The ship settled into its landing bay without events, and the three off worlders exited. Perhaps Perry Six knew more than both of them combined, however, he hung back, leaving Tracy and Jessica to walk up front. They followed the signs and passed through customs without incident. As soon as they were into the city of New Washington, Tracy looked to Perry Six.
“Do you have access to the planets data net?”
“I am fully connected to the human network, and I have access to the interfaces the other sectors make public.”
“But not the Scout database?”
“No,” Perry Six confirmed. “We must personally visit their Headquarters building and petition for access.”
“What is the fastest way to the HQ?” Jessica asked.
Flying there would have been preferable, but that was no longer an option. “It’s too far for a drone flight right? And they don’t allow planetary surface transfers.”
“They don’t allow the human sector to use planetary surface transfer.”
Tracy and Jessica looked at each other. “Who has a transfer station?” Jessica asked.
“The Sudaato,” Perry Six replied. “In fact, they are adjacent to the Human section, for obvious reasons.”
“Obvious?” Tracy folded her arms.
“The Sudaato are the master drive makers of the Union. They are widely respected. It is not so much that no one is allowed to have transfer stations on Proxima Caelum, it is more that the only transfer stations permitted are build and operated by the Sudaato.”
“Which the humans would never agree to,” Jessica flopped her hands to her side.
“You are a very proud species,” Perry Six said.
“Is it just that we’re proud? Or is there some other reason?”
Perry Six lifted his arms in the motion of a shrug, but his shoulders did not hinge like a human, so the expression came across more like an awkard flapping. “the Sudaato design is free from the influence of artificial intelligence. They worked out the technology and design themselves over many thousands of years.”
“And the human design was ai built, is that the problem?”
“AI assisted in the construction of the human transfer stations, but yes, that is the core of the problem. Don’t forget, the human AI are at war with the other AI. As a result human AI are not trusted, nor are transport machines they helped design and build.”
“If they don’t trust our AI why did they let us join the GFU?” Jessica asked.
“You misunderstand. It is the other species AI that are fighting the AI from Earth, but human kinds greatest creation is winning. Not every species has ai sophisticated enough to contribute to the boundary war, but the fact is, this is a lopsided battle. Every other ai system in the Galactic Federal Union is arrayed against the Living Nexus… but Conscious Coalition is winning the war, and they are winning it handedly. In fact, the opponents are fiercely fighting to not lose ground.
“Humanity is part of the Union because the ai you birthed demands is.”
“So they don’t trust human transportation tech because they are afraid it would turn into a portal for our ai to enter?”
“That is more or less correct Ms. Richards.”
“Well, since that’s the case, how do we get access to the Sudaato jump gate?”
“We must travel to their local Capital Raspinar.”
“And how do we do that?” Jessica asked.
“This way,” Perry Six motioned in the direction for them to go, but did not move.
“Aren’t you going to lead the way?” Jessica asked.
“I am not permitted to on this planet,” Perry Six replied. “Local governance mandates that I must follow human leadership while I am here.”
“Must?” Tracy raised an eye brow.
“Within limits,” Perry Six replied. “If you are thinking of using your newly found legislative advantage to flee or to take advantage of me in any way, my self preservation circuits have been disabled. I would stop you, even at the cost of my own existence.”
“Party pooper,” Jessica said, then started to walk in the direction Perry Six had showed her. “What am I looking for?”
“We can find a regional drone to take us to the main train station. From there, we will pick up a sky train to take us cross section, to Sudaato territory and Raspinar.
Jessica lead the way, followed by Tracy, with Perry Six in the back. The truth was, Tracy wasn’t sure where she wanted Perry Six, front or back, he seemed like a liability and a threat at the same time.
The journey to the train station was exciting, but Tracy was too distracted to pay close attention. The one thing that give her pause was the contrast to the transportations centers on Earth. The colony on New Proxima might not be huge compared to Earth’s total population but 99.9% of it was crammed into a thin vertical slice of planet. The train station at the capital of New Washington was enormous and crowded. Tracy had never seen that many people in one place in her entire life on Earth just going about their business. And then there were the alien species. She knew a lot about the xenotypes, however living on Earth had kept her largely isolated from the other species. Now she was mixing with them, like a fish tossed into a stone soup. Everyone contributed something. Hopefully what they were making would be yummy tasting.
Perry Six acted as their ticket in a way, purchasing the right passes and giving them subtle pointers from behind. They found their private car and all three stepped in side. Moments later the long train glided out of the terminal and banked sharply to the right, heading across the Human Section toward its neighbor.
“What do we know about the Sudaato?” Jessica asked. “I mean, beside the fact that they are fantastic engineers.”
“They look like big cats,” Tracy said.
“Cats!?”
“From a human perspective, they do look like large felines,” Perry Six explained. “And from their perspective, you look like fat hairless mice, or on their planet what they call rrollarra.”
“So we look like food to them?” Jessica raised an eye brow.
“More like toys,” Perry Six corrected. “In their ancient days, the Sudaato toyed with and tormented rrollarra, much like you hunted tigers, and lions, and other big cats to the point of near extinction. There is little point comparing ancient histories with other species. It is much better to focus on who they are today, and their achievements.”
“The Sudaato are very well respected,” Tracy knew that much. “I mean hell, they figured out faster than light travel without the assistance of artificial intelligence.”
“They are exceptionally good at mathematics,” Perry Six added, “and they value truth above all else. Their honest is a blessing and curse, but it is one of the reasons the Govvu trust them so much. They will not lie to protect anyone, not even themselves.”
“Are we at war with them?” Jessica asked.
“War? No. But we have an uneasy truce,” Perry Six explained.
“Uneasy how?”
“Uneasy in the sense that while humans often say they want to hear the truth, in reality they rarely do. Human language is full of shades, and misdirections and influences designed to gain confidence without revealing truth. The Sudaato do not have these verbal mechanisms. What’s more, they don’t see the value or need for them. They consider humans to be unnecessarily vocal.”
“We talk too much for them,” Tracy translated. “Use too many words.”
“Just so,” Perry Six nodded in agreement. “We shall arrive in the Capital within hour.”
“So, Perry, how do we get to this jump gate?” Tracy asked. “Do we just buy a ticket? Walk up and ask to be let through?”
“No Ms. Richards. We must secure passage from the Govvu. They control the receiving portal at the South Metripol.”
“And what happens if we don’t get passage?” she asked.
Perry Six turned his whole body to look at her. “Then we return to the vessel and jump straight to our destination without further delay.”
Tracy nodded. Great. Not exactly what she was hoping for. The train rushed them silently forward toward a destiny Tracy had no idea how to avoid. Getting shot now looked like a more attractive option than jumping into oblivion. The train crossed the section boundary without incident, Tracy figured that customs would be handled upon arrival. While there was no wall, or field separating the two sections, everything else seemed to change apprubtly. The forests and fields of the human section were replaced with jungles and massive trees with branches that snaked out in every direction, intertwining and merging together to create an expansive three dimensional living structure. Hanging plants the size of gardens swayed in the soft breeze as the train rushed by, it’s air dampers minimizing the impact of its passing.
Verdent rivers flowed below, snaking between the trunks and the dense vegetation. There seemed to be hints and glimmers of light, underneath the dense foliage on the ground. Tracy guessed these were settlements. The green maze slowly gave way, gently narrowing down to the ground as they approached the capital city. Organic material was replaced with synthetic materials that were no less marvelous, and the heritage of lush green spaces called out from every structure, like the finger prints of a garden god a thousand meters tall.
A massive flat top mountain backed the city, which sat in a crescent shape, a bay of gray blue water gave the capital a half moon shape. The train came in from the spinward tip of the crescent, then followed the bay cost to a structure in the center of the city. Tracy and Jessica had brought small day packs. Perry Six, brought only himself. They left the relative safety and familiarity of the train, and stepped into the hot humid section capital of Sudaato, Raspinar. Jessica coughed.
“Damn this is worse than Miami.”
“Technically Miami has higher average humidity,” Perry Six offered.
“Bullshit,” Jessica shot back.
Tracy tried to ignore them they followed the lighted floor panels at the Rspinar Train station. She looked around. Raspinar was beautiful. It was like a garden had sprouted a city, and not the other way around. The one thing she noticed as that the ceilings, the doors, all of it was huge., Not wide, just really, really tall. She wasn’t sure what she had expected to see. Sure she had seen pictures of Sudaato, but had never met one in. As they approached the arrival section, the presence of the station staff, and the immigration officers gave her pause.
The Sudaato were tall. Like, really, really tall.
Jessica laughed. “Are you kidding me?”
What’s more, their ears were large even for them. So large, Tracy imagined she could cover a basketball with one.
“They look fast,” Jessica whispered to her.
“Yeah,” Tracy agreed. She’d always imagined the Sudaato would be like a cat standing up on it’s back two legs, cute, but awkward. These creatures looked like grace and speed in a fur coat. Their legs hinged the way a human leg hinges, but the calves and things were longer and leaner. They all seemed to be over two meters tall, and towered over the three of them. But they had no tails, and their - their hands were not covered with fur like a cats, but had long dextrous fingers with sharp black nails at the tip. They had fur of all different types.
They presented themselves at the immigration counter.
The Sudaato did not ask any questions. It merely pointed to the sign, which explained in English, Tracy and Jessica needed to flash their passport ids. They were immediately given a travel visa and a permit to transport Perry Six with them. The Sudaato immigration officer only looked at Perry Six, and only for a moment. Tracy got the impression they did not like having a synthetic life form among them, but the man said nothing. Perry Six had made sure all their documents were in order, likely before they even left the ship.
The agent completed their approval and motioned for them to enter the city. “Welcome to Sudaato lands,” He said in a shockingly good common accent and opened the door for them to pass. As they were leaving the station, suddenly an alarm went off. They looked around frantically and giant felines in blue and white uniforms bearing guns poured into the room. Oh yeah, they were fast all right.
Tracy and Jessica immediately held up their hands, “What seems to be the problem?”
No one replied to her until a Sudaato in a red military coat, with white panels down the side stepped into the room. “Your forms said you had nothing to declair.”
Tracy looked at Jessica. She shook her head. “We don’t,” she replied to the lead officer. She didn’t know the Sudaato ranks.
“Then what about that!” The officer pointed directly at Perry Six. “By lawful decree your android assistant is a violation of our importation policy. You must hand him over. “
Tracy and Jessica turned to look at Perry Six. “Why didn’t you mention this?” Tracy asked.
Perry Six made his weird shoulderless shrugging motion and then one of the guards shot him with an aura bolt. Perry Six went completely dark and fell over backward like a statue. He hit the ground with a heavy thunk and a hallow ring.
“That’s just fucking great,” Jessica sighed.