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The two of them walked over to the group. Dr. Isa was just finishing up and they all brightened at their approach.

“Oh, look, Chili, it is Commander Voor! He has come to hold you, I think,” Matias said to the pot belly pig.

“I love the bow around her throat,” Jace laughed.

“Of course, Chili must look her best,” Matias said as he handed the pig into Khoth’s already extended hands.

“That is the best dressed pig I’ve ever seen,” Sami said, her lips twitching.

The soft, warm body was a light weight in Khoth’s hands. She oinked eagerly and her sproingy tail quivered as he petted her. Jace was smiling at him so broadly that his eyes were slits. In fact, everyone was grinning at him. Dr. Isa was chuckling. Matias took a photograph of him and Chili. He blinked.

“I wish I could share this on Chili’s Instagram,” Matias sighed as he looked at the holo of Khoth and Chili.

“Send me a copy of that,” Jace said. “And maybe, in time, you’ll be able to share that. All of Earth will find out about… well, everything.”

“You’re making history,” Sami said a little wistfully.

Khoth felt Jace’s desire to ask her to join them again, but held true to his promise not to. There was such nobility in this.

“Are you heading out?” Dr. Isa asked.

Jace nodded, but then, he paused, and looked up at the ceiling. He changed the view again, but this time to show Earth, not Haseon or the gate. Everyone stopped and glanced up at the beautiful blue and white planet that spun slowly above them. The bright lights of cities shone and the sun touched the edge of the planet. It was a startlingly beautiful sight. Jace looked up silently and his expression was both sad and determined.

“The first time you left Haseon, what did it feel like?” Jace asked him.

“As if I could not wait to leave, but also that I desperately wished to be back,” Khoth told him.

Jace nodded. “Yeah, I can totally understand that.”

“You’ll be back when it's safe,” Sami said with a certainty that could not be denied. “And then we’ll all want to join you out there.”

The Gate

Jace stood on the Osiris’ bridge. It had patterned itself in a mixture of Star Trek and Star Wars. It had the clean brightness of Trek, but instead of there being a chair for him to sit on in almost the back of the room, there was a walkway down the center that jutted out towards a curved wall and ceiling that displayed what was ahead of them. In this case, Earth was now spinning below them as they had risen to orbit.

On either side of the walkway were workstations that would allow the crew to check on navigation, weaponry, life systems and more. The truth was that these stations didn’t need to be filled. And they weren’t filled now. The Osiris could handle everything, but as they were exploring and searching for the Khul, those who came up here would add their different voices and ideas to the strategy. That would be invaluable and not something the Osiris could replace. For now, the crew on deck were simply visitors and spectators.

Jace was at the end of the walkway. His hands curled over the metal rail with his back to the crew, facing the screens. A chair could be summoned at any moment, but he found he wanted to stay here with the world below, above and in front of him. It felt like he was Superman, flying above the planet, gazing down upon the people benevolently.

He could also see the ships that he had ordered be sent by the Alliance to Earth, orbiting the planet relatively nearby. He wasn’t sure if it was respect or pique that had caused the Thaf’ell--for the crew was all Thaf’ell--to simply drop the ships off and then leave through the Gate. No crew remained to fly the ships or operate the weaponry. These were now Earth’s fleet and humanity had to learn to fend for themselves.

General Intoshkin had shown a mixture of outrage and determination when he’d realized the night before what the Alliance had done. They’d been in the ballroom, still at the party despite their determination to be scarce, when the ships had arrived.

“They stop us from learning about the Altaeth technology! Now they leave ships here for us knowing that we haven’t learned how to operate them, because of their own actions! Not one damned Alliance crew member stayed!” The General growled and slammed one fist into his open hand. “Well, damn them to whatever they term Hell, because humanity is not going to lose this fight! We’ll figure it out ourselves like we’ve always done!”

Jace’s lips had pursed. Khoth’s eyes had flickered over to him, undoubtedly, trying to read how Jace felt about Nova’s actions. Both of them knew she had done this. Though Jace was sure that the Alliance wouldn’t have wanted to show the humans how to use the Altaeth technology, this had her spite written all over it. She wanted Jace to see that the Altaeth technology without the Alliance was simply space junk. She had honored the terms of the deal, but not the spirit of it.

So that’s how it is going to be, is it? All right then. Fine. Two can play at that game, Jace thought.

“General,” Jace said, keeping his voice as neutral as he could, “there is no need for the Alliance to teach humanity how to use the tech.”

The general lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? Does it work by itself?” He grimaced as he realized then that this was exactly what the tech did. “The Osiris…”

“Can and does control all of those spacecraft and weaponry,” Jace said simply. “Look at how the craft are arranging themselves right now, see?”

He’d brought up a holo-screen to show the ships moving so that they covered the whole of the planet at appropriate intervals that, should there be an attack, one ship, at least, would be nearby.

“I do.” The general stroked his chin. “The Osiris might be better at this than the human crew.”