Friendly Neighbors

The soft eddies of air normally only felt — on bare dermis or by rustled hair, fur or feathers — were announced by the low whooshing sound of the air circulators. A sound that occurred at regular intervals but was so quiet that living ears rarely — if ever — heard it over the sounds of normal activity. The sudden, shocked, still silence in the court was anything but normal.

The tall, furry plaintiff’s attorney with six eyes, four ear-slits, and too many joints in each of his six limbs and four grasping appendages, blinked all his eyes at once. He was an eritarian, and the Trade and Colonization Bureau of his government was suing the lone human woman, Ambassador Tara Washington, sitting in the dock, in this courtroom on his home world. “Please, expand on that answer.”

“Huh?”

“I asked you what specific training you received to fulfill your role as ambassador of humans, and you answered, ‘None.’ While I appreciate a concise answer, I would ask that you provide some explanation.”

“I have had no specific ambassadorial training, other than what I’ve learned on the job from the other ambassadors. In fact, I consider Ilio — your own ambassador, Mr. Aelioulius — a dear friend and mentor.”

The attorney paced between the dock and the plaintiff’s desk, leaving behind a light scent of citrus and sandalwood; a human cologne that sold well among his species.

“And yet, during a period where we are dealing with an invading force, you found it acceptable to cheat your ‘dear friend and mentor’ in a trade deal that—”

“Objection, leading,” the small, crustacean-like defense attorney said in a whistling, high voice punctuated with the click of mandibles that the translator couldn’t hide.

“Sustained.” The lead judge, head of the panel of three, all the same six-limbed creatures as the plaintiff’s attorney gave the still-pacing attorney a three-eyed glare. “Plaintiff’s council is reminded to maintain decorum in this court.”

He stopped pacing and nodded toward the bench. “Yes, your honors.”

He stood before the plaintiff’s desk and conferred with his assistants and Uniulu Ainounu, the president of the eritarian Trade and Colonization Bureau for a moment before continuing. “Ambassador,” he asked, “how would you define your job?”

“My current job? As ambassador?”

“Yes.”

“It’s my job to represent the whole of humanity to the best of my ability. That includes forming friendly relations with those species we consider allies and trying to foster closer relations to those we do not, yet consider allies.

“I would guess the most important part, to me, is to approach everyone I meet as an ally or possible future ally.”

“That’s very noble, but could you explain what actions you take to ‘foster closer relations’?”

“It’s often something as simple as inviting an ambassador or visiting leader to tea or a gala. Sometimes it can mean broaching the subject of economic or other deals or even working out the details of those deals…with input from experts from both species, of course.”

The attorney stopped and tilted his head. “That sounds like a huge responsibility. How were you selected for such a position?”

Tara shrugged, feeling small in the chair in the dock, designed for taller beings, her feet dangling just above the ground. “Wrong place, wrong time?”

“Could you please elaborate?”

“I’m…I was…a maintenance tech on Hawking station. That’s where the United Human Systems headquarters are. Prior to my selection, each system was attempting to make deals with non-human systems but getting the run-around because of our lack of a seat in the Quadrant Coalition.

“They — the UHS, that is — decided that we needed a neutral ambassador that would represent Humanity at large to the QC. Whoever they chose had to be someone not a citizen of any particular human system and be impartial as to the inner conflicts and dealings within the human systems.”

She stopped and took a sip of the water that had been provided for her, grown tepid from the hours of sitting out. “I was born there on Hawking station. My mother was an engineer from the Barnard system, but she’d died when I was still an infant.

“Since my mother had no existing family, and my father was unknown, I was raised in the daycare centers of the station, the only orphan there. As such, I grew up with kids from every human system, and had no strong opinions on any system, good or bad.”

Tara sighed. “When they decided what kind of person they wanted for the job, I came to mind. Many of the young ambassadors had grown up with me on the station, and knew I was apolitical. I was young enough to serve for a long time, old enough to be mature about it, and I was right there. Like I said, wrong place, wrong time.”

“Accident of birth hardly seems a valid method for choosing a representative.”

“Objection, not a question,” the whistling voice of the defense attorney piped in.

“Sustained. Plaintiff’s council will refrain from providing commentary and stick to questioning. You are on a very weak limb with this panel and in danger of facing contempt and censure.”

“Yes, your honors.” He composed himself yet again. “Ambassador, I call your attention to plaintiff’s exhibit one, the trade deal signed by yourself, seven human system leaders, Ambassador Ilio Aelioulius, and six eritarian military leaders on galactic date 12395.763-11.”

The document appeared as a large holograph in front of the bench, clearly legible from every point in the courtroom. Moving about the courtroom, it would seem the facing side of the document followed.

“It’s not a trade deal,” Tara said.

“What was that?” the attorney asked.

“It’s not a trade deal.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s an economic and military aid treaty between the members of the UHS and the eritarian government.”

“This document has over thirty items related to tariffs, price caps, transport agreements, embargo rejections, and penalties for price fixing. If it’s not a trade deal, then what is it?”

“Objection, asked and answered.”

“Withdrawn,” the attorney said before the head judge could scold him yet again.

He walked to the front of the dock. “What are the major points of this agreement, in your own words?”

Tara smiled. “One: special forces from several human militaries will provide training to eritarian forces. Two: weapons, ammunition, and equipment — including three mega-class hospital ships — from several human systems will be provided to those trained eritarian forces in exchange for raw materials to make more. Three: humans will set up permanent military bases in the selected eritarian system, Oalahi, where that training will take place. Four: once the eritarian military has enough of their own trainers, humans will cede those bases to the eritarian military, and provide only as many troops as the eritarian government requests.

“The fifth and final major point: for as long as humans are stationed in eritarian space, the free travel of humans and eritarians between those spaces will not be prohibited or impeded except in cases of illegal travel…like someone fleeing from the law.”

“Of those five major points you outlined, how many of the thirty-four trade items are directly related to those major points?”

“All of them are related to one or more of the five major points.”

 “What is the link between the human mining vessels in the Oalahi asteroid field and those five major points?”

“The asteroid mining is taking place to both supply the raw materials for arms portion of the treaty, as well as material for making the military bases, including an orbital base, for training. The actual contract for that was not in the treaty, however, the allowance for such contracts is part of the treaty.”

“Seeing how the Oalahi system was next for eritarian settlement, how was that system chosen for this…treaty?”

“I cannot answer that, as I do not have insight into the inner workings of your government.”

“No further questions at this time.” The attorney sat down, the president of the Trade and Colonization Bureau whispering in his ear-slits.

The crustacean-like defense attorney hopped down off its chair and scuttled to the center of the courtroom where it could be seen. It turned an eyestalk toward the plaintiff’s desk before focusing on the dock.

It began its questioning, its voice, high and whistling through the translator. “Ambassador Washington, how many concessions did the humans make to get this treaty signed?”

“Well over fifty,” she said, “although I don’t know the exact number.”

“Were any of them a particular point of dismay?”

Tara frowned. “The biggest concessions were a removal of all tariffs for eritarian durable goods throughout human space, the lack of financial payment for the arms and equipment, and the use of a completely undeveloped system for our training bases.

“Sure, there were contractors that were pleased by that one, as it guaranteed work for them not only to build the bases, but all the needed infrastructure as well. The UHS has estimated the cost to humans in the trillions of credits. For their part, the eritarians get a colony-ready world with pre-built infrastructure and military bases, military training, equipment, arms, and ammo, and they pay only for extracting the raw materials they are trading for the military goods.”

“Then why,” it whistled, “would the humans agree to such a treaty?”

“A couple reasons for that. First, we share a large border space with the eritarians. The invaders on the other side of their space need to be dealt with for both their sake and ours. Also, aside from the training part of the treaty, it creates a few million jobs in human space. Manufacturing, mining, construction, support, transportation, and so on. And those jobs can be spread among all the human systems.”

“What restrictions does the treaty place on eritarian colonization in the Oalahi system?”

“Only that the areas of the second planet designated for military installations and the security zone around them are off-limits for habitation due to safety concerns. Other than that, none.”

“My final question for you, Ambassador. Why were the trade provisions included as an inherent part of the treaty?”

“The attending military commanders and Ambassador Aelioulius — in consultation with President Ainounu of the Trade and Colonization Board — determined that failing to secure those items as part of the treaty would leave them vulnerable to be overturned and endanger the treaty.”

“I would like to call your attention to defendant’s exhibit one.” A new document floated in the center of the courtroom. “At the bottom of this document is a mark, here,” it said, pointing to it. “What is that mark?”

“That’s my initial stamp, verifying that I had read and understood the document.”

“What is this document?”

“It’s an order from President Ainounu to Ambassador Aelioulius, empowering him to sign the treaty on the government’s behalf as long as he secured certain concessions.”

“What were those concessions?”

“No direct monetary payments from the eritarian government to any human government, reduced restrictions on export of eritarian goods to human worlds, and humans would not alter any settled eritarian world.”

“Was there anything else notable about this document?”

“I found it odd that President Ainounu called the treaty ‘a simple military matter and not worthy of any more of the Bureau’s time,’ in a document he knew the other signatories would want to inspect before letting the Ambassador take the place of the government representative.”

There was another hush over the courtroom. The defense attorney gestured, and the document disappeared. “No further questions.” It scuttled back to its chair and climbed in.

The judges conferred for only a moment before the head judge spoke up. “This court finds this case without merit. Just as we dismissed the case the plaintiff brought against Ambassador Aelioulius, we find this to be a politically motivated waste of the court’s time. It is the suggestion of the court that should the plaintiff find himself in a political tough spot, he should refrain from promises to future colonists, and should take a more active role in treaty negotiations.

“The fact that the human ambassador has made a deal with our government that greatly benefits us more than them, I find your attempt to paint her as a manipulative con distasteful.

“Plaintiff is to be charged for the court’s time and all the defendant’s legal fees. Dismissed.”

#

Tara found Ilio waiting for her outside the court and walked with him to the shuttle port. “Trillions of credits?” he asked.

“Yep,” she answered.

“Are you concerned that one or more of the human governments will come after you for this deal?”

“No. The leaders of the seven largest human governments signed on to it with the UHS’s blessing; understanding that what it costs us in the short term, we’ll more than make up in the future.”

“I still feel like I pulled one over on you. Just as the humans secured the mining contract in the Oalahi system, our own companies are already competing for contracts in human space. How do you figure you’ll recover?”

“Every credit that your government pays for mining the ore goes into our economy at a level that generates jobs…in other words, into the pockets of working people.” She shrugged. “Add to that an increased market for our goods and services over the long term, and we’ll make it back, plus some. Besides, it’s good to have friendly neighbors.”

“That it is,” Ilio said, “that it is.”