History

"Since you aren't a scientist, I won't bother you with the details of the other old species," Pickering mused.

I wondered what she meant. There were ruins on some planets that were old, but no one was sure who made them. The Bright Ones indicated that those species had gone ahead. Whatever that meant. They never elaborated further. They didn't even tell the Alliance the names.

"I'll start with something directly relevant to a soldier." She looked over at me, apparently weighing my reaction. "Sol."

The single word got a reaction. Sol was the first battle of the War. Details were lost to history though. Just that the Human System had fallen to the Blacks and the Bright Ones had been driven away.

"No one knows what happened in Sol," I said. Then I realised that she had said she'd been there. And that Black had told me earlier that they had taken Pickering to Sol. I took a deep breath. "All right, those in Sol might know what happened there." I allowed.

She gave me a half smile. "At the time, the Humans were like a cross between the Dranta and Brydon," she said. "We were technologically advanced, and we had colonies on other planets in Sol. Then the Bright Ones came.

"Given the relative distance between Cyndya and Earth, we surmise that they had been on their way for a while."

I recalled the galactic map. There was a great deal of distance between Sol and Cyndya. The Bright Ones always referred to their home system and planet by the same name. When you've been in space for so long, I guess it is the same thing.

"We rejoiced at their contact," Pickering continued her explanation.

The Dranta had as well. There were still memorials held to this day to celebrate. I nodded to indicate that I understood.

"We spoke, we exchanged language packs. They explained about the Alliance. It seemed wonderful. Then they came to Earth."

There was a warning in her voice. I could relate the events to those that had happened on Drana. The Bright Ones had come. The history files were available to any who wanted. They had spoken to us in space, telling my people of the Alliance. It was smaller then but it still existed. And then they had descended to Drana. I remembered watching that file. The first view of the Bright Ones is spectacular. I think every Dranta has seen it. The way the light burst forth from their ship. The way it separated and touched Drana. It was beautiful.

I couldn't see why Earth would be different.

"Our leaders gathered. They were at a bit of a distance," she said. "There were Ambassadors on hand to escort the Bright Ones." Pickering waved a hand. A hologram appeared. It was blurry but I recognised the ship. It was one of the Bright Ones.

Then the hatch opened, and just like it had happened on Drana, a Bright One came forth. The audio on the holo wasn't good but I could vaguely hear the background hiss of cheering. It had been like that on Drana.

"Things went reasonably well," Pickering said, waving her hand at the holo. It fast forwarded. I didn't know how much. "But then the demands started," she continued. The image changed. It was indoors now, in a tiered room. The Bright One was at the bottom. Humans were on every tier. I noticed a W'ymic beside the Bright One.

"'And in honour of the Alliance, Humanity shall provide eight gigatonnes of the listed metals to the Bright Ones each quarter cycle.'"

The voice on the holo was clear. I frowned. That was nothing unusual. That was the price of the Alliance. There was nothing new there. The Humans didn't appear to deny the request.

"The Leaders didn't agree to the Bright One's demand."

"That wasn't a demand. That's the price of the Alliance," I told her.

"It was a demand. At that point, we weren't members of the Alliance. This was a demand that came during the first meeting," Pickering stared at me, daring my objections. I thought hard. It had been the same for the Dranta. We'd been invited to join the Alliance in our first meeting with the Bright Ones. It was an honour. And the Alliance had given us so much.

"Most consider the tribute fair payment for FTL," I tried to explain. What pre-FTL species wouldn't pay for those secrets?

Pickering smiled coldly. "Tribute?" she questioned. The word hadn't been well selected.

"Continue," I said instead of arguing, motioning for the holo to play again. I wouldn't learn what she wanted me to if we argued over words.

"The Leaders didn't agree to the Bright One's demand," Pickering said. Her smiled turned vicious.

"But they were giving you FTL!"

"No. At that point, they were giving us nothing," she growled. She waved away anything I had to say. "The Bright One repeated the demand. It was a demand. It was not an offer of trade.

"Keep in mind the Bright Ones were the first aliens we'd met. We wanted to be generous but we weren't going to be stupid." Her statement made it clear what she thought of the other Alliance members. We'd all paid. Some had had difficulty in paying and the Bright One's had offered assistance. They taught some species how to mine. They accepted payment plans. They understood that some species needed time to adapt. They were generous like that.

"How? Why?" I was hurt on the Bright One's behalf.

She just looked at me with pity. "Why would we just give it to them?"

The Alliance had always worked that way. The Bright Ones contacted a new species. I didn't know all the details of what happened then but invariably they joined the Alliance. There were always a few years of adaptation. The Bright Ones uplifted us. That time of chaos was a small price to pay.

However, I was beginning to see what Pickering meant. If what she indicated was true, this was not a trade, as it seemed to be for most.

A traitorous voice asked if it might have been the same for us all? The holovid was similar to those I had seen of Drana. What did that mean for the Alliance? How could I find out?

"We were happy to *buy* FTL," Pickering said. Her tone indicated she'd heard my traitorous thought. "We were happy to offer far more than the metal they wanted. As a one off payment or as a series of payments, with an ending. This was not."

She heaved another breath. I could see her struggling with anger. Pickering kept it contained.

"The meeting broke down. The Bright One seemed confused. It left. It tried again with the individual leaders of governments."

It took me a moment to sort out that sentence. "Governments?" I emphasised the plural.

"Governments," Pickering confirmed.

I struggled to remember what little history I knew about the Humans. The details were lost, assuming I'd ever known them at all. I knew Earth was where the Blacks appeared, and Sol was the first system to fall. I really didn't know much more history than that. I knew more about their physiology and the bugs they carried. That was a more pressing necessity than something that happened over five generations ago.

"Some agreed."

I relaxed. That was the way it was meant to be.

"They paid only until such time as they had FTL." Pickering smiled again. It was triumphant.

I shook my head. That had been tried. I believe the Zarthan had done that. The Bright Ones had reminded them of their duty. They had never been late with their payments again. There was no violence with the reminder. A Bright One visited and that was that. The Bright Ones don't need violence. That's why the war is so hurtful to them. They say we should be moving past such things.

Pickering seemed to know what I thought again. "The Bright One came back. The Leaders refused to continue payment." Her expression changed. It became sad. "The details are not clear. There was much lost in the battle. I believe those who agreed were backed by others who didn't. That's how they afforded such payments.

"Mars and the other colonies helped. They'd been acknowledged as independent nations for years by this time but they recognised their duties. This was for the benefit of all Humanity.

"The Bright Ones demanded further payment. The Leaders refused. Even if they hadn't, it's unlikely we would have paid. Our governments just don't work like that."

She was back to the plural. "Governments?"

"Each Human nation still has a Government," Pickering explained. "They are united under the Commonwealth. I don't really have time to explain that, suffice to say that while the leader of a nation can agree, they still have to get that agreement through their parliament.

"The Bright Ones seemed agitated at our refusal. They repeated their demands."

The holovid displayed some Human sitting at a desk. There were other Humans around the man - I think it was a man - and a Bright One with a W'ymic in attendance was before them. The audio was fuzzy. I listened carefully. Thankfully the translation wasn't as fuzzy. But I was after more than just the translation. The tone of the original speaker was important. I thought I knew Pickering well enough to hear Human emotion.

"The Leaders refused. And again, the Bright Ones left."

What I heard backed that statement. It's hard to know what the Bright One said. The W'ymic translated but their body language showed agitation. I'd learned enough from Arbriana to know that. The Bright One, being light, displayed nothing.

"They reappeared soon enough."

The holovid changed. The background darkened to display space. There was an orange planet at the bottom. The lines of cloud were distinctive. I didn't recognise the planet though. There's a lot of worlds out there. Then the Bright Ones ships appeared. They were bright, as the name implies.

The Bright Ones are known as that because we see them as light. But their ships are also light. They are almost delicate. They are stronger than all the ships in the Alliance. I watched as they fired.

"Ganymede," Pickering said. Her voice betrayed nothing.

I didn't understand.

"They were a mining colony. They weren't considered a full nation. They were sponsored by three nations as a goodwill effort. They never had a chance."

The vid displayed what looked to be a primitive colony in ruins.

"They showed us the Bright Ones' true face."

I wanted to deny it. I wanted to say that there would have been another reason. The colony was diseased. The shot was a mercy. That was just my mind trying to make excuses. I recognised that.

"Was it truly the Bright Ones?" My question sounded weak but it was all I could come up with. The vid had shown the Bright Ones ship firing, but then it hadn't displayed the target.

Pickering waved her hand at the holo. The image shifted. The Bright Ones ship was visible as it might be seen from below. I felt cold. This was a scene from Ganymede. The light of the beam was brilliant. It came closer and closer, and then lanced into the ground. There was no doubt. The image shifted again. It was a very long range shot this time. I could barely see the Bright Ones ship but I could see the tight light of their weapon, and the flash of light that was the colony when it was hit.

I stiffened. Pickering let the vid continue. It displayed other angles. When it became clear there was no way of denying it, it shifted to display internal shots. I felt sick. I didn't need to see the Humans dying.

"It was them," I admitted, turning away. The admission wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. I didn't have time to wonder about that.

"Ganymede gave us a warning. It was just the first. They attacked the other colonies on the way to Earth. Some of them survived. They let the buildings be destroyed. They ran. But that told Humanity what the Bright Ones intended. If they had gone the other way, attacked Earth first, then the colonies, maybe it would have been different. As it was, the first true battle was a bloodbath." Pickering made an odd sound. It was like a sob and a sigh. "We'd only had FTL for a few weeks by then. We made the necessary sacrifices."

"For what?" I whispered. I suspected I already knew but I had to be sure.

"To save Earth."

The vid shifted again. It displayed crude ships against the dark of space. The ships were dark themselves. I felt cold. They weren't the same but I knew what they were. They were Black ships. I gasped, watching the battle. They were destroyed. The Bright Ones cut through so many. More appeared. In the background, there was a white and blue planet. Earth.

The Black ships were destroyed. They kept coming forward. The Bright Ones were driven back but by that time I could only see Earth through a shroud of debris.

"We did what was necessary," Pickering repeated. She was moved by the vid.

I realised exactly what I was seeing. The dawn of the Blacks. Their emergence into the galaxy. I turned to stare at Pickering. There was only one conclusion which could be formed. It had been before me the entire time. It was before us all. Sol hadn't fallen. Sol had been defended. The marking on the galactic map, showing Sol as important as the Bright One's Cyndya, was accurate.

The Blacks had paraded the truth before us the entire time.

The Blacks were Human. They had always been. I'd captured one. I could still remember its screams, and how it had fought. It had been desperate.

"Why?" I shook my head. That question wasn't for Pickering. It was for the Bright Ones. Why had they done that?

I had considered that this was a lie but as much as everyone considers themselves the centre of the galaxy, there is a limit. I was no one. A soldier. I had no power within the Alliance. They'd probably already forgotten my name. It would be engraved on the memorial on Drana. That would be my only memory.

There was no point in spinning such a tale for me. And it was so detailed. Those shots, though blurry, were realistic.

The real question for Pickering was how? As far as I knew no one could deny a Bright One. I knew that myself. I could still remember the Destroyer's screams. Now, that made sense. Why the Blacks always won when a Destroyer appeared. It was a Bright One. We bowed to it. Except of course, I knew it had to be controlled. That's why it screamed.

"How?" My reasoning was carried in that question. Pickering knew what I knew. You couldn't deny a Bright One. No one could. But within the Alliance, no one wanted to. That was the difference.

Pickering looked at me. Her lips were creased in a soft, superior smile. "Now, that is the real question, isn't it?"