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This second vessel was sent by a government that had succeeded the original one.
²
Unfortunately, this new government was just as authoritarian as its predecessor, and it soon became clear that it intended to take control of Coyote, by military force if necessary. Hopelessly outnumbered, and aware that more ships were on the way, the original colonists decided to flee into the unexplored regions of their new world. From their wilderness retreat, they waged a war of insurrection against the invaders. After a long and bloody conflict, they regained control of the original settlement, driving away their enemies while allowing newly arrived colonists to remain on Coyote.

At this same period, scientists and engineers of yet another government on Earth
³
managed to unlock the secret to hyperspace travel. As circumstances would have it, this occurred just when they also detected an object of unnatural origin passing close to the edge of their solar system. Using an experimental starbridge already placed in orbit around a minor planet in the outer system, a small starship
⁴
was dispatched to investigate this object, which the humans had named Spindrift.

Unknown to them, Spindrift was
Shaq-Taaraq
, a planetoid that had been transformed into an interstellar ark. It bore the sole remaining members of the
taaraq
race, whose homeworld in the [Lamba Aurigae] system had been destroyed by the rogue black hole colloquially known as the Annihilator. As the High Council may remember, when the
hjadd
discovered
Shaq-Taaraq
and found its passengers in long-term biostasis, my people placed a starbridge in orbit around the ark. This starbridge contained an automatic beacon programmed to transmit warnings to any vessels that approached
Shaq-Taaraq
without our permission and which would also alert us via hyperspace link if those warnings were ignored.

This is what occurred when the human starship approached
Shaq-Taaraq
. In hindsight, we now realize that we erred in assuming that any race that might find the ark would naturally belong to the Talus and thus would be able to translate our warnings. However, the humans erred as well in believing that any aliens they encountered would be hostile; their ship was armed with a nuclear weapon, which, although crude, nonetheless posed a significant threat to the ship my people dispatched to investigate the intrusion at
Shaq-Taaraq
. Our ship was forced to detonate the weapon launched at us, and the explosion destroyed the human vessel, with the loss of all aboard.

Before that happened, though, the humans had sent an exploration team to
Shaq-Taaraq
's surface. One member of the team died while exploring its interior, and the other three were subsequently marooned when their mother ship was destroyed. Unable to return to Earth, they activated their landing craft's emergency beacon, then went into biostasis cells. Our vessel located their craft a short time later. We brought the survivors to
Talus qua'spah
, but did not revive them for [fifty-six years, Gregorian], during which time
hjadd
researchers sought to access their craft's computers and thereby translate their language.

Once this was accomplished, we were able to gain an understanding of who these strangers were and why they had come to
Shaq-Taaraq
. In this way, we also became aware of the possible existence of a colony in the [47 Ursae Majoris] system. However, it was not until we revived and questioned the survivors that we came to realize that their mission had not necessarily been hostile in intent, and that their weapon had been launched in haste by a panic-stricken commanding officer.

By then, the Earth government that dispatched the ship to
Shaq-Taaraq
had subsequently sent a similar vessel to Coyote, where it had built the first starbridge linking the colony world to Earth. The colonists had only recently achieved political independence from their homeworld when the Talus allowed the survivors of the
Shaq-Taaraq
expedition to use the newly established starbridge to travel to Coyote. My predecessor, Mahamatasja Jas Sa-Fhadda, went with them. Heshe became the first Prime Emissary to Coyote, and it was through hisher efforts that diplomatic relations with humankind were established.

My people built an embassy on Coyote, yet we decided not to do the same on Earth. Although we were willing to make contact with humankind, we determined that their homeworld was dangerous. It had a long history of violence, its global environment was collapsing after centuries of neglect, and its political infrastructure was in chaos. So when we decided to let humans visit
Talus qua'spah
and meet the
chaaz'braan
, we were careful to make sure that they came from Coyote, not Earth.

Despite a cultural misunderstanding that arose during the initial trade negotiations
⁵
, the disagreement was quickly resolved, and Coyote Federation was allowed to join the Talus. It was during this time that our first Cultural Ambassador, Jasahajahd Taf Sa-Fhadda, brought a
Sa'Tong-tas
to Coyote. In keeping with
Sa'Tong
tradition, heshe gave it to the first individual whom heshe determined to be receptive to its teachings. This person, a former criminal, embraced the wisdom of the
Sa'Tong
as expressed by His Holiness. He eventually became the
chaaz'maha
of humankind and began spreading the True Knowledge to his people.

Although many humans were receptive to
Sa'Tong
, some were not, with a few actively hostile. One of those who opposed
Sa'Tong
was a minister of a monotheistic religious sect that, until only recently, had denied even the very existence of races other than humankind. When the
chaaz'maha
announced his intent to visit Earth, this individual decided to stop him. He carried an explosive device aboard the ship scheduled to carry both him and the
chaaz'maha
to Earth and detonated it just as the vessel was about to enter hyperspace, destroying both the ship and the starbridge.
⁶

For the next [three years, LeMarean], Coyote was cut off from both Earth and the Talus. However, the
hjadd
embassy on Coyote possessed the technology necessary to build another starbridge, and, therefore, my people were eventually able to assist the humans in doing so. However, we made a major stipulation: the new starbridge could only be used as a means of travel to the Talus worlds. Once again, Earth had proven itself to be dangerously immature and needed to be left alone indefinitely.

Surprisingly, few humans objected to this isolation. By then, Coyote's population was over a million, and in that time a generation had grown up that had never seen the world of their parents and grandparents (it should be noted that humans generally participate in the raising of their offspring). Even the older colonists had very little nostalgia for their homeworld, and most were happy that Earth would no longer be able to cause problems for them.

As a result, over the course of the next [three years, LeMarean], relations between the inhabitants of Coyote and the races of the Talus have been both peaceful and prosperous. Using ships brought to Coyote before the destruction of their first starbridge, they have successfully established trade relations with several Talus races, most notably my own people but also the
soranta
, the
kua'tah
, and the
nord
. Humans have benefited from the introduction of advanced technologies, and despite the death of their
chaaz'maha
, a significant number of them have embraced
Sa'Tong
as their spiritual philosophy. Although they are still the newest members of the galactic community, they are proving themselves to be worthy neighbors.

It has recently come to our attention, though, that a new development may soon occur. Through the
nord
, humans have recently made contact with the
danui
. However tentative this may be, it is possible that humankind may soon learn of the existence of
tanaash-haq
. This discovery may have major implications for their relations with not only their current allies and trade partners but also those races whom they have yet to encounter.

Therefore, it is my recommendation that we closely monitor the situation and perhaps coordinate our actions with the
danui
. If the humans prove themselves able to successfully cope with
tanaash-haq
, this will be a major boon to them. Yet the lessons of their initial encounter with the
hjadd
must not be forgotten.

They can be a wise and peaceful race, but we should never neglect the fact that they can also behave in rash and often foolish ways.

“I
'M BORED WITH MY JOB,” SAID THE STARSHIP CAPTAIN.

Andromeda Carson took a sip of merlot as she waited for her comment to sink in. Theodore Harker raised an eyebrow, if only for a moment, and she was satisfied. Like Andromeda herself, Ted's normal expression was a poker face. People who commanded starships tended to be stoics; if she could get this much out of the Chief of Operations for the Coyote Federation Merchant Marine, it meant that he was listening.

“Well... that's not something I hear too often.” Harker toyed with his drink, letting the dark red wine run around the inside of his glass. “I have a list of shipless captains who'd love to have your job. Want to see it? You might recognize a few names.”

“I didn't say I'm ready to retire. I just said that I'm bored.” Andromeda set her glass down on the blackwood deck beside her Adirondack chair and propped one sandaled foot on the low table in front of her. Beyond the deck railing, she could see sailboats on the Great Equatorial River. It was late afternoon of a warm midsummer day, the sun dappling the blue waters of the New Brighton harbor. “Bored, bored, bored...” she added, singsonging the rest as if she were a schoolgirl.

“Really.” There was little empathy in Ted's British-accented voice as he gave her a sour glance. “Perhaps you should count your blessings. You still have your own ship. The same one, in fact, that you used to get here. . .”

“Appropriately rechristened, of course.”

Harker's gaze sharpened. “You have a problem with the
Carlos Montero
? Believe me, you would have never been allowed to keep your ship as
The Patriotism of Fidel Castro
.”

“Not complaining at all.” Too late, Andromeda realized that she'd said the wrong thing. Ever since his death seventeen Earthyears ago, Carlos Montero—original Coyote colonist, hero of the Revolution, former Federation president—had become something of a martyr, his name held in reverence particularly among those like Theodore Harker, who'd personally known him. It had just been Andromeda's misfortune that her ship, a Union Astronautica deep-space surveyor she'd brought to 47 Ursae Majoris following the collapse of the Western Hemisphere Union, had been the one picked to be rechristened in his honor. Andromeda may have fled the WHU and taken her ship and crew with her, but everyone in the merchant marine knew that she hadn't completely given up a long-held belief in social collectivism. Yet no one had asked for her opinion; one leader was to be immortalized, the other consigned to history's ashbin.

“Good.” Another glance at her, more approving this time, then Harker went on. “You've got a good crew, a couple of whom have been with you from the beginning. And over the past few years, you've been to more places... a lot more... than you would've if you'd remained in the Union Astronautica.”

Andromeda couldn't argue with any of that. Before she'd decided to take her ship through Starbridge Earth in the waning days of the Union, as so many other UA captains had done once it was apparent that the Union was doomed, the
Castro
had been used to survey the Jovian system, including the establishment and support of a small science station on Ganymede. So, yes, she and her original crew had seen the outer planets of their native solar system, and for a long time this had been the high point of her life.

All that paled, though, once the
Castro
was rechristened the
Montero
and refitted to serve as a merchantman. Since then, she'd seen worlds that made Jupiter and the Galilean satellites almost banal by comparison. The city-sized space colony of
Talus qua'spah
; the methane seas of Tau Boötis-C; the mountains of Sanja, in the HD 73256 system, which the native
soranta
had spent centuries carving into the likeness of a god.

“I realize that,” she said. “And believe me, I'm grateful. You. . . the merchant marine, I mean... could have taken my ship, then mustered me and my people out and turned us into sidewalk beggars or something. Instead, you were good enough to let us keep . . .”

“No.” Harker shook his head. “I appreciate your gratitude, Andi, but don't think for a second we did it out of the goodness of our hearts. Taking a ship while discarding its crew would've been a waste of resources.”

“Nice to know,” she murmured.
You're all heart,
she silently added.

“Think nothing of it,” Harker said dryly. “Maybe that sounds cold, but speaking as one CO to another, the last thing I ever intend to do is ground a captain who isn't ready to stop flying. . . Unless you really are ready to retire, of course.”

Andromeda was about to respond when, from the distance, her attention was drawn by an abrupt and distant roar. Turning about in her chair, she looked back to see, above the rooftop of her waterfront cottage, a slender finger of grey-white smoke rising into the deep blue sky, a tiny silver thimble at its tip. A spacecraft lifting off from the nearby New Brighton spaceport; judging from the character of the engine noise and the shape of the exhaust plume, she immediately knew that it was an Ares-class heavy lifter, probably belonging to one of the freighters parked in high orbit above Coyote. A few seconds later, the crackling roar of its engines reached them, causing a flock of sea-swoops to rise from the nearby river.