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* * *

"'What is the Seventh Tribe ?' Such a delightfully naïve question from one such as you! You could never fathom the full explanation - not with your minimally augmented mind capable of running only two or three parallel threads of thought - so I will give you a summary that you should be able to understand: We are change. We are the future of the galaxy. We are a star of enlightenment burning away the fog of ignorance. To assist us in our goals will be the greatest honor your people could ever hope to receive."

"What do we want from you? To be honest, we want nothing from you specifically. We want what is in your world, something left behind by the Eschatologists . And you are going to help us get it. We could do it all by ourselves, of course, but you know this world better than we do. You have vehicles, skills and infrastructure that could prove useful if used in conjunction with our technology."

"And afterwards... Afterwards we will decide what we are going to do with you. But that is a question best left for another time. It's getting late and I would like to get settled in the level you have prepared for me. I hope relocating all the residents on such a short notice wasn't too much of a bother. And I assume there's going to be a banquet in my honor later this evening? I've always wanted to try those floating worms with the large air bladders. I've heard they taste like fish..."

* * *

As the representative of Missaia, the largest and most advanced laputa of Sonongalia , Councilor Aina Wenda had the questionable honor of formally receiving the Outsider "ambassador" when the posthuman interstellar nomads suddenly appeared in orbit of her homeworld. Although she would have far preferred to spend her day among her normal, delightfully mundane and boring duties rather than play host to an unfathomable being with unknowable mind and motives, she understood that the future of her entire people was likely at stake. One misspoken word or careless insult could spell doom not just for herself, but for the entire Windrider culture. And so, gathering her wits and courage, she did her best to entertain the Outsiders while trying to glean what she could about their goals and motives.

At least she had to admit that it was not every day she got to meet such exotic beings.

Moving around in a large mobile water tank equipped with sophisticated fractal manipulators, the Outsider ambassador, who introduced herself as "Dr. Ildi" , turned out to be an extensively modified Nixie, a member of a clade of uplifted dolphins that had never before been seen on Sonongalia. As she listened to her, Councilor Wenda became increasingly worried. Dr. Ildi consistently refused to reveal any details about the Eschatologist relic supposedly hidden on Sonongalia, but there was something in the way she spoke that made Councilor Wenda very uncomfortable... something bordering on quiet mania or religious fervor. When Dr. Ildi finally took her Gwailo slaves to set up her laboratory in one of Missaia's residential levels (which had been hastily evacuated despite the confused and sometimes angry protests of its residents), Councilor Wenda was left with the feeling that she was dealing with a single-minded fanatic that would let absolutely nothing stand in her way. Ildi would gleefully sacrifice just about anything to achieve her goals - including entire planetary populations.

This was not going to be an easy visit.

Description
PREVIOUS PART | NEXT PART

* * *

"'What is the Seventh Tribe ?' Such a delightfully naïve question from one such as you! You could never fathom the full explanation - not with your minimally augmented mind capable of running only two or three parallel threads of thought - so I will give you a summary that you should be able to understand: We are change. We are the future of the galaxy. We are a star of enlightenment burning away the fog of ignorance. To assist us in our goals will be the greatest honor your people could ever hope to receive."

"What do we want from you? To be honest, we want nothing from you specifically. We want what is in your world, something left behind by the Eschatologists . And you are going to help us get it. We could do it all by ourselves, of course, but you know this world better than we do. You have vehicles, skills and infrastructure that could prove useful if used in conjunction with our technology."

"And afterwards... Afterwards we will decide what we are going to do with you. But that is a question best left for another time. It's getting late and I would like to get settled in the level you have prepared for me. I hope relocating all the residents on such a short notice wasn't too much of a bother. And I assume there's going to be a banquet in my honor later this evening? I've always wanted to try those floating worms with the large air bladders. I've heard they taste like fish..."

* * *

As the representative of Missaia, the largest and most advanced laputa of Sonongalia , Councilor Aina Wenda had the questionable honor of formally receiving the Outsider "ambassador" when the posthuman interstellar nomads suddenly appeared in orbit of her homeworld. Although she would have far preferred to spend her day among her normal, delightfully mundane and boring duties rather than play host to an unfathomable being with unknowable mind and motives, she understood that the future of her entire people was likely at stake. One misspoken word or careless insult could spell doom not just for herself, but for the entire Windrider culture. And so, gathering her wits and courage, she did her best to entertain the Outsiders while trying to glean what she could about their goals and motives.

At least she had to admit that it was not every day she got to meet such exotic beings.

Moving around in a large mobile water tank equipped with sophisticated fractal manipulators, the Outsider ambassador, who introduced herself as "Dr. Ildi" , turned out to be an extensively modified Nixie, a member of a clade of uplifted dolphins that had never before been seen on Sonongalia. As she listened to her, Councilor Wenda became increasingly worried. Dr. Ildi consistently refused to reveal any details about the Eschatologist relic supposedly hidden on Sonongalia, but there was something in the way she spoke that made Councilor Wenda very uncomfortable... something bordering on quiet mania or religious fervor. When Dr. Ildi finally took her Gwailo slaves to set up her laboratory in one of Missaia's residential levels (which had been hastily evacuated despite the confused and sometimes angry protests of its residents), Councilor Wenda was left with the feeling that she was dealing with a single-minded fanatic that would let absolutely nothing stand in her way. Ildi would gleefully sacrifice just about anything to achieve her goals - including entire planetary populations.

This was not going to be an easy visit.