Mother of Lizards: Sci-Fi Short Story Smack-down
By James Delaney Swinney
“People of the Empire,” the booming voice of Arelan Haleus rang out from the dais in the middle of the square. The sound cut through concerned chatter that emanated from the hundreds of people packed into the square like a knife through warm butter, ending it in an instant. The Tribune of the People stood with his arms outstretched to the milling commoners, above his peers and assistants at the long table. “People, we face a difficult time for our city. We are beset by a new enemy, one more powerful than any we’ve faced before.”
A wave of tense murmuring rippled through the crowd again, as they heard this news. It had been years since the last war, and it was apparent that none of the listeners were too keen on fighting another one. “Our outlying nations have reported to us that a great force is moving in strength against us, with hundreds and thousands of ships in their fleet. We do not as of yet know their purpose, though we have reason to assume that it is not one of friendly diplomacy. Envoys have been sent to deal with the threat, to discover their intentions, but that will not be enough if our suspicions prove correct.”
“Who is this enemy?” one man shouted from amidst the crowd. Looking around, Arelan could not tell whom it was who’d called.
“We have not made contact with these people yet, and we do not know much about them,” Arelan admitted. “It may be that they come from a world still beyond our knowledge, but we do know that they call their homeland Thirio. From the brief video we received from them, we have learned that they are very inhuman, lizard-like creatures. They’ve orange spikes on their heads and green scales all over.”
“Monsters!” he heard one person call out. “We cannot have peace with such things! They are an abomination!”
“We should fight back, before they attack us first!” came another shout. There was a loud chorus of agreement from the rest of the crowd, and the noise grew louder and louder to the point of being intolerable as each and every one of them felt compelled to voice their opinions.
“We should give them a chance!”
“We should trade with them!”
Arelan rubbed his temples with his thumbs in an attempt to ward off his growing headache. Why he had ever run for office, he couldn’t remember, especially for the office of Tribune of the People. The mob was a surging mass of savages and illiterate morons, he now realized, and he regretted the high ideals that he’d once had of bringing them into the light. It would never happen.
“Silence!” he snapped, as loud as he possibly could into the microphone. It took too long for them to obey his orders, gradually quieting down until he could hear himself think again. “Now, if you’re willing to listen for five minutes, I can explain what is going to happen.”
That made them quiet. “Now, while we are not certain, we believe that these Thirians have war on their minds. For no other reason that we can imagine would they be approaching our borders in such force. Because of this, the Senate, after meeting for hours yesterday and much of this morning, has decided that Thirio is to be met by our own fleet in force and dealt with as an enemy.”
Again, the murmuring began, some in the crowd agreeing with the decision of the Senate, some vehemently declaring that it was wrong and made by a bunch of paranoid old men. It did not matter either way. The decision had been made and he would follow through with it.
“From this day forward, the nation of Thirio is hereby branded as an enemy of Roma Renatus, to be hunted and fought. We shall not engage in trade with them, nor shall we allow them to enter Roman lands. By their own actions, they are condemned to death by our hand, and we shall not fail to act upon our promise. They shall die.
