On Earth, there are three Triads intending to integrate
not only the three peoples and stop the war that threatens to break loose and
slaughter Humans and devastate their world; but to stop the war that consumes
Kiiote economy and Yown’Hoo moral fiber. All three intelligences hover on the
edge of extinction. The merger of Human-Kiiote-Yown’Hoo into a van der Walls
Society might not only save all three – but become something not even they
could predict. Something entirely new...
The young experimental Triads are made up of the smallest
primate tribe of Humans – Oscar and Xiomara; the smallest canine pack of Kiiote
– six, pack leaders Qap and Xurf; and the smallest camelid herd of Yown’Hoo – a
prime eleven, Dao-hi the Herd mother. On nursery farms and ranches away from
the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo and Kiiote in secret for
decades, allowing the two, warring people to reproduce and grow far from their
home worlds.
“We had nearly fallen into stagnation when we
encountered the Kiiote.”
“And we into internecine war when we encountered the
Yown’Hoo.”
“Yown’Hoo and
Kiiote have been defending themselves for a thousand revolutions of our Sun.”
“Together, we
might do something none of us alone might have done…a destiny that included
Yown’Hoo, Kiiote, and Human.” (2/19/2015)
A hooded Human shape strode slowly
across the vast space, passing through a beam of sunlight slanting across the
room. Clearly it deliberately chose a path to show itself to them. It stopped
and said, “I am Mother Kan Yuen, Triad Query Marker Guru and Specialist. Who
are you, children?”
Xio blurted before thinking, “We
aren’t children!” She covered her mouth with a filthy hand, cursing Oscar for
infecting her with his impulsiveness. She’d been perfectly rational most of her
life – until she got to know him better!
Mother Kan Yuen pushed back the
hood covering her face and said, “Show yourself young lady!”
Xio whispered, “She’s supposed to
be dead…”
“My hearing is perfectly fine,
young lady. Now step out before I set my robotic army on you all and crush you
to lifeless red smears.”
“What?” Xio said.
“You heard me. March!”
Xio found herself responding to
the snap in the woman’s voice and stood up, stepping into the light. Seg-go, Ali-go,
and Nah-hi-el moved closely behind her. She heard the distinctive sound of
Seg-go pulling his/her tentacles free, preparing for a fight. She had no doubt
that the tips were oozing the neurotoxin the Yown’Hoo used to subdue each
other. That Humans had been near-universally and violently allergic to the
toxin had helped cement the fright factor during initial encounters between the
llama-like aliens and Humans.
The woman claiming to be Mother
Kan Yuen said, “Oh, don’t threaten me with your poison-tipped tentacles, child!
I was immunized against them decades ago! You don’t think I could guide the First
Triad to union under the threat of accidental anaphylaxis, do you?”
“What do you mean, ‘the First
Triad’? We’re the first Triad.”
Mother Kan Yuen burst out laughing.
Xio stared at her. Her small Herd moved behind her. Seg-go whispered, “You will
protect us from the mad Human, Herd-auntie?”
The older Human’s laughter wound
down to snickers. Then she gestured to the Herd and said, “Come with me,
children.”
She turned and started to walk –
Xio thought the woman walked like she was sliding across the floor, almost like
the ghosts she’d seen in old Human visual fright tales. The cowl she wore didn’t
move. Xio said abruptly, “You’re not real!”
Mother Kan Yuen spoke without
stopped, “I am quite real, child, I just found no reason to risk my old body meeting
you in physical form. This is an avatar of myself. In a moment, you’ll meet the
real me.” The avatar stopped in front of a seemingly blank outer wall. When the
Herd crew close enough, a portion of the wall dilated like a gigantic Human
iris, leaving a flat portion of the floor clear for them to walk over. The Herd
stopped, Seg-go’s front hoof raised just before setting it down past the irises
edge. The avatar stepped forward then turned. “Follow or do not. It makes no
difference to me. But you will, of needs, then present my child, the Retired Lieutenant
Commander Patrick Bakhsh with the fact of your failure on the verge of success.”
The avatar vanished.
Xio started. Seg-go said, “Do we
go, Herd-auntie; or do we back up and return to our leaders in abject failure?”
Xio scowled down at the little
Yown’Hoo and said, “Don’t bother, Herd second, we are not peers, so the
pressure you are attempting to place on me isn’t working.” She straightened her
spine and stepped forward, “I had already decided to enter before you
challenged my authority.” She kneed Seg-go, who stumbled as it tried to lead the
Herd. She added a toe nudge and the Herd second backed up, its fellow Yown’Hoo pressing
against it to relieve it of the stress of the Challenge. She smirked as she
passed through the door, though her pulse raced when the door irised closed
behind them.
The voice of Mother Kan Yuen said
softly in Chinese, “Perhaps there is hope for you yet, Daughter of Humanity. Perhaps
there is hope for us all.”
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