Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Four: Meteors #18

The next four days flew by for Dan. The embassy ended up playing host to a half dozen representatives from around the world who didn't have their own embassies yet. Some nations sent diplomats but several world leaders, like the president, choose to come themselves. It sent a message to their people about how important the council was, and how seriously they were taking it.

But it was also an excuse to visit Saras and see it for themselves, Dan suspected. A president from some small South American country that was staying with them cornered Dan the second day of the council. "I've heard prostitution is legal here?"

"Not on embassy grounds," Dan replied. Being mindful that whatever he said would likely be entered into diplomatic records, he tried to choose his wording carefully.

"Oh, come on. There might be something in it for you," the man hinted.

"I'm sorry, the embassy cannot help you with that. If you wish to visit the station proper and inquire with local residents, that would be your own business, but my business is embassy security, not assisting you in such a matter." With that, he excused himself.

Sure enough Dan heard later that the man had bowed out of the council itself to "see the sights."

"I trust the United States to protect our interest in this," he said by way of explanation.

Dan could only snort. He would no doubt try to impress whatever prostitute by saying he was some big shot. And break the first rule of Saras. Constituents back home would find out, and he'd have a scandal on his hand. Serves him right, Dan thought.

Others were more blatant but less sleazy about their motives. A socialist premier from the president's neighboring country spent two days touring Economics Offices, hospitals . . . learning about their systems. Even the council got into it, breaking early one day so the leaders could go to the zoo.

The zoo was as amazing as promised, and Dan swore he would come back as soon as possible. The floor of the station was several kilometers thick and contained numerous agricultural levels, with high ceilings and Earth-like conditions. Many of the animals were allowed to roam freely across large plains set up for them on the lower levels. Tunnels crisscrossed the levels, and the animals could come up into the zoo or move down at their own volition. Their movements were only restricted as much as was necessary to prevent them from hurting themselves or others.

Which meant that, on one hand, only a fraction of the exhibits were filled; the rest stood empty as the animals roamed beneath them. Most exhibits had buildings to one side, where you could view holo-projections of the lower levels.

Despite this, the exhibits that were open more than made up for it. Force fields prevented the dangerous animals from wandering freely, but not all the animals were restricted as such. Monkeys, otters, and other small curious creatures came over their fences and interacted with crowd, as curious about the visitors as the visitors were about them.

But the big draw that day was the elephants. "For those who have been following the news of our zoo," their tour guide told them as they walked past an exhibit of tigers, strolling right next to the force field that contained them, "one of our three elephant pods has had a baby recently. They've been on the lower levels for nearly the last two months. They are, understandably, very private about such things. However the mahouts who serve that pod tell us that the matriarch is intending to show off her last grandsire, today."

Dan wasn't sure how the mahouts knew this, but as the elephants appeared up from a tunnel, he couldn't help but thinking that was exactly how it was. The crowd split to either side to let them pass. A young female mahout rode on the back of the lead elephant, but the elephant wasn't restrained, nor did the mahout carry any sort of instrument to steer her or control her motion.

The entire pod trumpeted loudly as they strode down the center of walkway, obviously not constrained by any fencing. In their midst was a baby, trumpeting along with his elders and looking as though he were on parade. Which really, he was.

The elephants stopped at the tiger exhibit. The lead elephant ran her trunk along the warning sign. The baby was ushered forward, and the other elephants made noises and touched the baby with their trunks, as though instructing it. The tigers watched closely but made no move toward the pod.

The pod turned and moved on. The last glimpse Dan caught of them, they were heading out the zoo's front gates and into the city proper.

"They're allowed to leave the zoo?" Dan asked their guide.

"Yes, they aren't captive, not in the sense that other animals, like the tigers are captive. They are . . . like honored guests. Besides, the mahouts monitor their health very closely. And unless an elephant is in musk, they are very gentle creatures. They like to go to the pool near Shaiva's big shrine. They are often seen bathing there. And they want the whole station to see their new baby, now that he's old enough."

Despite these comings and goings, the council itself did a lot of work. World leaders came and went regularly, conferring with the president or Blumenthal on many issues. Dan couldn't even keep track of which world leaders he met in those four days. Except, of course, Sarasvat. She came once, to debrief the president on some matter. It was hard not to feel awed by her presence.

They met her in the main courtyard, the pool behind her. Her entourage swept in. Her Kurgara bodyguards came first. They placed a low stool for her and then knelt, two in front and two behind.

Then came three personal servants, effeminate men or young women—it was hard to tell. Next came Arneshi and several diplomats.

Sarasvat herself was last. She flowed gracefully across the space, a gemstone-studded scarf over her head and a long, flowing dress over her frame. She sat cross-legged on the stool and raised one hand in a graceful gesture, like a benediction. She spoke first in Consortium, offering a long prayer of thanks.

A holographic display appeared above her right shoulder, showing the Earth. Her eyes opened, and she began to speak of mundane matters, her voice surprisingly genuine after her almost surreal entrance. The matter was one of the most mundane, near-Earth orbits. Who would get which orbits, what they'd pay in rent, and who would get the money spent. The president asked questions. Underneath this mundane detail something more important was going on; they were laying the foundation for long-term cooperation.

For Dan, it was an ah-ha moment. The public looked to major historical moments, such as "Where were you when the towers came down on 9/11? What were you doing?" A whole generation defined themselves with these moments. For his parents' generation, it was "What were you doing when JFK was shot?" Perhaps for the next generation the question would be "What were you doing when the lights first appeared?"

But diplomats had their own secret world of events, things that the public maybe didn't know about, but were just as iconic. And this would, for Dan at least, be one of those moments. A turning point with these outsiders, the Consortium, were no longer outsiders, but part of Earth's system, and Earth part of theirs.