The heavy-bodied man with the mottled grey face blinked and looked up at the speaker. He took a step forward, and his movement was slow, nervous, uncertain. He blinked. One hand went to his head, feeling the high, domed, near-conical form of his skull, as if he could not quite believe it was shaped like that.
Jhey'quar strode down the ramp to the lower level of the Ostigon's bridge, holding out a hand to the man he had called Geterian. After a moment of blinking and bemusement, the other took it.
"You are still newborn," said Jhey'quar. He was tall and burly, and his deep voice carried calm assurance with it. "Confusion - we all knew confusion, at the first. It will pass."
"They showed me records," the man called Geterian said. "Images and - data. I am...." He touched his long skull again. "I am confused."
"There is much to assimilate," said Jhey'quar. "The first thing you must know, though, is that you are among those who love and value you."
"Yes," said Geterian. "Yes... I do know this.... This is part of my confusion. I know many things, and I do not know how I know them."
"Your brain is complex, and it is adapted for the rapid retention and assimilation of ideas," said Jhey'quar. "Birth is a frightening and confusing time for all of us, my friend. The thing to do is to find certainties, and hold on to them."
Geterian swallowed hard, nodded slowly. "So... what certainties can you offer me?"
"Your people are the Kobali," said Jhey'quar. "You are Kobali. First and foremost, you must remember that. I am Jhey'quar; you may regard me as your father. You are aboard my ship, the Ostigon."
"A starship," said Geterian, and turned his head, looking from side to side across the bridge. "A starship. One of ours... Samsar class?"
"Very good," said Jhey'quar. "Yes, one of our finest."
"I have... been shown images," said Geterian. "But one thing puzzles me. Images... the images show Kobali - our - starships, our military. But they are dressed in greys and browns - the uniforms...."
"Yes," said Jhey'quar. "Most Kobali military are as you describe them. But we are a special unit, with a somewhat special ship, and we wear -" He touched the sleeve of his black uniform. "As you see. We wear the colour of austerity, of self-abnegation, and of decision. We are a definite presence in the galaxy, my son."
"I... see." Geterian looked, long and hard, at the man who called himself his father. "So... what is my purpose? Will I too wear this uniform? What am I to do with - with my life?"
"For the time being," said Jhey'quar, "you will learn, you will serve on this ship. For the time being. Once you are fully educated, once you have completely come to yourself as a Kobali - then, we will discuss your choices. You will have choices, my son. You will not be compelled into anything against your will. For now, though, you are among us, and you must learn among us. I will assign you to a mentor who will guide you in basic duties." He pointed. "Hanchon Lilitsia." The Kobali woman looked up from the operations console. "She will instruct you in basic ship operations, and you will learn how to help her."
"It will be my honour," said Lilitsia. She was slim and sharp-featured, her voice high-pitched. Geterian looked at her, then at Jhey'quar.
"You are... not much alike," he said. "Are you... am I... was I...."
"We are alike in what matters," said Jhey'quar. "Focus on that. We are Kobali. Whatever we may have been... is no longer important."
His hand went, apparently unconsciously, to the side of his thick neck, where a vertical seam was visible, as if a thick fold of flesh had shrivelled and atrophied there, once.
"I... will remember," said Geterian. "I will learn."
"Of course." Jhey'quar smiled. "Let me show you -"
"Sir." Another black-clad Kobali was standing, now, at the communications console. "I have an incoming message on channel X."
Jhey'quar scowled. "I must attend to this," he said. "Lilitsia, please perform the introductory orientation." He put his hand on Geterian's shoulder. "We will speak again."
Geterian nodded. "You have... duties. I understand this."
Jhey'quar strode up the ramp to the upper level of the bridge. "Show me," he ordered the comms officer.
"Here." The officer touched his console, and a screen glowed into life. "Privacy control - here," he added, indicating another control.
"I understand," Jhey'quar grunted, and sat down at the console. He touched the control, and the sounds of the bridge turned dim and muffled as the sonic damping field switched on. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Nice to see you, too, General." Kalevar Thrang's face grinned out of the small screen. "Just checking to see how things are going."
"How things are going?" Jhey'quar repeated, heavily. "Things are unaccountably still spaceborne, Thrang. Your efforts to provide us with a colony world - and a markedly ill-favoured one, I note - seem to have miscarried."
"Yes, right." Thrang appeared completely unruffled. "Things don't always go to plan, General - you know that, I'm sure. There was a foul-up on Qo'noS and the High Council were alerted to the QarS situation. Pity, really. That planetoid would've made a good starter home for your people -"
"It is barely habitable, Thrang!"
"- and I could have made good use of those little toys of theirs, too. Still, never mind. Water under the bridge. Unless the High Council investigators picked up on your ship?"
"They will have noticed our warp contrail, certainly. But with the modifications to our engines, they will not be able to track or identify us." Jhey'quar narrowed his eyes. "That part of your planning, I admit, has worked thus far."
"Of course it has. I never claimed to be perfect, General, and there are things outside my control. But I know how to adapt. And I think you're going to find your next destination even better than the QarS planetoid."
Jhey'quar glared. "It could hardly be worse. Do you mean to say that you have a plan, Thrang?"
Thrang laughed. "I always have a plan, General. I'm transmitting the coordinates of your new home now. Check your data channel."
Jhey'quar glanced at the other console readouts. "I am receiving. This had better meet our requirements, this time."
"It meets mine, General, and yours are a part of mine. Keeping you and your people happy is a major concern of mine. This is a class M moon, nice and handy for your new allies... currently occupied by your new enemies, of course."
Jhey'quar glared. "My people do not need new enemies, Thrang."
"Nobody needs enemies, General, but everybody's got them. The trick is to pick the right ones. The really neat trick is to pick ones nobody else likes either. That's one of the things you need me for."
"Your vaunted local knowledge has not yet served us well, for all your promises."
"Early days, General, early days. Besides, where else are you going to find my sort of assistance, at such a low price?"
Jhey'quar's glare intensified. "I know your price, Thrang." With a contemptuous gesture, he cut the channel.
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