“What do you think their intentions are?” Kelly asked.
Rev thought it was pretty obvious. There were already at least ten thousand of the Zfthu on the island, and more were coming over in their small sailing craft. The beach area was crowded with them, as was the village. But Kelly was right in getting it into the open.
“I’m afraid that they intend to finish what they started and eliminate us,” Bunny said.
“Why now?” Strap asked. “You’ve had your truce for seventeen years, but just because we’re here, they want to get aggressive?”
“They see your presence as a breach of our agreement,” Slow Loris said.
“But we came here on our own,” Strap said.
“And we invited you to this location. I’m afraid that in our attempt to show them that cooperation and peace benefit everyone, we actually drove them over the cliff.”
“Can you hold them off?” Rev asked. “This castle seems very robust to me.”
“As you know, we may only use passive means to protect ourselves. And while it might take some doing on their part, there is little doubt that they can prevail,” Slow Loris said.
He was probably way off the mark, but Rev had started to give Slow Loris the security officer role, with Bunny being the nominal leader.
“As you know, we Marines will be staying here for at least a month while our ship’s crew reorganizes. The yetis haven’t made any moves against us other than a few harassing bolts. Do you think that will change when more of them arrive from the mainland?” Rev asked.
“They are a shrewd people, Sergeant Major. They will not throw themselves away when you have your landing craft and your Marines here.”
“And when we leave?” he asked, knowing full well the answer.
“Then they will come.”
“We can always eliminate the threat,” Tomiko said. “The Galaxy Explorer isn’t a fighting ship, but her guns would be enough to target and destroy every damn yeti town.”
“No!” Bunny, Slow Loris, and Pika said in unison, their crests flaring behind their heads.
“You must not do that,” Bunny added.
“Just because you can’t use violence doesn’t mean we can’t,” Tomiko said, obviously taken aback at the vehemence of their response. “I wasn’t even being totally serious.”
The three Po spoke together in their language, and then Bunny said, “It is not a matter of morality. Totally eliminating the Zfthu could have drastic consequences.”
“Other than allowing you to survive, what consequences?”
Slow Loris said something, and Bunny continued. “Should you exterminate the Zfthu, the Siau would most likely retaliate.”
Rev blanched. He’d seen the Sia destroy the Naxli homeworld. He knew what “retaliate” could entail.
“Why would they do that? The Zfthu are the aggressors here. And how would they know?”
“The Siau keep us under observation.”
“And . . . ?”
“They consider the Zfthu as younger siblings who deserve their protection.”
“And what about you? The yetis can genocide you? That’s OK?” Rev asked.
“The Siau resent us for uplifting them. They feel we were exceeding morality by placing responsibilities upon them. And they feel we have outlived our time. We don’t believe they will act in themselves to kill us without cause, but given an excuse that aligns with their belief system, we are sure they would act to eliminate our people.”
“So, if we take out little brother, they’ll turn on the parents,” Tomiko said.
“That is an unusual way of describing it, but yes,” Bunny said.
One thing Rev was positive of was that he didn’t want to run afoul of the Sia. But he wanted to help the Po, too. None of them intended to put the Po in this situation, but that was where they were.
“We don’t have to eliminate them,” Kelly said. “Just get them off the island. What if we hit them on the beach and force them to retreat back to their territory. We can kick out the two villages that are here, too.”
The three conversed, then Bunny said, “We would not object to that.”
“But would you want it?” Rev asked. “If we’re doing your dirty work, then you have to want us to, not just that you wouldn’t object.”
The three Po seemed frozen in place for several long seconds before Bunny said, “Yes. We want that.”
“That’s it then, you bunch of hypocrites,” Tomiko said so quietly that only Rev and Kelly’s augmented hearing could pick it up.
Rev was being a little more generous. It was all well and good to have a moral compass, but when your very survival was at stake, that changed the equation.
“Would stopping them at the beach instigate a Sia reaction?” Kelly asked. “Are they even here?”
“We don’t think they are here at the moment, but they do know what occurs here. However, if it doesn’t threaten the Zfthu as a race, we don’t think the Siau will interfere.”
I don’t want to rely on “we don’t think.”
“They didn’t react to the loss of life yesterday,” Slow Loris pointed out.
Rev’s mind was churning. There had to be another course of action, one that saved the Po but eliminated the Sia threat. He knew it was there, just out of reach. Unless . . .
“What if . . .” Rev started before the thought was fully formed.
The three Po patiently waited for him.
Come on Reverent. Think!
“What if we . . . how about, you know, if we negotiate?”
“Negotiate what, Rev? Go up to them and say ‘Please don’t attack us?’ Come on. Be real.”
Rev frowned. He still wasn’t exactly sure what he was getting at himself, but he’d hoped that she’d support him.
“You said there’re sixty thousand of them, right?” he asked the Po.
“That’s our estimate, yes,” Bunny said.
“And the mainland where they’re coming from. I don’t remember exactly, but it’s a lot bigger than this island, right?”
“I can give you the exact numbers if you wish, but yes.”
“And then beyond the ocean on the other side, there’re two more continents.”
“Yes, but those are uninhabited, and they have not been adjusted for Zfthu compatibility.”
“OK, that doesn’t matter,” Rev said, shaking his head. “They’ve still got a huge continent and only sixty thousand people. That’s plenty of room for them. So, why do they need this island?”
“It’s not the island, Sergeant Major. They wish to eliminate us. Like the Siau, they blame us for their current condition.”
“And without you, they’d be climbing around in the trees on their home planet, afraid of the night,” Tomiko said.
“They were not an arboreal species, and the night was never an issue with their original form,” Pika said.
Tomiko waved that away. “Doesn’t matter. I just mean they wouldn’t be as advanced.”
“To them, they resent the ramifications of being sapient,” Bunny said in what sure sounded like a wistful tone.
Rev’s thoughts were becoming clearer, and an option began to form. How could they convince the Zfthu to leave? What about one of the most basic forces in the galaxy? How about surviving to live another day?
“We’re not as mature a species as you are,” he started. “We do not have your high morals with the same sanctity of life. You’re an easy target because you won’t fight back, but we will, and the yetis know it. Miko, you asked me what we can negotiate for. How about this?”
He paused to look at each of the others, human and Po, in turn.
“You get your asses off this island and promise to never come back, or we’ll kill you all. Your choice. Life or death.”
There was dead silence before Bunny said, “If you kill all the Zfthu on the island, that might be enough to trigger the Sia.”
“Does it matter?”
“I think it does matter if the Siau intercede,” Slow Loris said. “You won’t be able to defend yourself from them.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean, does it matter if we actually wipe out the yetis or not, as long as they think we will?”
“You mean a bluff?” Tomiko asked.
“Bluff or not. Who knows? Do they?”
Rev let that sink in. As the seconds ticked on, he became more certain that this was a valid course of action, one that could undo the turmoil their arrival caused, save the Po, and let the Zfthu continue their lives as they would.
Despite the attack on the humans, Rev had no desire to be a part of a genocide. If he could stop any more deaths from occurring, it would be a win all around.
“The Zfthu have a strong sense of self-preservation,” Bunny said.
“And . . . ?”
“They might see the benefit of continuing to live.”
Slow Loris said something in Po, and Pika added what sounded like her two cents worth.
“The Zfthus’ hate is strong. And now that it has been released again, there may be nothing to dissuade them from exterminating us.”
“You stopped them once, right? You gave them food or whatever to calm them down.”
“That may no longer work. We think there may even be resentment among the rest that the Po in the two villages here profited unfairly with their control of the trade,” Bunny said.
“And once you leave, it is unlikely that they would adhere to an agreement made with you,” Slow Loris added.
“Let me ask you this. If we don’t try this, then what? They’ll attack, and you’ll be killed. And even if they think they can renege after we leave, well, at least that gives us more time to think up a better solution. But right now, the minute we leave, I’ve got to say, I give you three or four days max until they come for your asses.”
He had no way of knowing that, so the three or four days was a SWAG, but he wanted to stress the urgency of the situation.
There was another moment of silence before Slow Loris asked, “Will you stay that long? And if they come, will you oppose them?”
Rev looked at Tomiko, who, after a moment, nodded.
“Yes, if they come while we are here, we will. This time. We do not want to slaughter ten thousand yetis, but we will if it comes to that. Forget the Sia, though. If we kill that many of them, how will the remaining fifty thousand react? Do you think there’ll be any negotiated peace after that?”
The three got into a discussion. It sounded heated to Rev, but he couldn’t know that for sure. Finally, they stopped, and Bunny faced the three humans and Punch.
“We would like you to attempt a negotiated solution.”
Rev nodded, but his heart sank. It had seemed so logical only a moment before. But now that they’d thrown it to him, he had to make good on the concept, and he didn’t know if he had the ability to succeed.