Starship Vengeance

Chapter 20

"Admiral, we just received our orbital path," said Lt. Smith.

"Make sure you stay exactly where they tell us. Our relationship is tenuous as it is." I turned to look at Shahae. The Xroex had just given us the green light for conducting our search; however, it came with strict rules. Essentially, they wanted us to be invisible.

"You don't like them, do you?" Shahae asked as she studied my face.

"I'm having a hard time accepting their views," I admitted.

"Their choices are being made with their people's interest in mind."

"How could that much oppression ever be good for anyone?" I exploded.

Shahae's eyes bored into mine and she calmly said, "Maybe this discussion would be better had in private."

I looked around and everyone on the bridge quickly went back to work. We walked silently to my office, my temper boiling just beneath the surface. The moment the door closed, I let it loose. "How can you accept what they are doing to their own people? Who in their right mind would say that being yourself, or thinking for yourself is a terrible crime? Do they really think they can turn a blind eye to the rest of the galaxy, blowing up anything that comes near?" I ranted for several minutes. Shahae just passively stood there and let me blow off steam.

I stopped to catch my breath, and she took the opportunity to speak. "Are all Terrans as narrow-minded as you?" Her verbal slap stopped me cold. She continued before I could respond. "You of all people should know tolerance. You are not so different from them."

"We believe an individual has a right to be themselves."

"Even if that individual is a murderer? What you are saying is that a person can be themselves, as long as it falls in line with your beliefs. Who are you to dictate to others what they should believe? The Xroex have eliminated crime and war." Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily. She took a few breathes and said, "I thought the same thing when I first saw your home world. It was even proposed to Queen Shaniir that we use the nanites on your people to stop them from killing each other." To say that I was mortified would be an understatement. "Why is it terrible for us to interfere with your way of life and not terrible for you to interfere with another's? The hatred and violence that the Terrans show is just as much a crime and an abhorrence to my people as the Xroex's control is to you."

All the retorts and justifications I had been conjuring up evaporated. I was so consumed with the ideas she implanted in my mind, that I didn't hear her leave. Time passed as I pondered the matter. A half hour later I had made up my mind. As much as I wanted to help, imposing human ideals on another race would not be right. I didn't agree with their method of governance, but it was something I would have to accept. With my inner turmoil calmed down, I set out to apologize to Shahae.

I stepped into Shahae's office completely unprepared for the assault on my senses. Shahae had transformed her office into a garden. There had always been a flowery scent permeating from her quarters, but I had attributed it to an air freshener. Looking around, I spotted Shahae in the corner, tending to a raised flowerbed.

"Where did all of this come from?" I asked, my voice filled with wonder.

"Remember the heavy crates you hauled in here? They were filled with soil and seeds."

"They grew this quickly? How is this not wreaking havoc on the environmental controls?"

Shahae stood and walked towards me. "These are no ordinary plants. Some create oxygen as a byproduct, while others require it for life. The challenge is to keep them in balance. If one should overpower the other, they will all die."