emerged: the Tellurian Alliance, a group of planetary commonwealths allied under the leadership of the original Earth, and the Celestial Expanse, a vast empire of space stations and colonies ruled over by a tight-knit oligarchy known as the Board of Directors. For decades they’ve slid in and out of war, battling over this dispute or that until finally coming to a truce, only to start right up again the next time some new disagreement comes along.
The current dispute is over a planet, unsurprisingly. However, this planet isn’t like any of the previous ones we’ve discovered. Those were all real fixer-uppers, hard balls of rock with decades of terraforming and generations of tough living standing between them and true habitability. Even Aurora took a good seventy years to become the paradise Michael and I remember. No, this is a planet rich in clean water, fertile soil. A planet with a genuine oxygen-mix atmosphere and, surprisingly, no prior claim by sentient life. I’ve heard that some people have nicknamed it New Earth, it’s so close to the original Earth. The problem is that no one can agree on who has the rightful claim to it.
As usual, both sides took the credit. The Celestians were the first to locate it on the prospecting scans, but the Tellurians managed to arrive at the planet first, slipping a small survey party onto New Earth shortly after its discovery three years ago. By the time the Celestians caught up, Telluria already had a warship in range, ready to blow them out of space if they even attempted to go planetside. Back-up quickly massed for both sides, and the stand-off began. Of course, a battle over the planet itself is out of the question. Can’t risk hurting the very merchandise they’re fighting over. So both sides kept ships stationed around the planet to keep their rival from sending anyone else down, and took their territorial war back into the inhabited universe, each side trying to inflict enough damage to make the other cry uncle. Just business as usual.
Or perhaps not, I realize as I listen to the conversation around me.
“All I’m saying is, maybe the Tellurians are really serious about peace this time. I mean, if they’re willing to free prisoners and open the negotiations over New Earth—”
“Seriously, Michael?” Teal snorts. “That’s what you think is going on? Everyone has decided to play nice?”
“Why not? They’ve made plenty of peace treaties in the past.”
“Yeah, and how long have those ever lasted? Besides, those slippery Tellurians wouldn’t give up their claim so easily, not after the dirty tactics they used to get ahead of our survey party and cheat us out of our New Earth landing. I heard they deliberately jammed up half a dozen jump paths just to keep us from arriving first. People like that are capable of anything
but
peace. No, the Tellurians are up to something. They have to be.”
“Why do you always have to be so neg, Teal? Maybe they’re just tired of fighting and figure it’s easier to share.”
“What are you in, kindergarten? You’re just hoping this peace sticks so you don’t get drafted next year.”
Michael looks over at her sharply, his eyes widening in shock at her rejoinder before darkening in annoyance. He shakes his head, mouth set, and doesn’t answer. I glance between the two of them, sensing more to the exchange than meets the eye, but unable to figure out what.
It is Taylor who ends the argument with a decisive, “Only time will tell either way, but I, for one, hope this peace sticks, too. Now, Teal, can you help me clear the table, please? Michael, you can start cutting the cake.”
Innocuous as they are, Taylor’s words defuse the tension almost instantly. Teal rolls her eyes once at Michael, and he shoots her an irritated look back, then the two go about their assigned tasks as though nothing happened.
I watch this family in bemusement. I barely know them, have only met them for the first time today with the
The current dispute is over a planet, unsurprisingly. However, this planet isn’t like any of the previous ones we’ve discovered. Those were all real fixer-uppers, hard balls of rock with decades of terraforming and generations of tough living standing between them and true habitability. Even Aurora took a good seventy years to become the paradise Michael and I remember. No, this is a planet rich in clean water, fertile soil. A planet with a genuine oxygen-mix atmosphere and, surprisingly, no prior claim by sentient life. I’ve heard that some people have nicknamed it New Earth, it’s so close to the original Earth. The problem is that no one can agree on who has the rightful claim to it.
As usual, both sides took the credit. The Celestians were the first to locate it on the prospecting scans, but the Tellurians managed to arrive at the planet first, slipping a small survey party onto New Earth shortly after its discovery three years ago. By the time the Celestians caught up, Telluria already had a warship in range, ready to blow them out of space if they even attempted to go planetside. Back-up quickly massed for both sides, and the stand-off began. Of course, a battle over the planet itself is out of the question. Can’t risk hurting the very merchandise they’re fighting over. So both sides kept ships stationed around the planet to keep their rival from sending anyone else down, and took their territorial war back into the inhabited universe, each side trying to inflict enough damage to make the other cry uncle. Just business as usual.
Or perhaps not, I realize as I listen to the conversation around me.
“All I’m saying is, maybe the Tellurians are really serious about peace this time. I mean, if they’re willing to free prisoners and open the negotiations over New Earth—”
“Seriously, Michael?” Teal snorts. “That’s what you think is going on? Everyone has decided to play nice?”
“Why not? They’ve made plenty of peace treaties in the past.”
“Yeah, and how long have those ever lasted? Besides, those slippery Tellurians wouldn’t give up their claim so easily, not after the dirty tactics they used to get ahead of our survey party and cheat us out of our New Earth landing. I heard they deliberately jammed up half a dozen jump paths just to keep us from arriving first. People like that are capable of anything
but
peace. No, the Tellurians are up to something. They have to be.”
“Why do you always have to be so neg, Teal? Maybe they’re just tired of fighting and figure it’s easier to share.”
“What are you in, kindergarten? You’re just hoping this peace sticks so you don’t get drafted next year.”
Michael looks over at her sharply, his eyes widening in shock at her rejoinder before darkening in annoyance. He shakes his head, mouth set, and doesn’t answer. I glance between the two of them, sensing more to the exchange than meets the eye, but unable to figure out what.
It is Taylor who ends the argument with a decisive, “Only time will tell either way, but I, for one, hope this peace sticks, too. Now, Teal, can you help me clear the table, please? Michael, you can start cutting the cake.”
Innocuous as they are, Taylor’s words defuse the tension almost instantly. Teal rolls her eyes once at Michael, and he shoots her an irritated look back, then the two go about their assigned tasks as though nothing happened.
I watch this family in bemusement. I barely know them, have only met them for the first time today with the
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