The Testimony of the Right Honorable Tubar Danak, Lord Chamberlain of the Skarsian Matriarchy
By Mithras and the Archon, that woman was driving me mad. It was more than clear what she wanted. My body seemed to think it would be a good idea, but the rational man within me said that Magdelaine would have my head on a spit if I acquiesced.
The constant distraction did not help my ability to concentrate on the subtleties of SongLuminant politics, either. First, the SongLuminant occupying hsdaf-Bhue87 accused Gwwwtttth-OVDG of lying about the recent possession of the Alliance Fleet. The Outer Vent Defense Guild denied all knowledge of the offense, despite the evidence provided by etch, Thoughtful 45 and myself.
Newberg, the Hreck nuncio, kept twitching his feelers agitatedly. It was clear that he didn’t think much of the way that hsdaf-Bhue87 was toadying to the SongLuminants. Of course, it could have been a matter of social rank – Newberg has a name instead of a designator, which means he’s higher in status than hsdaf-Bhue87. It could also have been a matter of loyalty, since he owes both his name and his position in the combine to Ashtara. Or it could have been a matter of practicality. Newberg is of the vanguard of Hreck society – to him, cooperating with the Champions of the Skylight Spin would be a step backwards into chattelhood.
Suzanna leaned forward, flashing me an ample view of her cleavage. “I’m not buying this,” she whispered with a little wiggle. “My woman’s intuition says that there’s something wrong.”
I didn’t need breasts to know that. The entire maneuver was foolhardy. In contrast, the former attempt to meddle with our society by aiding the Terrans against the Alliance was masterful. If the Outer Vent Defense Guild had won, they’d get to claim the status of the heroic saviors of Terra and staunch friends of humanity and the Nau’gsh, at the same time proving the limits of Ashtara’s power and causing him to lose status in the combine. If they lost, which they did, they lost – nothing. After all, they were only trying to help.
Was this latest ploy more in line with the subtle tactics of OVDG, or with the Champions of the Skylight Spin, who had attempted (well, succeeded, actually, but that’s a long story) to assassinate the Matriarch, and then made a heavy-handed attempt to sabotage the Shambhala colony?
Suzanna gasped, and I realized that she has reached exactly the same conclusion as I had: the OVDG were being framed. What amazed me is that the other SongLuminants hadn’t realized it also. When faced with the accusations by CSS, the Panoply of the Ancient Foam behaved indignantly, protesting that the decision to admit both Humanity and the Hreck into the combine was a compromise to further the greater goal of readmitting their ancient allies, the Eer-gaaani. They had no intention of manipulating the weaker species. In fact, they intended only the best for the newly-admitted advanced sentients, which is why Ashtara, the great Living God, that amazing prodigy of Advanced Sentience, had been assigned to mentor the humans. Which surely he would say for himself, if he only had deigned to attend today’s meeting.
Neliit sent a sharp glance at etch with her lower set of eyes while her upper eyes exchanged something silently with Bhhhhhjjjjjjjjk-SCD, the SongLuminant nuncio. “I propose a recess,” she said. “It is our custom to drink ghasha, a soothing warm beverage, every night at sunset. The sunset is beautiful, and it reminds us that even as immortals, we must cherish the loveliness of every day that passes. My partners have prepared the ghasha, so if we may adjourn outside, we will share our custom with our friends.”
I wanted to speak more with the Eer-gaaani. Her Eminence told me that Neliit had given her some invaluable advice about this transition period of human history. The Eer-gaaani were once like ourselves – mortal, animal. But they successfully made the leap beyond that. Humanity is in need of their wisdom.
Instead, Neliit tugged gently at my robe as we exited. “I’m almost positive,” she whispered. “The Panoply of the Ancient Foam are up to something. They’re letting the OVDG take the fall for it. The CSS aren’t smart enough to figure it out. For millions of rotations, they were the enforcers of erasure, the – what is the term? Axemen?”
“I think you mean hatchet-men,” I offered. “An axeman is an electric guitar player.”*
“Hatchet-men. Subtlety of thought was not required of them. OVDG, on the other appendage, is a pendant order to the Lords of the Inner Vent, the species evaluators, who have increased in status since membership in the combine has become by open application. The Southern Coriolis Directorate thinks, and I would tend to agree with them, that the Panoply feels their ancient status as SongLuminant leaders is being challenged by the upstart Vent Lords, and that by slapping down the OVDG it will cause them a setback.”
“Ah,” I said, wishing I had Ashtara’s perfect memory. I made a mental note to ask etch to review the details of the conversation with me later.
And then etch asked the question which made us reconsider everything: “So why are they trying to off my dad?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Suzanna, who came up behind us. “If Ash were here, he could put the nail in the coffin of the OVDG, right? And the invasion plan failed. There’s no reason to leave him like that unless…”
“Unless the hand hasn’t been played out yet,” I realized.
*The original humorous exchange had Neliit using a term which roughly translates as goalpunchbeings for holepunchbeings. Holepunchbeings are engineers on interstellar vessels; goalpunchbeings are curfling forwards. The term “holepunchbeing” is also a slang term for an Ennead enforcer, for obvious reasons. – trans