The celebration was winding down, the guests were starting to leave, a sea of aliens heading every which way. Seinu however was shut away in a room that overlooked the plaza where the majority of the crowd was dispersing.
Watching the crowds crossing the plaza Seinu was tagging the various different groups of aliens with his visor, checking who they were. The S’Grael were the largest, the giant worms wriggling away toward the entrance to their tunnels where most of the aliens were drifting toward the transport hub entrances.
“I never realised quite how many foreign students were here,” the silver Avali said out loud as his visor tagged a group of Avali, he guessed about three packs from the way they were walking together, “It is good to see a large population of Avali though.”
“Young Avali are a staple of our academic program,” F’rarrk said as he slithered over, the large worm looming up above the Avali, “It is good to have them here, and Cultarvians, it’d be nice to see some Farndos too.”
“This would be… an interesting avenue to explore,” T’Lorp rumbled, “But the environment is not great for us.”
“The underground campuses the S’Grael have built would be ideal though,” Dalant said as he joined the three of them by the window, “They are cool and out of the sun.”
“Now we are no longer in dispute this would be a good thing to discuss,” T’Lorp said softly, “It would show our dedication to the new alliance and peace.”
“It will certainly make things around here less fraught with worry,” Dalant added, “We will need to do some public shows of dedication to the new alliance and this would be a good one.”
“Don’t let it all be about the university though,” Seinu added, “We should work out some other exchanges that could happen, reasons for S’Grael to visit Farndos, reasons for both of you to go to Cultarvian worlds.”
“That’s a good point,” Fr’arrk said, “Thank you Seinu, we don’t want to introduce new imbalances.”
“It’s why you called me,” he laughed softly, “Well no actually,” he shot Dalant a sly glance, “It isn’t why you called me at all is it now we know about Elegon?”
Dalant let out a soft despairing bleat and rubbed his muzzle, “No, when Elegon suggested it I thought it was because it made sense, I couldn’t get these two,” he gestured at Fr’arrk and T’Lorp to agree on anything, I figured inviting the Odyssey would help.”
He shook his head, “Now I know it wasn’t my skill as a diplomat, it was sabotage from my chief aide.”
“We do not hold it against you Dalant,” T’Lorp said softly, “Anyone who does is an idiot.”
“Playing political games more like,” Fr’arrk rumbled, “But you are also the Diplomat who just secured peace with our Avali allies, that will go a long way toward sorting things out.”
“It helps,” Dalant sighed, “But I am sure someone back home is going to push for an inquiry, they need to blame someone now Elegon has vanished.”
“I said we could have extracted him,” Seinu said, “My support team, the Ng'drakk pack, could have pulled him out before he got aboard the Horker ship.”
“No,” Dalant shook his head, “If we had pulled him out then the Horkers would have started to grow suspicious, pulling them away from our colony world was more important, you’ve seen what they are doing to the Unmizu now, we would have stood no chance with them already in orbit.”
“That’s fair,” Seinu sighed, “Hopefully he will turn up.”
“If he does his brain will likely have been scrambled,” Fr’arrk shook their large head, “Or he’s already been eaten.”
“Scrambled brain?” Seinu asked curiously.
“Oh, it is not nice,” Dalant replied, “Some aliens have telepathic powers, so if you really want to mess with someone and make sure they cannot give away their secrets there are procedures to adjust the chemical compounds and neural tissue of the brain.”
“It is not nice,” T’Lorp replied, “Really bad, to live through and to see the results of it. I wouldn’t put it past the Horker King to mess with his mind and try to lay the blame for all this on someone other than himself.”
“Since Dalant is the only one who can prove how he was involved,” Seinu said softly, “I’d put money on him never showing up again.”
“I hope he dies quickly,” Dalant said softly, “He has a lot to answer for, he nearly ignited a war and handed the sector to the Horker King but if they decide to Scramble His brain well… then I guess he will have been punished for what he did in the worst way I can imagine.”
“It wasn’t just him though,” Seinu said as he regarded the other two, “All of our governments have not helped, the Avali often come across as aloof or aggressive.”
“We certainly didn’t help,” Fr’arrk sighed, their large teeth filled maw sealing shut as they whistled softly, “We were so precious about the University here we didn’t stop to consider other people's feelings.”
“Well we let ourselves believe lies and misdirection, because it was convenient and easier than talking,” T’Lorp said, “We’d rather believe you were hiding riches from us on a planet that is frankly awful for us, it was a very well crafted campaign to sow distrust.”
“It didn’t help that it was being fed to you by one of ours,” Dalant shook his head and clopped a hoof against the ground, “It looked like I was deliberately misleading you”
“We should have known better,” the Embassy said, “It was just easier to believe you were in bed with the S’Grael and then you pulled the Avali out of your hat, your fellow co-conspirators.”
“It was a big mess,” Seinu said softly, “But we saw through it eventually, before we got lots of people killed, we all need to remember and stress to our governments that the Horker King is cunning, he has had three centuries to plan this.”
“Indeed,” Dalant nodded, “He was clearly intent on playing us against each other and then using the war as an excuse to subjugate all three of us.”
“Well now rather than three weak client races he’s got a united front,” Seinu said, “The three of you are aware of his tricks and tactics now and can brief your leaders.”
“We are already coming up with strategies and assembling a team to scrutinise things,” F’rarrk rumbled, “A joint council to try and blunt his ambitions in this field, he will be back and will no doubt try something else.”
Seinu nodded and turned back to look at the window and pointed down at the crowds still departing, “Remember all of this, remember today, today we gave these people peace instead of death from orbit, we did that.”
“We did yes,” Dalant smiled, “I guess this is where we need to go our separate ways for now?”
“Aye,” Seinu replied, “We all need to report back in, there is still a lot of paperwork to do and meetings to hold, briefings to give and reports to deliver.”
“Well hopefully we’ll all meet again soon,” T’Lorp said, “Under a peaceful situation too unlike our first meeting.”
Seinu inclined his head, ears perking up, “Well I should get going, Selenu is collecting my pack we need to return to the Odyssey and speak to the Illuminate.”
“I need to return home,” Dalant said, “The enquiries and briefings won’t give themselves, we need to stabilise Homestead for the influx of deliveries from Solanta as well.”
“Then I will bid you all farewell,” Fr’rarrk said, “Until we meet again in peace and prosperity.”
Seinu bowed and headed for the door. It might be years before he saw them in person again but he had three new friends and allies to call upon. The image of the Avali was solid and secure with all three of their governments too. What nearly saw three trading partners ripped apart by war and turned into a solid alliance. It had been a good trip but now it was time to return to the Odyssey and speak to Director Ck’akk with a final report of how it had all gone down.
Illumination Towers
The Directorate of International Affairs
Director Ck'akk's Office: 90th floor
“So that’s the current state of things Director,” the hologram of Seinu said, the silver Avali’s projection flickering lightly, “The S’Grael, Farndos and Cultarvian have signed the new treaty and have agreed to our trade concessions and utilising our diplomatic service for dispute resolution.”
“Very good,” the Director said leaning back in her chair as she considered the report data scrolling across her screens, “I see they have also given us a gift?”
Seinu glanced to the left, where Selenu was sitting next to him, she looked down at something in her lap then back at the camera, “They have gifted us the pulsar system, Soopee-31P, none of them have the technical skill or knowhow to exploit the system,” she reached out to rub a hand through Seinu’s crest, “They tried to give it to him directly, We had to explain that they can’t just give Seinu a solar system.”
Ck’akk laughed, “You should have let him accept it, you could have then sold it to the Illuminate.”
“No way,” Firi chirped, poking her snout into the holographic view, “You’d have claimed we were only there on Illuminate business so it belonged to you anyway.”
Ck’akk laughed and shook her head, “Not me but someone over in legal would probably have had words with us, either way you’re getting a huge bonus for that, a Pulsar system is going to be filled with exotic elements.”
“Whoo bonus,” someone called out, the Director thought it was probably Ki, she smiled and her ears twitched to focus on Seinu as he spoke.
“We hope it’ll be worth it, all three of them have have mostly ignored it and if it is useful it’ll make a good location for a base and trading point,” Seinu glanced back over so he was facing forward again, “Chantelle wanted to know if you’d like us to do a preliminary survey? We are here so we could run the initial system survey then you’ll have a better idea of what specialists to send for an in depth scan.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Ck’akk mused as she examined the documents in front of her, she smiled at Kn’ark as she handed her a tablet, she scrolled through the calendar entries and nodded, “Ok yes, do that first rather than rushing back to Avalon, you’ve definitely earned some downtime and it will take me a week or two to decide on your next assignment and get the associated materials together.”
“Very well Ma’am, we’ll prepare to do a survey of Soopee-31P before returning home,” nodding and making a note Ck’akk handed the tablet back to her sister, “Do you have any further reports on the Horkers?”
“Not much,” Seinu replied, “Their fleet returned to their home world to resupply, our latest intelligence says they are now besieging the Unmizu on behalf of the Kuyorui.”
“Damn,” she sighed and rubbed her snout, “That’s what our agents are reporting too, I was hoping you might have heard something different.”
“Sorry ma’am,” Seinu said, “That’s what we are hearing here, S’Grael university is abuzz with the news, they are so relieved it isn’t them being invaded however so we are racking up a lot of goodwill but it isn’t sounding great for the Unmizu.”
“It’s not as bad as the Horkers are making out, their weapons are not designed for under-water assaults. It’s turning into a siege, not a quick victory for the Horkers, but we don’t know how long he’ll keep trying.”
“Well if we can do anything to help let us know,” Seinu said, “Otherwise you have my reports and files, I should leave you to read through them, if you have any further questions just call.”
“I will be in touch,” she smiled, “You did good Seinu, all of you did, give my thanks to your pack and go see if there is anything valuable at Soopee-31P and we will talk soon.”
Seinu bowed and the hologram switched off, Ck’akk took a moment to stare out the window at the Aurora, watching the patterns of light rippling across the horizon. It was a pretty sight, one she never tired of, though to her un-augmented eyes it would just be bands of white light her visor filled in the missing colours. After a moment she turned back to her desk, reading through the various reports, voice logs and official notes from the Trail pack and the other packs who had been working with them in the shadows.
Her siblings were busy reading through the full reports, Ra’Lett her brother and chief personal assistant S’lakk and Kn’ark her sisters were summarising and pulling out pertinent points; Seinu had proven that he had assimilated all his lessons and grown as both an Avali, an adult and a diplomat.
Now however she had to decide in which direction to push him next, after r her to review in more depth later. So far however everything she was seeing looked good, Seinu had clearly another hour of reading reports and considering her options she signalled to her family.
“Everyone gather around, close those down please,” she said to her family, “Lock the doors and make sure the do not disturb sign is on.”
Her family moved swiftly, closing down the desk and locking the door before gathering around a scanner that had extruded itself from the floor at Ck’akk’s order. There were four scanners, one for each of them and as they gathered around and placed their hands on the scanner.
Green light flowed up the length of their hands and a hidden sensor in the ceiling started to scan the packs brain-waves, pulse, heart-rate and other biometric data. Only once it was satisfied her whole pack was present and not under the influence of any weird drugs of mind-altering effects did the pedestal establish a link to a super secure line.
It was a communication line that only Directors of the various directorates could request. No one not on the Illuminate Executive council could do this, you also could not do it alone you had to be with your pack. After a moment the orange seal of the Illuminate appeared on the screen in front of her.
“Hello Director Ck’akk, how can I help you today?”
“Good day Oracle,” Ck’akk said, her direct line to the Avali super intelligence now online, “I need some advice.”
“Certainly Director, I assume this about the Odyssey program?”
She laughed softly and sat back in her chair, “Indeed, you have seen the latest reports from the Odyssey itself, how is it and the rest of the program holding up?”
The orange Illuminate symbol floating in the air was bracketed by wavy lines as the Oracle thought before it spoke in its soft electronic voice, “The Odyssey program has achieved its initial aims, our Alien allies are much happy receiving an Odyssey class ship and a diplomatic pack as opposed to an Explorer corps squadron.”
“That was my main aim,” Ck’akk said, “Has it had a measurable effect though? Or is it just a pipe dream?”
“It is not negligible, our opinion amongst our close allies has improved significantly, trading partners are much more inclined to be relaxed and deal with us on equal or favourable terms,” The Oracle continued, “The psychological difference between a squadron of Explorer corps vessels turning up to escort a diplomat who is clearly deferring to the highest ranking military leader as opposed to an Independent Diplomat who is there to discuss trade or political considerations is quite significance. I have been able to compare real-time reactions from the handful of Odyssey vessels in service compared to our diplomatic efforts continuing in the old style and the difference in behaviour is huge.”
“How about the situation that just resolved at Homestead?” Ra’lett asked, “Where the Odyssey had to call in military cooperation to thwart the Horkers' plans.”
“That was seen favourably, it made sense, and the Avali were not seen as strong arming anyone with military assets,” the Oracle replied, “We called them when they were needed and didn’t turn up with them from the start.”
“So here is my loaded question,” Ck’akk said, “Would you advise me to continue to commission more Odyssey class vessels?”
“Affirmative,” the Oracle replied, “And I will state so when you bring it before the council, but that is not your real loaded question is it? That was the political question.”
Ck’akk shook her head in amusement, “You know us too well,” she chirped, “Very well, do I permit the Trail pack to continue as the crew of the Odyssey or do I rotate them out and put a more experienced pack in?”
She ignored her sisters as they both shot her startled looks and sat with her eyes fixed on the display, the Oracle’s light glowed for a moment then spoke quietly, “Can I hear your reasoning for removing them? I cannot see anything in their records to indicate a need to remove them.”
“It’s about experience mostly,” Ck’akk replied, “We picked the Trail pack as the Odyssey was a new program, a gamble, a throw in the dark to see if this would work, now that it has been proven and we are commissioning more ships with more experienced packs Seinu and the Trail back are by far the least experience pack manning an Odyssey ship.”
The Oracle listened and then spoke, “I do not believe removing them would be the right choice,” Ck’akk relaxed a bit and smiled, listening as the Oracle continued, “They were the first, to remove them would be a PR issue and open yourself to accusations of not believing in the program or wishing to minimise risks to yourself if it failed.”
“Well that is technically true,” Ck’akk said, “We picked them because they were young and new with one proven record under their belt, so if it did explode in our faces I hadn’t torpedoed the career of a more experienced diplomat.”
“I am aware,” the Oracle said, “And it was the correct choice, but your political adversaries would use it against you. No, Seinu’s handling of the Homestead affair has shown he is developing, he may not be the most experienced diplomat but with your guidance, the support of his pack and the good PR and fame associated with being the Ambassador aboard the original Odyssey class ship he is best placed where he is.”
“Thank you Oracle,” Ck’akk nodded to her brother Ra’Lett who plugged a data-chip into the pedestal, “I have three scenarios here for what missions to assign Seinu too next, I’d like your thoughts on which path we should guide him along.”
The Oracle hummed, data lines whirled through the air for a moment as the great computer absorbed the new data, finally they spoke, “Scenario Two is best suited for Seinu’s growth and experience level, it will push him to improve and place him in situations to gain a lot of valuable experience.”
“Thank you Oracle, that is all I wanted to confer with you about today,” Ck’akk replied relaxing in her chair.
“You are welcome as always Director, until next time everyone,” and with that the Oracle logged off and Ck’akk braced for a storm of chirping.
“What were you thinking?!” S’lakk all but shouted, “Asking the Oracle if we should remove Seinu! It could have said yes.”
“Yes it might have,” Ck’akk said, “But I don’t have to do what it tells me to.”
“That would have deleted their career,” Kn’ark yelled, “After all the work we’ve put into them! It is important the younger packs see us older packs on the council care about their lives and how they contribute.”
“I understand,” Ck’akk said softly, “But I have to ask these questions, if I don’t someone else will and phrase it in such a way to try and get the answer they want out of the Oracle,” she waved a hand, wing feathers shifting together, “Now we have it, we have Oracle approval to keep them in place and continue to grow them.”
She picked up a slate, “What I need the two of you to do is look over scenario two and suggest any tweaks Ra’Lett and I have missed.”
S’lakk took the slate and tossed it away, hugging Ck’akk and dragging her to her feet, “Later, lunch first, together as a pack we need some us time.”
“Yes,” Ra’Lett said with a smile, leaning in to hug all three of his sisters, dragging Kn’ark into the hug, “Lunch first, come on we can save the galaxy after we’ve eaten.”
Ck’akk smiled and let herself be dragged off to lunch, Galactic Diplomacy could wait whilst they ate and spent some time together as a pack.
As the hologram of Ck’akk and her pack blinked off Seinu sighed and flopped back on his beanbag, he kicked his feet in the air and chirped, “We did it, whew.”
Firi and Selenu flopped down next to him and Senu lifted his paws to grab Chantelle and Taran by the hands and dragged them down onto the beanbag. He chirped at the big feathery hug and peeked out at Ki and wiggled his fingers at their adopted brother, “Get in here.”
Ki tried to perch on the edge of the beanbag but Chantelle grabbed him and dragged him into the middle of the pile. He chirped in protest but made no attempt to escape the hug as all of Seinu’s siblings just sprawled out in relief on the beanbag. He lifted his ears at a small noise and smirk, reaching out with his feet to wrap them about Cri and Cal and drag them closer, “you two as well, everyone gets a pack hug!”
“We aren’t really part of the pack though,” Cri protested and then chirped in alarm as Firi picked him up and plopped him down between them.
“Yes you are,” Firi declared, “You aren’t just employees, you’re family as much as Ki or Taran or anyone.”
“Think of us as your space foraging party,” Firi said with a smile, “We may not be quite the same as an Avali family, but we are together and we got your backs.”
“That’s nice,” Cal said as he flopped a top Seinu’s chest and stretched out, “It is nice to belong, a foraging party in space, that is nice, so what are we doing next?”
“Well now we have finished averting war and thwarting the Horker’s we are going to go survey a Pulsar system,” Chantelle chirped, “It’ll be a nice break from all the high stakes politics and life or death decision making.”
“We need a break,” Selenu said softly, “Our next assignment won’t be along for a few weeks so we are going to embrace the downtime and go see what we discover.”
“Shouldn’t we be helping the Unmizu?” Cri chirped, “Like aren’t we allies with them?”
“We are but not the sort that can send in a fleet and blow things up and that’s what they need right now,” Taran explained, “If we did that we’d be in an all out war with the Horker’s.”
“So we are just not going to do anything?”
“Oh no we are doing stuff,” Seinu chirped, “But the Unmizu don’t actually need a fleet, they got this, they need political support from the Coalition and that’s what Yarnsel’s pack is doing, they are dealing with the Unmizu situation.”
“Who is that?” Cal asked as he snuggled in against Seinu, “I’ve not heard that name before.”
“He’s the Ambassador for the Choirster pack, they are assigned to the AEV Sojourn (our sister ship), they got this.”
“Oh ok,” Cri chirped, “As long as we are doing something, that bastard needs to be stopped.”
“We will stop him sooner or later,” Selenu replied as she reached over to brush a paw through Cri’s headfur, “It will just take time as we got to do it in a way that doesn’t make us more enemies.”
“So when do we leave for this Pulsar?” Cal asked, “I’ve never seen one, can I fly something fast around it?”
“Maybe,” Firi promised, “We’ll have to see what it is like, but that’s up to Sel as to when we leave?”
“It’ll take a few days for the relevant paperwork to be signed by the governments involved and to receive the official orders,” Selenu replied, “Until then I was going to propose we fly the Odyssey to the nearby resort world of Felosta in the Farndos Continuum, it has some really good ski-resorts.”
“Why do the Farndos have ski resorts,” Ki asked, “They are big puddles of moss.”
“For the tourists of course,” Selenu laughed, “They stick to the swamps and rivers and bayous in the lowlands, but they realised Avali and other cold weather species like to ski, they have a thriving resort world for this entire sector it caters to everyone.”
“What is skiing?” Cal asked curiously, sitting up and peeking at the Avali, “I’ve never heard of it before.”
“You’ll like it,” Firi chuckled, “It is an excuse to go fast under your own power, I’ll set up lessons for you both.”
“Oooh,” Cal sat up, “No I remember now, not skiing! Sod that, so slow, so boring Snowboard! That’s what I want lessons in.”
“Ok ok,” Firi laughed, “Of course you want to do the stupidly fast and dangerous one.”
“Yes,” Cal drummed his paws happily on Seinu’s feathery stomach, “I want to go fast!”
“Oh dear, well just take care to listen to the instructor,” Seinu sighed, “Ifelse, plot a course to Felosta and book us a lodge, no actually,” Seinu sat up, “Book us the Penthouse or a fully catered lodge, whichever place comes with all meals included or a chef or something.”
“A chef,” Ki chirped, “Why do we need a chef, we can cook our own meals.”
“Sod that,” Firi shouted, “We do enough cooking as it is, Chef Chef Chef!”
Selenu laughed and shook her head, “Don’t go totally overboard, we’re going skiing all day, the lodge doesn’t have to be more than a place for us to sleep.”
“Nah fuck that,” Taran called out, “We deserve some luxury, it needs a proper Avali spa!”
“I want a reading room,” Cri shouted, “Can we get one with a reading space?”
“And a fire-placed,” Chantelle said, “For evening after skiing cosy times,”
“No alcohol though,” Firi added, “We don’t need any in the lodge.”
“This request is getting a bit complex,” Ifelse complained but no one listened, everyone was calling out things they wanted the lodge or the wider resort to have available.
Seinu smiled and closed his eyes, lying back between his family, listening to them all start to chirp and argue and call out ideas for what the perfect Ski Lodge should have. It was good, everything was just as it should be, they were together with another victory under their belt.
Voyages of the Odyssey - Arc 2: End
It will be continued in Arc 3