His father took in a sharp breath, but said nothing.
“My proof of this is mostly unsubstantiated, but I believe I am right.” Khoth lifted his eyes from the table and said, “She has limited interactions with humans. She does not know Jace Parker. Yet instead of getting to know them and him, in particular, to even hear what they have to say, she suggests an ill-thought out seduction plan instead.”
“Would you agree though that the humans will ask for a place within the Alliance?” his father put forward. “Is she wrong in this?”
“No, I think they will ask for that and more,” Khoth answered. “It would be illogical for them to accept less. With the destruction of the Hive, the Khul will return to seek revenge upon Earth, who has no defenses capable of destroying them all and assimilating the entire planet. The end of their species. So either the Osiris remains on Earth or–”
“We send ships to protect them? Yes, indeed,” his father agreed with an inclination of his head.
“As to humanity wishing a place in the Alliance, in the past we have welcomed all species with a connection to the Altaeth,” Khoth reminded him. “Jace’s role as Pilot proves that humanity has as close–perhaps even closer–a connection to them than most other species already in the Alliance, including,” and this was hard to say, but logic demanded he say it, “the Thaf’ell.”
His father’s slightly widening eyes told him that he had made a surprising point.
“We have demanded nothing more from species willing to enter the Alliance than this so humanity should be included for this simple fact if we are not being hypocritical,” Khoth pointed out.
His father slowly nodded. “That has been our practice.”
“But humanity has yet more to offer. The Osiris is a unique ship. It has capabilities to construct new weapons, armor, medicine, and, potentially, far more,” Khoth said.
He suspected that the Osiris could manufacture ships, but he did not know this for certain.
“It can create Altaeth technology?” his father’s voice was almost breathless, which just showed how awe-inspiring the Osiris was.
Khoth nodded. “We have no idea yet what the Osiris is truly capable of, or for that matter, what the other AI–Gehenna–can do. She is quite the mystery as well. And both she and the Osiris are connected to Jace. Are controlled by Jace, if he so chooses to exercise that control.”
“I can see why your mother wishes for such technology on the side of the Alliance,” his father stated.
“But that’s just it. She can have it. Give humanity a seat at the table. Humanity is part of the Alliance. They have a vested interest in defeating the Khul and making the Alliance safer for everyone. I know Jace feels this way. We have Jace and the Osiris at our command,” Khoth stated.
“That would be logical,” his father said carefully and his fingers tightened around one another.
Khoth saw that his arguments were working so he pressed on with what he considered irrefutable proof of the illogic of his mother’s actions, “But instead of bargaining with humanity on those terms, Mother commands me to–not just seduce Jace–but somehow make him so besotted that he would betray his people, his parents, and his friends and also sabotage humanity’s chance to join the greater universe for me? A person he just met?”
“She saw you together so perhaps she saw a chance–”
But Khoth obliterated that argument, “Even if humans were as base as they have been described or I was his soulmate, such a plan would fail! But, they are not–Jace is not–anything like that. No matter how he felt for me, he would never trade all that away. No matter what her prejudices against humans, Mother is not so blind as this, unless she was desperate and grasping at the flimsiest of chances. Chances that could blow back upon us. Because Jace would see my seduction as a betrayal, Father. While it might not end things with humanity and the Alliance, it would cool them considerably.”
His father did not blink. He appeared to be even controlling his breathing. This meant that his father knew something. Maybe a lot of things. He thought of Daesah’s journal. She had written of her frustration with the Alliance’s decisions to shrink in on itself. His mother had spoken about a lack of ships that could be spared. While Khoth had not experienced any deprivation in terms of ships, weaponry and armor, that did not mean that there weren’t any. He had not heard of any large caches of Altaeth technology recently. Maybe not in a long time. Was the Alliance simply running out of ships to fight the Khul with?
The Osiris has maps of planets with more Altaeth technology, not to mention its ability to create such tech itself. That ship and its AI are worth giving humanity every seat on the Council if this is true. But no one relinquishes power easily.
“Father,” Khoth started and found his mouth dry. If his father confirmed what he feared then the Alliance and his mother’s desperation were understandable. “Father, is the Alliance having difficulty finding enough tech to fight the Khul?”
His father’s expression remained tightly controlled in that it showed nothing. “If your mother were to have confided in me about such a thing, you know I could not tell you.”
“But if it is true then there is yet another reason to give humanity entrance to the Alliance and a seat on the Council!” Khoth slapped his hand on the table. His Xi was practically electrified as was his Xa. Both sides of him were as one at this.
“Khoth, calm yourself.” His father made a gesture for his Xi to simmer.
Khoth though was not going to calm himself. Not about this. Not when he realized that this was the fight his sister had been having before she died. This was her legacy.
“Daesah wanted to go after the Khul, Father,” Khoth stated crisply. “She thought this constant retreat was a mistake, one that the Altaeth, themselves, recognized. Was she unable to implement her plan because we did not have the ships and weaponry and armor to accomplish it?”
His father remained silent.
“That’s why she was interested in the Osiris. She had heard rumors of its ability to create new tech. Perhaps there would be clues how to create more ships,” Khoth theorized, feeling with every word that he was right.
His father lowered his head.
