John Ringo: Sister Time

“Always with the Darhel! The Darhel are barely half a step more civilized than your Bane Sidhe! You think they are so powerful when really—”

“Powerful enough to kill billions of human beings! You’re so fucking ashamed of being human that—”

“Why the hell would I not be? You are all ashamed of me!”

“You fraud! It’s all about you! When it gets right down to it, it’s all about—”

“It is not either!”

“The fuck it’s not!”

“Arrogant carnivore!”

“Stuck-up bitch!”

“Deluded theist!”

“Tin God!”

He didn’t even bother to sort out the name calling. Yep, they’d just about yelled themselves out. He gave the bucket the practiced heave of an experienced farmer, hitting them both squarely and pretty much equally. There was a loud splash. There was a silence. Both of them turned equally shocked and betrayed expressions on him. He reckoned neither one would be real fond of him for awhile. He valiantly and successfully resisted the urge to laugh, or even smirk. The situation itself wasn’t funny, despite their comical appearance.

“You sounded about done,” he said. “You’d started repeating yourselves.”

Michelle looked more shell-shocked than Cally. Probably the first time she’d lost her temper in, well, decades. Do her a world of good, in the long run. True to their natures, Cally recovered the ability to act first, retrieving a shotgun from the floor and pointing it across the room at the device. Yeah, the friendlies were away from it and the room around her was about right. She’d absorbed his early lessons about friendly fire right down to the bone.

He was kinda proud of Michelle, as she wasn’t but a couple of seconds behind. He shifted, and felt the other O’Neals follow his lead. Michelle was so focused on Cally, she didn’t seem to notice.

“I can stop you,” she said to her sister.

“You sure?” Cally said.

“Completely,” the Michon Mentat said, her control returned to her.

“Just one problem,” Papa O’Neal said.

“Which is?” Michelle asked.

“I absolutely forbid it,” he replied. “And I am your clan leader.”

Michelle opened and closed her mouth for a moment, stunned.

“Hard time getting around that one, huh?” Papa said, walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “All that training by the Indowy. Lineeoooie or whatever it’s called. Now, Cally might just tell me to get stuffed. She’s done it before. But you?”

“Clan Leader,” Michelle said, formally. “I respectfully request that you reconsider your decision to destroy this device.”

“Didn’t say I was going to destroy it,” Papa O’Neal said.

“Huh?” Cally shouted. “Well screw that!” she continued, pointing her rifle.

“Don’t,” Papa O’Neal said. “Seriously, Granddaughter. Don’t. I’m handling this.”

“This thing can not exist,” Cally said.

“They said the same thing about nuclear weapons,” Papa O’Neal said with a sigh. “But they do. And biological agents and all the rest. As I said, let me handle this, Granddaughter.”

“What in the hell could you want it for, Papa?” Cally asked, exasperated.

“I don’t,” Papa replied. “She does,” he added, pointing at Michelle. “And since I haven’t given her a Christmas present in years, I figure I owe her. What I’m going to ask is why? You’re an O’Neal. I know the Indowy raised you but I also know you’re my genes. You were raised by my daughter-in-law who I loved like my own daughter, by my son, before the Indowy got their linatoooie or whatever thinking in your head. You’re not going to be mind-raping people. You can’t. You’re an O’Neal. Absolute power be damned, some people just don’t care about the power. So what do you want it for?”

“A question my sister never asked,” Michelle said, nodding.

“She’s… Cally,” Papa said. “She tends to shoot first and try not to ask at all. But it’s a question you will answer. To your Clan Leader. In small words.”

Michelle seemed to consider that for a moment, then nodded.

“This device is a remnant of technology,” she began.

“Stuff I don’t already know,” Papa said.

“A remnant of the Aldenata before they… became more,” Michelle said.

“That I will admit I didn’t know,” Papa said.

“It was held by the Tchpth,” Michelle continued, apparently ignoring him. “They did not study it, for they already understood its function.”

“The Crabs can make another one?” Cally snapped. “Oh, holy shit.”

“So my point is made,” Papa O’Neal said. “The nuclear wall is breached. At that pont, you gotta figure out how you live with it. Continue.”

“The device uses Sohon techniques,” Michelle said. “But it does not require a Sohon master to operate.”

“Ain’t that interesting,” Cally scoffed. “Afraid we regular people might learn to do what you do?”

“Yes,” Michelle replied quietly. “And no. Yes, in that advanced Sohon techniques are… exceedingly dangerous. You hate and revile this machine, Cally. But it is simply an aspect of Sohon. We masters, we mentats, the Wise you so despise, have deliberately avoided exploring this area, this aspect, of Sohon. It is a violent approach to Sohon that we abhor. Mind-raping as you put it. But it is an aspect of Sohon.”

“So what you’re saying is that if you wanted to, you all could be mind-rapers?” Cally said. “Maybe I’m aiming at the wrong thing.”

“Perhaps you are,” Michelle admitted. “But to learn such advanced skills requires decades of study and discipline. Perhaps that is insufficient to prevent its misuse, Erick showed that well enough. But would you have anyone have access to such power? Consider his lieutenant. Consider the many people you have… cleansed over the years.”

“Point,” Cally said, frowning.

“That is the yes,” Michelle said. “It is clear that humanity, as a whole, is not ready for the power to simply press a button and achieve this sort of power.”

“So we destroy it,” Cally said. “The Crabs had it for how long? And they never made another one. So it’s unlikely they’re going to any time soon.”

“But there is the no,” Michelle said. “This device generates Sohon fields. Yes, it was misused. But consider the possibilities , sister. Other devices that can be used for peaceful applications of Sohon. For building that does not require such intense energy on the part of a person. New ship drives, new methods of power generation. The peaceful applications are endless.”

“Ain’t possible,” Papa O’Neal said. “Nuclear power, nuclear weapons. Chemical industry, gas factories. Medical technology, biological weapons. You never just get peaceful applications, Granddaughter.”

“It is possible if the people producing them are devoted to peace,” Michelle said, spreading her hands. “I will make a compromise with you, Grandfather. The device will be placed in the care of the O’Neal Bane Sidhe. It will be accessible only by myself and other Sohons I designate, secured in such a way as only we may access it and you may ensure yourself of that. I give you my personal word that the research will be devoted to finding the methods whereby it produces Sohon fields without the input of a Sohon master. One can learn much of nuclear power from observing a nuclear weapon, to use your own metaphor. Also electronics, manufacturing and materials technology. This is what I wish to research.”

“Cally?” Papa O’Neal asked.

“Fuck,” the woman replied, shrugging. “I dunno. I mean, if the tech is already out there… Why not just get it from the Crabs?”