Im afraid it was inevitable, Parker said in regretful tones. Im beginning to learn the hard way just how rigidly individual species stick to their own philosophies and laws, and how different that philosophy can be to ours.
They committed genocide, Monica said, glaring at the old project director. If theres any of those xenocs left alive, theyve probably been enslaved. And youre calling it a philosophy? For fucks sake!
We regard genocide as one of the worse crimes a person or government can commit, Parker said. The massive extermination not only of life, but an entire way of living. Such an act repels us, and rightly so, because thats the way we are. We have emotion and empathy, some would say they govern us. I remind you the Tyrathca do not have these traits. The nearest they come to emotion is the protectiveness they extend to their children and their clan. If you put a breeder caste into a human war crimes court to answer for this atrocity it would never be able to understand what it was doing there. They cannot be judged by our laws, because our laws are the embodiment of our civilization. We cannot condemn the Tyrathca, however much we despise what they do. Human rights are precisely that: human.
They took over an entire planet, and you dont think theyve done anything wrong?
Of course they have done wrong. By our standards. And by our standards, so have the Kiint in continually refusing to give us the solution to possession which we know they have. What are you proposing, that we file charges against Jobis as well?
Im not talking about filing charges, Im talking about the whole Tyrathca situation. We have to reconsider our mission in view of what weve uncovered.
What do you mean, reconsider? Joshua asked. The original circumstances havent changed, and our goal certainly hasnt. Okay, the Tyrathca committed a terrible crime thousands of years ago. We personally, these two ships, cant do anything about that. But we do know to treat them more cautiously than before. When we get back, the Confederation Assembly can work out what to do about the genocide.
If theyre allowed to take that initiative, Monica said quietly. I admit Im angry about the genocide. But Im more worried about the present day implications.
How can that affect us? Alkad asked. And I speak of someone with direct experience of a genocide. What weve seen is awful, yes. But it was a long time ago, and a long way off.
It affects us, Monica said, Because it shows us the Tyrathca in their true light. Consider, weve now established that there were a thousand arkships.
One thousand two hundred and eight, Renato said. I rechecked the flightpath files.
Great, even worse, Monica said. Even assuming each of them was less successful than Tanjuntic-RI, say they only founded a couple of colonies apiece, that gives them a population at least two to three times greater than the Confederation.
Spread over a huge volume of space, Kempster said. And not a cohesive political entity like our civilization.
Only because theres been no need for them to achieve unity, Monica said. So far. Look, Im in intelligence; Samuel and I both spend our time assessing potential risk, its what were trained for. We catch problems in their embryonic stage. And thats the situation we have here. Weve discovered a massive threat to the Confederation, in my opinion at least as dangerous as possession.
Physically dangerous, Samuel interjected. He smiled for the interruption. I do concur with Monica that the Tyrathca present us with an unexpected problem.
Crap, Joshua said. Look at what we did to them back at Hesperi-LN. You and the serjeants defeated an entire regiment of the soldier caste. And Lady Mac flew circles round their ships. Confederation technology means we outclass them by an order of magnitude.
Not quite, Joshua, Ashly said. The pilot was still gazing at the last picture projected by the AV lens, an apprehensive expression on his face. What Monica is saying is that weve stirred up the proverbial hornets nest. The potential of the Tyrathca threat is a serious one. If all those thousands of colony worlds joined together, sheer numbers would present us with a huge problem. And they do have Confederation technology, we sold them enough weapons in the past. They could retro-engineer combat wasps if they had to.
You saw how they used them against Lady Mac , Joshua said. The Tyrathca cant handle space warfare, they dont have the right kind of neural wiring for that kind of activity.
They could learn. Trial and error would improve them. Granted theyll probably never be as good as us. But thats where their superior numbers come in, and it works against us. In the very long haul they could wear us down.
Why should they? Liol asked. He spread his arms wide in appeal. I mean, Christ, youre sitting here talking like were at war with them. Sure theyre narked we jumped into their system and raised a little hell. But this flight is totally deniable, right? Nobodys going to admit to sending us. You dont commit your entire race to a conflict that will kill billions because we beat up a chunk of wreckage theyd already abandoned.
We tend to overlook what they are so that we can maintain our preferred policy of diplomatic tolerance, Samuel said. We like to see them as slightly simple, and stubborn; the ultimate big lummox. A species we can feel superior to, without them ever being aware of our complacent condescension. While in fact, they are a species so aggressive and territorial that they have evolved a soldier caste. Evolved one. We can barely comprehend the drive behind such a phenomena. Such a thing requires tens of millennia to achieve. Throughout all that time on their homeworld the social climate maintained the pressures necessitating such a development. Their history is a solid monoculture of conflict.
I still dont see how that makes them a danger, Liol persisted. If anything it works in our favour. We provided the Hesperi-LN Tyrathca with the ZTT drive over two hundred years ago. And what do they do with it? Do they rush off to contact their long-lost relatives on the first five colony worlds? Bollocks. Theyve founded more colony worlds for themselves, so their immediate relatives could benefit. They didnt want to share that little technological gem with anybody else.
Youre right, the Edenist said. Providing you add one qualifier: to date. As Monica said, we are dealing with the concept of potential here. In one respect, the Tyrathca are like us; an external threat will unite them. The arkships themselves are proof of that.
Were not a threat to them! Liol was almost shouting.
We havent been until now, Monica said. Until now they didnt know we could become elemental. They were so disturbed by the prospect of human possessed they immediately opted for isolation. We have become a danger. Possessed humans have attacked Tyrathca settlements. Our already superior military strength has been multiplied by an unknown amount. Remember they do not see humanity divided between possessed and non-possessed. We are one species, that has suddenly and dramatically changed for the worse. She pointed to the projection. And now weve seen what happens to xenoc species which come into dispute with the Tyrathca.
Liol lapsed back into silence. Scowling, worried now rather than angered by losing the argument.
All right, Joshua said. Theres a potential for conflict between the Tyrathca and the Confederation, assuming we survive possession intact. It still doesnt affect our mission.
The Confederation should be warned of this development, Monica said. We have learned more about Tyrathcan nature than anyone has before. And with their isolation policy, nobody else is likely to find out. That knowledge is now of considerable strategic importance.