Good-bye Mr. Tivk

Jenn: Morning Mr. Tivk. May I join you?

Tivk: There is no one else sitting at this table. I see no physical impediment.

Jenn: ... I mean would you like company for breakfast?

Tivk: ... I will acquiesce to your request.

Jenn: Thank you.

Tivk: Certainly. There's no need to request permission.

Jenn:The Chief has had me overhauling the Shaker the last few days. He's way upset about that whole Procurement Branch fiasco.

Tivk: Of course he is. You got caught.

Jenn: Good point. ... You would not believe how much lubricant a shuttle uses.

Tivk: I know exactly how much it uses. It is a matter of fact. My belief does not alter it.

Jenn: ...

Tivk: Ms. Jenn I am going to pre-empt you here. I dislike small talk. I have enjoyed our collaboration on designing and tweaking various items of weaponry and equipment. You have a fine eye for design and practical engineering which I enjoy encouraging and you are a suitable co-worker. That is as far as I go.

Jenn: What are you ...

Tivk: I regard your attraction to me as a compliment. Thank you. I can't reciprocate. You're human and I'm not.

Jenn: It's as simple as that?

Tivk: It should be. Anything else is not rational.

Jenn: Agreed. But then I'm not rational.

Splash!

Tivk: ... I failed to consider that.

Jenn: Arrrrrrraarrrrgh!

Stompstompstomp!

Riasi: Hurrrr. She really let you have it.

Tivk: Considering she is a trained killer with beam weapons, mini-Casaba rounds and dark matter munitions at her disposal I think it went well. Well that's over and done. When she settles down we can work on those new ideas she had.

Riasi: ... you gotta be kidding me.

Tivk's Journal
The ideal of multiple species working together in harmony is laudable. No one species is indispensable but together we become much greater than the sum of our parts. A 32% increase economically if Tauran experts are accurate and they are.

Taurans ('beanpoles' to the rabble) and humans are a case in point. Despite the many misunderstandings (on the human part) we remain your staunch ally. Despite our fervent rationality and your ... thought processes we continue to work to together. Mostly. Turning down the Tauran design for the new destroyer was unalloyed provincialism.

Taurans are tall people hailing from a high gravity planet. It is a hot planet and height allows us to radiate heat more efficiently. In addition being heigher off the ground was an aid in spotting water, greenery and other resources necessary for survival at a distance.

Taurus Prime has a thick atmosphere with a lower percentage of oxygen than most Terrans find comfortable. Taurans have a greater lung capacity than Terrans and in fact some suffer from a form of intoxication when breathing a Terran air mix for the first few days. Don't bother looking. It would only be obvious to another Tauran.

Its terrain runs strongly to desert though there are small seas and forested areas. Survival for our pre-industrial ancestors was difficult and many adapted a nomadic existence. Our culture stretches back continuously for 10,000 years and I will just mention the high points.

We are not native to Taurus Prime but were the descendants of a lost colony or refugees. Given the arrival of the Videni I find the refugee theory more likely. We lost and developed a technological civilization based on science and rationality unlike the theocratic Videni. We are tolerant of god-faiths as one would speak softly to an agitated child but place our faith in ourselves, tradition and science. Science has a better track record for us at least. Eschewing emotional reactions and outbursts maximized our intellectual and psionic potential.

We developed ftl drives in the 1500's CE. After an initial era of exploration and several dangerous encounters we settled down to develop the closer stars in peace. We entered into a golden age of extolling rationality and inward exploration.

This ended when we contacted humans.

I will explain why First Contact failed and you were shunned. Actually we shunned you long before. We had surveyed Earth and humans from space in the mid 20th century and decided against contact. We really didn't expect to hear from you for at least a thousand years. Instead two centuries later there you were contacting US. It was very disconcerting.

The other thing that was disconcerting was the way you reminded us of us.

You see the Taurans you have most of your dealings with are not quite average for our species. Most of us are over 70 or what we refer to as adults. Before that maturity that makes us embrace rationality we are juveniles. Again this might not be apparent to humans. Juveniles are treated with encouragement and even indulgence. They are not rational most of the time. They enjoy competition, procreation, excitement and in short act a lot like humans.

We do not let them off world. They would run to Terra and never come home. In any case this was the reason we shunned contact. Would you want to deal with a bunch of teenagers with starships? I will say this in defense of humans: Zangids are worse.

In any case the matter of contact and alliance was reconsidered during the Firs Contact War. The war was largely the fault of humans encroaching on what the Zangids regarded as their territory in the expanse. They had a problem when the Videni arrived as well but the Videni had a superior fleet. The Zangid may be irrational but they are not stupid.

Of course we helped you. We had no desire to see any species (except the Videni) wiped out. We had no desire to see the Zangid with a major base on Sol in the Local Bubble.
But when we saw the Zangid were going to wipe you out it triggered something. Our juveniles frequently get themselves in trouble and require help to extricate themselves. We never fail to intervene. We never intervene the first time they ask. It's the only way they'll learn.

In any case our juveniles are more human they we like to admit. They handle affairs of the heart. By the time we adults we put such distractions behind us (some more effectively than others). In any case Tauran-human hybrids are rare. few adults are interested in raising more children and juveniles have limited contact with other races though it is happening more and more.

Now I just need to get Mukh or Nok to tell all this to Jenn. I'm staying in my cabin till they do.

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