Goddess of the Galacticide Episode 35 - Growth
- Bert-Oliver Boehmer
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Linuka laid the diin seedling on the ribbed floor in the freighter’s storage access corridor. The combined odors of the Hikshuur’s sealed atmosphere—including human sweat—seemed sweet compared to the stinging rot wafting through the canyon outside.
She frowned at Cha Dzeeny. “Let’s find one of the emergency masks you mentioned and then talk to the Remnants.”
“Without the diin, Shaajis?” asked Cha. “Might be our only leverage: them seeing you holding it, in control of its immediate fate.”
“You believe we can force them to take us back to the Akaa Upsa galaxy, in exchange for keeping the diin unharmed? We’d be in a stand-off with them for a hundred spins all the way back.”
“I don’t see other options. Even if we’d get Oonzu to rush us back to the Chéé, somehow avoiding her weapon systems, overpowering the few cores on board, we’re still stuck in this galaxy. We need the Remnants to cooperate.”
“They predicted we wouldn’t kill the diin in this reality,” said Linuka. “They will think we’re bluffing.”
“Are we?” asked Cha. “Shaajis, I can’t fathom what you saw when you touched this alien, but are you considering keeping it alive? Beyond using it as leverage?”
Was she going to kill the diin? A simple question. Linuka wished she’d had a simple answer.
When the battle raged through the Võmémééř colony, not being able to complete her mission seemed worse than losing her life. On the Prral base, she was ready to vanish along with her universe bubble, trapping the alien leaders and army in final non-existence. But when the moment came in Tẽlchi’s canyon, she hesitated. She told herself the world lines were fascinating, or that she wasn’t a stone-cold killer.
None of these reasons were true.
“Is it supposed to do that?” asked Private Yots.
The diin. Its tiny cone of roots, still clinging to morsels of dirt from the patch it had grown in, had grasped onto the grooves in the floor plating. It righted itself in a slow and deliberate motion.
“I didn’t know they could move,” said Linuka.
The diin stood at the side of the corridor, straight upright, defying her assumptions.
“Maybe the Remnants should take it,” said Yots. “This thing gives me the kvatak.”
Cha Dzeeny stared at Yots as if considering her proposal, then turned to Linuka. “Is there any chance the Remnants would help us return to our galaxy? Without confrontation? I know this is a strange question coming from a weapon-swinging puygo like me, but I’ve seen many dead-end situations being resolved through negotiations.”
Linuka closed her eyes and sighed. The Commander had spent orbits alongside her father. Kel Chaada, the alliance maker. Ending the Wesh Wewesh border war. Creating the three-faction New Assembly and the Ceasefire Coalition. She wasn’t like that—wasn’t like him. Maybe she needed to be.
“Kii, could you please let Tswa sni sni know we’ll be right there?” asked Linuka.
Kii Yots beamed. The Shaajis remembered her name. But she waited for Cha Dzeeny’s tiny nod before she left.
Linuka kneed next to the diin. She gave the center stick a gentle poke. The diin had firmly planted itself on the metal floor and didn’t budge. She squinted, examining the fine vertical lines running up to the alien’s top. Then she saw it.
Linuka stood. “Let’s talk to the Remnants.”
***
Tswa sni sni, Linuka’s former tutor, was not alone. As soon as Linuka and Cha joined Private Yots at the lower end of the Hikshuur’s central loading ramp, three more Isonomih cores hovered into sight.
Stay calm. Linuka wasn’t sure if she talked to herself or hoped her fellow humans would pick up the sentiment.
“You brought friends,” said Linuka, addressing the shiniest AI core.
“Ghost-2, 4, and 5 were eager to examine the Võmémééř ṭawdiin you have found during our raid,” said Tswa sni sni.
“What’s a ṭawdiin?” asked Cha.
“A premature form of a diin. An intermediate stage between the spawn from a seed package—a ṭaw—to reaching the pro-creative stage.”
“Sorry I asked,” said Cha.
“Oh no, Commander,” said Linuka, “this is fascinating stuff. Tswa sni sni, have you shared all your Võmémééř knowledge with your friends already?”
“These individual cores existed in servitude to the Võmémééř for 1230 orbits and are quite familiar with the joint species. I could, however, provide some details about the dzõd.”
Linuka smiled. “I’m sure you could. You are, after all, a specialist in convergent genetics. I recall the lessons you gave me when I was a child.”
“You did not like Convergent Sapience Theory, Linuka.”
“I’ve come around to appreciate it.”
“I am glad to hear this,” said Tswa sni sni. “But Ghost-2, 4, and 5 wonder if they could see the ṭawdiin now. Reminiscence is not a core Isonomih strength. You understand.”
“They certainly can. The diin… ṭawdiin is inside the Hikshuur, let’s take a look.”
“The Ghosts were asking if you could bring it outside.”
“I would, but it’s no longer possible. The diin seedling has taken root inside the ship.”
“We do not understand. Its root system is stuck on a part of the freighter?”
“You best see for yourself.”
“Ghost-2 will accompany you.”
“Don’t trust us?” asked Linuka.
“We appreciate the freighter’s owner does not welcome us. We should keep the aggravation to a minimum.”
“Nobody wants to see a Traaz angry, right?”
Linuka waved at the AI cores, not knowing which would be Ghost-2. “Follow me.”
***
Linuka, Cha, Kii, and the Ghost traversed the generous corridors leading to the place the little diin had made its stand.
Linuka was certain that the Remnant had used every scanner on his tool belt to size up the tiny alien. Now, the AI core must have seen it, too.
“Have you subjected it to any substances or procedures?”
The Ghost voice module’s output was borderline abrasive, a stark contrast to Tswa sni sni benevolent voice.
“No, didn’t have to. Everything it needed was already here.”
Cha and Kii exchanged glances. They radiated confusion like a herd of young Traaz.
“The ṭawdiin has grown its primary root system, strengthened its primary bark layer, and extended its height by 11%.”
“It has grown? On the floor?” asked Cha.
“It has indeed,” said Linuka. “But the floor itself has nothing to do with it. The reason for this little miracle is the same reason our Remnants friends sent only one of their precious own onto this ship. Unlike the Chéé, this freighter never got the same level of decon scrub after the plants attacked us on Green Wave. The Remnants fear the Hikshuur is still contaminated.”
She waved her hand around. “And they’re right. The same biomolecules that made a dead, dried, ground up animal feed particle grow a tiny plant on your boot, Commander, are all around us. They didn’t make us sick and probably didn’t react to our bodies at all.”
“But this…,” she pointed at the diin, “is something the biosphere of Green Wave can work with.”
Linuka turned to the Remnant core. “Imagine, Ghost-2: you plant this ṭawdiin on Green Wave. How fast it would grow. How fast it would reach maturity and could start procreating with those females in the cryo pods you secured. Ask Tswa sni sni by how many hundreds of orbits this accelerates your plans!”
She bowed down to pet the diin.
“Oh, and please ask your fellow Ghosts by when they’ll have the sphere drive spun up to return to our galaxy. Because we’re done here.”
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