Ravens of Eternity

326 Earth Calling, Side A

Each of the First Feathers sat in The Nest, a highly secure room near the heart of the Raven’s Refuge. Its design held a simple elegance – circular in nature, with a slightly domed ceiling above, and well lit on all sides.

A number of comfortable, high-backed seats were arranged next to each other on one half of the room. Though there was plenty of space for over a dozen such seats, currently only seven of them were present. They were arranged in two rows – three in front, four in the back.

In each of them were the First Feathers, with Eva, Lucifer, and Claire in the front seats, while Miko, Xylo, Amal, and Kali sat in the rear.

Amarok was also a bit off to the side, curled up into a big furry ball – as though she was asleep.

In the other half of the room was a holographic pad that projected whatever was needed into the air above it, whether it was a map for tactical use, readouts of critical data, or simply for communicating across the galaxy.

Shimmering in the holofield was Mathilde de Jardin, Minister of Clandestine Operations, and Duchess of the Intelligence Branch within the de Jardin family tree.

“Duchess,” said Eva, “thanks again for helping with the wolves. There were so many, and... we just didn’t know what to do.”

“Though I almost wish I never knew about any of this,” she replied, “you were right to reach out to me. I read your briefing. Twice. If you freed them on any random planet, there’d be a good chance they’d get discovered.”

“And they’d end up in labs just like where they were born,” added Lucifer. “All over again. We couldn’t have that.”

.....

“Exactly. They were already in the hands of a House who would... compete with us. No matter the reason, we can’t have something that dangerous be in the hands of our political rivals.”

“And I hope that the de Jardins resist the urge to do their own labwork,” said Freya. “Not that I don’t trust you, Mathilde. But even you don’t know everything happening in your own House.”

Mathilde sighed deeply at the statement. It certainly bothered her to hear it. Not because she saw it as an accusation, but as acknowledgment. Though the de Jardins certainly exuded a sense of high morality, it wasn’t always the case.

She herself was perhaps the most guilty of dipping into the shadows, but that didn’t mean she was the only one.

“Which is why they’re hidden away,” Mathilde replied. “Only a few within the Ministry even know of the location. After that, there’s all of you, me, and my assistant. That’s it. No-one else. Not even Max.

“Besides their anonymity, I do have a few other worries... They’re a constantly adapting species – there’s no telling what introducing them to the sanctuary planet will do. They might upend the ecology, dominate all other life, and completely destroy the planet’s biodiversity.”

“They might also improve it,” said Eva.

“Perhaps. However, what worries me much more is the fact that a contingent of the wolves remain with the Corvus Republic.”

Eva and Lucifer didn’t have an answer for her, and instead sat in silence as they absorbed her words. Both of them – all of them – knew that keeping the wolves with them was dangerous.

Amarok perked her ear up, but otherwise remained in a ball.

“True, there might only be a couple hundred of them,” continued Mathilde, “but that’s enough. People will come looking for them. And if they hear they’re with you, well, they won’t hesitate to burn your fleet to take them.”

“We understand the situation, Minister,” Claire answered. “But it wasn’t something we could help. The wolves simply wouldn’t leave. It seemed to some of us that they were seeking asylum, so we... we ended up voting them in. I can’t explain it, honestly.”

Mathilde exhaled in resignation.

“Regardless, you have to put in some kind of contingency system in place to protect yourselves. I know you won’t like my saying it, but it needs to be said. Develop a kill switch. Not just for your sake, but for theirs. And for the balance within the Hegemony itself.

“All other Houses cannot be trusted with the knowledge of morphic genetics. Too many will use it to extend their own power. Take it from someone in power, and who is herself tempted.”

“We’ll think of something,” Eva answered. “You can trust us.”

“I do, truthfully, I do ,” Mathilde replied. “So please don’t betray that trust.”

She then wished them all well before signing off.

All of the First Feathers then exhaled in absolute relief. To most of them, speaking to the Minister was incredibly daunting and it left them tense.

She was, after all, a person who was very proficient in erasure. That made her a person to never betray, not that they ever planned to or even wanted to.

“I can’t believe I lied to the Minister!” cried Claire. “That was so scary!”

“You didn’t lie, though,” Eva answered. “We just thoughtfully left out the part where the wolves are telepathic.”

“We didn’t need to hide that. She already knows the wolves are unique. We could have just said they asked for asylum, so on and so forth.”

“We absolutely needed to hide it,” Lucifer retorted. “If we didn’t, she would’ve likely exterminated them instead.”

Claire looked at Lucifer, shocked at what ze said. She absolutely understood that Mathilde was someone that was cold and calculating. But to kill a bunch of animals because of who they were? It sounded absurd to her.

“Think about it,” Xylo added. “Animals that could shapeshift and potentially invade minds? It’s a wetwork operator’s dream existence. That’s a deep level of infiltration that has the potential to seriously upend entire nations. It’s way too dangerous, even for us.”

“I agree,” Eva replied. “But they’re now all citizens of the Corvus Republic, and we do what we can to protect each other, no matter what.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement. In fact, the fleet-wide vote they had undertaken to accept the wayward wolves was practically unanimous.

“Anyway,” she continued. “We’re about to get into an Earth Call. Everyone else can stay if you want, but don’t feel obligated to.

“Are you kidding?” said Claire. “We love it when you all talk with your families. It’s a bit like seeing how ancient humans were living on Gaea thousands of years ago.”

“Technically, that’s exactly what you are seeing,” Miko replied. “Ancient humans living their lives...”

“We get it,” Xylo said. “But you’re talking about things like portals into the past, and it’s hard for me to make scientific sense of it. ‘Coz it doesn’t. We like seeing it all anyway. Just feel so... pure.”

As they spoke, Miko’s seat and Amal’s seat slid forward to the front row, while Claire and Lucifer’s seats slid to the rear.

The Nest’s light dimmed as a two-dimensional hologram was projected into the air in front of them. On it was the Family, many of whom were calling from various parts of the world. The hologram was simply that of a screen, which was split up into six, each of which with members of their family.

In one of the sections was Miko’s parents. The one next to it had Amal’s mother and grandmother. A third, fourth, and fifth had Amal’s siblings, all of whom were off to university. And in the sixth section of the teleconference was Mack, his wife, and a bundle in their arms.

Everyone greeted each other with hearty hellos and how-are-yous, and an exchange of news began to cross back and forth.

But then all the attention turned to Mack’s newborn, whom most simply couldn’t stop gushing over.

Both Claire and Xylo utterly melted at the sight, as though something inside them was triggered. Kali looked at it with equal parts curiosity and puzzlement.

Though Eva was happy, she wasn’t nearly as impressed as some of the others. Her and Lucifer both.

“Have none of you ever seen a baby before?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Why would they?” Lucifer said. “Almost all modern procreation is automated or assisted.”

“Exactly,” Amal added. “Right after, er, the act of coitus, the fertilized embryo is immediately transferred to a fertility clinic, and put into stasis. The parents can choose when to activate the child, and when that happens, they’re accelerated to early childhood in a single cycle.”

“My daughter, the doctor! Thank God you never ended up being a poor artist like you first wanted,” Amal’s mother proclaimed happily.

“It’s true,” said Xylo. “I mean, not the whole doctor versus artist thing... The whole not a baby thing. I remember the day I was delivered to my home. I remember being really happy at the time. I think I was two?”

“Same,” Claire confirmed. “My parents had a party to celebrate my first arrival.”

“Lucky! My parents were killjoys.”

“Oh, like my parents,” joked Miko.

To which Mikko’s mother protested with, “we were not killjoys – we were poor!”

As everyone laughed and cajoled with each other, Mack suddenly called for everyone’s attention.

“So, uh, I hope this isn’t weird,” he said, “but we were thinking about naming her Eva, after you.”

Eva was immediately taken aback, and her eyes bugged out slightly at what he had said. Name his baby after her? A whole host of questions swam in her mind. But mostly...

“Why?” she spat out. “And yeah, I think that might be a bit weird.”

“Hey, it was Beth who suggested it, alright?” he replied. “And besides, why not? You’ve helped us all change our lives for the better. I wouldn’t be who I am now if it wasn’t for you.

“And my daughter’s the same way. She makes me want to be better than ever before. Why wouldn’t we want her to be more like you?”

The moment Eva heard the reasons why, an idea struck her at the same time. And she suddenly knew what to do. It had been something she was always meaning to do, but never actually got around to it.

Maybe, she was avoiding it deep down.

“Honestly, I’ve been giving my name a lot of thought for some time,” said Eva. “I haven’t needed it, not since... Well, I was thinking that I was maybe clutching onto something I still wished I had. And maybe now’s the perfect time to finally let go of it, starting with my old name.”

She smiled kindly as a tear came from her eye, rolled down her cheek, then fell from her chin.

“So how about I pass my name down to her instead,” continued Freya. “Hopefully that’ll give her the spirit to fight for it.”