Unless an ambassador told them not to….But that was too much even for Br’sei, and he did not struggle when his thoughts swerved back to the New People. Do they isolate themselves from life, or do they just need to isolate their kind of life? How can we know?
“I have worked hard to keep this knowledge quiet, Engineer Br’sei,” said D’seun, as if he read Br’sei’s thoughts. “There are those who would take the facts of how the New People live and create a panic to spread across all the winds of Home. Ambassador T’sha, to begin with.”
Br’sei shook himself. “Do you have so little faith in your colleagues, Ambassador?” he asked, being deliberately blunt.
“No.” D’seun swelled. “I have so much experience with them. T’sha is rich. She hands out promises as if they were guesting gifts. She does not want this world for New Home because of the New People. I have managed to block her so far, but what if she were able to cry insanity?” A single beat of his wings brought him towering over Br’sei. “Would any of the People be willing to run from insanity toward insanity?” Now their muzzles touched and the ambassador’s words sank deep into Br’sei’s skin. “How long does Home have left for us, Br’sei? Twenty years? Forty? How long will it take before a new world can support us in all our billions?”
“At least fifty years,” admitted Br’sei.
“So, we have no time to waste in panic and argument.”
“But—”
“But if the New People are insane, they must be treated as such.” D’seun let himself drift away. “If they are not, they must be treated as such. Right now, we know only three things—that they have no legitimate claim on this world, that we cannot decide on their sanity until we understand them better, and that we cannot waste time looking for yet another candidate world.”
Br’sei’s bones bunched together. He would have plummeted had not the warm plumes from the highland cradled him. “I am not so sure, Ambassador.”
D’seun dipped his muzzle. “Of course not. These are not small thoughts. This must all be digested and studied from all angles. But tell me this: you do truly agree that action without knowledge will lead to disaster?”
“It can,” admitted Br’sei.
“And you do agree that we have no time to waste in the creation of New Home?”
Br’sei dipped his muzzle. “I have seen the cities rotting too, Ambassador. I heard your tale of Gaith. I am aware our time is short.”
“Good.” D’seun flew over him, letting his hands graze against Br’sei’s crest. “Then give me this much. Do not panic Ambassador T’sha when she comes. Do not tell her how much we know.” He turned on a wingtip. “And help me understand the New People. With knowledge, your doubts and mine will all be resolved. We will not be fumbling and flapping in our helplessness, as we must on Home, where the diseases and their progeny have flown too far ahead for us to ever understand, let alone overtake. Here, we must always know how to proceed.”
We must always know how to proceed. Br’sei let D’seun’s words echo inside him. He wanted to believe that was possible, but sometimes he doubted it. What he did know, however, was that D’seun had convinced himself of the lightness of his words, and a mere engineer would not change Ambassador D’seun’s mind.
Ambassador T’sha, however, might be able to, and if she couldn’t change D’seun’s mind, she might be able to sway the Law Meet, which even D’seun could not ignore.
But Br’sei would have to steer a careful path. If D’seun did not think Br’sei was convinced, the ambassador would find a way to have him removed from the team. That was very much D’seun’s way.
“I shall work with you, Ambassador.” Br’sei inflated himself until his size was equal with D’seun’s. “Together we will see what we can find.”
I do not, however, promise you will like what I will do with what we find.
It was not until they had returned to the base and dispersed to their separate tasks that Br’sei realized D’seun had never answered one question about the tools near the New People.
Chapter Five
A FRESH UNITED NATIONS flag dominated the rear wall of the passenger clearing area. Its sky blue background made a stark contrast to the soft, shifting reds and golds that the walls had been set for. Ben was glad to see, however, that Helen had drawn the line at welcoming banners.
Ben stood beside Helen and Michael. The assorted Veneran department heads ranged past them in a ragged line. Beyond the hatch, they could hear the soft whirs and bumps of the docking corridor extending and clamping itself to the newly arrived shuttle.