Chapter Twenty-Nine (Dreams) (1/2)
Dreams of Something More arranged the guest area a little more and settled down on the woven grain mat. She glanced around, taking comfort from the decorations adopted from a culture her people had almost destroyed. One of TerraSol's warrior cultures from an island. A culture that had gone to war against a titan a hundred times its size and lost. It had fought bravely, had sought a single battle or quick series of battles to convince the larger culture that victory was inevitable.
The larger culture had answered back with atomics.
It reminded her of her own people's mistake.
The little meter high standing at full extension Mantid wiped her grasping hands and leaned back slightly. She nodded to the two warborgs in her chamber, then signaled the door to open to permit a guest.
A Shavashan Councilbeing entered, looking about nervously. Dreams could see it was female, older, no longer able to produce the fat storage along the tail, scales dulled by time despite the attempt at vanity wax and polish.
The one who had asked questions during the initial meeting.
The Councilbeing entered carefully. Dreams was amused that despite being three times her mass the guest watched Dreams closely, glancing now and then at the two huge warborgs behind Dreams.
”Have no fear, they are not here out of fear you will do violence,” Dreams said softly through the omnitranslator.
Behind her she could feel, through her sensitive antenna, the two warborg's minds growl and snarl at her telepathic senses.
It soothed her to know she would never harm another, even if her implosion wire malfunctioned.
The other being, Speaker Hashknesh, nodded slowly as she lowered herself into the cushion. The mantid seemed so small compared to the white one that had first spoken. A third of its height, yet it had an innate sense of nobility and made Hashknesh want to attend to the Mantid's commands.
”Is this a social visit or business?” Dreams asked through the translator.
”Could it be both?” Hashknesh offered.
”We are politicians, diplomats, it is always both,” Dreams said, signalling amusement.
The Shavashan diplomat signaled amusement.
”I feel I have previously deduced the reasoning for your visit, but I would hear it from your own jaws,” Dreams said. She used a bladearm to delicately spear a chunk of raw and spiced fish. Other Mantids prefered synth-flesh, but Dreams enjoyed her luxuries.
”The Councils all appreciate the assistance of TerraSol in repelling the Precursor machines, especially out in the Outer Rim, but are concerned about something that keep occuring on certain worlds,” Hashknesh said. Dreams made a mental note that out of all things going on, this one was what they chose to have somebeing enter her presence to complain about. Speaks Words that Others Fear would never let her live it down that he had been right. The gold mantis pulled her attention back to the Shavashan diplomat. ”Despite being the property of various business entities of various power and names, some whole systems have been turned over to races that are not even civilized.”
”I see,” Dreams said, sliding the tray aside with her bladearm. It would not be a good thing to eat while this being complained. It made her implosion wire worry.
”On nearly a dozen systems they have destroyed all presence of the Precursor machines, but then turned right around and, instead of the owners, turned the system over to a different species,” Hashknesh said.
”The species that owes its genesis to that world,” Dreams said. She did not trigger her questioning holorune. ”Those lesser beings that somehow struggled to dim sentience on that world are being allowed to stray from their appointed path and the Terrans are returning the planet to them no matter how slim a claim they have on the planet they merely evolved upon.”
”Exactly,” Hashknesh said, ”This has caused much consternation among business and industry beings, some beings that are even considered withdrawing support for this war unless those worlds, and the species, are returned to their control.”
”The Terrans have accomplished something unique to them, probably back before they mastered fire,” Dreams said, lifting a droplet of water and sipping from it.
”What?” Hashknesh asked, wondering what this had to do with the release of servant species and the refusal to return those species's homeworlds back to the Unified Councils.
”They broke free of the chains of their DNA,” Dreams said. She tilted her bladearm and let the water droplet slide back into the small pool of water. She stared at her guest, reached her bladearm out and stirring the water.
The Shavashan triggered the rune for mental confusion.
”I looked at your record, Honored Speaker, and do you know what I found?” The Mantid asked, a sudden apparent non-sequitur within the change of subject.
”What?” Hashknesh asked, frowning slightly.
”You have been forced, by biology, to take no less than fourteen hiatuses from your work here in the Council. Forced no less than fourteen times to return to your homeworld, I assume because of your rank and not some biological imperative that mandates your species can only breed on your homeworld, so that your body could ovulate, fill your abdomen with eggs,” Dreams said. She stopped stirring and folded her arm up, going perfectly still. ”Then allow a male to fertilize those eggs before laying them. Probably in sand selected by some standards you barely understand. Biological imperative might have even insisted you raise those young for a period of time.”
”Of course,” Hashknesh said after the pause stretched out and she realized that the Mantid expected her to reply. ”How could there be anything else?”
”Why, do you suppose, that you never volunteered for sterilization?” Dreams asked.
Hashknesh rocked back at the thought. Only the worst criminals, with genetic lineage that would pass on criminal tendencies, were sterilized.
”There it is. You object to such a thing at a primordial level,” Dreams said softly. ”What about some sort of implant to control ovulation?”
Again Hashknesh reacted with revulsion. ”Why? What if it malfunctioned and I lost the ability to procreate?”
Dreams shook her little head. ”Would it shock you to know that Terran youth often have ovulation and sperm production control implants? What if I told you that Terrans consider that a legal right? How much would it shock you to know that roughly 2% of all Terrans ignore biological urgings and not only refuse to procreate but refuse to engage in any type of sexual conduct?”
Hashknesh goggled at her host. ”But, who else will carry on your...” she came to slow stop looking at the two warborgs.
Dreams hummed, then lifted up a grasping hand. ”You are still bound by the chains of biology, of DNA,” she made a motion at the warborgs. ”They are not.”