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Galina, Dolan City, Office of the Intergalactic Trade Envoy
The round office held a conference area in its center, but no evidence of a traditional work station. A band of vistaglass scribed a half-circle view between the entrance and another door almost directly across the room. From any seat, one had a sweeping view of the city below.
The architecture was heavy on curves and light on corners. Broad, tree-lined avenues wandered through the multi-story buildings like dry rivers, teeming with auto-levs and pedestrians alike.
"Do you like our city, Captain Demyanov?" Kellene Gardner was a petite brunette with indigo skin and deep-set gray eyes. Val couldn't help but wonder which traits, if any, she'd inherited from her human ancestors.
"It looks like a beautiful place to call home," she replied as she took a seat next to Alex. "And please, call me Val."
"Then you must both call me Kellene. I do hope you will enjoy your stay here, though something tells me you are on a mission?"
"You aren't wrong. Queen Gaia sent us to..." She trailed off as Kellene's eyes hardened. "I'm sorry. Is there a problem?"
The frosty expression vanished. "No, not at all. You were saying?"
Tucking away her curiosity, Val tried again. "Our mission is two-fold. First, as members of the United States Space Fleet, we wanted to make contact with another group of humans who, until recently, we didn't know existed. When our president, Belinda Malloy, saw the emblem on a recent shipment from Galina, she felt compelled to see if some remnant of British Fleet survived. We'll be happy to report back to her that it has."
Kellene smiled. "I hope you will also extend our greetings to President Malloy, and assure her of our desire for further contact. And the second?"
"The other half of our mission is to warn any humans who remain on Galina that there may be a threat to them. We've spent the past few months tracking a mass murderer. We believe this criminal has been terminated, but recent evidence suggests that may not be the case." Val went on to describe HiveZ, their crimes and assumed demise.
When she finished, Kellene was frowning. "We thank you for the warning. We have had no trouble similar to what you described, but we will be sure and institute security protocols against the possibility that HiveZ, or some part of them, survived. I must say, however, that even if HiveZ managed to evade what appears to be a decisive termination, I do not believe they would be a threat to us."
"Are there no humans left then?" Alex asked.
"There are a few," Kellene said. "But most of the original settlers integrated with the indigenous population several generations past. Even the British royal family intermarried after a generation or two."
"Could be that mixing DNA eliminates whatever markers HiveZ uses to track humans," Val said. "But we haven't done any research, so we can't know for sure."
"But such research is possible?" Kellene asked.
"Yes. We'd need blood samples from some of your people with human ancestry, but we have everything else aboard the Venture to conduct the necessary tests," Alex said. "Our medical officer should be able to have results for you within a few hours."
"Well then, I believe we can answer the question fairly easily." Kellene tapped her mindlink. "Moira? Can you get me the head of PHO on the link?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you. Just put Horlen through when he makes contact." She looked at Val. "Horlen Merell is head of our Planetary Health Organization. He'll have access to the samples you need, or he'll be able to get them."
"We'll want a variety of heritage models," Val said.
"Of course. A fifty percent pairing could be expected to offer different results to someone with a more diluted connection. He'll –" She paused, putting a hand to her ear. "Hello? Yes, Horlen. I have some visitors here from the United States Space Fleet. May I put you on holo?" She listened, smiled, and then adjusted her link.
An azure blue male with silver hair and pale green eyes materialized on the table between them.
"Horlen Merell, may I introduce Captain Valeria Demyanov and Mr. Alex Shore, both of the merchant ship Blue Venture? Val, Alex, Chairman Morell."
"Pleased to meet you both. Please, call me Horlen. How can I be of service?"
Kellene quickly explained the situation. "Do you have samples on hand or can you gather them?"
"Of course."
Half an hour later, the details were arranged and Horlen's image disappeared. Kellene sat back with a sigh. "That was easier than it might have been. Thank you for agreeing to confidentiality protocols to protect the anonymity of those who provide the samples."
"We don't need to know names," Val said. "Just the percentages of Earthling to Galinian ratio. With that, we'll be able to get the answers we need."
"Wonderful. Now, how else may I be of assistance?" Kellene asked.
"Well," Alex began. "There is one other thing." He glanced at Val, and she nodded. "Not something we need, but something we should tell you."
Kellene's eyebrows rose, but she waited patiently.
"We have the coordinates to Earth," Alex said.
"You have..." Kellene's mouth dropped open. "Our Earth? The planet humans were expelled from?"
"Evacuated from," Val corrected. "Gaia didn't want–"
Kellene's mouth tightened into a grim line. "I think you will find little sympathy for Gaia's point of view, whatever it might be, from those of us with human heritage."
"The situation is far more complicated than you think," Alex said.
"How so? We were ejected from our home, forced to flee by a plague created and loosed on human kind by our supposed protector."
"That isn't what ha–" Val said.
But Kellene wasn't listening. "Then, after we lifted off from the planet of our birth, our systems were sabotaged so that we could not find our way back, even if we wanted to."
"Please, Ms. Gardner. There's more to it than that," Alex said.
"What else is there? We were left homeless, with no direction, to die in space if we could not survive without help. What part of that is untrue?"
"The part that suggests Gaia is responsible for what happened to humankind." Val spoke quietly, but with steel in her tone. "She was betrayed, and as much a victim as we were. More so, maybe."
Making a visible effort to calm herself, Kellene's voice lost much of its venom. "Be that as it may, I do not believe you will find many who are interested in this information."
"Even if it means they can go back?" Val asked.
"Go back? No one alive today has any need to go back. The eldest of us were born in orbit around Galina. There are no Earthlings here, Captain. Only the children of the children of refugees long dead." She took a deep breath. "We are all Galinians now."
She stood, leaving Val and Alex no choice but to rise with her. "Now, please convey to President Malloy our willingness – no, eagerness – to build a diplomatic and trading relationship with the U.S. Fleet. It would be our pleasure to reconnect with humankind."
"Thank you, we will." Val held out her hand, and Kellene grasped her arm at the elbow, a curiously antiquated gesture.
Catching Val's startled look, Kellene glanced down. "My grandfather was human. Apparently, this is the way the ancients greeted one another on Earth. After the evacuation, they resumed the practice."
"Good way to check for weapons," Val said.
"Is it? How curious." Kellene smiled. "The practice became commonplace among our people as the two populations integrated."
She led them to the door and into the OPT. "Now, I'm sure you'll want to get back to the Venture and check on those tests, but please say you will join me for dinner this evening. You cannot leave Galina without sampling some of the local fair. I believe leesum steaks are on the menu this evening. Best in the galaxy, and our chef creates a plum pudding that must be experienced to be believed."
Val glanced at Alex before answering. "We would be honored."
"Wonderful. Hart will see to your transportation needs. Until tonight." She waved as the OPT closed.
"So, I'm guessing a meeting with Gaia is out of the question," Alex said.
"Really? Whatever gave you that idea?" Val asked, one eyebrow quirking. "Seriously though, do you think she'll even tell anyone the coordinates are available?"
"If everyone feels like she does, there's no need to keep it secret."
"True. Kind of wish I could find a way to test that idea out."
"You think she was lying?"
Val shrugged. "She could think she was telling the truth and still be wrong. Believing everyone feels the way you do is a common enough failing."
The OPT reached the first floor and slid open. Hart waited outside.
"How did your meeting go?" he asked.
"Good exchange of information," Alex said.
"So, Hart." Val kept her tone casual. "How do the people here feel about Gaia?"
Hart's eyes widened. "The Simoi Queen?"
Val nodded.
"Well," Hart said. "Most aren't fans, honestly. I mean, it's been so many generations you wouldn't think anyone would care anymore. But, then again, maybe that's part of what they hold against her."
"What do you mean?" Val asked.
"You know. She's still alive, and so many of her children are dead."
