Shaza's Tears

Chapter 5

Zaroi

I enter the study, and give the Shazar the customary greeting I was taught. He smiles at me, and I think I've impressed him with my knowledge on their customs. I mentally thank Akita for helping me out, and hold in a frown as I remember her words.

It is better that you do not associate with someone like me. It will tarnish your reputation.

"Welcome to Shaza, Shin Zaroi," Jhicaro says, his white smile gleaming brightly against his burgundy skin, "I've been waiting for your arrival,"

"I'm glad to have the opportunity to meet with you, Jhicaro Shazar," I say, and he motions me to a chair as he sits across from me. There is a spread of all kinds of exotic foods before us, and my stomach growls at the smell. its been a while since I've had fresh, home cooked food, "it is an honor to be here,"

"Please, just call me Jhicaro," he says with a smile, and begins to fill his plate with various foods, "help yourself. I'm sure you are famished,"

"Yes, I am," I chuckle as I begin to fill my own plate. I'm excited to try all of these new foods, and from the smell, I have a feeling they all taste wonderful. I'm also surprised by how well he speaks common. Akita and his daughters were also well educated, but they still had fairly strong accents. His was nearly non-existent. "So, I'm not sure how these kinds meetings are held with your people. Would it be offensive to simply get to the point?"

"No, not at all," he laughs at my bluntness as he Tears at a piece of jerky with his teeth, "So, there are only a few issues I have with trading the Tears. One of them is a very serious issue, and I have a feeling you won't like what I have to say,"

"Launa showed me the reaction with the metal," I cut in, and his eyes widen slightly. I know this is the issue he is speaking of, and I figure its a good place to start, "I inspected the Tears with and without the metal... And I noticed that, when welded into metal, the Tears lose the life energy they held before. I agree that it is an issue and I am willing to work with you on it,"

"Really?" he seems thoroughly surprised, and I just nod in answer, "I must say, that is a refreshing change to the typical reaction. I'm glad you understand our plight,"

"I apologize for the previous lack of respect you've dealt with in this issue," I say, and then steel myself as I speak my next words. They could make or break this deal, "I think that, considering the circumstances, it would be useful to send some of the Tears into a lab for testing. If we are able to learn more about the mineral, we might find better uses for it. Maybe even find metals that are more suitable for what we want to use them for. Metals that won't kill the energy residing in them,"

"I am on board with lab testing. I think that is a wonderful idea," he says with a smile, "as much as my people rant and rave about this God of theirs, I think that, realistically, we would do better to look at this issue from a scientific angle. Are you aware that the energy only manifests

after

the Tears are melted?"

"I was not,"

"Take a look for yourself," he says, and he lifts a clear bag full of the Tears from his pocket and hands them to me. I hold them in my hand and I'm surprised to find that he is right, "I find it peculiar that heat brings life to them. I have no idea what it means, but I'm interested in finding out. I also have some mixed news about this...

Situation

with the metal,"

"Let's hear it, then," I say as I hand the bag back to him and return to eating, "I'm all ears for any suggestions you may have,"

"Take a look at this," he says, and hands me a shard of lavender metal. I have never seen anything like it before, "I'm sure you are aware of the dark side of our planet? The side we have refused the union access to?"

"Yes. I also know that something out there is causing our technology to malfunction," I continue to inspect the metal as I speak, "I'm assuming this metal comes from that side of the planet?"

"Try to access your interface with the metal near its system,"

I turn on my interface and frown as it starts to malfunction and the entire piece hisses, pops and then turns off. The metal completely fried my interface, but I don't let my irritation show. I will need to acquire a new one and simply hope Mehkel doesn't need to contact me for a while. Right now, I need to pay attention to what Jhicaro is telling me, because I have a feeling that its going to be extremely important.

"Now, take a look at this," he says, and trades the lavender metal for a darker, bluish purple chunk of metal. I feel a strong energy emanating from it, and its even stronger than the energy that I felt in the Tears, "that is what happens when you mix Shaza's Tears with the metal I just showed you. It also stops effecting your technology the way the metal does alone. its denser than Ulitium, much, much lighter, and... Well, I think this is something you need to see for yourself,"

He stands from his chair and walks over to a chest near the back corner of the room. He opens the chest and pulls out a thin sheet of the blue metal he just showed me, and returns to his place across from me. Once he's situated himself again, he hands me the thin sheet and I wonder what he's going to show me.

"Try and crumple the sheet," he tells me, and I crush the sheet between my hands. its as thin as foil, and gives easily under the pressure. But when I release my grip, I gasp as it pops back out to its original form and I almost drop it in the process, "where Shaza's Tears break under pressure... Combined with this peculiar metal, it is not only nearly indestructible, it is also incapable of warping,"

"Fascinating," I whisper, and then frown again. This just got ten times more complicated, "so, we have a compatible metal. In fact, this new discovery is even better than what we originally thought capable. The only problem is we can't transport it. We also can't mix the two and then remold it later, because the substance is unmaleable after its cooled down,"

"The only option would be to build the pieces here, and have them shipped directly from Shaza," he finished with a wistful smile, "you would also have to build a laboratory here, if you intended on including the metal in your testing,"

"I don't know if testing the metal is even possible at this point, considering it fries any technology that comes in contact with it," I reply with at frown, and hand the sheet back to him, "at any rate, we have had similar issues to this one, and the U.D.C. would be willing to work with you. We have no issue constructing the material here. It would be worth the trouble, considering the potential pay out,"

"I wish it was that simple,"

"You think the Shazarine won't be so willing to work with us?"

"its not

my

people I'm worried about," he sighs, and then smiles at me, "tell me, did you notice anything different between my daughters and the rest of the Shazarine population?"

"I..." the sudden shift in conversation throws me off for a second, and I struggle to understand where he's going with this, "I haven't had much exposure to be able to compare them,"

"Ah yes, I'm sure then, that you did not notice their subtle differences in appearance," he tells me as he cracks the shell from the leg meat of some exotic animal, "all Shazarine have dark skin, curly bronze hair, and blue eyes like mine. We

all

have these things in common,"

I process what he's telling me, and immediately think of Akita. Her skin was so dark it was nearly black, and if it weren't for the intense lighting from the sun, I probably wouldn't have noticed the deep red undertone. Her hair was a deep Caramel color that fell in tight ringlets around her face, and her eyes were the same cerulean color of the Tears that covered their planet. Compared to his daughters, I could see the difference. Their skin was a lighter color, and their hair was bone straight and lighter in color as well. I thought of Launa's striking violet irises and frowned. What was he getting at?

"You see it now, don't you? I'm sure you are wondering why they look so different," he says, and I look up at him in confusion as he takes a bite of a hard bread. He crunches it between his teeth, and I'm certain he's purposefully pausing for the effect. He swallows and then smiles up at me, and I fight my impatience for him to continue, "you see, my wife was only half Shazarine,"

"Wait... I don't understand... We only made contact four years ago, and..." I trail off as realization sinks in. There is another humanoid race living on the planet, "you're saying there is an entirely different race of people living in the Shadowlands?"

"its the only explanation," he says, and it dawns on me that he doesn't even really

know

. So basically, there was a whole other civilization on the other half of the planet, and the Shazarine haven't ever tried to make contact? "Tetinari was discovered as an infant, swaddled in a crib next to the infant of her families biological child. We believe she was placed there by a person from the other side. Why, I am uncertain,"

"Maybe they thought she would have a better life on this side of the planet,"

"its very possible," he mused, and then frowned as he seemed to consider something, "what I am about to tell you... It needs to remain between us. I can't have the union meddling in the delicate structure of our society. I understand not all of our customs are ethical, but it is going to take time to change them, do you understand?"

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you have to say,"

"I think you're right," he agrees, and pauses in thought. I wait for him to collect himself before continuing, and I steel myself for whatever he's going to say, "for generations... many generations, it has been custom to send criminals across the threshold to the Shadowlands. We always assumed that they didn't survive the trek. It was meant to be a brutal form of execution for the worst of our people,"

"You mean to tell me..." I swallow as I consider my next words, "you mean to tell me that this race of people is a direct lineage of your criminals?"

"I'm not honestly sure. They could have been there beforehand. I have no idea," he says, and I can hear the regret in his tone, "one thing is for certain. If a mother was willing give up her baby to a better life, then sending our rapists and murderers into their territory is an even worse crime. But I'm also unsure of what they actually do with these people, and since its been a part of their lives as long as it has been ours, I'm hesitant to change it."

"I can see what you mean," I admit. As much as I don't like it, this has been going on for years, and to make such an abrupt change to their culture could be detrimental, "I don't like it, but its obvious you don't either,"

"No, I don't," he agrees, and he threads his fingers together, resting his chin on them as he looks at me, "what I have done, however, is change the policy. We only send the lesser criminals now. The worse men and women are simply executed,"

"For all you know, they are taking these people and enslaving them. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"For all I know, they are taking these people in and including them in their society. Tetinari is half Shazarine. She could be a product of rape, but I'm not willing to make an assumption like that with the little amount of knowledge I have," he shot back, and his reply gave me pause. Yes, he could be right, "I know its not morally humane... But its the best solution I can come up with for now,"

"No, you're absolutely right," I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose between my finger and thumb. Complicated doesn't even begin to cover it, "listen. As much as you are reluctant to discuss this with the union. They need to be informed. I'm not going to say anything, but you should seriously think about this. For all you know these people are suffering and in need of our help. The Union could help bridge the gap between your societies, and if you voice your concerns, I can assure you that they will work with you. This isn't the first time they have handled delicate social constructs. If you want this to work, you need to learn to trust them,"

"Before I do that I need a better understanding of what's going on," he says, and I frown. Doesn't he understand that the union can help him with this issue? "Zaroi, I know what you are thinking, and I agree with you. But if I allow the union to come in and take over control, I will lose respect from my people. They will find me incapable of doing my job, and see fit to replace me. I'm sure you understand how that could complicate things,"

"I suppose you're right," I say, and run my fingers through my hair as I think about all of the information I've been given, "I guess this is the part where I offer my assistance, considering we can't wrap up this contract until you can include the metal into the deal?"

He just smiles that gleaming smile, and I sigh again. 'Complicated' is such a fucking understatement.