That didn’t hurt or anything, but it made me lurch and reach out with my hands. I tried to grab Armel, but my limbs were clumsy. Damn.
I teetered, lost my balance, and slid off the gurney. Armel let me fall, and he kept on laughing. I was on my ass on the tiles, looking around angrily. The world spun, and it was sickening to keep my eyes open, but I did it anyway.
Still chuckling, Armel knelt and looked me in the eye. “You’ve been given a sedative. They told me it should affect your nervous system, but not your mind. As I watch your idiotic behavior, however—this has me concerned…”
“You’d best be even more concerned when this stuff wears off.”
Armel tsked at me. “Now, now, you should be grateful. After all, you were as good as permed out there on Green World. You know that, don’t you?”
“Out there? This isn’t Green World?”
“Not here, no. We are on Rigel.”
That statement ran a shot of adrenalin through my guts. My eyes widened, and they were almost fully open now.
“Ah!” Armel hooted. “I see that this tidbit has piqued your interest. Let me think why… ah yes, perhaps it is because on Rigel there is no creature, big or small, that is more hated than James McGill. Could that be it?”
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “I’ve been here before.”
“Indeed, I remember! More importantly, the people of Rigel remember. Did you know that there are memorials built to grieve those you killed on that single day of infamy? Claver and I worked hard to focus their great hate upon a single name.”
“Didn’t want to take any of the blame yourselves, huh?”
“Absolutely not. And why should we? James McGill came to the space station. He damaged the generators, causing the force field network to partially collapse. Thousands died, perhaps millions.”
“That’s a crying shame, but in war, sometimes people die. What do you want, Armel?”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out through his nostrils. “That is the question, isn’t it? Do I wish for revenge? It would be so easy to hand you over to Squanto. I would be a hero. I would be richly rewarded. The vicious little bears that inhabit this world would dance in the streets.”
Thinking about dancing bears made me laugh, which quickly turned into a cough. You have to remember, I was a little bit high.
“That thought amuses you, eh? Well then, I’ll give you another: I could enslave you here at my base. I have many followers now, McGill. Not just the saurians—that legion is no more than a color-guard. No, whole planets yearn to tear down Earth, and they believe they can do it.”
He finally had my interest. I felt the urge to frown, but I went with the slack-jawed drooling moron look instead. It was always safer.
“Uh…” I said, “I’m not entirely following you. I’m not feeling all that sharp right now.”
“Yes, yes, of course you aren’t. Let me try to explain. Earth has been expanding lately, no?”
“We sure have.”
“That’s right. Humanity has reached out and declared outright war on numerous aliens. In the growing group of the abused species are the Cephalopods, the Vulbites—and don’t forget the Wur.”
“Rigel, too.”
“That goes without saying. Additionally, Earth has also challenged two flavors of Galactic: the Mogwa and the Skay.”
I nodded, unable to argue with him.
“The list doesn’t even end there. There is more hate for our kind abroad than you might realize. We’ve ruined economies as well as planets, McGill. Some who might be thought of as friends are not really. Not at all.”
I frowned, forcing myself to think a bit. “Like the saurians?”
“You’re not a complete imbecile after all! Well done! Yes, the saurians, because we stole their metals trade by shipping ore from Machine World. Then there are the Skrul, who have lost their monopoly on piloting starships. Lastly, I would urge you to count in the sad peoples of Tau Ceti.”
“Tech World? What have the Tau got to be butt-hurt about?”
“Well firstly, you personally tried to destroy Gelt Station.”
“That’s a damned lie!”
Armel silenced me with fluttering fingers. “Have it your way. The truth is they once had a lock on the local trade of minor goods. Now, Earth has cut into all of that. Our worlds trade between one another, and we have all the richest planets.”
“Uh… how’s that?”
“Have you been listening? Or is that great, dormant organ in your skull failing you yet again? I just explained that Steel World is broke, as are the Skrul and so many others. Then there are the planets that have suffered devastation after being drawn into our pointless wars. The Pegs, the scuppers of Storm World, the three tribes of Edge World—”
“What? The Pegs? We went out there to save their asses from the Skay. And those scuppers—”
Armel shook his head, tsking at me again like I was the biggest retard ever conceived. “You should be familiar with the nature of all beings in these situations. Everyone begins to hate those who play the savior almost as much as they hate the original aggressor. People resent a winner, James McGill. Earth makes them feel inferior, and that sensation has festered.”
I blinked and frowned, wondering if he could be right. It was true that most people I met, no matter whether they flapped, swam or ran on hooves, tended to be ingrates.
“Okay,” I said, deciding to accept his point. “Where does that leave us?”
“Why, with a gigantic problem. Virtually everyone hates Earth. They all want to bring her down. Accordingly, they are gathering, organizing, quietly forming an aggressive alliance.”
“Hmm… where do you stand on all this?”
Armel’s mustache twitched and turned
