The Nature of Predators

Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: October 6, 2136

In the month we had been away, the predators seemed to have established their presence on Venlil Prime. Teeming masses of humans with cameras awaited the shuttle; the increase in personnel was noticeable. Venlil journalists were squeezed right next to the formidable beasts, and didn’t pay their counterparts much attention. They must have done extensive work with Terrans, to be so casual.

Several individuals in the UN’s baby blue welcomed the new species, and offered polite introductions. Their eyes were concealed in floral-colored visors, which was a clear attempt to look as non-threatening as possible. They paused as they saw the Sivkit diplomat bolt away from the crowd; Axsely’s snowy pelt vanished into the thick bushes around the governor mansion.

Ambassador Noah took a step in that direction, as though he wanted to follow her. I placed a paw on his arm, and shook my head.

“Chasing after her will only make it worse. At any rate, we need to speak with your people, immediately,” I muttered.

Concern flickered in his brown eyes. “Is something wrong? You’ve been…subdued. You learned something, when they answered.”

As soon as we entered FTL-communication range, I had relayed word of the Federation delegation through government channels. Chauson patched up the ship enough to travel, but affirmed that the cooling shaft showed signs of external tampering. I didn’t convey those details over the network, since I didn’t want the UN embassy’s greeting to involve guns and interrogation.

The Venlil government brought Terran officials into the loop, and related some startling developments in the Gojid war. However, the immediate concern was that both parties seemed surprised by our contact. That meant Recel’s ship never reached its destination. With our lengthy delay, they should have arrived well before we crossed Venlil space.

At my request, the Terrans deployed a search-and-rescue team to follow their flight path. I kept the knowledge to myself, to avoid a panic, but the worry was nagging at me. What would happen to our relations with those six species, if something had gone wrong?

My ears pressed back against my head. “I learned several things, which are all troubling. Let me brush off the media, and then, we will join Kam in the briefing room.”

The camera-wielding primates drew closer with a clamor, and Venlil yipped questions as well. My instincts protested allowing noisy predators to crowd me in every direction; the humans were more aggressive than I was used to, with our own reporters. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, as they granted enough space for us to pass.

I think some of the human journalists’ bad habits…their ambush tactics, have rubbed off on these Venlil. Stars.

“I politely request that you lower the volume of your speech, especially when you are this close. My ears are more sensitive than yours, and it carries more intimidation than I believe you intend,” I barked to the microphones.

The crescendo of Terran questions died down, which lessened the encounter’s intensity. At least if they were all badgering us, someone had the good sense to tell them to avoid the new diplomats. We might have other visitors running into the foliage, if this ensnarement was attempted on anyone else.

“What happened at the Federation summit?” an insistent voice called out.

“I am behind on everything that’s happened in the past month, so I’m not taking general questions right now,” I said, forcing a level cadence. “For now, you can report to Earth that 11 species offered to open diplomatic relations with you.”

“Only 11?”

“Noah Williams, how was your treatment at their hands?”

“Is the rest of the Federation at war with humanity?”

“How do you think this will affect human-Venlil relations?”

“LET ME FINISH!” I spat. “Over 100 species voted to ally with you against the Arxur. An even larger sector are either undecided, or opted for an isolationist policy. While these may not be the results you hoped for, I see them as a positive step forward, from wishing your species extinct. However—”

“The Krakotl fleet are amassing warships, with support from several neighbors, in every border station that faces our space. How can we trust that these public stances aren’t intended as deception?”

“You might find your questions resolved, if my answers could reach their conclusion,” I growled with frustration. “I was about to explain that 38 member states would not budge on their extermination position, and may seek a war of extinction. The Krakotl were one of these…a rather vocal one.”

Agitated whispers cycled through the crowd. I knew there was the half-second it’d take the humans to process that information, before they’d launch into a new inquisition. The questions would fall into predictable categories; how Earth should defend itself from these threats, if diplomatic resolutions were off the table, and what assistance the Venlil would provide.

“I am going to discuss with your generals and my generals how to handle this now. Perhaps our new allies will help us.” I swished my tail toward the Zurulian diplomat, who had settled down atop a human’s shoe. The predator looked taken aback, but didn’t move his foot. “No matter what, we will figure this out together. The Venlil will stand with humanity to the end. Now, excuse me.”

Noah grinned as he saw my irritated head shakes. The Terran ambassador clasped his hands behind his back, and followed me into the governor’s mansion. There was something in his eyes, beyond amusement, as his gaze bored into my skull. It almost came off as predatory hunger, though for some reason, it wasn’t unnerving.

The human held open the door, his stare never faltering as we walked into the briefing center. That unblinking fixation was distracting; I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell him to break eye contact. It took a colossal effort to recall the planet-threatening reasons we were here.

General Kam leapt from his chair. “Governor, Ambassador! We’re all delighted you’re back.”

I took a seat next to him, and the predator settled beside me. “I would say it’s good to be back, but…in the month I’ve been gone, the Gojid cradle was glassed?!”

“What?” Noah hissed. “Please, don’t tell me we did that.”

From his dejected tone, it seemed he considered that well within the realm of possibility. My certainty, that there was another explanation, wavered after his response. The UN’s position against civilian casualties seemed set in stone, at that initial briefing. Perhaps Meier was just saying what we wanted to hear, so he could obtain our aid.

“The Arxur took advantage of the defenses being down. There was nothing we could do,” General Jones, of the American clan, growled. “We lost a considerable amount of our own troops, trying to evacuate civilians.”

I lowered my gaze. “And the civilians you did evacuate are where?”

“Earth. Mostly refugee camps in New York.”

My eyes about bulged out of my skull. The humans thought it was a good idea, to take a bunch of terrified refugees to a predator’s homeworld, far away from their own territory? Those Gojids must be overwhelmed, and the optics of this were atrocious. It would’ve been a better solution to host them on Venlil Prime, or transport them to a Gojid colony.

General Zhao narrowed his eyes. “Governor, you look displeased. Do you not trust humans to be proper caregivers?”

“You misunderstand. Candidly, this is an absolute disaster,” I grumbled. “52 species specified they were waiting for news from the cradle, to determine their diplomatic position. When they hear it’s been destroyed…”

“They’ll blame humanity. She’s right. I wouldn’t be surprised if they accused us of coordinating with the Arxur,” Noah finished.

A sigh slipped from my lips. “The refugees are the ‘cherry on top’, as you say. When they hear you’re keeping them in camps on Earth, they’ll assume you’re keeping them as cattle.”

“We have troves of footage, showcasing our humanitarian efforts,” the Chinese general objected.

“And? It’s easy enough to dismiss that as staged propaganda. I bet anything, the Krakotl will use this to gain public support for their attack. To smear you as slaving predators.”

Hell, what was stopping the species on-world from rescinding their diplomatic offer? The Mazic president was going to flip when he learned of the cradle’s destruction. This was a grave setback to our progress with the friendly governments, and it would push most undecided factions toward animosity.

At least I’d had a few hours, to deliberate how to react to various scenarios; this was all news to Noah. The Terran ambassador shifted beside me, and I could sense his surprise to the war’s developments. After witnessing the hatred on the Federation floor, he knew better than anyone I was right about their perspective.

“The Secretary-General understood the cradle’s importance, as a propaganda tool,” Jones said. “That’s why we sent our first fleet on a liberation mission. We have a chance to defeat the Arxur, and retake the cradle. Those mission logs, and the footage which Captain Sovlin provided to us from Gojid media sources, might help mitigate any reputational damage.”

Two items leapt out at me from that statement. The first being, the humans sent a large contingent of the Venlil ships that were donated to them to a slaughter. Attacking the Arxur was a foolhardy play, which I can’t believe General Kam didn’t object to. Predators or not, the UN had succumbed at every turn to the grays’ superior army.

Are they trying to leave both of our planets exposed? To lose everything we gave them?

Since the fleet was already dead, there was no point even addressing that matter. I began to wonder if allying with humanity was a mistake; I hadn’t thought they were suicidal.

The second topic was the name Sovlin, which I couldn’t be hearing right. Even under excruciating interrogation, it was tough to picture that Gojid giving humanity anything helpful. Had they captured him during the war? What terrible retribution had they inflicted, to make him violate his principles?

“Sovlin is in your custody?” I blinked with concern, as the human representatives nodded. “Is he alive?”

Jones rolled her eyes. “Yes. Why does everyone ask that?”

“Because we wouldn’t blame you for killing him, General. I might venture he deserves the ultimate penalty. But how did he come into your possession?”

“He turned himself in, after witnessing our soldiers fight back against the Arxur.”

“I, er…I see. Would it be an unreasonable request to ask for Sovlin to stand trial in a Venlil court? I would like him to answer for reckless endangerment, and mistreatment of a Venlil citizen.”

“The UN is willing to discuss extradition, but he is a valuable strategic asset now. I don’t see him being handed over for a few years.” A female voice I didn’t recognize piped up. This predator was seated away from the generals, and bore the keen visage of intelligence. “Erin Kuemper, UN Secretary of Alien Affairs. Formerly with SETI.”

That agency name rang a bell in my head. Humans desired friends among the stars, long before their species was interstellar; stories about aliens were abnormally prevalent in their culture. Some Terran scientists devoted their careers to scanning the skies for signals, and cataloguing exoplanets that might be habitable.

Noah and Sara’s flight on the Odyssey was charted by SETI researchers. Venlil Prime happened to be the fifth “Earth-like” world on their candidate list. It made sense that those prescient astronomers would try to become the first alien experts and attachés.

I flicked my ears with politeness. “Nice to meet you, Madam Secretary. I understand humans have the greatest claim to Sovlin, of course, but I don’t want his treatment of Slanek to be overlooked. It’s a bad precedent.”

“Agreed. I think it’s a good idea, for us to write out travel and extradition treaties. We’ve relied too heavily on goodwill between our species. This would nip any misunderstandings in the bud.”

There were a lot of other details that needed to be ironed out; trade, borders, intelligence sharing, joint military bases, and which foods were allowed within our domain. It was a daunting task, since I had no idea how predators approached such matters. That fact that Earth technically fell in Venlil territory was a grievous issue I’d been tiptoeing around.

The official status, galaxy-wide, is that humanity does not own their homeworld. We do, even if we renounce that stake between our two species.

Of course, the Venlil Republic would never lay claim to the Sol system. The unfortunate reality was that we didn’t have the authority to hand out parsecs of space. The Federation would be hesitant to sign off on any territorial claims, and that was the best-case scenario. Recognizing the United Nations as a legitimate, spacefaring entity would be acknowledging humans as equals; encouraging them to spread throughout the galaxy.

I feared that our predator friends wouldn’t take kindly to that fact, especially as they eyed colonial expansion initiatives. Decorous as humanity were, I didn’t think they’d be happy sharing with their neighbors forever. They would want some breathing room, and space to call their own.

“Speaking of misunderstandings,” Ambassador Noah rumbled. “Myself, and any human-allied species, might have a target on our back. It appears our shuttle was sabotaged, and that almost resulted in a catastrophic drive failure.”

General Jones chuckled. “I’m amazed the xenos have the stones to think of subterfuge. They sure haven’t shown it before now.”

“The Venlil have risked their entire existence to protect ours. Is that not courageous? Let’s not insult our friends.” Secretary Kuemper shot the American a warning look, then gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sure that was not her intention, Governor.”

“No offense taken. But as Noah is about to mention, there was a second ship of representatives coming here. You sent out a search party already?”

The astronaut’s eyebrows shot up. He must be stunned that I had discerned his thoughts with a half-glance. It was uncanny, at times, how I felt like I could sense what was on that predator’s mind.

“Venlil and humans are scouring the edges of Zurulian space now. We expect them back in comms range, within the next few hours,” Zhao answered.

Kuemper tilted her head. “Is there something more you wanted from us?”

“We would like the Yotul diplomat pulled aside for questioning, at the earliest convenience. He had an uncanny amount of knowledge about the defect. But please, do so with tact. Without drawing outside attention.”

The human officials shared a glance, before consulting the encyclopedia of known species on their holopads. It must be difficult, to recall the nuances and details of three hundred races they’d never met before. Perhaps a full briefing, on the friendly visitor races, should be led by our diplomatic corps.

General Kam cleared his throat. “I’ll tell Venlil police to collect him, since you want it to slip under the radar.”

“Thank you. And listen, media silence for now,” I said. “We don’t need this playing out in the court of public opinion.”

Kuemper nodded. “I second that. Talk of conspiracies will sour any good news.”

Silence fell over the room, as my military advisor forwarded the request to the appropriate agencies. The Terrans were browsing the Yotul’s file, and seemed to home in on the details of their uplifting. It was easy to forget how new humans were to the galactic scene. As predators, they rarely seemed unprepared for anything.

My eyes fell on my holopad, awaiting the call that would bring news. It was unknown what happened to Recel and his passengers, but there was a sinking feeling in my stomach when I thought about it. Our interspecies relations were in a delicate position, to begin with; a tragedy was the last thing humanity needed.

It was in our best interest to hope the Kolshian pilot got lost.