“Utopial society is very benign and nurturing. The thinking goes that aliens will instinctively favor that.”

“Benign, my ass. Tranquil verging on stagnant, more like.”

“Indeed.”

“Oh, come on, you work for Connexion, for fuck’s sake. The Universal market economy worlds and habitats are goddamn dynamic. The Olyix don’t do much business with Utopials.”

“The Olyix are a single arkship colony who care only about continuing their voyage to the end of the universe, where they will meet their God at the End of Time. Anything else is secondary to that doctrine, so by necessity they adapt to local conditions. In the Sol system, trade with Earth and the habitats is the method by which they can acquire the energy to build up their supply of antimatter and continue that voyage. Therefore, they trade. The argument being, had they arrived at Delta Pavonis instead, they would now be following Utopial doctrine in their contact with Akitha.”

“Doesn’t that kind of blow the shit out of the pan-galactic Utopial theory, that every species will embrace post-scarcity benevolence?”

“In the case of the Olyix, yes. Which is why Callum is hoping for a more favorable outcome this time.”

“So what’s the deal with Yuri, then?”

I leaned in a little closer, lowering my voice. “I didn’t say this, but Yuri is a xenophobic son of a bitch. He’s got a real bug up his ass about the Olyix.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t like Kcells, apparently.”

“That’s crazy. They’ve turned out to be a medical miracle. Goddamn cheap one, too. Everybody wins.”

I shrugged. “It’s just the way he is.” I smiled and sat back to watch if that particular seed of doubt would grow into anything I could use on my mission.

—

Outside the Trail Rover, Nkya’s landscape was turning darker. The long screes of sandy regolith we traversed were now as black as volcanic dust. And maybe that’s what the stuff actually was; I’m no geologist.

Callum appeared midmorning and gave the coffee machine a thorough workout. He and Yuri gave each other a curt nod. Their war wasn’t yet over and probably never would be, but the truce was holding.

Alik went and sat next to Yuri. For a moment they both looked out of the window as we passed the scarlet strobe of a beacon post. The intrusive light caught their faces, shading them both a strange bloodred, its time-lapse flashes pulling the shadows out of hooded eyes like dramatic tears.

“So if after considered analysis we declare the alien ship hostile, what happens?” Alik asked. “Are we carrying a nuclear capability?”

“Our security drones can handle a high level of aggression,” Yuri told him. “If the spaceship becomes actively belligerent, they will contain it while we retreat.”

“Retreat in what?”

Yuri frowned, as if he’d misheard. “In this, of course.”

“Jeez, you call this a getaway car?”

“The alien ship is isolated. It doesn’t pose a threat to anything except the immediate vicinity. If that happens, we can return in a more forceful mode.”