The first thing Mims said when he awoke was, "Turn off your translators."
Yvian and Lissa looked at each other. "What?"
The human sat up in the pod, removing his helmet and running a hand through his hair. ""Your translators. Turn them off."
Yvian shrugged. The pixens used their wrist consoles to take their translators offline. Mims spoke again, using their language. "Let's have a moment of silence as we remember our former home. The Random Encounter." He fiddled with his own console, and music flooded the medical bay.
Translator issues made listening to alien singers unpleasant, but the Ride of the Valkyries had introduced Yvian to instrumental music. She'd spent the last few days listening to the greats of Terran composing. Mozart and Holst, Dick Dale and Lindsey Stirling. She recognized the forlorn notes of a violin played slow. Then the singing began. Yvian could no longer understand the words, but the sound was haunting. Sad and wistful, longing with a tinge of hope. Yvian closed her eyes, letting the slow dirge of a human female wash through her.
When the last notes faded, she opened her eyes. Mims was staring down at the deck, eyes wet. He blinked, wiped away the moisture, and let out a slow breath. "You were a good ship. You will not be forgotten."
"What song was that?" asked Yvian.
"Random Encounter," Mims answered. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "It was my..." He sighed. "It was Callie's favorite song."
"Callie?" Yvian had heard the Captain mention her before.
"His wife," Lissa told her.
"Oh." Yvian lowered her head. Mims had lost his wife, lost everyone, in the Incursion at Aldara. His desperate attempt to destroy a Klaath Queenship had killed them, along with billions of others. It had worked. He saved the sector, saved humanity maybe, but the price was everyone he'd ever loved. He'd been exiled for it. Hunted. The humans would never forgive him. Neither would Mims.
Yvian decided to change the subject. "I didn't know you named your ship after a song."
"I name all my ships after songs." Mims grunted and exited the pod. The left leg of his voidarmor ended halfway down to his knee, revealing the man's pale, hairy regrown leg and bare foot. "But enough about that. I'm hungry. Let's make some french dip and you can tell me what I missed."
The sisters filled the Captain in as they made and ate dinner. Bellies full, they sat back with beers as Lissa replayed the recording her armor had made of their conversation with Exodus.
"So now we're here," Yvian said after the recording finished. "New Pixa." She activated the holodisplay in her console, showing a sector with 11 planets and three asteroid belts. The fourth planet was class five, fully capable of supporting life. The fifth might be made habitable with a few decades of terraforming.
"Exodus is helping bring in supplies," Lissa added. "We've got fifteen stations under construction, and I've got scout ships surveying the asteroid fields."
"We'll reach the planet in..." Yvian checked her console, "twenty hours." She frowned. "Is the Recompense rated for atmosphere?"
"All Federation ships are rated for atmosphere," said Mims. "But we'll be better off taking a gladiator. Finding a good place to land a two kilometer ship will be a pain in the ass."
Lissa was frowning at her own wrist. "Uh... guys?"
"What is it?" asked the Captain.
"It's New Pixa," said the Engineer. "I've got some better scans now that we're a little closer."
"And?"
"I think it's inhabited."
"Crunch." Yvian pulled up the sensor reports. The planet was dotted with dead zones. Some kind of dense material the scanners couldn't penetrate. The zones were sizeable, ranging from two to nearly a hundred kilometers. The material formed structures, some rising over a kilometer above the planet's surface. Buildings, she realized. She was looking at cities.
Mims looked up from his console and grunted. "That's... unfortunate." He swigged his beer. "I kind of hoped Exodus would have dealt with that already."
Lissa frowned at him. "You wanted him to murder another species for us?"
"The guy's name is literally Genocide." the Captain shrugged. "Besides, this was part of Xill space. They're not really the sort to let sapient organics hang around."
"What are we going to do?" Yvian wondered. "I mean, if there's already people there..."
"I guess that depends on what we find," said the Captain. He flipped through the sensor data. "I don't see any ships. No satellites. If there's a civilization down there, they're not spacefaring."
"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Lissa.
Mims shrugged. "Means they can't fight back."
Yvian set down her beer and regarded the human with a grave expression. "Are you suggesting that we just... kill them all?" She'd known he was cold, but he couldn't be that cold. Could he? "Wipe out an entire species and just take their world?"
"It's an option," said the Captain. "We've got the means."
"That's monstrous." Yvian stared at the human. She'd always thought of him as... well. Not good, exactly. But principled. Honorable. He was a killer, but she'd never seen him hurt an innocent. If anything, he'd been kinder than most. Would he really murder an entire species? Could humans really be as evil as everyone said? "We can't do that."
"We can," said the Captain. "I'm not saying we should, but we can. If we have to."
"You can't mean that," said Lissa. "There could be billions of people down there."
Mims had killed billions of people before. His own people. A shiver ran down Yvian's back. He meant every word.
"Ladies," said the murderer. "I'm not saying we should start a massacre without talking to anyone first. Hell, there probably isn't anyone alive down there. Even if there is, could be they're nice, reasonable people and we can all coexist." He set down his beer bottle, eyes cold as the void. "But I wouldn't bet on it. The verse isn't a nice place."
Lissa stared at the man in horror. "We can't just..."
"Three hundred million pixens," he reminded her. "That's all that's left. Your whole species live as refugee sex workers. You're getting murdered and enslaved faster than you can reproduce. If nothing changes, you'll be gone in a century. Two at the most."
"That's what all this is about, right?" The human gestured at the holodisplay. "To save your people, you need your own nation, and your own world to build it around. Some place that's yours, that you can defend against the Confed and the Vrrl and all the other bastards that want to kill you or keep you in your place. Well, let me tell you something, girls." He leaned forward, fury and grief and grim determination simmering behind a clenched jaw. "Nations aren't built on hugs and happy thoughts. They're born in blood. Inhabitable planets are usually inhabited. Every place ever colonized was built on the bones of the innocent. It's not good, or right, or just, but it's the way things are."
"That's..." Lissa shook her head. Disgust and disappointment dripped from her voice. "That's the most human thing I've ever heard."
"I know." Mims picked up his beer, frowning sadly at the half empty bottle. "I hate it, too."
The first thing Mims said when he awoke was, "Turn off your translators."
Yvian and Lissa looked at each other. "What?"
The human sat up in the pod, removing his helmet and running a hand through his hair. ""Your translators. Turn them off."
Yvian shrugged. The pixens used their wrist consoles to take their translators offline. Mims spoke again, using their language. "Let's have a moment of silence as we remember our former home. The Random Encounter." He fiddled with his own console, and music flooded the medical bay.
Translator issues made listening to alien singers unpleasant, but the Ride of the Valkyries had introduced Yvian to instrumental music. She'd spent the last few days listening to the greats of Terran composing. Mozart and Holst, Dick Dale and Lindsey Stirling. She recognized the forlorn notes of a violin played slow. Then the singing began. Yvian could no longer understand the words, but the sound was haunting. Sad and wistful, longing with a tinge of hope. Yvian closed her eyes, letting the slow dirge of a human female wash through her.
When the last notes faded, she opened her eyes. Mims was staring down at the deck, eyes wet. He blinked, wiped away the moisture, and let out a slow breath. "You were a good ship. You will not be forgotten."
"What song was that?" asked Yvian.
"Random Encounter," Mims answered. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "It was my..." He sighed. "It was Callie's favorite song."
"Callie?" Yvian had heard the Captain mention her before.
"His wife," Lissa told her.
"Oh." Yvian lowered her head. Mims had lost his wife, lost everyone, in the Incursion at Aldara. His desperate attempt to destroy a Klaath Queenship had killed them, along with billions of others. It had worked. He saved the sector, saved humanity maybe, but the price was everyone he'd ever loved. He'd been exiled for it. Hunted. The humans would never forgive him. Neither would Mims.
Yvian decided to change the subject. "I didn't know you named your ship after a song."
"I name all my ships after songs." Mims grunted and exited the pod. The left leg of his voidarmor ended halfway down to his knee, revealing the man's pale, hairy regrown leg and bare foot. "But enough about that. I'm hungry. Let's make some french dip and you can tell me what I missed."
The sisters filled the Captain in as they made and ate dinner. Bellies full, they sat back with beers as Lissa replayed the recording her armor had made of their conversation with Exodus.
"So now we're here," Yvian said after the recording finished. "New Pixa." She activated the holodisplay in her console, showing a sector with 11 planets and three asteroid belts. The fourth planet was class five, fully capable of supporting life. The fifth might be made habitable with a few decades of terraforming.
"Exodus is helping bring in supplies," Lissa added. "We've got fifteen stations under construction, and I've got scout ships surveying the asteroid fields."
"We'll reach the planet in..." Yvian checked her console, "twenty hours." She frowned. "Is the Recompense rated for atmosphere?"
"All Federation ships are rated for atmosphere," said Mims. "But we'll be better off taking a gladiator. Finding a good place to land a two kilometer ship will be a pain in the ass."
Lissa was frowning at her own wrist. "Uh... guys?"
"What is it?" asked the Captain.
"It's New Pixa," said the Engineer. "I've got some better scans now that we're a little closer."
"And?"
"I think it's inhabited."
"Crunch." Yvian pulled up the sensor reports. The planet was dotted with dead zones. Some kind of dense material the scanners couldn't penetrate. The zones were sizeable, ranging from two to nearly a hundred kilometers. The material formed structures, some rising over a kilometer above the planet's surface. Buildings, she realized. She was looking at cities.
Mims looked up from his console and grunted. "That's... unfortunate." He swigged his beer. "I kind of hoped Exodus would have dealt with that already."
Lissa frowned at him. "You wanted him to murder another species for us?"
"The guy's name is literally Genocide." the Captain shrugged. "Besides, this was part of Xill space. They're not really the sort to let sapient organics hang around."
"What are we going to do?" Yvian wondered. "I mean, if there's already people there..."
"I guess that depends on what we find," said the Captain. He flipped through the sensor data. "I don't see any ships. No satellites. If there's a civilization down there, they're not spacefaring."
"What's that got to do with anything?" asked Lissa.
Mims shrugged. "Means they can't fight back."
Yvian set down her beer and regarded the human with a grave expression. "Are you suggesting that we just... kill them all?" She'd known he was cold, but he couldn't be that cold. Could he? "Wipe out an entire species and just take their world?"
"It's an option," said the Captain. "We've got the means."
"That's monstrous." Yvian stared at the human. She'd always thought of him as... well. Not good, exactly. But principled. Honorable. He was a killer, but she'd never seen him hurt an innocent. If anything, he'd been kinder than most. Would he really murder an entire species? Could humans really be as evil as everyone said? "We can't do that."
"We can," said the Captain. "I'm not saying we should, but we can. If we have to."
"You can't mean that," said Lissa. "There could be billions of people down there."
Mims had killed billions of people before. His own people. A shiver ran down Yvian's back. He meant every word.
"Ladies," said the murderer. "I'm not saying we should start a massacre without talking to anyone first. Hell, there probably isn't anyone alive down there. Even if there is, could be they're nice, reasonable people and we can all coexist." He set down his beer bottle, eyes cold as the void. "But I wouldn't bet on it. The verse isn't a nice place."
Lissa stared at the man in horror. "We can't just..."
"Three hundred million pixens," he reminded her. "That's all that's left. Your whole species live as refugee sex workers. You're getting murdered and enslaved faster than you can reproduce. If nothing changes, you'll be gone in a century. Two at the most."
"That's what all this is about, right?" The human gestured at the holodisplay. "To save your people, you need your own nation, and your own world to build it around. Some place that's yours, that you can defend against the Confed and the Vrrl and all the other bastards that want to kill you or keep you in your place. Well, let me tell you something, girls." He leaned forward, fury and grief and grim determination simmering behind a clenched jaw. "Nations aren't built on hugs and happy thoughts. They're born in blood. Inhabitable planets are usually inhabited. Every place ever colonized was built on the bones of the innocent. It's not good, or right, or just, but it's the way things are."
"That's..." Lissa shook her head. Disgust and disappointment dripped from her voice. "That's the most human thing I've ever heard."
"I know." Mims picked up his beer, frowning sadly at the half empty bottle. "I hate it, too."
