Riss Series 4: The Riss Accession (15 page)

I wandered down to the shuttle bay with
r-Adhis and found everyone in their dress uniforms, including Terril. Sakaata had
just exited her shuttle.

 
"Good evening,
Leader
Reese, gentlemen,
ladies. I see everyone except
Leader
Reese is dressed for a party. " She laughed.
 
"Leave it to the Riss to have their
work and dress uniforms the same, with no medals or rank. "

 
"It makes it easier to dress for
parties, " I said as I entered my shuttle. The trip to the
Dynasty
took three quarters of an hour.
I almost tripped when I exited the shuttle. The bay had what I assumed was an
honor guard of at least twenty men in dress uniforms, who snapped to
attention
as a bugle
blew and an officer saluted.

 
"Welcome aboard the
Dynasty
, Leader Reese. " He then
stepped to the side, and Admiral Zhu stepped forward.

 
"Welcome, Leader Reese. I’m afraid
this isn’t a Riss ship, and we have traditions that must be adhered to. They
establish
our
position
in society.
You rank very high as you represent a nation. " He gave a small bow.

 
"A very small nation. "

 
"But an important one. "

 
"Imperial Fleet Admiral Zhu, I’d
like to introduce you to the SAS task force
leader
, Admiral
Sakaata… " I spent a few minutes introducing each of my party. Afterward,
he led us to his conference room, which appeared to hold at least fifty people
and all the seats were taken except those reserved for us. Each seat had a name
written in UFN letters and SAS standard.

 
"I’d introduce you,
but
except for
the Riss,
who
I
understand have
a perfect memory, you couldn’t possibly
remember them all. I’ll let each person give their name when they speak. It
will be easier. " Zhu waved to the empty places, and to my surprise, one
seat was double sized for r-Kharis.
 
"Please
sit
. " He
looked to Terril, who hesitated looking at Xun against the wall behind Zhu.
 
"Master Gunnery Sergeant Terril, you
look more relaxed today without the tattoo. You're welcome to sit or stand, as
you prefer. I will understand. Xun does not allow me to go anywhere without
her. "

Terril smiled and stepped back against
the wall behind me. Most of the food proved different than I had eaten but
very
tasty. I
don’t know how they managed, but each officer appeared to get permission from
Zhu to speak. It worked out well because everyone got to hear the question and
answer, whereas much would have had to be repeated if there were side
conversations.

 
"Leader Reese. " A small,
middle-aged man bowed his head.
 
"I am red-Admiral Yang. I understand
you will seek candidates from our people to be Riss-humans. No offense, but I
think it will be difficult to get UFN citizens to… host a parasite. And why do
you want them? No Offense intended, Leader Reese. " Yang bowed again.

It was a pleasant change. An SAS senior
officer would most likely have said,
 
"
Why
would anyone want to have a parasite inside him
? " But I guess in the
end it was the same question.

 
"Red-Admiral Yang, that is an
excellent question. I chose to
host
a Riss for my own very selfish reasons as I'm
sure if you or your officers do, it will also be for selfish reasons—to
save the UFN from the Aliens.
But the Riss are an amazing race, and
having one constantly
with you
is a precious gift.
Although a Riss can be removed, no one
who has become a Riss-human has asked to have her removed. "

I turned to Zhu.
 
"Admiral Zhu, I’m sure the officers
you have assembled here on Dong are some of your best, and many would meet the
criteria we are looking for certified crews and Riss-human candidates. "

 
"Yes, that is correct. "

 
"Red-Admiral Yang has asked a
question everyone has on their mind and rightfully so. Parasites are normally considered
a very bad thing, and no one here knows anything about the Riss. I would ask
for a week delay so that we may expose them to the Riss. That should be long
enough to
determine
those
receptive
to being teamed with a Riss to learn Symath
and
later
entertain
the idea of becoming a Riss-human. "

I turned to look at Yang.
 
"Red-Admiral Yang, in the end, both
the human candidate and the Riss must be willing participants. "

 
"Yes, Leader Reese, " Zhu said,
 
"an excellent suggestion and
well worth the delay. The Riss Symath will be a critical technology in our
fight against the Aliens, and we must implement it as quickly as possible.
"

The discussion went on for several
hours, until Zhu stood—along with the entire dinner party.
 
"I neglected a tour of the
Dynasty
, not out of secrecy. Your
engineers must examine our weapons system to make adjustments to your new
missiles, and examining our technology might evoke new ideas. I thought to eat
first and get acquainted. Now that my officers know yours, they will guide them
on a tour and pair off to discuss their particular areas of interest. I would
also like to speak with you… and your Gunny, alone. "

That seemed to be a queue for specific
officers to seek out the
Mnemosyne’s
and guide them away.

I walked with Zhu to his office. It was
impressive, not only five times the size of mine, but decorated like a
combination of the
Mnemosyne’s
third level and the inside of a planet-side
house.

 
"Would you like wine, or would you
prefer kaffa or more tea? " He waved towards two comfortable chairs.

 
"I rather liked the tea served at
dinner, if it isn’t too much trouble.

He nodded to Xun, who opened a side door
in the back of the room and said something to someone. She and Terril had taken
less comfortable chairs in the back.

 
"You understand that teaching us the
Riss technology is potentially dangerous but necessary. Without you, I doubt
Admiral Wattson would have consented to a Riss-facility in UFN space. I’m
grateful
. We both
hope
it leads to
something good. How do you intend to expose my officers to the Riss in a week?
"

 
"It might have to
be
two weeks,
Admiral Zhu— "

 
"Zhu,
please
, and Reese if
I may, in private, " he interrupted.

 
"I would like that. " I smiled.
 
"The Riss can’t make human
sounds, and I suspect many of your people aren’t fluent in SAS standard. As you
saw, the Riss use a voice box that translates hand signals into words. If you
could assign a team to work with my Riss, we could update their boxes to
generate the standard UFN dialect. "

 
"In a week "?

 
"The Riss have perfect memories, so
it is mostly correlating the UFN words to the corresponding SAS words. Once we
have a basic set, it will build quickly and can be updated daily. It's going to
be necessary for those working to create the planet-side facility, and it will
be the only way for your officers to see the Riss as intelligent individuals.
"

I waited for Zhu to digest what I had
said. He
appeared
to be a slow thinker, but I suspected he was considering the short
and long range ramifications.

When he nodded, I continued.
 
"Talking with them will make them
real. I’d like to put Riss on a few of your cruisers and conduct exercises
designed to demonstrate the tactical and navigational advantages of Symath.
Then select those officers who appear interested in the technology and are not
afraid or repulsed by the Riss to attend a two-week Symath class… " I went
on to explain what we had done to create Riss certified crews and my
willingness to place Riss on those ships.

Zhu sat silent for several minutes with
his eyes closed, barely breathing.
 
"Interesting. I find you more
willing to support the UFN and the Alliance than I suspect the SAS would be.
You are actually more concerned about the Riss than the sharing of technology.
I could guarantee my officers will show the Riss respect and give them every curtesy,
but that is not what you seek. "

 
"No. Most of my career, I was abused
mentally and physically by officers and enlisted because they were afraid,
repulsed, or they hated me. I want the Riss in an environment where the crew
sees them as partners in the fight against the Aliens and as individuals and
hopefully friends. You cannot order that. "

 
"You have no reason to trust me as
you do your Admiral Plimson, but I give you my word to give you my complete and
unconditional support to do what must be done to implement the Riss
technology—and build ties that will last past our lifetimes.

An image with Zhu and
a white goatee dragging along the ground.

I managed not to smile, but Zhu managed
to pick up some sign.

 
"A conversation with… Thalia? An
intriguing concept. Two intelligent beings inside one body, Where does
your
loyalty belong? " Zhu asked.

The question stunned me.
 
"With the Riss, so long as an action
does not violate my ethics, " I said. "My dreams are the dreams of
the Riss, but the Riss would not ask me to abandon the SAS in a time of need.
"

 
"So a UFN Riss-human would still be
loyal to the UFN, although his or her dreams would be the Riss dreams? "

 
"Yes, they are good dreams, Zhu. The
Riss do not want money, or power, or what others have. They merely want to be
free to see the stars. "

* * *

Using the SAS dictionary currently on
the voice-box, ten teams of UFN, Riss, and SAS personnel developed the
appropriate UFN equivalents. Working night and day, a basic UFN language voice-box
was up and running in six days. On the seventh day, the voice-box was used in
conversations with senior officers and adjustments made where necessary.

 
"That is remarkable, "
green-Admiral
Husing
said after a lengthy discussion with r-
Kharis
about
Dusters, Demons, and Dragonflies. He looked to Zhu and me.
 
"I look at a Riss and understand
they are intelligent, but my mind still sees them as… animals. Now that I can
talk with a Riss and she has a name, she feels like a person. And after my
conversation about weapons systems, I know she is an intelligent person. Leader
Reese is correct. Our officers need to interact with the Riss if they are to
understand them. "

 
"Yes, I had concerns about integrating
the Riss technology within the UFN and thought it would take years integrating
the Riss and Symath—and that a UFN Riss-human would be an impossibility. But
the Riss are making it remarkably easy,
 
" Zhu said.
 
"What next, Leader Reese? "

 
"I would suggest some exercises
where the Riss can demonstrate the applications of Symath. We should use your
cruisers so that no one thinks our computers are doing the work. The
demonstrations should include all captains, XOs, navigation, and weapons
officers. "

* * *

It took two days to remove the sensing
devices and warheads from one hundred missiles, arrange for ten cruisers to
participate in the exercises, organize the two hundred observers into teams of
ten, and plan the exercises. Each exercise was the same: a ship with Riss and
observers would let a UFN ship skip in some random direction. The Riss would then
compute a skip to within five kilometers of that ship. At the same time, the
UFN navigator using the system computer would compute the same jump. The second
exercise would have a UFN cruiser three light seconds away on a random course
attempt to destroy any of the five dumb missiles that reached it.

On the morning of the third day,
Damaass, Jaelle, and I―with two Riss each―conducted a two-hour
pre-flight
briefing
with the ten officers who would be along as observers. We explained
the exercises and the purpose. Most of the two hours was devoted to answering
questions, which I let the Riss handle. We then boarded Red-dragon-2 (the Heavy
assigned to task force two of the Red Dragon fleet) along with red-Admiral
Yang. Afterward, I had each officer fill out a brief questionnaire designed to help
me
determine
each officer’s feelings towards the Riss: What did you think of the
demonstration? Do you think Symath would be useful in an engagement? What did
you think of the Riss? Etc.