Welcome to the Journal of Now and Forever. This Journal is a collection of my Star Control and Star Control 2 fiction. Note: Some of this material is, by necessity, extrapolation from the slim information provided by canon sources.

New fiction is posted first at My Livejournal before it appears here. This story is in response to 15 Minute Ficlets' Challenge #16 and The Other Write's Challenge #14.

"You. Are Now Part. Of The Hierarchy." That was how Dina pictured the voice: every word emphasized, even as threats lay unspoken in the depths of the pauses. "You. Are Battle Thralls. Disobedience. Will Not. Be Tolerated."

One of the spacers who had made first contact described the Ur-Quan voices as barely able to contain themselves from decapitating their listeners. At the time, Dina couldn't understand the description. Now she did. The pauses barely slowed their conqueror's speech; it spoke Anglic as well as any Androsynth, but seemed to desire no misunderstanding when it spoke.

"We. Will Protect You. You. Will Serve Us. You. May Hate Us. Although. You Consider Us. The Enemy. These Conclusions. Are Flawed. We Are. Your Salvation. We Bring You Peace. A Peace. Built Upon OUR. Social Framework. Imposed Upon Your Planet. A New. World Order. In Which Your Prosperity. And Security. Are Assured. By The Ur-Quan. We. Will Protect You. From The Hazards. Of This Hostile Universe. From Dangers. So Hideous. Your Simple Minds. Cannot Imagine. Their Dark Scope.

"Today. We Are The Enemy. In Time. This Will Change." The Ur-Quan Lord 419 paused, its multiple eyes blinking out of sync, mouthparts writhing. "Soon. You Will Come. To Understand. The Boon Of Slavery. We Force Upon You. And Then. You Will Revere. And Even. Love Us. For This Gift."

Dina and the other Androsynth leaders stood at attention before the screen. The Androsynth had never before needed a room-size screen to communicate with anyone in space. They did now, and had set up this arrangement as fast as effort would allow.

They all well knew their position of weakness. They had had no chance against the Hierarchy. Yet Dina wondered what could be worse than the Ur-Quan – so much worse that to think that joining them would be better. But life of any kind was better than oblivion. With life there was still hope.

"You. Will Give Us. Your Species. Information," Lord 419 said, settling its sinuous body into (Dina guessed) a more comfortable position in its ship. It was flanked by two Ilwrath – more nightmares – and in front sat a strange, beige thing. It resembled an ugly, hateful toad made of clay, with sucker feet, and it watched the Androsynth with eyes that revealed nothing. Yet when Lord 419 spoke, the toad-thing's mouth moved.

"We. Will Give You. Species Information. About. Your Fellow Thralls," the Ur-Quan captain continued. "We. Require This. To Put You. In Your. Proper. Place."

Dina felt rather than saw Kurt's body stiffen. She tried to keep her own stance relaxed yet attentive. It wasn't easy.

"You. Consider Us. The Enemy. You. Are Wrong. Androsynth. We. Are Your Salvation."

Kurt was about to say something. Dina mentally screamed at him to hold still and be quiet--

"Lord 419," Jack said, in a quiet voice.

"Speak. Androsynth."

"Lord 419," Jack repeated, stepping forward one pace. "We have agreed to be Battle Thralls in the Hierarchy. We thank you for the benevolence you have shown us in our defeat." Dina's eyes widened as Jack went so far as to drop to one knee, head bowed. "We will send our species information to your ship immediately. But I must inform you, Lord 419, that the Androsynth cannot be front-line troops if you truly wish to protect us."

"Explain. Yourself." The ten-meter body twitched down its length, though Dina couldn't say if it was in response to Jack's words, or merely a spasm.

"You will see the details in our species information, Lord 419," Jack said, raising his head. "Androsynth are sterile. We cannot reproduce. There are a finite number of us, and we are reluctant to lose too many in combat."

There was a long silence from the Ur-Quan captain, as the two Ilwrath made a noise that, in a much smaller insect, might be called chittering. Here, it was a malevolent near-snigger, as though the man-sized spiderlike beings merely waited for the order to visit the planet and tear the obstreperous sentient into bloody bits.

"How. Did You. Come About?"

Now it was time for the Androsynth to pause. As yet, as far as anyone on Eta Vulpeculae 2 knew, no one – no spacer or ground-pounder - had spoken to the Ur-Quan of Earth. Dina wasn't sure why, entirely. It wasn't like they owed the Earthlings anything – they'd fled to Eta Vulpeculae to get away from slavery on Earth, after all. And slavery still followed us. Is this our fate? Even if the Ur-Quan are someday defeated by these 'worse things' they talk about protecting us from, do we just change masters?

"We are... a... colony," Jack finally said, showing no emotion in his expression. "An unintended one. We were slaves on our home planet, and fled to come here. We have had no contact with – our ancestral planet in decades of our way of counting time. Our information on them is old."

"You. Will Tell Us. About. Your Home. Planet," said Lord 419, emphasizing the word as though it were a succulent dish to be served at a feast. "They. Must Know. The Peace. Of The Ur-Quan Hierarchy. And You. Will Fight. For Us. We. Will Find. Your Proper. Place. In Our Fleets. Disobedience. Will Not. Be Tolerated."

Jack bowed his head again. "Thank you, Lord 419," he said, in the same quiet voice as which he'd started.

In her peripheral vision Dina could see Kurt visibly shaking with rage. As soon as the Ur-Quan conquerors left them alone, she knew the battle at home would begin.

Comments? Email me: laridian at aol dot com