Jacques
April 2257
HIP 84051
The cargo doors opened and I stepped out. Not surprisingly, a squad of Pav militia awaited , weapons held at ready. I sighed and shook my head. It was entirely possible that the Pav military would never warm to the Bobs.
I couldn’t really bla them, of course. Every interaction reminded them of the technological gulf between us, and of their complete helplessness if we ever started making demands. Not a comfortable situation for a military mind.
I walked up to the group, being careful not to appear aggressive. They probably wouldn’t haul off and shoot , just because, but why take chances?
The squad leader took a half step forward, and I addressed him. “Hazjiar is expecting .”
The sergeant, or whatever equivalent, looked like he wanted to frisk . Or maybe handcuff , or just give a good beating. But I was obviously not carrying anything of a technical nature, so he settled for glaring at and showing his teeth for a mont.
I gave him a close-lipped smile in return and looked aningfully in the direction of Hazjiar’s house.
This whole performance could have gone on for a few more minutes, if Hazjiar hadn’t picked that mont to walk out onto her porch. She made a gesture to the soldiers, and they motioned to with their weapons.
I settled into a chair, bobbed my head to Hazjiar, and waited for her to speak.
“You said you had news? Presumably it is about the Others?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I wanted to deliver this news in person. The battle is over. We’ve won, although barely.”
Hazjiar nodded, and stared at the horizon for a few monts. “This is good, of course. But will they not just regroup and return? For how long will we be safe?”
“There will be no return, Hazjiar. We wiped them out.” I looked down for a mont, then t her eyes. “It wasn’t sothing we did casually, but they have obliterated so many sentients, and showed no interest in changing their behavior…”
The soldiers exchanged glances. If they were concerned about the gulf between us before, this wouldn’t have helped. I spared them a quick look, then continued. “We will continue to watch for them, but it’s most likely that there are none left.”
“I don’t understand your species, Jock.” Hazjiar paused, looking at . “You have all this power, yet you seem reluctant to use it. You are so rich that you don’t even need money, yet you seem to have so little.”
I looked up at the ceiling for a mont. She was, perhaps without realizing it, hitting very close to ho with so of her comnts. “Hazjiar, we—all the Bobs, I an—don’t have any desire for power over others. Quite the opposite, in fact. We just want to be able to do our own thing. And we may finally be at the point where we can realize that desire.”
I gestured to the soldiers. “You have power, in the ways that matter. You’re able to keep yourselves safe here. We’ll make sure nothing gets out of control up there.” I gestured to the sky. “Beyond that, unless you specifically need us for sothing, we’ll leave you alone. I think, as a group, the Bobs have finally figured out our place in the cosmos. So we’re going to be stepping back.”
Hazjiar gazed at the soldiers for a mont, then smiled at . “So of us, I think, will be happy to hear that. I am not so sure. In any case, we will live.” She stood. “Thank you, Jock, for the news. I will inform the Council.”
I stood and gave her the Pav head bob, and walked to the cargo drone. I stepped in and turned for a last look. As the doors were closing, I saw Hazjiar give the Vulcan salute.
* * *
I popped into PRP. The Pav Reclamation Project had a dedicated VR, hosted in Bill’s Moot station. I looked around the room; a half-dozen Bobs watched video windows or operated drones on the planet’s surface. Ferb stood at the edge of the room, watching the activity.
“Hey, Ferb.” I walked over to join him. “How’s it going?”
“Slow but steady, Jacques. We’ve been able to produce at least a few of everything that we have samples for. Genetic diversity may be an issue for a while, but we should be able to bring back about seventy-five percent of the planet’s ecosystems, eventually.”
I nodded, watching a few of the video windows. “And the other thing?”
Ferb motioned toward a whiteboard with a number of items listed. “We’ve found so good candidate planetoids in nearby systems. Bill’s asteroid-movers will handle them easily.” ꭆ𝔞ΝŎ𝔟ЕṨ
I nodded, satisfied. “So, eventually we’ll be able to offer the Pav their ho system back. With a supply of tals.”
“Maybe a few decades, yet, buddy, but yeah. That’ll be good.”
We watched the activity in the room, enjoying the mont. One less thing to feel guilty about.
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