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The Awakening
My head swirls when I leave the cafe hours later. I wander around the town square aimlessly, too frazzled to sit still or sleep. I've heard the story in variations from fringe media, people who knew people, and now from the closest source yet.
Inspiration strikes and I hurry back to the apartment to write my own account of the legend. I gather my notes and sit down to a desk with a window overlooking an unspectacular view of the empty street below. I turn off the phone, pull the blinds and began to write.
* * *
Ping . . . ping. . . . a high pitched tone woke the Rogue from a deep sleep. Ping . . . ping . . . he opened a stale yellow eye to see the ship's clock. Long distance space travel had only one perk: lots of sleep time. He groaned as he slowly heaved his thick frame up and turned off the alarm.
"Good waking, Teotao," the ship's computer voice chirped when he turned on the cabin light. He mumbled a profanity as he pulled on charcoal gray pants and shirt.
"We entered the Yi system two cycles ago. Shall I start the solar orbital sequence?" the computer went on cheerfully.
"Hmm? Oh sure Betts. You pick up any broadcasting yet?"
"Plenty, most of it is indecipherable," Betts replied. Of course it is, Teotao thought, irritated at the computer's thoroughness.
Very little was known about this system except it had one inhabitable planet, a rarity among the systems, and the single species was a scattered mess of politics, cultures and superstitions.
"Narrow it down to the ten most frequent bands and run a full mineral scan on the planet when we're close enough. Keep us in the shadows of any surveillance," he ordered as he tended to his personal grooming. He looked in the mirror and primped with his lush pelt of cinnamon hair covering his head and body, neatly combing his facial hair.
Done with the ritual, he climbed the steep steps to the flight deck. The barge had small living quarters and a sparse deck but that was the point. All the available space was for payload. His thick, pudgy fingers scrambled over the controls as he took command of the ship and ran a check on the small solar commuter vessel attached to the ships hull.
After an hour of scanning he had a better handle on the new world. All the right elements were there, ripe for the taking. There was evidence of recent nuclear activity but none of the feeble military defenses had space based weapons and-- praise be the Four Powers, Betts isolated one of the languages on file in the Alliance library. He would spend the remaining time of the approach learning the basic vocabulary-- easy business for a Rogue-- and figure out which dominant government to contact for business.
Teotao rubbed his hand with glee at hitting the jackpot: a fresh planet with lots of raw minerals and ignorant suckers ready to trade. Knowing the system had been declared off limits by the Alliance made the prospect easier with no interference from the insufferable Jovas.
He shuddered in the pilot seat. He preferred his own counsel to those fems and their prissy males with their high drama and rules when it came to riches waiting to be plucked for the adventurous.
He thanked the Powers he was born a free agent on Garin, a nice planet of hardy sorts who gave the Alliance the nose when they tried to run the place.
He snorted at the Alliance Guardianship: they did the work for him with their monitoring and data collection of the system. He spent a good amount of time at the library familiarizing himself with his new find.
He hitched the barge to the orbit of the gray, lifeless moon nearby and gazed wolfishly at the view on the monitor. He would wait for the right moment to introduce himself to the citizens of the bright blue orb with wisps of white clouds over a half dozen land masses.
* * *
"Of all the greedy, arrogant, irresponsible things you have done Teotao this is the grandest." Madame Malinka of the Alliance Guardianship Commission could no longer contain her temper.
The Jova, along with a Pohl and Chiron representative, sat in a large conference room where the Rogue was interrogated. The awkward silence stretched as Teotao and his lawyer shifted uncomfortably on the other side of a massive white table. Teotao shrugged his bulky shoulders at the verbal lashing.
"Nobody was killed, so what's the big deal?" His disdain increased her ire.
"The big deal is that you, an unlicensed trader, made first contact with an unaligned, non-space faring civilization without our consent," she continued, incredulous at his audacity.
"How can they become aligned if they aren't contacted first?" he argued and his Cassarian Lawyer nodded his double chin in agreement. Malinka slapped the table with a large elegant hand.
"That's for the Alliance to decide, not some ore dealing pirate," she hissed.
You don't run the universe, he wanted to retort. Don't play with non-Alliance folks, they scolded, repeating the outdated prohibition, but the Jova and especially the Pohls, dealt with new worlds all the time. And they call me arrogant, Teotao fumed.
"What exactly did you promise the Orbis, pray tell?" Ambassador Shem inquired in his typical formal manner.
Boy, he's an odd one, Teotao thought as he considered his answer. The Pohl would make a superb gambler with his blank expression and minimal body language. He wondered if it was true that Pohls used a robot body to house a squishy blob. Teotao's lawyer put a fat hand on his arm and sotto voce discouraged him from answering but Teotao felt no need to hide his actions.
"We decided on a fair trade of copper and nickel. In exchange I gave some of their--ah, what's the word?" Teotao groped for the term as he waved a hairy hand vaguely. "Astronauts --a ride around their solar system. They were thrilled with the deal," he gave a hearty chuckle as he recalled their child like enthusiasm.
"They did not inquire about inter dimensional travel?" Shem pressed on.
"I told them that was too tricky," Teotao admitted with a smirk, pleased with his response to a potential trap.
It was true, there was no way these noobs could handle the warping of interstellar space and, while trading for ore was one thing, selling technology was a serious offense.
"My client made a business transaction with private citizens, not with any government. All perfectly legal under Alliance guidelines," his lawyer Parthalon added with confidence.
"That is quite correct counsel, however trading with the Bree is not," Shem retorted smoothly. Teotao stiffened.
"They offered a fair deal for the goods why not," he snapped.
"You should have been more discreet with your new found wealth. They were bound to wonder where you acquired those metals," Malinka shot back. She didn't care about his trading, it was the bugs that worried her.
"Have you made any other trades with the Bree?" Shem continued, implying information.
"My client has not and will not," Parthalon answered before Teotao could give a snarky reply. Shem arched an eyebrow. Given the Cassarians poor bluffing skills he was probably telling the truth.
"I think we need to take a break so the counsel can consider the evidence Teotao has graciously given," said Clement, the Chiron member of the triad.
At least he's polite, Teotao thought as he and his lawyer quickly retired. Clement stood and stretched, thankful for a break from sitting in a chair that was not designed for a creature with four arms and long legs. Malinka dithered in her chair impatiently while Shem contemplated his hands.
"The Alliance will have to recognize this system," Malinka said finally, making the informal offer as sponsor. The other two exchanged looks.
"Do you think they are ready for the leap?" Clement asked, dubious of her motives with the primitive species.
"Ready or not, we need to get to them before the Bree does," Shem answered, expressing their true fear. A conflict between the Bree, the Orbis and the Alliance would not end well for anyone.
"Fair enough, let's assume a spy must have overheard the Rogue while he was celebrating and find them out," Clement said, turning away from the tall window to face his associates.
Shem barely heard him as his mind reeled with anticipation. What kind of contribution would this new civilization make to the burgeoning Alliance?
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