Va’tro Nak’tak spoke from his position. “We may have misunderstood human social psychology,” he said. “Humans are a contradictory bunch. Some humans will see us as terrifying and will submit to us without hesitation. Their fear, however, will make them less useful than we might have hoped. Some humans will refuse to allow us to cow them and will continue the fight, at least until they are killed in combat. We cannot expect any form of submission from them — and we couldn’t trust it if we got it. Some humans will just try to live their lives as if we didn’t exist, doing whatever it took to survive. We have been unable to put together any explanation for their psychology.
“Unfortunately, it seems that humans are often contemptuous of those who see sense and choose to submit to superior force. The humans who agree to work with us, of their own free will, are hated by their fellow humans and often targeted by them. We have seen collaborators attacked in many different countries, suggesting that the disdain for submission is a common human trait. They seem far more understanding of those we force into collaboration — by holding their families hostage — but there are fine lines that we do not understand. Rather than work towards securing themselves positions within the State, humans will continually lash out at the State.
“Worse, a number of the collaborators are considered… deviant by human standards. Some of them have sexual tastes for young humans who have not yet reached sexual maturity, tastes which we have allowed them to indulge. The vast majority of humans, however, regard the protection of children as a duty and recoil in horror at what we have permitted to occur. This horror has certainly fuelled many attacks on us.”
Oheghizh snorted, along with many others. The idea of a race that seemed to be permanently in mating season wasn’t new, but the humans took it to extremes. It wasn’t too surprising that they’d drawn up sexual customs that looked strange to alien eyes, or that those who defied those customs were hated by their peers. But they made little sense. Among the Eridian, a female who entered mating season would be considered sexually mature — and outside mating season, there would be no sexual contact between males and females. The children of the mating, assuming that one took place, would be raised by the females. There were few permanent sexual bonds between male and female — but they certainly existed among the humans. Many of the humans who had launched suicidal attacks had claimed to be acting in the name of a dead mate.
“In the long term, we expect that the humans will eventually be ground under and reshaped into proper servants of the State,” Va’tro Nak’tak said. “However, we may always have to make allowances for their alien natures. The State may have to devise new rules for them.”
There was a pause. “The human sexual nature rears its head whenever male and female humans are put together. It even appears when some humans have a sexual attraction to their own sex, something unknown among us, but very common to the Paklet. Indeed, some human sects appear to consider females useless for anything other than breeding more humans, even though it is clearly inaccurate. The Paklet, however, do not have intelligent males. Their emotional connections are forged with other females.
“For humanity, we will need to create new rules. We have already started segregating humans in our detention camps by sex. It is quite likely that we will have to rein in our collaborators, if only to prevent us being tarred by the same brush — as the humans would put it…”
Tul’ma Jophuzu snorted. “We can make concessions to their nature once they have submitted,” he said, flatly. “We have crushed their defences and raid where we will, yet they do not submit in large numbers. How do we force them to submit?”
“In the long term, they will submit,” Va’tro Nak’tak said, flatly. “We must simply continue to hold our ground and refuse to abandon territory on Earth. They need to be constantly reminded that all of their attacks have not forced us to withdraw — and that we will never withdraw. They’ll submit in the long run.”
“The longer we wage war on this planet, the greater the chance that one of the other powers will intervene,” A’tar Esuxam said. The Space Forces Commander lifted one clawed hand to stroke his leathery chin. “We may have claimed this system by right of conquest, but we don’t have the firepower to keep a raiding force out if they wanted to hit us — or the coverage to prevent them slipping help to the humans on the surface. And if they realise what a treasure trove we’ve found here, they will be very tempted to intervene.”
Oheghizh couldn’t disagree. Humanity was a treasure trove, even if some of their decisions made little sense to a properly rational race. Their imaginations suggested all kinds of interesting weapons and tactics — and their computers would go a long way towards evening the balance between the State and several of its peer powers. Those powers wouldn’t hesitate to intervene on Earth if they realised the danger — and the humans would certainly seek to make deals with them if they could. The enemy of my enemy, they said, is my friend.
“We need to tighten our grip on their planet,” Tul’ma Jophuzu said. “I want all resistance crushed before they have a chance to find help from outside the system.”
That, Oheghizh thought in the privacy of his own head, would be easier said than done. Humanity just didn’t respond like a rational race, which raised the question of how they’d ever managed to develop atomic weapons without blowing themselves and their world into radioactive debris. Some of the observers had seen human claims of alien contact and wondered if someone might have been covertly assisting humanity’s development, but the starships hadn’t picked up any signs that anyone else might have visited the system. But how else could one explain a development that defied all of the understood rules?
They’re alien, he reminded himself. They might play by different rules.
The Land Force Base near the human city of London was immense. It had been built on top of a human air force base, once the ground had been swept for hidden surprises, and simply expanded outwards. Three fences prevented human insurgents from getting into the base itself, while the outer edge was patrolled regularly by elite infantry units. A series of drones floated high overhead, backed up by attack helicopters and strike fighters. It should have been impregnable.
Tra’tro The’Stig walked across the human runway and up to the prefabricated building. Two guards checked his identity before allowing him to proceed, even though no human could have disguised himself to look like an Eridiani. The very thought was absurd, but the humans were full of nasty surprises. It was better to be paranoid than dead.
The interior of the building felt pleasantly warm and damp to his skin, a change from the cold breezes outside. There were parts of Britain where it never seemed to stop raining, but the rain was always cold and uncomfortable. Even the humans seemed to find it unpleasant, which didn’t stop them from using the rain to cover their movements. The interior was also large enough for him to move freely, without needing to worry about holes torn in human walls or tiny humans lurking in holes too small for an adult Eridiani. It was definitely better than staying in one of the human buildings that had been adapted for their purposes. He saw a pair of females and concealed a wry smile. The seniors were making sure that they were in the right place when the females entered their mating seasons. If he’d smelt the scent that marked a female in heat, he would have fought any other male — superior or not — who tried to prevent him from mating with her. Outside mating season, it was a matter of amusement rather than irritation.