hugging Dad and trying to look strong. "Ma'am," he said respectfully. "Since meeting you, I've been studying up on human females and their various roles in your myriad cultures." He lowered his head. "Please forgive me if I yet fail to understand. It's difficult for me to imagine how the weaker and gentler can be fully equal, though I'm trying hard to do so. And yet . . ." He shook his head. "I now better understand your pain at what comes next. Or at least I imagine that I do. Either way, please know I sorrow for you. But this is what must be, for the best of both of our peoples. Now more than ever, after what they've already accomplished. They’ll become the face of humanity among the Artemu, the standards by which your entire race will be judged by my own. Someday they'll come home to you again. I swear it—that's been the plan since the beginning. But I won't lie to you. They will have grown into full-fledged Heroes by then."
Mom nodded, and for just a moment I thought she was going to break into tears. Then the moment passed and her eyes turned hard. "Thank you for at least trying to understand, and for caring enough about my feelings to try to explain. My respect for you grows every time we meet, and, as you say, that’s good for both of our peoples."
Then she hugged us both. "Boys," she said when she was finished. "I'd like to keep you by my side more than anything in the universe. It's what you deserve, if nothing else. Yet the more I see of the situation, well . . . Rapput is correct. Bridges must be built. And if this is how his kind builds bridges, then perhaps we must be flexible on our end as well." She looked at our uncle. "Sir, I don't think that you make the mistake of underestimating the martial ability of humans. But I strongly suspect that despite recent efforts, you don't realize how much we females have historically contributed to our species' effectiveness in war. Thus, I feel compelled to offer you a small demonstration." She sat down in her chair between our beds and reached for our hands.
"My sons," Mom said once we were all three linked. "Humans have lived through good times and bad, through famine and violence and pestilence beyond measure. When circumstances change, our greatest strength lies our ability to adapt, to abandon what came before and do what it takes to survive even when these changes involve our most cherished morals and values. I wouldn't have said this before the kidnapping and all the hell it nearly unleashed, but now I understand better what our species must become if we're to have a future. After considering mankind’s long and varied history I have no fear that we’ll fail to adapt, for this is a place we’ve been before and remember well. The lifestyle and ethics of the Artemu are nothing new to us, and we know how to thrive while living under their sway.” Her face hardened, and her eyes glinted like cold steel. "You've done well in killing your enemies and your father's enemies so far here on Earth. I bless everything you've done so far. Now go, my beloved sons. Go out to the stars with your adopted uncle and show every creature you meet what you're made of. Leave them in no doubt that you’re tougher and stronger and meaner than they ever dreamed of becoming, for this is now the way of survival. Don't forget mercy and honor, but in the end . . ." She squeezed our hands so tight it hurt. "Come back to me someday, both of you. Come back and be welcomed and showered with my love. But come back either with your shield or lying on it. For in this new and violent universe, all humanity depends on it."
OTHER TITLES FROM LEGION PRINTING
By Phil Geusz:
Corpus Lupus
Descent
Lagrange
Left-Handed Sword
Space Man’s Burden
Transmutation NOW!
Wine of Battle
The David Birkenhead Series:
Ship’s Boy
Midshipman
Lieutenant
Commander
Captain
Commodore
Admiral
Edited By Fred Patten
Already Among Us, an Anthropomorphic Anthology
By B. A. Maddux
Lab Rat
By Rebecca Mickley
Exile’s Return
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