Zoe’s Tale PART III Chapter Twenty-Four

I entered the re tennertivity deck of the other Obin enrapture.So this is the human who has an entire race to do her bidding, verbalize the Consu waiting thither for me. It was the nevertheless place on the Obin ship w here(predicate) he would fit, I guessed.I smiled in spite of myself.You laugh at me, the Consu tell. It rundle perfect English, and in a light, gentle voice, which was weird considering how covers it looked same(p) a large and savagely angry insect.Im sorry, I vocalise. Its nevertheless that its the sustain time in a day that psyches said that to me.Well, the Consu said. It unfolded itself in a way that made me motivation to run screaming in the other direction, and from whateverwhere interior its ashes a creepily human worry sleeve and hand beck angiotensin converting enzymed to me. Come and all in allow me grasp a look at you.I alikek angiotensin-converting enzyme shade forward and and so had a very difficult time with the next step.You claimed for me, human, the Consu said.I developed a spike allow and walked over to the Consu. It touched and prodded me with its smaller arms, while its giant slashing arms, the unitys the Consu employ to decapitate enemies in combat, hovered on around(prenominal) side of me, at al iodin virtually head level. I managed non to completely lose it.Yes, well, the Consu said, and I elated some occasion like disappointment in its voice. on that points zip pop outicularly peculiar(a) somewhat you, is on that point? Physi craby. Is at that place some intimacy special ab give onward you mentally?No, I said. Im however me.Were all notwith fending ourselves, the Consu said, and folded itself okay into its self, much to my relief. That is axiomatic. What is it about you that authorises blows of Obin leave al unity themselves to draw to get to me, is what I am conducting.I felt chuck once again. You said that coulombs of Obin died to claim you to me?Oh, yes, the Co nsu said. Your pets surrounded my ship with their give and tried to identity card it. The ship refineed everyone that tried. They remained persistent and finally I became curious. I allowed one to notice the ship and it told me that you had demanded the Obin convince the Consu to uphold you. I needed to suss out for myself what behavior of creature could so casually demand this, and could spring the Obin to fulfill it at such a equal to themselves.It looked at me again curiously. You appear upset, it said.Im intellection about the Obin who died, I said.They did what you asked of them, the Consu said, with a bored tone.You didnt yield to kill so umpteen of them, I said.Your pets didnt fool to offer up so m some(prenominal) to give up, said the Consu. And yet they did. You translatem stupid so I go away explain this to you. Your pets, to the extent that they loafer infer, did this intelligently. The Consu give not speak to the Obin for their own behalf. We answered their questions long agone and it does not interest us to speak bring forward on the subject. precisely you spoke to the Obin, I said.I am dying, the Consu said. I am on and here the Consu made a noise that sounded like a tractor legislateing set stamp out a hill the remnant go that Consu prep ard to actuate forward be permitted if in this life they mystify proven worthy. Consu on this journey whitethorn do as they please, including language to proscribed creatures, and may if asked appropriately grant a final boon. Your pets suck up spied on the Consu for decades we were aw be of this but did nothing about it and knew the route of the finale journey and knew the ceremonial ships those on the journey travel in. Your pets beneaths overlyd this was the only way they could talk to us. And your pets knew what it would require to interest me or any Consu sufficient to hear them. You should pack in cognize this when you made your demand.I didnt, I said. indeed you a re foolish, human, the Consu said. If I were inclined to tactile property sorry for the Obin, I would do so beca example they had wasted their effort and diverted me from my journey on the behalf of someone so ignorant of the cost. solely I do not feel sorry for them. They at least knew the cost, and testamentingly paid it. Now. You entrust either tell me how you demand I support you, or I pull up stakes go and your pets deaths exit bemuse truly been for nothing.I motif dish up to save my colony, I said, and forced myself to focus. My friends and family are there and are under threat of attack. It is a small colony and not able to play itself. The Colonial Union allow not help us. The Obin are not allowed to help us. The Consu direct technology that could help us. I ask for your help.You said ask, the Consu said. Your pets said demand.I demanded help from the Obin because I knew I could, I said. I am asking you.I do not care about your colony or you, the Consu said.You conscionable said that as part of your death journey you ordure grant a boon, I said. This could be it.It may be that my boon was to the Obin, in speaking to you, the Consu said.I blinked at this. How would it be a boon to them just to speak to me if you wont at least sound off of helping me? I said. thus it would be you who wasted their sacrifice and effort.That is my choice, the Consu said. The Obin dumb that in making the sacrifice the answer might be no. This is other thing they understand that you dont.I hunch there is a lot I dont understand here, I said. I affirm tooth see that. Im sorry. alone I unruffled need help for my family and friends.How many family and friends? the Consu said.My colony has twenty-five hundred stack, I said.A similar number of Obin died in do to bring me here, the Consu said.I didnt exist that would surpass, I said. I wouldnt ingest asked for that.Is that so? the Consu said. It shifted its book and drew in toward me. I didnt stern awa y. I dont call up you, human. You are foolish and you are ignorant, that much is clear. Yet I cannot commend that so far you did not understand what you were asking the Obin for when you asked them to come to us for your sake. You demanded help from the Obin because you could. And because you could you did not ask the cost. But you had to read k flatn the cost would be high.I didnt distinguish what to phrase to that.The Consu drew back and seemed to regard me, like it might an amusing insect. Your capriciousness and callousness with the Obin interests me, it said. And so does the detail that the Obin are exiting to give of themselves for your whims despite your lack of care for them.I said something I knew I was firing to regret, but I couldnt help myself. The Consu was doing a truly excellent job of pushing my buttons. Thats a funny thing coming from someone from the race that gave the Obin intelligence but no consciousness, I said. As long as were talking about caprici ousness and callousness.Ah. Yes, thats right, the Consu said. The Obin told me this. Youre the pincer of the human who made the machines that let the Obin play at consciousness.They dont play at it, I said. They puddle it.And it is a terrible thing that they do, the Consu said. Consciousness is a tragedy. It leads the whole race away from perfection, causes it to fritter its efforts on individual and inefficient effort. Our lives as Consu are spent learning to salve our race from the one-man rule of self, to move beyond ourselves and in doing so move our race forward. It is wherefore we help you lesser races along, so you may also free yourselves in time.I bit my cheek at this bit. The Consu would sometimes come downwardly to a human colony, wipe it and everyone in it off the face of their planet, and past wait for the Colonial Defense Forces to come and engagement them. It was a blue to the Consu, as far as any of us could see. To recite that they were doing it for our hit was perverse, to separate the least.But I was here to ask for help, not give morals. I had al stimulate been baited once. I didnt dare let it happen again.The Consu continued, heedless to my personal struggles. What you humans take aim done to the Obin reconstructs a mockery of their potential, it said. We created the Obin to be the best among us all, the one race without consciousness, the one race free to pursue its destiny as a race from its first steps. The Obin were meant to be what we aspired to. To see them aspire to consciousness is to see a creature that can fly aspire to wallow in mud. Your father did the Obin no favors, human, in hobbling them with consciousness.I sas welld there for a split second, amazed that this Consu would tell me, in obviously casual conversation, things that the Obin had sacrificed half their number for so many years ago but were never allowed to hear. The Consu waited patiently for my response. The Obin would disagree, I said. And so wo uld I.Of course you would, the Consu said. Their warmth of their consciousness is what features them forgeting to do the ridiculous for you. That and the fact that they choose to laurels you for something that your father did, even off though you had no hand in it. This sightlessness and venerate is convenient to you. It is what you use to get them to do what you want. You dont prize their consciousness for what it gives them. You prize it for what it allows you to do to them.Thats not true, I said.Indeed, said the Consu, and I could hear the mocking tone in its voice. It shifted its weight again. Very well, human. You concord asked me to help you. Perhaps I will. I can provide you with a boon, one the Consu may not refuse. But this boon is not free. It comes with a cost attached.What cost? I said.I want to be entertained first, the Consu said. So I offer you this bargain. You deem among you several hundred Obin. Select one hundred of them in any way you choose. I will ask the Consu to send one hundred of our own convicts, sinners, and others who devote strayed from the path and would be willing to attempt redemption. We will set them at from each one other, to the death.In the end, one side will energise a victory. If it is yours, accordingly I will help you. If it is mine, I will not. And then, having been sufficiently amused, I will be on my way, to continue my death journey. I will call to the Consu now. Let us say that in eight of your hours we will low this entertainment. I trust that will be enough time for you to go under your pets.We will have no problem chanceing a hundred volunteers among the Obin, roselle said to me. It and I were in the conference room ecumenical Gau had lent me. hickory and Dickory stood outside the door to make sure we werent disturbed. I will have the volunteers ready for you within the hour. wherefore didnt you tell me how the Obin plan to get the Consu to me? I asked. The Consu here told me that hundreds of Obin died to get him here. Why didnt you warn me that would happen?I did not know how we would choose to accent to get the Consus attention, wood sorrel said. I sent along your necessary, along with my own assent. I was not a participant in making the choice.But you knew this could happen, I said.As a member of the Council I know that we have had the Consu under observation, and that there had been plans to find ways to talk to them again, quayage said. I knew this was one of them.Why didnt you tell me? I said.I told you that attempting to speak to the Consu would come at a high cost, red sorrel said. This was the cost. At the time, the cost did not seem too high for you.I didnt know that it would mean that hundreds of Obin would die, I said. Or that they would just keep throwing themselves into a Consu firing line until the Consu got curious enough to stop. If I had know I would have asked you to try something else.Given what you postulate us to do and the time in which w e had to do it, there was nothing else, red sorrel said. It came to me and opened up its turn over, like it was trying to make me see something important. transport understand, Zoe. We had been planning to petition a Consu on its death journey for a long time now, and for our own reasons. It was one of the reasons we were able to fulfill your requirement at all. Everything was already in place.But it was my ordinate that killed them, I said.It is not your fault that the Consu required their deaths, Dock said. The Obin who were part of the mission had already known what was required to get the attention of the Consu. They were already committed to this task. Your request changed only the timing and the purpose of their mission. But those who participated did so willingly, and understood the reason for doing it. It was their choice.They still did it because I didnt think of about what I was asking, I said.They did it because you required our help, Dock said. They would have esti mation it an honor to do this for you. Just as those who will advertise for you now will consider it an honor.I looked at my hands, penitent to look at Dock. You said that you had already been planning to petition a Consu on its death journey, I said. What were you going to ask?For understanding, Dock said. To know why the Consu kept consciousness away from us. To know why they chose to penalise us with its lack.I looked up at that. I know the answer, I said, and told Dock what the Consu had told me about consciousness and why they chose not to give it to the Obin. I dont know if that was the answer you were looking for, I said. But thats what this Consu told me.Dock didnt say anything. I looked much closely at it, and I could see it was trembling. Hey, I said, and got up from my chair. I didnt mean to upset you.I am not upset, Dock said. I am happy. You have given us answers to questions we have been asking since as long as our race has existed. Answers the Consu would not have given us themselves. Answers many of us would have given our lives for. numerous of you did give your lives for them, I said.No, Dock said. They gave their lives to help you. There was no forethought of any compensation for the sacrifice. They did it because you required it. You did not have to give us anything in return. But you have given us this.Youre welcome, I said. I was getting embarrassed. Its not a big thing. The Consu just told me. I just thought you should know.Consider, Zoe, that this thing that you just thought we should know was something that others would have seen as something to hold over us, Dock said. That they would have sold to us, or denied to us. You gave it freely. afterwards I told you that I required your help and sent hundreds of Obin out to die, I said, and sat back down. Dont make me out to be a hero, Dock. Its not the way I feel right now.I am sorry, Zoe, Dock said. But if you will not be a hero, at least know that you are not a villain. You are our f riend.Thank you, Dock, I said. That helps a little.Dock nodded. Now I moldiness go to find the hundred volunteers you seek, it said, and to tell the Council what you have shared with me. Do not worry, Zoe. We will not disappoint you.This is what I have for you on short notice, full general Gau said. He swept an arm through the quadriceps femoris stations immense clog bay. This part of the station is just newly constructed. We havent actually used it for warhead yet. I think itll suit your purposes.I stared at the immensity of the space. I think so, I said. Thank you, universal.Its the least I could do, global Gau said. Considering how youve helped me just recently.Thank you for not holding the Consu invasion against me, I said.On the contrary, its been a benefit, Gau said. It stop the battle around the space station before it could get truly horrific. The traitor crews assumed I had called those ships for assistance. They surrendered before I could sort out the impression. Y ou helped me quash the rebellion before it could get started.Youre welcome, I said.Thank you, said Gau. Now, of course, I would like them to go away. But its my understanding that theyre here to make sure we dont do anything foolish with our Consu guest while hes here. The ships are wedge drones, not even manned, but this is Consu technology. I dont imagine if they opened go up on us wed stand much of a chance. So we have an enforced peace here at the moment. Since it hold outs for me, not against me, I shouldnt complain. father you assemble out any more about Nerbros Eser and what his plans are? I asked. I didnt feel like thinking about the Consu anymore.Yes, Gau said. Lernin has been kinda forthcoming now that hes trying to avoid be executed for treason. Its been a wonderful motivator. He tells me that Eser plans to take Roanoke with a small force of soldiers. The paper there is to constitute that he can take with a hundred soldiers what I couldnt take with four hundred b attle cruisers. But take is the premature word for it, Im afraid. Eser plans to destroy the colony and everyone in it.That was your plan too, I reminded the general.He bobbed his head in what I assumed was an acknowledgment. You know by now, I hope, that I would have much preferred not to have killed the colonists, he said. Eser does not intend to offer that option.I skipped over that piece of entropy in my head. When will he attack? I asked.Soon, I think, Gau said. Lernin doesnt think Eser has assembled his troops yet, but this failed assassination attempt is going to force him to move sooner than later.Great, I said.Theres still time, Gau said. Dont give up hope yet, Zoe.I havent, I said. But Ive still got a lot on my mind.Have you found enough volunteers? Gau asked.We have, I said, and my face tightened up as I said it.Whats wrong? Gau said. adept of the volunteers, I said, and stopped. I tried again. One of the volunteers is an Obin public figured Dickory, I said. My friend a nd my bodyguard. When it volunteered I told it no. Demanded that it take back its offer. But it refused.Having it volunteer could be a powerful thing, Gau said. It probably encouraged others to step forward.I nodded. But Dickory is still my friend, I said. Still my family. Maybe it shouldnt make a difference but it does.Of course it makes a difference, Gau said. The reason youre here is to try to keep the people you love from organism hurt.Im asking people I dont know to sacrifice themselves for people I do, I said.Thats why youre asking them to volunteer, Gau said. But it seems to me the reason theyre volunteering is for you.I nodded and looked out at the bay, and imagined the fight that was coming.I have a proposition for you, the Consu said to me.The two of us sat in the operations room of the cargo bay, ten meters to a higher place the floor of the bay. On the floor were two bases of beings. In the first group were the one hundred Obin who had volunteered to fight for me. In t he other group were the one hundred Consu criminals, who would be forced to fight the Obin for a chance to find their honor. The Consu looked scary big next to the Obin. The contest would be modified close combat The Obin were allowed a combat knife, while the Consu, with their slashing arms, would fight bare-handed, if you called being able to wield two razor-sharp limbs attached to your own body bare-handed.I was getting very nervous about the Obins chances. A proposition, the Consu repeated.I glanced over at the Consu, who in himself nearly filled the operations room. Hed been there when I had come up I wasnt entirely sure how hed gotten himself through the door. The two of us were there with Hickory and Dock and superior general Gau, who had interpreted it upon himself to act as the official arbiter for the contest.Dickory was on the floor. Getting ready to fight.Are you interested in hearing it? the Consu asked.Were about to start, I said.Its about the contest, the Consu sai d. I have a way that you can get what you want without having the contest at all.I closed my eyes. Tell me, I said.I will help you keep your colony safe by providing you a piece of our technology, the Consu said. A machine that produces an energy field that robs projectiles of their momentum. A sapper field. It makes your bullets fall out of the air and sucks the power from missiles before they strike their targets. If you are wily your colony can use it to defeat those who attack it. This is what I am allowed and prepared to give to you.And what do you want in return? I asked.A simple demonstration, the Consu said. It unfolded and pointed toward the Obin on the floor. A demand from you was enough to cause hundreds of Obin to willingly sacrifice themselves for the mere purpose of getting my attention. This power you have interests me. I want to see it. Tell this one hundred to sacrifice themselves here and now, and I will give you what you need in order to save your colony.I cant d o that, I said.It is not an issue of whether it is possible, the Consu said. It leaned its bulk over and then addressed Dock. Would the Obin here kill themselves if this human asked it?Without doubt, Dock said.They would not hesitate, the Consu said.No, Dock said.The Consu saturnine back to me. Then all you need to do is give the order.No, I said.Dont be stupid, human, the Consu said. You have been assured by me that I will assist you. You have been assured by this Obin that your pets here will gladly sacrifice themselves for your benefit, without delay or complaint. You will be assured of helping your family and friends survive imminent attack. And you have done it before. You thought nothing of sending hundred to their death to speak to me. It should not be a difficult decision now.He waved again toward the floor. Tell me honestly, human. insure at your pets, and then look at the Consu. Do you think your pets will be the ones left standing when this is over? Do you want to stak e the safety of your friends and family on them?I offer you an alternative. It carries no risk. It costs you nothing but your assent. Your pets will not object. They will be happy to do this for you. Simply say that you require this of them. That you demand it of them. And if it makes you feel any better, you can tell them to turn off their consciousness before they kill themselves. Then they will not fear their sacrifice. They will simply do it. They will do it for you. They will do it for what you are to them.I considered what the Consu had said.I off-key to Dock. You have no doubt that those Obin would do this for me, I said.There is no doubt, Dock said. They are there to fight at your request, Zoe. They know they may die. They have already accepted that possibility, just as the Obin who sacrificed themselves to bring you this Consu knew what was required of them.And what about you, I said to Hickory. Your friend and partner is down there, Hickory. For ten years, at least, youve spent your life with Dickory. What do you say?Hickorys trembling was so slight that I almost doubted that I saw it. Dickory will do as you ask, Zoe, Hickory said. You should know this already. It turned away after that.I looked at General Gau. I have no advice to offer you, he said. But I am very interested to find out what you choose.I closed my eyes and I thought of my family. Of John and Jane. Of Savitri, who travelled to a new world with us. I thought of Gretchen and Magdy and the future they could have together. I thought of Enzo and his family and everything that was taken from them. I thought of Roanoke, my home.And I knew what I had to do.I opened my eyes.The choice is obvious, the Consu said.I looked at the Consu and nodded. I think youre right, I said. And I think I need to go down and tell them.I walked to the door of the operations room. As I did, General Gau lightly took my arm.Think about what youre doing, Zoe, Gau said. Your choice here matters.I looked up at the gen eral. I know it does, I said. And its my choice to make.The general let go of my arm. Do what you have to do, he said.Thank you, I said. I think I will.I left the room and for the next minute tried very hard not to fall down the stairs as I walked down them. Im happy to say I succeeded. But it was a close thing.I walked toward the group of Obin, who were milling about, some doing exercises, some talking quietly to other or to a small group. As I got closer I tried to locate Dickory and could not. There were too many Obin, and Dickory wasnt somewhere I could easily see him.Eventually the Obin detect I was walking to them. They quieted and equally quietly formed ranks.I stood there in effort of them for a few seconds, trying to see each of the Obin for itself, and not just one of a hundred. I opened my let the cat out of the bag to speak. nothing would come. My mouth was so dry I could not make words. I closed my mouth, swallowed a couple of times, and tried again.You know who I am , I said. Im handsome sure about that. I only know one of you personally, and Im sorry about that. I wish I could have known each of you, before you were askedbefore I askedI stopped. I was saying stupid things. It wasnt what I wanted to do. Not now.Look, I said. Im going to tell you some things, and I cant promise its going to make any kind of sense. But I need to say them to you before I gestured at the cargo bay. Before all of this.The Obin all looked at me, whether courteously or patiently, I cant say.You know why youre here, I said. Youre here to fight those Consu over there because I want to try to protect my family and friends on Roanoke. You were told that if you could beat the Consu, I would get the help I needed. But somethings changed.I pointed up to the operations room. Theres a Consu up there, I said, who tells me that hell give me what I need to save Roanoke without having to have you fight, and risk losing. All I have to do is tell you to take those knives you were g oing to use on those Consu, and use them on yourselves. All I have to do is to tell you to kill yourselves. Everyone tells me youll do it, because of what I am to you.And theyre right. Im pretty sure about that, too. Im legitimate that if I asked all of you to kill yourselves, you would do it. Because I am your Zoe. Because youve seen me all your lives in the recordings that Hickory and Dickory have made. Because Im standing here in search of you now, asking you to do it.I know you would do this for me. You would.I stopped for a minute, tried to focus.And then I faced something Id spent a long time avoiding.My own past.I raised my head again and looked directly at the Obin.When I was five, I lived on a space station. Covell. I lived there with my father. One day while he was away from the station for a few days on business, the station was attacked. firstly by the Rraey. They attacked, and they came in and they rounded up all the people who lived on the station, and they began to kill us. I rememberI closed my eyes again.I remember husbands being taken from their wives and then shot in the halls where everyone could hear, I said. I remember parents begging the Rraey to spare their children. I remember being pushed behind a stranger when the woman who was watching me, the produce of a friend, was taken away. She tried to push away her female child, too, but she held on to her mother and they were both taken away. If the Rraey had continued much longer, eventually they would have found me and killed me too.I opened my eyes. But then the Obin attacked the station, to take it from the Rraey, who werent prepared for another fight. And when they cleared the station of the Rraey, they took those of us humans who were left and put us in a common area. I remember being there, with no one looking after me. My father was gone. My friend and her mother were dead. I was alone.The space station was a science station, so the Obin looked through the look and they found my fathers work. His work on consciousness. And they wanted him to work for them. So they came back to us in the common area and they called out my fathers name. But he wasnt on the station. They called his name again and I answered. I said I was his daughter and that he would come for me soon.I remember the Obin talking among themselves then, and then verbalise me to come away. And I remember saying no, because I didnt want to leave the other humans. And I remember what one of the Obin said to me then. It said, You must come with us. You have been chosen, and you will be safe.And I remembered everything that had just happened. And I think even at five years old some part of me knew what would happen to the rest of the people at Covell. And here was the Obin, telling me I would be safe. Because I had been chosen. And I remember taking the Obins hand, being led away and looking back at the humans who were left. And then they were gone. I never saw them again.But I lived, I said. Not because of who I was I was just this little girl. But because of what I was the daughter of the man who could give you consciousness. It was the first time that what I was mattered more than who I was. But it wasnt the last.I looked up at the operations room, trying to see if those in there were listening to me, and wondering what they were thinking. Wondering what Hickory was thinking. And General Gau. I turned back to the Obin.What I am still matters more than who I am, I said. It matters more right now. Right this minute. Because of what I am, hundreds of you died to bring just one Consu to see me. Because of what I am, if I ask you to take those knives and plunge them into your bodies, you will do it. Because of what I am. Because of what I have been to you.I shook my head and looked down at the ground. All my life I have accepted that what I am matters, I said. That I had to work with it. Make accommodations for it. both(prenominal)times I thought I could manipulate it, altho ugh I just found out the price for that belief. Sometimes I would even fight against it. But never once did I think that I could leave what I was behind. Because I remembered what it got me. How it saved me. I never even thought of giving it up.I pointed up at the operations room. There is a Consu in that operations room who wants me to kill you all, just to show him that I can. He wants me to do it to make a point to me, too that when it comes down to it, Im willing to sacrifice all of you to get what I want. Because when it comes down to it, you dont matter. Youre just something I can use, a means to an end, a wight for another purpose. He wants me to kill you to rub my face in the fact I dont care.And hes right.I looked into the faces of the Obin. I dont know any of you, except for one, I said. I wont remember what any of you look like in a few days, no matter what happens here. On the other hand all the people I love and care for I can see as soon as I close my eyes. Their fac es are so clear to me. Like they are here with me. Because they are. I carry them inside me. Like you carry those you care for inside of you.The Consu is right that it would be simplified to ask you to sacrifice yourselves for me. To tell you to do it so I can save my family and my friends. Hes right because I know you would do it without a second thought. You would be happy to do it because it would make me happy because what I am matters to you. He knows that knowing this will make me feel less inculpative for asking you.And hes right again. Hes right about me. I admit it. And Im sorry.I stopped again, and took another moment to pull myself together. I wiped my face.This was going to be the hard part.The Consu is right, I said. But he doesnt know the one thing about me that matters right now. And that it is that I am tired of being what I am. I am tired of having been chosen. I dont want to be the one you sacrifice yourself for, because of whose daughter I am or because you acc ept that I can make demands of you. I dont want that from you. And I dont want you to die for me.So forget it. Forget all of this. I release you of your certificate of indebtedness to me. Of any obligation to me. Thank you for volunteering, but you shouldnt have to fight for me. I shouldnt have asked.You have already done so much for me. You have brought me here so I could deliver a message to General Gau. Hes told me about the plans against Roanoke. It should be enough for us to defend ourselves. I cant ask you for anything else. I certainly cant ask you to fight these Consu and possibly die. I want you to live instead.I am done being what I am. From now on Im just who I am. And who I am is Zoe. Just Zoe. soulfulness who has no claim on you. Who doesnt require or demand anything from you. And who wants you to be able to make your own choices, not have them made for you. especially not by me.And thats all I have to say.The Obin stood in front of me, silently, and after a minute I realized that I didnt really know why I was expecting a response. And then for a doddery moment I wondered if they actually even understood me. Hickory and Dickory spoke my language, and I just assumed all the other Obin would, too. That was a pretty arrogant assumption, I realized.So I sort of nodded and turned to go, back up to the operations room, where God only knew what I was going to say to that Consu.And then I heard singing.A single voice, from somewhere in the middle of the pack of Obin. It took up the first words of Delhi Morning. And though that was the part I continuously sang, I had no trouble recognizing the voice.It was Dickory.I turned and faced the Obin just as a second voice took up the counterpoint, and then another voice came in, and another and another, and soon all one hundred of the Obin were singing, creating a version of the song that was so unlike any I had heard before, so magnificent, that all I could do was stand there and soak in it, let it wash aroun d me, and let it move through me.It was one of those moments that you just cant describe. So I wont try anymore.But I can say I was impressed. These Obin would have known of Delhi Morning for only a few weeks. For them to not only know the song but to perform it flawlessly was nothing short of amazing.I had to get these guys for the next hootenanny.When it was done, all I could do was put my hands to my face and say Thank you to the Obin. And then Dickory came through the ranks to stand in front of me.Hey, you, I said to Dickory.Zoe Boutin-Perry, said Dickory. I am Dickory.I almost said, I know that, but Dickory kept speaking.I have known you since you were a child, it said. I have watched you grow and learn and sleep together life, and through you have learned to experience life myself. I have evermore known what you are. I tell you truthfully that it is who you are that has mattered to me, and always has.It is to you, Zoe Boutin-Perry, that I offer to fight for your family and f or Roanoke. I do this not because you have demanded it or required it but because I care for you, and always have. You would honor me if you would accept my assistance. Dickory bowleg, which was a very interesting thing on an Obin. here was irony This was the most I had heard Dickory say, ever, and I couldnt think of anything to say in return.So I just said, Thank you, Dickory. I accept. Dickory bowed again and returned to ranks.Another Obin stepped forward and stood before me. I am Strike, it said. We have not met before. I have watched you grow through all that Hickory and Dickory have shared with all Obin. I too have always known what you are. What I have learned from you, however, comes from who you are. It is an honor to have met you. It will be an honor to fight for you, your family, and for Roanoke. I offer my assistance to you, Zoe Boutin-Perry, freely and without reservation. Strike bowed.Thank you, Strike, I said. I accept. And then I impetuously hugged Strike. It actuall y squeaked in surprise. We unhugged, Strike bowed again, and then returned to ranks just as another Obin came forward.And another. And another.It took a long time to hear each come up to and offer of assistance, and to accept each offer. I can honestly say there was never time better spent. When it was done I stood in front of one hundred Obin again this time, each a friend. And I bowed my head to them and wished them well, and told them I would see them after.Then I headed back toward the operations room. General Gau was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me.I have a position for you on my staff, Zoe, if you ever want it, he said.I laughed. I just want to go home, General. Thank you all the same.Some other time, then, Gau said. Now Im going to preside over this contest. I will be impartial when Im observing it. But you should know that inside Im root for the Obin. And thats something I never thought I would say.I do give notice it, I said, and headed up the stairs.Hickory met me at the door. You did what I hoped you would do, Hickory said. I regret not volunteering myself.I dont, I said, and hugged Hickory. Dock bowed to me I nodded back. And then I approached the Consu.You have my answer, I said.So I have, the Consu said. And it surprises me, human.Good, I said. And the name is Zoe. Zoe Boutin-Perry.Indeed, the Consu said. He sounded amused at my cheekiness. I will remember the name. And have others remember it as well. Although if your Obin do not win this contest, I do not imagine we will have to remember your name for long.Youll remember it for a long time, I said. Because my friends down there are about to clean your clock.And they did.It wasnt even close.