Sylvia was halfway into the building when she realized the crowds had gathered to see her, the human diplomat who had helped save their world. She’d spent so long fighting the Kenmiri that she barely registered what she’d done for La-Tar as unusual.
To the crowds carefully gathering to try to get a glimpse of her, she was one of a handful of people responsible for saving their entire planet.
She took a moment to look over the crowd and wave back to them. It was a small gesture, but it seemed to mean something to the La-Tars—and it helped remind her what she was working toward.
The Arbiter’s office was completely barren. A corner office two-thirds of the way up the building, it had probably belonged to a senior Artisan-caste Kenmiri, but the decorations had been stripped down to a desk, a table, and the chairs around each.
The view of the city was enough. First City was small to Sylvia’s eyes—and likely to Casto Ran’s, given the industrial factory-cities he was used to—but it had been built on hills that couldn’t be readily farmed.
Those hills gave it an enviable elevation, and from the tower on the edge of the central cluster, the view stretched out for untold miles of glittering golden fields.
Casto Ran stood next to the glass, looking out at those fields. Two familiar-looking Enteni were perched on stools near the table, and those three were the only occupants of the room.
“Arbiter Casto Ran,” Sylvia greeted the semi-elected leader of the La-Tar Cluster in their shared Kem. “Standard Adamant Will. Rising Principle.”
She wasn’t sure what title Adamant Will’s child would currently command, though their presence suggested they’d be the Cluster’s representative at the peace conference.
“Thank you for coming, Ambassador,” Ran told her, still looking out at the fields. “We received the update from your skip drone. The Kozun have agreed to meet with us.”
It wasn’t a question, but Sylvia nodded anyway.
“They have. More quickly than I expected,” she said. “They may need peace themselves, more than we anticipated.”
“If they have-will aggravate all the worlds around them, then they must-will make peace or fate-time will see their ending,” Adamant Will replied. “The news we receive is-was of war all around them.”
“The Kozun made no friends in their expansion,” Ran agreed. “They may well see us as the one conflict they have an opportunity to end before they lose too much while they are challenged on other fronts. We may be able to exert more pressure than we hoped.”
“The opportunity to make alliances and push them back exists,” Sylvia said. “The UPA has no interest in a war of that magnitude, and our commitments to the Cluster are entirely defensive, but I would be remiss as an ally to not point that opportunity out.”
“We can-will not be the agents of fate-time death on that scale,” Adamant Will told her. “Our children must-will cry for peace.”
“Almost as importantly, dragging the Cluster into an extended war would be an obstacle to establishing proper long-term governance,” Ran said, finally turning around and joining the two Enteni at the table.
“The mandate I wield is one I was given by the various leaderships of our worlds, but none of those leaderships are the unquestioned voices of their people,” he noted. “I am designated to arbitrate conflicts between worlds, not decide the fates of all of our worlds at once.
“If the Cluster is to wage war, that decision should belong to a government that is truly chosen by and speaks for the entire population. I lack the moral authority to commit our worlds to a conflict that is not solely in our defense.”
“The United Planets Alliance is fully committed to assist in the security of the La-Tar Cluster,” Sylvia reiterated. “We acted as your agent to arrange this conference, but this is a conference between you and the Hierarchy. The UPA is…more than an observer, but we are not at war with the Kozun.”
“I am not certain the Kozun must-will see these fate-times the same,” Rising Principle noted, the younger Enteni sounding amused even through the translator.
“As I reminded the Drifters when they suggested the same thing, the Hierarchy knows how the UPA makes war,” Sylvia said. “They still exist, which means they are not at war with us.”
It would take roughly two-thirds of the active UPSF units to guarantee victory over the Hierarchy, but Sylvia knew that the UPA could have sent those ships and soldiers if they’d actually felt threatened by the Kozun.
The Peacekeeper Initiative was out there to try and fix the problems the Kenmiri had left behind, but it would forever be the poor sibling among the UPSF. The United Planets Security Council did not think anything in the Ra Sector could threaten the UPA—and that the forces that could were a long way away.
“Like the Kozun, I have seen the UPSF make war,” Ran said quietly. “I would rather not see that ruthlessness again.”
“Neither would we,” Sylvia agreed. “At this point, Arbiter Ran, the next steps are up to you. We know that a Voice of the Kozun will be in the Lon System in ten days. We are prepared to provide the one UPSF unit the Hierarchy requested, and I will, of course, accompany the delegation.
“But the delegation must be the Cluster’s and the choices must be yours.”
The room was silent for a full minute.
“Ambassador Rising Principle will speak for the Cluster,” Ran finally told her, gesturing to the Enteni diplomat. “They have served all of our people well before and I have faith in them.”
“Your assistance is-was of immense value before and can-will be of immense value again,” Rising Principle told Sylvia. “We would-will be ecstatic if you joined us.”
“I intend to,” she replied. “My intention, that I will confirm with Colonel Wong, is to travel aboard Raven to the Lon System. The Kozun requested that each side bring three ships.”
“We will send Carpenter with Rising Principle aboard,” Ran said instantly.
Carpenter was one of the escorts he’d commanded as a Vesheron leader. As Sylvia understood it, those ships had the most experienced and long-standing crews available to the Cluster.
“Given the need for security over firepower, I would ask that the UPSF provide a second ship,” Ran continued. “One of your destroyers would add more survivability to the delegation than another of our escorts.”
“Carpenter has-will be updated to act as a meeting site,” Rising Principle told Sylvia.
Sylvia didn’t know what that might entail from the Cluster’s perspective, but it would probably be useful.
“Again, I will need to confer with Captain Wong,” she admitted. “But I see no problem with us committing both Raven and one of our destroyers to the delegation.
“I did also commit to the Drifters to present their price for providing the neutral security detail to you,” she continued. “Blue Stripe Green Stripe Orange Stripe required exclusive trading rights with the La-Tar Cluster—shared with the UPA—for ten Kenmiri years in exchange for this service.”
Ran’s head tendrils twitched.
“You did not, I note, commit us to this without our permission,” he said. “That is appreciated, though I see little choice on our part unless we want to abandon the entire conference.”