“Yes,” Jorgen said. He peered around the side of the curtain, like he was afraid we would be overheard. “But don’t try to communicate with this one.” He indicated the one riding on his shoulder. This taynix was red with black stripes down its sides and black spines running down the center of its back. “He’s…temperamental. I can’t go through that again.”
“Again!” the red slug said. Its voice was deeper than the others, and somehow more disconcerting.
“But you’re not here to talk about slugs,” FM said. “You said you needed help? I’m surprised you’d come to us, after the way you were treated last time.”
“I don’t want to judge your whole people by the actions of a few,” I said carefully. “I would not like it if you judged my people by the actions of some that I know.”
FM smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way.”
They both watched me expectantly. We’d certainly been through the small talk portion of the conversation that Finis recommended, even if we’d been talking about teleporting slugs, which was definitely not part of my espionage primer. “Some of my people have decided to align themselves with our common enemy,” I said. “I think both our peoples could benefit from an alliance.”
FM and Jorgen looked at each other. “I agree,” Jorgen said carefully, “but I don’t have the authority to make one.”
I’d been too aggressive. Maybe humans were more like the peoples Finis had prepared me to address. “But you are a cytonic,” I said. “Surely you have some sway in what your leaders decide.”
Jorgen and FM exchanged another glance. “Is that what it’s like on your planet?” Jorgen asked. “The cytonics are in charge?”
“Not in charge,” I said. The Unity leaders weren’t cytonic, and neither was Rinakin, though he was the highest ranked Independence official. “But we are respected for our powers.”
The Unity leaders respected the cytonics who sided with them, at least.
“Things are different here,” Jorgen said. “Our people are afraid of cytonics. The Superiority has used them against us in the past.”
Of course they would, if given the opportunity. “So you see that the Superiority is not to be trusted.”
“Yes,” FM said. “We’ve been fighting them for decades. You said you were afraid we would trust them, but they haven’t even offered us peace. We are looking for allies though, and there’s a former Superiority Minister in residence here who—”
“They are here?” I asked. The Superiority sent representatives to ReDawn of course, under the guise of checking on our progress as a people. They were like squirrel keepers checking the cages. They never came too close, in case we would bite.
“Cuna isn’t in good standing with the Superiority,” FM said quickly. “The Superiority tried to kill them, and we rescued them. We’re not looking to join the Superiority, Alanik. And we do need allies against them.”
That was good. If this Cuna had turned against the Superiority, they might have information my people could use. “Is Cuna cytonic?”
“No,” Jorgen said. “Aside from Spensa, we only have two cytonics. Spensa’s grandmother and myself.”
That was important information, and he probably shouldn’t have given it up so easily. I needed to keep them talking, see what else I might learn. If they decided not to send help, at least I’d be armed with more information. This was going much better than our last conversation, when that angry woman threatened to keep me as a prisoner.
“Spensa still hasn’t returned from Starsight?” I asked.
Jorgen took a deep breath. “She did. But she’s…gone again.”
“How did she go there without drawing attention to herself?” I asked. “She sent a message to my people saying she was pretending to be me, but her ruse should have been discovered immediately. How was she able to disguise herself?” I’d been in shock and in pain when I’d given Spensa the coordinates. I’d never been clear on the details of how she’d managed to use them.
“We had a ship with advanced holographic technology,” Jorgen said. “Technology even the Superiority doesn’t have. Spensa was able to use a hologram to make herself look like you.”
“That is clever.” A resource like that could be used to walk right onto the Council tree and break Rinakin out without the use of cytonics.