The Nature of Predators - The New Arxur (10/10)

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Memory Transcription Subject: Raza, Arxur Diplomatic Minister

Date [standardized human time]: May 12, 2160

I’d known Ambassador Cedric Flynn—or the Butcher of Grenelka, in some circles—for a half dozen years at this point. He was someone that I’d refer to as a friend, as much as two foreign diplomats could be considered that. A man who’d massacred an entire Yulpa team after escaping custody, with nothing but sticks and his hands in the woods. After that incident, he’d joined the military service in the Space Guard, until he and Mallin got a job to escort a human commerce official to Earth’s new embassy on Wriss. That was where he’d met his romantic flame, and quickly hopped over to the diplomatic staff to live and work alongside her.

The humans quickly realized that Cedric was the ideal diplomat to send to us, since he would command respect and fit the predator archetype to perfection. They wanted to assign someone whose strength was undeniable.

In short, Cedric tied the knot with his business-minded romantic interest. His wife had moved to the UN base near the border of our isolation bubble. That facility was designed to keep us in, but also had a small population of humans aboard. A Yulpa named Mallin lived in the family’s abode as well, and was apparently great with Cedric’s son, Declan; the prey quadruped had taken a shine to soccer. I still wasn’t sure why the Butcher of Grenelka had spared and rescued a Yulpa, but Terrans were a great enigma. Ambassador Flynn would take regular leaves to visit his spouse, and I’d met his family on a few occasions. He confided that he was “rather relieved” that the Collective had sent someone social and empathetic, like me, as their ambassador.

I still remembered how Zefriss had looked flabbergasted when I relayed the full story about that human; my snarky friend had found his own success being a team leader. The only oversight I’d ever seen him make since I knew him was underestimating how predatory Terrans could be. Casey Brenner and Cedric Flynn were two examples that showed him the folly of that thinking. Whatever Kaisal might’ve thought, as the Collective’s second-in-command, I wasn’t sure we wanted to go toe-to-toe with Earth. There was hope that they’d accept us in the long run, if we didn’t rock the boat. Nonetheless, I knew what Isif told me when I first started this job; I had to do what I didn’t wish to.

“Kaisal is adamant about wanting the Collective to be free of our isolation,” I said, sitting down on the couch in Ambassador Flynn’s office. “It’s time for humanity to stand with us. We’ve long since shed the chains of Betterment.”

Cedric laughed, stroking the scraggly white beard that stretched down to his chest: that facial hair was a horrid mistake, in my opinion. “Have you? Why don’t we cut the pretending for a moment, Raza? Humanity knows you’re still struggling to break free of your past. What about that civil war, where you had to put down old-school Chief Hunters trying to bring back the old ways?”

“I’m sorry? You’ve known about that for all these years, and never said a peep? Not so much as an insinuation?!”

“There hasn’t been a reason to bring it up, but Earth is in the business of staying informed. So long as there’s old officials from Betterment still within your ranks, how can you offer a genuine promise that those policies won’t happen again? That government would eat the very people you wish to join. Listen, I like you, I do, Raza, but don’t try anything silly. There’s a lot the SC doesn’t know.”

“Like how human mercenaries worked on the side of Betterment?” I ventured, not missing a beat. It was as if this was a game we were playing, finally laying out the cards we’d been clinging to for years. “The SC might worry that your entire species isn’t morally opposed to the people-eaters either.”

“Casey Brenner? She’s much less damning than a whole province rebelling. They’ll call it predator disease, or whatever backward thinking they still latch onto. One rogue mercenary that we handed to you on a platter—and that you never released or gave due process to.”

I narrowed my eyes at Cedric, indignant. “You handed her over on a platter? That’s an egregious misrepresentation of the facts. I was on the team that tracked Casey!”

The Terran ambassador smiled, leaning back in his chair. “That tip you got from a local, telling you about Death’s Pass? Who set that up?”

“You wouldn’t know about that, if you hadn’t been involved. You wanted us to clean up your mess. I don’t believe…”

“We didn’t want a human running around and sniping your side, no, but we couldn’t take any direct action without risking a diplomatic incident. What would you have said about your sovereignty if you saw our military swoop in?”

“You could’ve helped us in the entire civil war.”

“Because foreign invaders helping to prop up a government always works so well. Isif would’ve had no legitimacy if humans rode in to save the day. We’re playing the long game, Raza—and so should you. Starting a war, or taking forceful action, doesn’t benefit anyone. Kaisal can’t be let out now, just because he’s grown impatient.”

“Why not? Must we be punished forever?” I hissed. “The Chief Hunter has a point!”

Cedric knitted his eyebrows together. “Not forever. You and I both know we’re waiting on generational turnover, on Wriss and back in the Sapient Coalition. The old Betterment and Federation sympathizers are still alive, but they won’t be forever. Wait for the younger generations to take the helm. Look at you, Raza; you’re already the start of that on Wriss. You’re second in line, so…let’s have this conversation again when you’re in charge.”

“I can see that you’re not budging. At least relay our wish to try to lay out some release plans, and a concrete time table for progress? Our situation has stayed the same for a long time.”

“I’ll pass along the message, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. It’s not up to me. It’s not much, and I can’t go into details, but we are trying to ease the Sapient Coalition into associating with carnivores. If that goes well, there might be hope.”

The Bissems. Cedric might’ve gotten us with his awareness of the civil war and the Casey Brenner debacle. All the same, he doesn’t know that Kaisal’s snuck off-world with the Yotul, as we speak, to meet these new carnivores. The Collective thinks the piscivores will have common ground enough with us, and be fed up with the SC’s dumbassery before long.

Nostrils flaring with amusement, I extended a paw for a handshake to Ambassador Flynn. “That’s good to hear, Cedric. I appreciate the candid discussion. It’s a rarity for us, isn’t it?”

“We humans have a saying,” he chuckled. “Hate the game, not the player. I hope we can find a way to make this work for all parties, Raza. The new Arxur will have their day in the sun eventually.”

In my mind, I echoed that sentiment full-throatedly, I departed from the Terran embassy, and studied the rows of primates who were here to maintain diplomatic relations with us; for the most part, I enjoyed human company. They were unassuming enough that it was easy to forget how sharp they were, always a step ahead. So long as we didn’t wind up scrapping with them, it was just part of the “game.” My life interacting with other species on behalf of my planet had been a fulfilling task, but this meeting showed how right Isif was to hone my strategic thinking. I mused on how I was the defacto person in charge of all Wriss now, with Kaisal gallivanting off to Leirn.

My determination was that we needed a long-term strategy, not a rash, immediate solution, to get ourselves back into the galaxy’s good graces. For whatever input I had with Kaisal, I was going to push for our Chief Hunter to play the long game. There was too much at stake for all of us to let emotion cloud our judgments.

A/N - The end of the Arxur series! We already saw Zefriss’ future role, but we see that Raza has become Kaisal’s second and diplomatic minister. Ambassador Flynn’s story since the Grenelka debacle has been much more peaceful, with Mallin moving in with his wife and child on a base by the Arxur border. Cedric and Raza exchange information they’ve been holding back for years as Kaisal grows impatient to be released; we learn that the humans knew about the civil war all along, and even put our team on Casey’s scent trail. 

What do you think about Cedric’s explanation of humanity’s position, with generational turnover being necessary for the old Feds and Betterment fixtures to be gone? From what you know of the main story events, do you think that Raza succeeded in getting Kaisal to play the long game? What do you think of Ceddy settled down?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Wednesday is a planning day, and the Sovlin series launches on Saturday; it’s going to span a bunch of eras and have a unique take on the format, so that should be very fun!