Commander Jim Harlowe was once again aboard the Pathfinder, a fact he wasn’t really happy about. The command of the bigger warships has still eluded him, even after a significant number of military personnel decided to retire following the Grand General’s decree. Jim had no such intentions. Being in the army was his life, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Still, instead of a posting on one of the Battleships or even commanding his own Cruiser, he was assigned to yet another diplomatic mission. And it was not even his own one, which made matters way more complicated.

She was already waiting for him in the docks when the Pathfinder landed next to its sister ship Chimera. She didn't look happy. Damn. This was something he was trying to avoid, and the fact that it wasn't his idea wasn't going to help him at all. Well, he wanted to be in the big game, now he had to play it somehow.

He walked down the ramp, dropped his bag, and saluted, exactly by the book. The best damn salute of his life. Hopefully not the last one. “Guardian Blackwood, I report for duty, as per the orders of the Grand General.” [i]Yes, it was Pawlowski’s idea to send me here, don’t take it out on me.[/i]

“Of course.” Her mouth smiled, but her eyes didn’t. “We’re happy to have you here.” Of course, they weren’t. She had a team of her own choosing here and he was an outsider she was forced to take in. It must have looked like he’s been sent over to spy on her, although his orders didn’t specify anything like that. Yet.

The layout of the Undefeated section of the Meeting place looked like most other bases back on Ellara, which made it easy to navigate. The Undefeated weren’t really the original and creative types. David Parker was already waiting for them in the meeting room and nodded at Jim in a not very polite or respectful way.

Jim tried not to get discouraged by that. “Commander Parker, congratulations on your promotion.”

“Thank you, Commander Harlowe.”

That smug asshole didn’t even try to look friendly. Jim was really angry, he had to work hard for all his promotions. And apparently, all this dumbass had to do was sleep with the right person. Not an easy task though, Jim had to admit. Kelsie Blackwood was no doubt hot, but she was also terrifying.

“Gentlemen!” Kelsie interrupted their angry staring contest. “There will be no dick measuring here under my command. We are supposed to work together, so we will work together. If you have a problem with that, keep it to yourself. We’re supposed to be all professionals here and we all represent our nation.”

Crap. As if Jim needed her pissed at him even more. “Sorry, ma’am,” he mumbled. Even David Parker had the decency to look ashamed and mutter an apology.

“Kelsie did you…” A young girl ran into the room and stopped upon noticing Jim there. “Ah, Commander, you are… already here. Umm, welcome to the Meeting Place.” She was obviously nervous and didn’t know how to act around him. That was no surprise, she was a Rejected and those usually did their best to be invisible around the soldiers, even after being granted full civil rights by recent reforms.

He turned to her and bowed his head in respect. “Miss Petrova, a pleasure to meet you.” If by the Grand General’s orders they should be treated as equals, he was going to treat them as equals. Jim personally didn’t really care one way or another. Fortunately, he has done his homework and read up on all the personnel currently stationed here.

“The pleasure is mine,” she replied, looking anything but pleased by him being there. “Kelsie, did you mute your datapad again?” Jim was really surprised by the familiarity she was showing around such a high-ranking officer as Blackwood, but apparently, that was common around here.

Kelsie fished the device out of her pocket. “What, any news on the White Flowers rebellion?”

“Nope. A new nation has appeared.”

“What?” Kelsie frowned at the small screen and so did Parker. Jim felt a bit stupid because he had nothing to look at, apparently his account wasn’t linked to the local subnet yet and he wasn’t receiving these kinds of messages. Fortunately, the Guardian was a fair woman and didn’t leave him there looking like an idiot, quickly forwarding the message to him instead. “Sorry Commander, we haven’t added you the proper rights in the system yet. We’ll fix that after we deal with this.”

Jim quickly skimmed through the message, ignoring the accompanying files for now. “Simian?” He rolled the unknown word on his tongue. At least he wasn’t the only one who looked confused by it.

“They’re monkeys,” Julianna explained with a serious face.

“Monkeys?” Parker asked with a dumb look but for once Jim wasn’t judging him because he felt the same way. “Weren’t monkeys some animals back on Earth?”

Julianna nodded and swiped over her datapad. Two images appeared on a large screen on the wall. “The left one is from our archives brought from Earth, the right one from the message. It’s called a chimpanzee. They were presumably the smartest animals, close relatives to humans, we even share a common ancestor. But while we kept evolving, they didn’t.”

Jim stared at the images, not really capable of any words. Kelsie interrupted the silence. “They came in a spaceship, I’d say they’ve done some evolving.”

“Natural evolution into this state would take considerably longer than 300 years. They must have been modified in some way.”

“So,” David chuckled, “this is basically just someone’s crazy science project? Perfect.”

Jim couldn’t stay quiet and let them make an idiot out of him any longer. “Okay, guys, umm Guardian, sorry, I mean no disrespect, but… is this some sort of a prank to make fun of the new guy that nobody really wants around?” He could imagine Parker coming up with something like that. Haha, let that guy talk to the made-up monkeys while we do the real diplomacy. Very funny.

“I like your thinking. Really out of the box.” Kelsie turned to him. She didn’t seem angry, which was good, but she also didn’t seem to be joking, which was less good. “But, Commander, I can assure you this is no joke. Welcome to the Meeting Place. We have humans of all sorts, aliens, murdering robots, and also apparently monkeys now.”

Dear god. They were actually serious about this. “So, uhh… How do you make diplomacy with monkeys?”

“Well the message came in several languages including English, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Kelsie shrugged, looking unconcerned as if she negotiated with a spaceships full of animals every other day.

Parker kept closely examining the pictures. “Guys is it just me, or do these ‘monkeys’ look awfully a lot like…”

“The Screechers?” Julianna interrupted him. “They do. The Screechers are technically primates as well. Not related, obviously, but they share similar characteristics, including great physical strength and agility.”

Jim shivered from that thought, now he could see the similarities as well. “Except these guys aren’t using sticks and stones. They are building spaceships.”

“Yes.” Kelsie turned to him. “Which is why it’s a good thing we are not going to war with them. So, what do they like? Should we stock up on that pink golifruit?”

“Or bananas,” Parker laughed. “I bet monkeys love bananas.”

Julianna rolled her eyes. “You’re both idiots. This is serious.”

Jim had to force himself not to stare at her with mouth wide open. Did that little nobody just call one of the most powerful people in their country an idiot? But Kelsie evidently didn’t mind it at all. “Don’t worry, we are taking it seriously.”

“Watermelons?”

“Shut up, David. If they want to make a performance, we should probably direct them to the neutral section. They can land in the hangar there and everyone can come and take a look. I’m sure it’s going to be a sight to behold,” Kelsie added ironically. “Alright, so. ‘Greetings, representatives of the…’ What was it? Ah, Khanate. ‘We are the Undefeated, the descendants of one of the many human colonies that survived to this day.’”

Jim still thought this situation was beyond absurd, but he came here to do a job and he was going to do it well. “I’d leave out the ‘human’, it might seem offensive to them since they’re not.”

“Good point.” Kelsie nodded at him and continued. “‘The station you see in front of you is called the Meeting Place and it was constructed with joint efforts of all surviving nations. We would love to invite you to visit us in our section,’”

“Would we?” Parker didn’t seem so sure about it, and honestly, neither was Jim.

“Yes, we would. ‘but if you prefer to address all nations at once, we are sending the coordinates of the neutral docking place and common grounds at the center of the station, accessible to everyone. We are looking forward to meeting you and learning more about your interesting nation.’ Hmm, isn’t writing ‘interesting’ too much?”

Parker snorted. “They are monkeys coming to a station full of humans. I think they know they are ‘interesting’.”

“True.” Kelsie made a few more edits to the message. “Fine, let's send it like this before someone beats us to it again. And go put on something fancy, looks like we’re about to see some ‘monkey business’.”

“Hey, why are you allowed to make jokes?” Parker poked her shoulder.

Blackwood smirked at him. “Because a) I outrank you and b) mine are actually funny. Take your pick. And David? I swear that if you try to bring a fucking banana to that thing, I’m gonna kick you out of an airlock.”

“Yes ma’am,” he mockingly saluted her and he and the girl both left.

Jim could only envy how relaxed Parker and Julianna were around the Guardian, joking, even making fun of her. Jim’s position was way more complicated. Speaking of that… “Guardian Blackwood?” He stopped her from exiting the room. “I… may I speak honestly?”

Her eyes narrowed. “If you want to stay here, then that is the only way you should speak to me, Commander.”

Right, she was known to be straightforward. Jim was used to taking a more careful approach with other Guardians, compliments and flattering usually made the communication easier. But not with her. “Ma’am, I realize you didn’t want me here. But I am here and I just want to do my job, so…” Was he really going to say that? He took a deep breath. “I would really appreciate it if you gave me an actual chance. Ma’am.” There. He said it. He probably just screwed himself up monumentally.

But Kelsie laughed. “I knew you had a spine. Pawlowski owes me money.” What? Did she make a bet with the Grand General about him?

“Commander,” she walked closer to him, looking him straight in the eyes, “trust me. If I did not want you here, you would not be here. It’s that simple. Now go put on a fancy uniform. I have to go confiscate all the bananas in the immediate area.”



[right][sub][@SgtEasy][/sub][/right]
“Greetings, representatives of the Khanate. We are the Undefeated, the descendants of one of the many colonies that survived to this day. The station you see in front of you is called the Meeting Place and it was constructed with joint efforts of all surviving nations. We would love to invite you to visit us in our section, but if you prefer to address all nations at once, we are sending the coordinates of the neutral docking place and common grounds at the center of the station, accessible to everyone. We are looking forward to meeting you and learning more about your interesting nation.”