“They were ‘aggrieved’ because your processes don’t honor the people present. You tried to hold resources over their heads. The same go-to playbook of LISC in your support of supremacy. You haven’t learned that money doesn’t put us on a leash. Ever.”

“My. Someone had to get something off their chest.” Zenith took a bite of the fruit. Its loud, crisp crunch echoed in the shadows. “It’s easy to nitpick, complain, and tear down after we were the ones who did the actual work to make a difference.”

“And what would you have Muungano do?”

“Be at the table. I don’t fully understand all the circumstances around this ‘Orun Gate’—though it is a naturally occurring phenomenon—but people inform me that you or someone from your ‘community’ in leadership needs to be in the room for access negotiations.”

“Not like the good old days when you could just Manifest your Destiny.”

Stacia refused to bite at his “naturally occurring phenomenon” line. He was clever and slick, but fishing, nonetheless. “If I understand this right, your masters are yanking on your leash for you to bring us in.”

“Technological leaps require societal cooperation and adjustment. We go through these periodic changes in human society. Take the agricultural revolution, for example. When we figured out how to grow food in a stationary place, the whole game changed. We no longer had to be strictly hunter-gatherers. We could stay in one location for extended periods of time and grow our own food. Forcing us to build a culture unifying people groups to cooperate, manage it, water it, harvest it.”

“‘We’ became slaves to wheat,” Stacia said.

“Yes. Wheat, the technology and systematic impact of agriculture, tricked us into serving it and spreading it around the world. Similarly, you don’t own the wormhole, and you certainly don’t control it.”

“Neither do you. We never claimed ownership. We don’t have ‘private property.’ Just like one can’t own air or water or land. They are part of the commons for the good of all. And yet you appear ever ready to exploit it. Well, let me be clear for you and your masters: We are here. Right now. We occupy the space around the Orun Gate. And most importantly, in the language you understand, we have the power to secure it.”

Unfazed, Zenith freshened his cup of tea. With exaggerated grace, he tested the temperature, blew its surface, and proceeded to sip. Once Stacia crossed her arms in growing impatience, he began again.

“There is a group of loyalists on Earth, who, shall we say, have found a sympathetic ear within LISC against the so-called Interstellar Alliance.”