world. \u201cPlease, expand on that answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked you what specific training you received to fulfill your role as ambassador of humans, and you answered, \u2018None.\u2019 While I appreciate a concise answer, I would ask that you provide some explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have had no specific ambassadorial training, other than what I\u2019ve learned on the job from the other ambassadors. In fact, I consider Ilio \u2014 your own ambassador, Mr. Aelioulius \u2014 a dear friend and mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attorney paced between the dock and the plaintiff\u2019s desk, leaving behind a light scent of citrus and sandalwood; a human cologne that sold well among his species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd yet, during a period where we are dealing with an invading force, you found it acceptable to cheat your \u2018dear friend and mentor<\/em>\u2019 in a trade deal that\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObjection, leading,\u201d the small, crustacean-like defense attorney said in a whistling, high voice punctuated with the click of mandibles that the translator couldn\u2019t hide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustained.\u201d The lead judge, head of the panel of three, all the same six-limbed creatures as the plaintiff\u2019s attorney gave the still-pacing attorney a three-eyed glare. \u201cPlaintiff\u2019s council is reminded to maintain decorum in this court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stopped pacing and nodded toward the bench. \u201cYes, your honors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stood before the plaintiff\u2019s desk and conferred with his assistants and Uniulu Ainounu, the president of the eritarian Trade and Colonization Bureau for a moment before continuing. \u201cAmbassador,\u201d he asked, \u201chow would you define your job?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy current job? As ambassador?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my job to represent the whole of humanity to the best of my ability. That includes forming friendly relations with those species we consider allies and trying to foster closer relations to those we do not, yet consider allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would guess the most important part, to me, is to approach everyone I meet as an ally or possible future ally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very noble, but could you explain what actions you take to \u2018foster closer relations\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s often something as simple as inviting an ambassador or visiting leader to tea or a gala. Sometimes it can mean broaching the subject of economic or other deals or even working out the details of those deals\u2026with input from experts from both species, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attorney stopped and tilted his head. \u201cThat sounds like a huge responsibility. How were you selected for such a position?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara shrugged, feeling small in the chair in the dock, designed for taller beings, her feet dangling just above the ground. \u201cWrong place, wrong time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCould you please elaborate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2026I was<\/em>\u2026a maintenance tech on Hawking station. That\u2019s where the United Human Systems headquarters are. Prior to my selection, each system was attempting to make deals with non-human systems but getting the run-around because of our lack of a seat in the Quadrant Coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey \u2014 the UHS, that is \u2014 decided that we needed a neutral ambassador that would represent Humanity at large to the QC. Whoever they chose had to be someone not a citizen of any particular human system and be impartial as to the inner conflicts and dealings within the human systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She stopped and took a sip of the water that had been provided for her, grown tepid from the hours of sitting out. \u201cI was born there on Hawking station. My mother was an engineer from the Barnard system, but she\u2019d died when I was still an infant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince my mother had no existing family, and my father was unknown, I was raised in the daycare centers of the station, the only orphan there. As such, I grew up with kids from every human system, and had no strong opinions on any system, good or bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara sighed. \u201cWhen they decided what kind of person they wanted for the job, I came to mind. Many of the young ambassadors had grown up with me on the station, and knew I was apolitical. I was young enough to serve for a long time, old enough to be mature about it, and I was right there. Like I said, wrong place, wrong time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccident of birth hardly seems a valid method for choosing a representative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObjection, not a question,\u201d the whistling voice of the defense attorney piped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustained. Plaintiff\u2019s council will refrain from providing commentary and stick to questioning. You are on a very weak limb with this panel and in danger of facing contempt and censure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, your honors.\u201d He composed himself yet again. \u201cAmbassador, I call your attention to plaintiff\u2019s exhibit one, the trade deal signed by yourself, seven human system leaders, Ambassador Ilio Aelioulius, and six eritarian military leaders on galactic date 12395.763-11.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document appeared as a large holograph in front of the bench, clearly legible from every point in the courtroom. Moving about the courtroom, it would seem the facing side of the document followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a trade deal,\u201d Tara said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was that?\u201d the attorney asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a trade deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an economic and military aid treaty between the members of the UHS and the eritarian government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis document has over thirty items related to tariffs, price caps, transport agreements, embargo rejections, and penalties for price fixing. If it\u2019s not<\/em> a trade deal, then what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObjection, asked and answered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithdrawn,\u201d the attorney said before the head judge could scold him yet again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He walked to the front of the dock. \u201cWhat are the major points of this agreement, in your own words?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara smiled. \u201cOne: special forces from several human militaries will provide training to eritarian forces. Two: weapons, ammunition, and equipment \u2014 including three mega-class hospital ships \u2014 from several human systems will be provided to those trained eritarian forces in exchange for raw materials to make more. Three: humans will set up permanent military bases in the selected eritarian system, Oalahi, where that training will take place. Four: once the eritarian military has enough of their own trainers, humans will cede those bases to the eritarian military, and provide only as many troops as the eritarian government requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fifth and final major point: for as long as humans are stationed in eritarian space, the free travel of humans and eritarians between those spaces will not be prohibited or impeded except in cases of illegal travel\u2026like someone fleeing from the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf those five major points you outlined, how many of the thirty-four trade items are directly related to those major points?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of them are related to one or more of the five major points.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhat is the link between the human mining vessels in the Oalahi asteroid field and those five major points?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe asteroid mining is taking place to both supply the raw materials for arms portion of the treaty, as well as material for making the military bases, including an orbital base, for training. The actual contract for that was not<\/em> in the treaty, however, the allowance for such contracts is<\/em> part of the treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing how the Oalahi system was next for eritarian settlement, how was that system chosen for this\u2026treaty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cannot answer that, as I do not have insight into the inner workings of your government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo further questions at this time.\u201d The attorney sat down, the president of the Trade and Colonization Bureau whispering in his ear-slits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crustacean-like defense attorney hopped down off its chair and scuttled to the center of the courtroom where it could be seen. It turned an eyestalk toward the plaintiff\u2019s desk before focusing on the dock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It began its questioning, its voice, high and whistling through the translator. \u201cAmbassador Washington, how many concessions did the humans make to get this treaty signed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell over fifty,\u201d she said, \u201calthough I don\u2019t know the exact number.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWere any of them a particular point of dismay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara frowned. \u201cThe biggest concessions were a removal of all<\/em> tariffs for eritarian durable goods throughout human space, the lack of financial payment for the arms and equipment, and the use of a completely undeveloped system for our training bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, there were contractors that were pleased by that one, as it guaranteed work for them not only to build the bases, but all the needed infrastructure as well. The UHS has estimated the cost to humans in the trillions of credits. For their part, the eritarians get a colony-ready world with pre-built infrastructure and military bases, military training, equipment, arms, and ammo, and they pay only for extracting the raw materials they are trading for the military goods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen why,\u201d it whistled, \u201cwould the humans agree to such a treaty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA couple reasons for that. First, we share a large border space with the eritarians. The invaders on the other side of their space need to be dealt with for both their sake and ours. Also, aside from the training part of the treaty, it creates a few million jobs in human space. Manufacturing, mining, construction, support, transportation, and so on. And those jobs can be spread among all<\/em> the human systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat restrictions does the treaty place on eritarian colonization in the Oalahi system?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly that the areas of the second planet designated for military installations and the security zone around them are off-limits for habitation due to safety concerns. Other than that, none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy final question for you, Ambassador. Why were the trade provisions included as an inherent part of the treaty?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe attending military commanders and Ambassador Aelioulius \u2014 in consultation with President Ainounu of the Trade and Colonization Board \u2014 determined that failing to secure those items as part of the treaty would leave them vulnerable to be overturned and endanger the treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to call your attention to defendant\u2019s exhibit one.\u201d A new document floated in the center of the courtroom. \u201cAt the bottom of this document is a mark, here,\u201d it said, pointing to it. \u201cWhat is that mark?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my initial stamp, verifying that I had read and understood the document.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is this document?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an order from President Ainounu to Ambassador Aelioulius, empowering him to sign the treaty on the government\u2019s behalf as long as he secured certain concessions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat were those concessions?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo direct monetary payments from the eritarian government to any human government, reduced restrictions on export of eritarian goods to human worlds, and humans would not alter any settled eritarian world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWas there anything else notable about this document?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found it odd that President Ainounu called the treaty \u2018a simple military matter and not worthy of any more of the Bureau\u2019s time,\u2019 in a document he knew<\/em> the other signatories would want to inspect before letting the Ambassador take the place of the government representative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was another hush over the courtroom. The defense attorney gestured, and the document disappeared. \u201cNo further questions.\u201d It scuttled back to its chair and climbed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judges conferred for only a moment before the head judge spoke up. \u201cThis court finds this case without merit. Just as we dismissed the case the plaintiff brought against Ambassador Aelioulius, we find this to be a politically motivated waste of the court\u2019s time. It is the suggestion of the court that should the plaintiff find himself in a political tough spot, he should refrain from promises to future colonists, and should take a more active role in treaty negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact that the human ambassador has made a deal with our government that greatly benefits us<\/em> more than them, I find your attempt to paint her as a manipulative con distasteful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlaintiff is to be charged for the court\u2019s time and all the defendant\u2019s legal fees. Dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tara found Ilio waiting for her outside the court and walked with him to the shuttle port. \u201cTrillions of credits?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYep,\u201d she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you concerned that one or more of the human governments will come after you for this deal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. The leaders of the seven largest human governments signed on to it with the UHS\u2019s blessing; understanding that what it costs us in the short term, we\u2019ll more than make up in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still feel like I pulled one over on you. Just as the humans secured the mining contract in the Oalahi system, our own companies are already competing for contracts in human space. How do you figure you\u2019ll recover?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery credit that your government pays for mining the ore goes into our economy at a level that generates jobs\u2026in other words, into the pockets of working people.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cAdd to that an increased market for our goods and services over the long term, and we\u2019ll make it back, plus some. Besides, it\u2019s good to have friendly neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat it is,\u201d Ilio said, \u201cthat it is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prompt: Begin a scene with a non-visual sense. Describe a specific sound, smell, taste, etc to capture your setting, then expand the story out from there. available at Reedsy The soft eddies of air normally …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[210,228,209],"class_list":["post-2553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-fiction","tag-science-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-Fb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2554,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2553\/revisions\/2554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}