“It is the way of my people. When a powerful telepath sees into the mind and soul of another, when they experience their inner-mind and find them worthy, they give them a name that reflects what they have seen,” Valanaru said.
The Lord Sentinel stared at her for a moment before finally speaking. “Have you made a decision?”
Valanaru looked at the Lord Sentinel, seeing his calm and collected pose. She remembered her battle with him; she remembered his inner-mind. She decided. “I have. The Erasi will do as you ask; we will sign your accord and leave these territories.”
“Very good, O’fa, a smart choice. I expect the preparations to begin immediately. Our ships will be coming in to… aid you in your move.”
“Until we meet again, Heart of the Mountain.”
Four months later — April; Year 59 of the Empire — Sanctuary
“The Erasi are beginning their withdrawal,” Seo-yun said. “It will take years, and I doubt that it will go as smoothly as we think, but Adrian’s plan seems to be working.”
Tomas’s response was only a grunt.
“What is it? You have been acting strange,” Seo-yun said.
Tomas sighed. “I was so angry, Seo-yun, and I felt so much guilt. I wanted them to know that we had the power to defend ourselves.”
“That was the right decision, Tomas.”
“The Erasi might have agreed to Adrian’s demands, but it is because they have nothing that can match the Enduring. That doesn’t mean that they will forget. They might fear us, but they will push themselves to catch up and overcome us now. Every race that learns of what happened will fear us, and all will be looking for something that they can use against us. No one likes someone else holding all the power.”
“They will not catch up to the technology of the People anytime soon. We have their knowledge and we are still struggling to catch up,” Seo-yun said. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Tomas smiled and nodded, but he knew that what she said wasn’t true. The technology of the People wasn’t infallible; Tomas had read through many of their records, and he knew that a World-ship had been destroyed by races that did not possess the same level of technology as the People. Three races that they had uplifted had joined and struck at the People. His fears were not unfounded.
Nevertheless, in the end, he had made a decision, and now he needed to live with it. Everyone in the Empire was going to live with it.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
October; Year 59 of the Empire — Erasi core
O’fa Valanaru walked into the council chamber of the O’fas, and walked to the podium in the middle. Directly in front was the current Voice of the Council, another O’fa.
“Weaver,” the Voice said, “you have been called before the council to answer for your actions in the Narad sector.”
“You have had the chance to see my reports?” Valanaru asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you know the Empire has demonstrated far superior technology and might. Refusal of their demands would’ve meant a complete loss of all our assets in Narad and perhaps more,” Valanaru said.
“You gave the Narad sector to them. An entire sector; that is a loss of a great deal of resources,” the Voice said.
“It was preferable to the alternative.”
“None of our early reconnaissance suggested such a level of technology from the Empire.”
“I believe that their ship was the only piece of such advanced technology that they possess. The rest of their technology, while certainly advanced, is not up to par with that ship.”
“Do you have any evidence that confirms your suspicions?” the Voice asked.
“Only a few snippets and bits of memories I got from the Empire’s Lord Sentinel’s mind. In the end, it doesn’t matter; we have nothing that could match them now,” Valanaru said.
“So we abandon Narad, abide by their accord, and bow our heads in fear,” the Voice said.
“For now, yes,” Valanaru said.
“What guarantee do we have that they will not attack?” the Voice asked.
“I believe that as long as we abide by the accord I signed, they will not act.”
“And we are supposed to allow them to keep growing more powerful?”
“I have some plans, a few of which have already been set into motion. Their taking over of the Narad sector will not go as easily as they think it will,” Valanaru answered.
“I assume that nothing can be traced back to us?”
“Of course not, I have been doing this for a long time.”
“Good,” the Voice said. “We have another problem. Because of Garash’s failure, our rimward border is weakened. The Krashin will notice if we do not reinforce it soon.”
“We can send ships that we had stationed in Narad sector, augment them with levies.”
“Those ships will not hold for long if the Krashin decide to test us again.”
“They only need to hold long enough for us to replace our losses. I suggest that we reactivate the shipyards.”
“That will cost us,” the Voice said.
“It is inevitable. We need to rebuild, and we need to invest in researching new technologies. Our scientists already have an idea on how the Empire’s FTL drives work; we will need to start testing soon.”
“And what about their ship? Do we have any idea on how its weapons work?”
“Ideas? Of course. Whether they are right or not, we shall see. But I wouldn’t worry, the Empire seems to be willing to give us time, and technology never truly remains a secret. It is only a matter of time before we catch up.”
“Very well, Weaver,” the Voice said, “the council is giving you the lead on this matter. Hopefully you will not make the same mistakes as O’fa Garash.”
“Thank you, I will not fail.”
Epilogue
World-ship Everlasting
Ullax Darr woke to darkness and a slow return to consciousness. Her eyes gazed blankly at the dark ceiling above her for several minutes before her mind caught up to the fact that she was awake. Slowly she attempted to sit up, but her old body refused her, so it took her several minutes before she managed to swing her legs over the side of the stasis bed. She reached out with her mind—ignoring the sharp pain caused by that action—and turned on the lights in the room. The three other beds in the room were empty, as they had been for a long time. Ullax was the last of her kind, the last of the People.
Sluggishly, she got to her feet, holding on to the bed for support. Her legs ached with pains from the stasis sleep and from old age and the illness that had killed her people. With a thought, she prompted the computer and checked the status. Immediately, she noticed that she had been woken ahead of the schedule.
“Why was I awoken?” Ullax asked raspingly. Even talking was hard for her now.
“An anomaly was detected, Grand Exatt,” answered the station’s AI, its voice seeming to come from everywhere around her at the same time.
“What kind of an anomaly?” Ullax asked. She only had a few precious years of life left, and could not afford to lose them on things that did not require her attention.
“An access point in grid 19-31 has been used. The signature matches that of the World-ship Enduring,” the station’s AI answered her.
For a moment, Ullax’s heart stopped. The Enduring was the World-ship of her twin brother, who she had believed dead for a long time. Yet the Enduring couldn’t be used by anyone not of the People, and only Axull could’ve used it; there were no others of her kind left. Pain, old and yet still fresh as on the day they’d parted, came back to her. Their disagreement over the way to combat the three had forced them apart, and it was one of the great regrets of her life. Axull had disagreed with her plan; she had wanted to contain the Enlightened and their abominations, hoping to find a way to defeat them someday, but the price she was willing to pay for containing them was terrible, and her twin hadn’t wanted to be a part of it. He’d left, trying to find another way. Now Ullax wondered if her brother was still alive, and if she would have a chance to make amends.