"Not a Condor X. No. They have been assigned to people more...hm. Shall we just say more suited the mission goals and leave it at that?" People who would do exactly what StarTech wanted, and nothing more. People who wouldn't mind being breeders for science. People who would look for life elsewhere for the sole purpose of teaching it about humanity, about Earth, about the wonders of our people. I was not one of those people.
"Have you heard of the Cogen project?" I looked up. There was a twinkle in his eye.
"No."
"Cogen is a planet on one of the outer arms of the Milky Way galaxy."
Something clicked. "Is that the one Reginald was talking about?"
"Yes." He took his holo off his belt and tapped the keys, then my own beeped. "I've got a busy schedule today. And I imagine some damage control on top of it all." He raised his eyebrow at me.
"It was just one or two people that saw us," I said guiltily.
"And a friend tells two friends, and they tell two friends..." He saw my confusion. "Oh, never mind." He pointed to my holo. "School for you today, young man. I am sending a HuTA to you promptly. Upload that program and then you and Ashnahta both will study that information. I will meet with you this evening to give you a test."
It was the oddest conversation I'd had with Christophe. He left and I got up shaking my head. I took a shower and changed, then decided lazy bones needed to be up. I woke her and for a fraction of a second I could feel her humiliation at last night. I took her hand and kissed it, shocking the embarrassment right out of her.
Why did you do that?
I just smiled. "It seems that we have school today. Time to get up and have breakfast."
Jake. Do not ever do that again.
She did not mean that at all. I could feel it, and that made my stomach do a little flop. I gave her hand another squeeze and let it go. I didn't miss the small smile as she turned to go get washed up and dressed.
We were just finishing breakfast when the HuTA entered. He was even more life-like than the ones at the school on Earth had been. He smiled. He blinked. He gave the appearance of breathing. He was even warm when we shook hands and if I didn't have to dock my holo in the port built into his back, I could have been fooled. It creeped me out even more than the Bradley bot.
"Excellent, young master Cosworth and young mistress Ashnahta."
"Call me Jake."
"Jake! Excellent! I am sure we will be great friends!"
No. No we would not.
"Please sit while I instruct. There is much to learn on this lesson of Cogen. Shall we begin?"
Like Reginald had said, Cogen is a small earth-like planet on the outer arm of the galaxy. Though the lesson went on all day, with only a brief pause for lunch, the basics were very simple. StarTech had spent a couple decades in deep communications. The planet was lush and blue, with more water than Earth and Laak'sa. The relative humidity was slightly higher, the temperature also slightly higher, but the oxygen content and gravity were a close match. Basically, all environmental information proved the viability of human inhabitation.
The problem of the expansion of the local population was still a mystery to those who had been studying it. The dominant people, who called themselves Cognates, were centuries behind us in technology across the board, including the field of medicine. While they were to the point of understanding germs and other microscopic threats, they were not yet knowledgeable on treating and preventing infections from the various diseases that seemed to thrive.
A team of scientists, much like the ones I held so dear to my life, was dispatched. They arrived just the year before and already their information lead to many possible improvements humanity could offer the Cognates. The main problem with that, it seemed, was a moral one. Our HuTA put a lot of emphasis on the morality of interfering with another civilization, as the members of Condor One had. It was a familiar argument, and I could already argue either side. I almost told him to skip it, but Ashnahta was completely rapt.
"Is it not prudent to provide the most possible help?" The HuTA answered in her native Qitani and she was happy. "I like this teaching machine very much."
"Why thank you, mistress Ashnahta! And please, call me Jack."
Do not call him Jack, I told her. He is a machine.
She didn't listen to me. "Tell me why humans view this as a problem then, Jack."
I sighed. He launched into a very lengthy discussion with her about it. If she wasn't so excited, it would have been very boring. But she was, and it felt good to see her like that.
Christophe arrived in the evening. I was surprised to see that it was already dinner time. He had Ralph and Reginald with him, and a service bot pushing a big cart of food brought up the rear. He pulled the HuTA aside and spoke with him in the hall while the rest of us filled our plates and sat to eat.
Ralph gave me a quick nod towards Ashnahta when her back was turned, then a wink and a grin. I felt the heat of embarrassment burn up my cheeks. Ashnahta turned back around and looked at me, then to Ralph. She gave him an icy cold stare meant to put him in his place and I had to bite back a laugh. Then she came and sat right next to me, a clear message to anyone who understood the Qitani. He looked at her and he, too, was holding back a smile.
Reginald looked like he was waiting to talk. When Christophe finally came in the room, he gave a little nod and Reginald began. "This is a meeting. Eat while we talk, certainly. I find you are much easier to deal with over food." He was giving me a smile, so he meant it teasingly.
"What do you think of the interference of one race in the natural course of another?"
Christophe certainly wasted no time getting to the point of things, did he? I had my mouth full, but Ashnahta did not. She did not hesitate to jump in.
"On Laak'sa, such would be no question. It would be done. It is..." she searched my head. "Strange," she said. "The idea of caring when it should be simple to make things best."
"That's an unexpected answer," Christophe said. "I would not have thought there would be a desire to contribute to the betterment of another race in the Qitani way of life."
She had to search for his meaning quickly. "You understand little. Of course it would be done. How would the Qitani gain the knowledge of a dead tribe?"
"Ah," said Reginald grandly. "I get it. So all for the better of your own race, then. It's not really about the other people, is it?"
"It should not be."
"You're a people that have short life spans. I suppose that might be the natural way of thinking," said Christophe after mulling it over for a second. "And you, Ralph?" I was surprised he went to Ralph. Ralph was surprised, too, and hastily gulped the mouthful of food.
"I say we can't interfere. It's not our place."
"Let nature take it's course, then," said Reginald, nodding. "Granddad thought that way, too. Old school."
"That's right, and nothing wrong with it," Ralph said a little defensively. "I won't mind admitting I was opposed to certain aspects of our mission. So?"
Reginald put his hands up. "Whoa, Captain. Just a friendly philosophy discussion." I didn't buy that for a minute.
"And you, Jake? Which side are you on?"
"Both."
"What kind of answer is that?" Reginald asked. "Can't play the politician on this one, kid. It's one of those black and white kind of questions."
I'd run up against that before, too. All the scientists used that same reasoning for whichever side of the debate they were on. "Why? Why does it have to be cut and dried?"
"Because that's the way it is. Either you interfere, or you don't. One or the other."
"But the reasoning behind that is flawed," I insisted. "The reasoning assumes that altering the course of a civilization is either a fault or a responsibility. It's not. It's just part of the process."