Page 68 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

“Your people have never had any major wars, only minor conflicts, because you have abundance. You don’t suffer the way others do.

And the system of government you implemented, even during the early days, prevented greed and corruption from coming to power.

That is very lucky. That alone is something almost no one else can claim.

And it’s something that you don’t appreciate nearly enough as a people. ”

He sneered. “We chose our system of government. You claim we’re lucky?”

“You’re ridiculously lucky. Your circumstances allowed you to be peaceful, to not need power.

You were able to learn and develop as a people without war, and that’s because your planet allowed it to happen.

You are lucky, and the fact that you don’t realize it is a privilege you don’t even realize you possess. ”

“What does that have to do with-”

“Because you, as a people, have never needed to make the hard choices. You’ve never had to sacrifice parts of yourself to survive.

You can look down on Sway and everything he’s done because you are fortunate enough to never be in it.

Even now, your people are protected. You became members of the Coalition immediately.

You never had to contend with another species trying to take over your planet, or claim your resources, or hurt your people.

Other species didn’t have that fortune. There are Coalition species that were enslaved for generations.

There are Coalition species that were on the verge of extinction, and everyone was forced to fight and kill just to survive.

You immediately got the protection and resources of the Coalition.

You’ve never had to worry about danger from the inside or the outside. ”

He scoffed. “You are condemning us for being smart and safe?”

“I am condemning you for not recognizing your own luck and not realizing that not everyone has the same benefits. Sway was removed from all the privileges and protections of being a farasie. He had to face the same horrors and darkness that the rest of the universe can be subjected to. And when he did, he reacted exactly the same way the rest of us would. He did anything he had to in order to survive. He committed atrocities, sacrificed others, to protect his own life. And while we can call it horrible and cruel, none of us can say we don’t understand why he did it.

You revile him because he is the harsh truth that your people are not some biologically superior beings that are better naturally . ”

Veesway remained unimpressed. If anything, his expression only became stoney and closed off. He refused to hear what she was saying. To understand Sway at all.

“Even if you’re right,” he started slowly, “it changes nothing. Even if we are fortunate, it doesn’t change who we are as a people. And who we are could never tolerate, never forgive, who he has become.”

“And I can accept that. I can.” She nodded.

“He’s done something that goes completely against what your people believe in.

It makes sense that they can’t accept him as he is.

But you are his father . You’ve spent your life searching for him.

You built an entire city, this entire Song, for the express purpose of finding and rescuing other farasie for just the barest hope that you might be able to find your son again.

And now that you have, after everything he’s done to survive this long, you would turn your back on him. Just like that ?!”

“You think this is easy for me!?” He shouted back, his voice breaking on the words.

“To look into the face of my son, my precious boy, and see what he has become. Do you have any idea what it felt like to read his file. To find out what he had done?! I am sick. I am horrified. I would have preferred he had just died!”

The echo of the sentiment continued to ring in the silence of the room. Veesway was staring at her, breathing hard. The look on his face was that of someone who had just witnessed a tragedy, and it had scarred him deeply.

And, in some part of Grace’s mind, she thought she could understand.

Veesway wasn’t actually wishing Sway had died.

No, it wasn’t that simple. To him, Sway had suffered a fate even worse than death.

He had destroyed himself, who he was as a person, with the crimes he committed.

He transformed himself into a monster, grotesque and unforgivable.

Veesway was saying that it would have been better for Sway if he had died rather than be forced to do all those things.

But that understanding was dim and distant and completely overshadowed by the simple fact that Veesway could not love his son. He could not accept his son. All the things he had done, the person he’d been forced to become, was not one that Veesway could see as deserving of life.

And Grace was sure all the people that Sway had hurt would agree.

But as someone who loved Sway more than all of them, who would trade all of their lives if it meant Sway could live, even knowing it was, objectively, an extremely lopsided trade, she couldn’t imagine how Veesway would prefer him to die.

“Fine,” she said, trying to sound hard and decisive. She only sounded sad. “We understand. I can’t force you to accept him, nor would I want to. Sway already resigned himself to your death once. He can do it again. Let us go. We’ll leave and you can imagine your son dead for the rest of your life.”

Veesway’s jaw tightened. “No. You may be carrying his hatchling. An innocent farasie. I could not protect my son from the horrors of this world, but I will protect my grandchild.”

“You can’t-Hey!”

Veesway didn’t even pretend to listen to her protests. He turned to leave. She tried to chase him down. To grab him and force him to listen to her.

But she only got a few steps and Vweet intervened. He grabbed her. Keeping her from getting any closer. His grip wasn’t hurtful, but it was firm and unyielding.

“Let me go!” She snapped, thrashing in his arms, upsetting his feathers.

But it was too late. Veesway was already gone. The door slid shut and locked back behind him. Vweet released her, stepping back quickly.

He didn’t look guilty or confused anymore. Just determined.

“Please, don’t hurt yourself,” he said. “We’ve had one of our health officers apply for human scans so they can investigate if you are carrying. It will take some time to go through.”

“They aren’t my health officer. They have no right to have human scans,” she snarled.

Vweet held out a hand, like he was trying to calm her down. “Just stay here. Be good. The domini at your door aren’t people you can overpower. So just, stay here .”

He did the motion again. Grace’s brow furrowed. Confused. He was giving her a look like he was trying to impress something on her. But if he thought he was going to make her sit and behave just because he said so, he severely underestimated her as a person.

He took a couple steps back, still giving her that look, still gesturing with his hand like she was a wild animal he was trying to keep at bay.

Only when he was at the door did he turn.

And still, even then, he gave her a couple pointed looks as he walked through, right up until the door shut behind him.

What was he doing?

Grace was still angry, but now she was also confused. Why had he been acting like that?

She tilted her head, and in so doing, something shined on the ground. Her gaze immediately, reflexively darted down.

There was a combot on the ground.

Shiny, metallic, glinting in the light of the table lamp she was still holding in her hand. It was dull, turned off, and just laying there.

Grace’s combot had been taken when she was put in this room.

There was nothing inside she could use to contact anyone.

Her hope that Sway’s crew would come back and find them was dashed already by her guards.

They already told her that a message had been sent days ago informing them that Sway and Grace had chosen to stay in the Song forever and there was no need to come back.

Days ago. They’d been making this plan for some time. They were purposefully and deliberately removing any hope they had of protecting or saving themselves.

It amazed her that they couldn’t see their own cruelty. Their own death sentence. They refused to admit they were killing them, but they were cutting off all their escape routes and making it impossible for them to survive.

But this combot…

Bending down, she picked it up cautiously. It was warm, like someone had just been holding it.

Vweet…

Her eyes darted back to the door. It remained shut. Her room quiet.

Had he dropped it? Was that why he had been acting that way? Stay here , he said, gesturing. Not like he was trying to hold her at bay, but like he was indicating to the spot where his combot was laying out in the open where he very well should have seen it.

Why would he do that? Was it a trap?

But when Grace twisted it, it powered on just like it should. It floated in front of her and obeyed when she tried to open a display screen. It wouldn’t do that unless the owner had given permission for others to use it freely.

No one wanted random people using their combots. Most people would set theirs up to respond to friends or family if prompted. But that required that person being there when the permission was given. Setting it to open usage was the only way he could get the machine to obey her as things stood.

He obviously felt guilty and conflicted. But did he really mean this…?

Grace hesitated only a moment. Maybe it was a trap, but even if it was, she couldn’t let the chance slip her by.

She didn’t have Tanin’s contact information – or anyone on the Humility, in fact. Sway was in charge of keeping in contact with the ship and, after all, she had only been a temporary passenger the last time she was there.

But what she did have was a subnet connection, and the Humble Delivery Service had a very public service request page. It didn’t have the comm signatures of the crew, but it did have a template to fill out for job requests.

Her fingers moved with the quickness of an experienced administrator. She wasn’t coy or cute about it either. In big letters, she begged for them to return. To help them. They hadn’t chosen to stay. They were in trouble.

All told, it probably took her twenty seconds to fill and send the message. It sent off without even a confirmation of receipt or promise to follow up. It seemed like a failing in the process for the service, but more importantly it made her more nervous.

Did it actually go through? Did they get it?

Maybe she should just comm the peacekeepers? She knew that Sway would be safe because he was here with their permission.

Right?

Or what if that was a lie Garnet told her to keep her from panicking? It seemed like the kind of thing they’d do to protect themselves. What if the peacekeepers didn’t know and she contacted them and then Sway ended up in a worse position?

No. She needed his crew. The people who understood him. The only ones who could be trusted to help him.

His real family.

She clung tight to the combot, waiting for some kind of signal from the page. Some sense that things were going to be okay.

It remained silent and unmoving. Even when she sent a second message through the job request page. Then a third.

Someone finally came around to clean up the mess she made with her tray and caught her with the combot in her hands. They snatched it away from her before running out. No doubt to tell on her to Veesway.

But the message went out already. Right?

Grace plopped down on the bed, her heart pounding. She looked to the window – she’d already tried and failed to break it – and out over the bright forest beyond the walls of the Song.

“Please be safe, Sway,” she begged softly, her heart clenching painfully in her chest.