Decker watched Kay stalkingpalm-sized insects in the grass before responding, “But you weren’tconcerned.”
“No, I wasn’t. Perhapsit’s due to the hubris that comes with the braid, but the truth ofthe matter is, I have as much faith in myself as I do in thecaptain.”
She stopped walking andfaced him head on. “If you have so much faith in him, then why areyou still so worried?”
“I believe that is thedownside to loving someone. You worry whether it’s rational ornot.”
Since two of the three menshe loved most in the world were on the Lovelace, Decker felt the truth ofthat statement in her very core. “Is it really irrational to beworried?”
“In a way, yes. We facedmany a deadly situation during the war and I can say with fullconfidence that your father is one of the most resourcefulcommanders in the UDC. He is certainly the sharpest captain I everserved under. And I’ve served under quite a few.”
Decker felt a slight easingof the tension she’d been carrying in her shoulders. “Thank you forsharing that, sir. When I start to worry, I’ll try to rememberit.”
“We bothshould.”
Once Kay had finished allcanine business, the trio headed back to the Aurora in companionablesilence.
Chapter 13
EvilTriumphant
"…unarmed truth andunconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is whyright temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant."Martin Luther King’s Acceptance Speech for the Nobel PeacePrize
On Jileesa, at the precisetime Drawde had indicated, the blue figure had appeared in thelounge area. “If you’ll follow me, I will escort you to theBoundary.”
Ricci wondered what Drawdemeant by boundary, but didn’t ask, figuring he’d find out soonenough. They all followed the silent figure past the table of foodinto a narrow corridor, exchanging puzzled looks since theirpossible destination was a mystery. Having thoroughly explored therooms while waiting, the humans knew there was nothing down thathallway except for a bathroom. However, when they got to theterminal wall, Drawde waved a hand and the wall swiftly parted intotwo sections, opening up into a small, narrow room.
Ricci entered the littleroom, suspecting it to be a transport of some kind. Jacoway,Kaplita, and Bayer dutifully trooped in behind their captain.Abruptly, the back wall of the room vanished, exposing atransparent partition between them and a huge space filled with apea-green haze. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the spectacle,Ricci could see that there were over a dozen figures seeminglyfloating in the room beyond the barrier. He glanced at his crew andfound all three of them gazing speechless at the sight.
Drawde announced, “This isone of our governmental chambers. You see before you the MajorityRuling Council of Jileesa.”
Ricci turned back to studythe fifteen Lignatians visible beyond the partition. Their bodieswere three-feet-long translucent sacs in an array of colors, thetop half cordoned off into an amorphous bulb filled with iridescentstrands, the bottom divided into twenty-some spiky filaments, witha solid black line running down the middle of each one.
While still gathering hiswits, Matt watched as an orange-hued Lignatian floated up to a longtransparent table hovering in the middle of the chamber. The alienproceeded to intertwine three filaments on each side of its body,forming a set of pseudo-limbs. The tips of the limbs began makingcircular motions on glowing sections of the table. The strands inthe alien’s head flashed out multicolor pulses of light and amechanical voice filled the room the humans were in. “Vipin Drawde,are the human representatives present at the Boundary?”
Drawde pressed lightedsections on his own floating panel and answered, “Yes, WayruMillua, they are.”
“I, Wayru Millua RubakBacroj, Supreme Leader of the Lignatians, call all to the panel whowould actively participate in this audience with the humanrepresentatives.”
Eight more Lignatiansfloated up to the table. There was no sound for the next fewminutes, though the Lignatians at the table were all flashingfuriously at each other.
“That is our form ofcommunication,” Drawde explained.
“It’s all visual?” Kaplitaasked.
“Not entirely. What youare seeing as light flashes is only part of the communication.Lignatians mainly perceive electromagnetic pulses through touch orby receptors in our minds. The communication impulses from oneLignatian ignite answering impulses in another Lignatian’s mind.Observing Lignatians can perceive them and divine the nature of theexchange.”
“Are you going totranslate for us?” Ricci asked.
“The translation will besent to this room again when Wayru Millua allows it.”
“But you can understandthem, can’t you?”
“Not at present. Myabilities as a Lignatian are quite limited when I am in thiscommunication module. Only when my consciousness is returned to mybody will I regain full use of those senses.”
“Where is your body? Is itin that room?”
“No, it is in mylaboratory – in the communication conduit, which allows transfer ofmy consciousness to this module.”
The “voice” of Wayru Milluaonce again filled the room. “Captain Matteo Ricci, do you speak forthe humans?”
With a wave of a hand,Drawde floated the small panel to Ricci and showed him how toactivate two-way communication. Once Ricci had pressed theappropriate sequence of lighted segments, he answered, “Yes, Ido.”
“The data packet youstreamed to us, tells of billions of humans on Earth – the oncehome of the Children of the Valiant. Explain how this is so,when those on the Valiantbelieved they were the last ofhumankind.”
“I don’t believe theytruly thought they were the only humans left in the galaxy, thoughit’s possible there was some…misinterpretation of the originalmission of the Valiant. Our evaluation of their later log entries does confirm thatover time, the truth of their mission got somewhat distorted. Youhave to understand, the people in charge of the Valiant at the time of itsdestruction were the descendants of the ones who boarded the shipat launch.”
“Explain the originalmission if it was not to save the last remnants ofhumankind.”
Though he wondered whenhe’d get a turn at asking questions, Ricci silently accepted thatthe Lignatians had home court advantage. He did his best todescribe the situation that had existed on Earth in the27th century, and how it had evolved in the interveningfour-hundred years. When he’d concluded, there was nothing butsilence in the room the humans occupied. Based on the behavior ofthe Lignatian Ruling Council, Ricci assumed there was an intensediscussion raging on the other side of
