Two of the five proposals were for maintaining the habitats in interstellar isolation. ‘We know the Olyix now have dominion over the galaxy’s star systems,’ Loneve, one of the Calibar survivors, submitted. ‘But the gulf between the stars is so much greater, and offers us true asylum. I understand that many have a sense of loss or disassociation about our situation, but we should not be afraid to prosper out here. As we grow and advance our technology – thanks to the principles we’re learning from Ainsley – we’ll see that the desire to cling to the traditional paradigm of planet-based existence is wrong. Out here we will be free in a way that has eluded us since we left Earth. And ultimately we may rise to heights that may finally enable us to challenge the Olyix directly.’
Wim wanted almost the same thing but suggested splitting off the original Morgan Strike mission from the habitat population. ‘It solves the problem of different goals,’ sie said. ‘There are those in the Morgan crew and squads who have had enough of the Strike, and there are a great many from the Calibar who want to initiate a new Strike. Forcing both strands of opinion to live here together is untenable, not to mention immoral. We’ve already been through this division; we know it cannot be allowed to fester.’
‘And if the Strike fails again?’ Loneve asked. ‘Then our position will become known to the Olyix. You would condemn us because of your actions.’
‘Then portal out as soon as the Strike mission leaves,’ Yirella said in a tone only just short of contempt. ‘And portal again and again until you feel safe.’
The next proposal came from Ellici. ‘We use the next decade here to build the most powerful ships we can devise and arm them with the nucleonic weapons Wim’s team is developing from Ainsley. That will give our new society time to settle down. When we’re ready, people will be able to make an informed choice – who remains and who leaves. Look, right now the distance we have to travel seems daunting.’ She glanced at Ainsley’s image. ‘Are you sure you got the enclave location right?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ he replied. ‘Extracted straight out of the Welcome ship’s onemind, like pulling teeth the old-fashioned way. The enclave is forty thousand lightyears from here, which puts it just past the galactic core.’
‘Okay. But actually that isn’t so much of a problem, not with relativistic flight. And we can fit our Strike ships with the drive we developed for the Actaeon project, which will get us there in twenty years – ship’s time. People can manage that. Ainsley can come with us, which is what you want, right?’
‘Eliminating the Olyix is why I exist, sure,’ Ainsley replied.
Politician’s answer, Dellian thought.
Then it was Yirella’s turn. ‘We need to build another lure, and use that to invade the enclave directly – through their own wormhole,’ she said primly.
Everyone around the table disapproved, groaning in disappointment or simply saying no.
‘Why would you even suggest that?’ Tilliana asked. ‘The Olyix know we create lures. We’d be exposing ourselves.’
Dellian almost winced at the pitying smile lifting Yirella’s lips. ‘We create another lure precisely because they know that we know that they know about human lures. So obviously, from their point of view, we precious few – the Morgan and Calibar survivors – will never build another one, because we’re busy with Ellici’s proposal: hiding out here while we put putting together a new Strike armada to fly the long way around to the enclave.’
‘Risky,’ Ellici said. ‘You’re trying to second-guess them second-guessing us.’
‘So to push the odds in our favour, we make it authentic.’
‘What do you mean, “authentic”?’ Kenelm asked, a hint of concern in hir voice.
‘A human civilization.’
‘You can’t,’ Wim declared. ‘That’s . . .’
‘What?’ Yirella challenged. ‘Dangerous? Unethical? This is a war for our existence. There can be no restrictions, no line we will not cross. The Olyix hold our entire species captive. We are beyond desperate, here. Unless we get this absolutely perfect, we are living the last days of our species.’
‘What sort of human civilization do you want this lure to be?’ Alexandre asked.
‘The Olyix know of our Strike plan, so they know what we are supposed to do in the event we acquire the enclave location: rendezvous at the nearest neutron star. That course of action made sense back when Emilja and Ainsley put this whole exodus plan together. Neutron stars are distinctive, so much so that humans had mapped their locations back on pre-portal era Earth. So any ship or settled world who receives a Signal revealing the enclave’s stellar coordinates travels to the nearest one. All the ships that arrive join up and assemble a war armada.’
‘If we’re not too busy arguing with each other,’ Dellian muttered.
‘I’d like to see you come up with a better plan,’ Ainsley snapped. ‘You have no idea what it was like back then.’
‘That’s not what I—’
‘Let’s keep it relevant, please,’ Kenelm said.
It took a lot of willpower for Dellian not to sigh in exasperation, but he managed to keep his cool. As always, he wondered why he was included in these meetings. To help provide a full range of democratic views for the council to consider. Which was, as Ainsley would say: bullshit.
‘Firstly,’ Yirella said, ‘if the Olyix see us establish ourselves at a neutron star, they’ll know it is for one reason – that we now know where their enclave is. It doesn’t matter how we got it – a Strike mission snatched it out of a onemind; the Neána finally told us. There are plenty of possible sources. But they also know that the neutron star civilization will be busy building an armada powerful enough to invade the enclave, which means they’ll have no choice in their response. They’ll have to come. The Welcome ships they
