Ivory Rings

By Odlan Solaz

The door opened with a soft hiss and cool air hit my face. The office before me was dominated by a large desk in the middle, the fake wood betrayed by the host of holograms that spread from its surface. Behind the desk sat a Taurian with russet brown fur. The yellow curved horns and the rigidity of his posture made the frown on his face all the more intimidating. After a few seconds of silence I steeled myself and walked in. The bull welcomed me by raising a single finger while his eyes remained glued to the holographic screens. The message was clear so I busied myself by scanning the room. “You can learn much from someone’s room”, my mentor had always said and I had taken that to heart. The room was neat and clean, giving the place a fresh look. To either side rose wide shelves of metal. One was occupied with boxes, each one marked with brightly colored stamps. The other held a mix of tablets and personal items, with the bottom rows holding sturdy tablets side by side, without any markings to differentiate them. The tops rows were a different story, with a mix of trees made of wire and crystals and pictures of the Herd. One in particular stood at the center, like the one Daniel had shown me during his interview. Eight taurians stood in front of the house, their clothes dotted with paint and dirt. Ted stood at the center, lifting Daniel and a short black cow with a strong hug. A broad smile was clear on his face and those of his companions. Next to them stood a russet brown bull with his arms crossed and an open smile. Martin stood by the side, pulling Andres back by the collar to be closer to the gang. The look of surprise and mirth on the bull betrayed his excitement.

“We took that pic last year, Andres wanted it to be a family picture only but Martin pushed the issue.” said a rough voice from my side, before the yellow horned bull walked towards me. He gingerly picked the holochip and with a quick brush of his finger enlarged the image. “It took quite a few pictures to get this one. Those two kept moving too much until Eloise threatened to hold back her cookies.”

“That made them stop?”

“Oh, only for a few seconds. But it was enough.”

“Are they that good? The cookies, I mean.”

“Best I have ever tasted, she has a way of making that honey flavor last after you eat them. I haven’t figured out how yet.”

I nodded at the bull and watched in silence as the bull fiddled with the chip for a few moments. He let out a satisfied grunt and turned to face me with a slight smile. His bionic amber eyes stared into mine, the slight glow from the pupils betraying their electronic nature.

“Sorry about the wait, work took a bit longer than I expected.”

“It’s okay, I know how it is and besides you’re the one hosting me.”

“Teddy is the one hosting you, and that carries quite the weight around these parts. But we can discuss that later. You wanted an interview right? About the program and the farm if memory serves?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Though you don’t have to delve into anything you don’t want to or can’t talk about.”

“Hmm...I see. And you’ve already spoken to the others, right?”

“Yes, I’m only missing your interview and the ladies’.”

“Then you should have a good idea about our farm but do you know how the program came to be in the first place?”

“You had lost too many after the war and--”

“But not all wars result in such a program, do they? And even then why such a program instead of economic incentives?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t find much on the war to begin with. Most of the records are spotty.”

“Yeah, that they are. The war ended not so long ago, and most people are still grappling with its after effects. It certainly didn’t help that we lost so many so quickly. Something that made record keeping hard, even to this day. But it’s best to start at the beginning.”

I put on my recording glasses and once everything was set up, I gave Raul a thumbs-up. The bull breathed deeply, one hand playing with his chin’s fur.

“Since the Taurian republic was formed 579 years ago, it’s been known for three things above all others: the quality of our produce, the strength of our metals and the....’innovations’ in certain fields of medicine. Yeah, they’re precisely what you imagine. This we owe in part to our luck, the republic had five garden worlds within our borders, all used to great extent. It allowed us a degree of flexibility when it came to trading, as we could produce a fair bit of what we needed on our own, and in lean times, we didn’t need as much as other countries. We also had several deposits of rare metals that allowed us to contribute to the mass production of faster-than-light drives and, in time, of a few unique brands of alloys for spaceships. As you can guess, this made us quite rich and it painted a big target on us as well.”

“So you had lots of troubles with invasions?”

“Fewer than you’d guess, we were fortunate that over the years we had formed alliances that discouraged attacks from our neighbors and the few attacks we did have were stopped by the strength of our navy. Though part of that glory goes to the shield system surrounding our outer worlds. It was a marvel back then, a web of interweaved shields that would dissipate most forms of lasers and repel a fair bit of kinetic weaponry. We believed that as our planets were their prize, no would-be conqueror would risk employing the few exceptions to those shields. And if they did, well, our navy was well prepared to prevent that.”

“I admit that it was overconfidence talking back then, or maybe a lack of experience, but regardless, when the Evenian Empire started spreading, we prepared in the usual ways. We reinforced our alliances, shored up our defenses and waited. Perhaps it would have been better to make the first move or perhaps we did what we should have, I’m not sure yet. What matters is that the Empire struck against an old ally in the inner rim first and while we mobilized to provide support, they hit our outer planets. Thankfully, the first months of invasion were slow, with the Empire’s forces stretched thin across their borders, they didn’t have enough power to break through our defenses. Casualties were kept low as the navies fought for dominion well away from any planets and a few nebulas in the area blocked most safe routes of reinforcements. The fall of Nerivia after the assassination of its leading council complicated things all over. With new imperial troops coming to our borders, our navy started to feel the pressure. Still, the frontlines remained in place for three more years. On the eve of the fourth year of war, the Empire surprised us with their new weapon.”

The bull leaned back in his chair, his bionic eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, His ears twitched nervously before he sighed and continued his tale.

“They were small cannons, easy to miss in the large mess that were the frontlines. But these cannons were loaded with a very peculiar rock, Azlunite. You see, it was not radioactive by nature and even when subjected to the proper conditions it took a while to work and decayed fast. It was deemed as useless for most of our known history. The Evenians thought differently, they loaded their cannons and distributed it all over the frontlines. At once they started their attacks and before our very eyes, all our shielding collapsed. When a properly treated azlunite bit is put in contact with standard shielding, it interferes with the energy transfer between the nodes of a shield. If it’s also shot at high speeds, well, you get the idea. We lost 40% of our navy in the fights that followed, a loss that stung hard and made recovery a challenge. Yet, the empire had miscalculated, their new ammo was too potent, too uncontrollable. Shots meant to disable the planetary defenses not only destroyed the shields but caused massive explosions on the systems and the radioactive pellets continued their descent.”

“Our defenders retreated to the next line of defense, leaving behind several planets at the mercy of the Empire. It was weeks before we heard anything about the planets, let alone survivors. The damage done to the planets was considerable. The lucky ones remained inhabitable with only a few cities lost. One of our garden worlds wasn’t so lucky, the impact caused a series of volcanic eruptions that made the planet uninhabitable for months. Survivors were few and far between. But I’ll let Lydia give you the details on that one.”

“How did the Empire react to that? Did they retire their weapon? Stop the invasion?”

“If only, no. They wrote it off as casualties of war and claimed they were forced to do so to quell the barbarians. Some things never change. Of course, with their conquered territory no longer providing them with the bounty they desired and the memory of Falling Skies so fresh in everyone’s mind, they pushed harder. I’d like to say that we held the back like a bastion of justice but we didn’t, our navy could barely hold them back and more planets fell to them. It was around that time that more desperate measures were taken. One of those you should be familiar with.”

“The officer program Ted was part of?”

“Yes, though it had an official name, it was known as project Bastion to most. I am not proud of what was done there and all I know about it is surely only a bit of the truth. Desperation is quite the twisted thing. We needed soldiers, we needed leaders, and we had no time to build them up the usual way. Ted almost never talks about those days and I’ve always been afraid to ask too much. This much I know, from the roughly ninety thousand recruits that were part of the program, only twenty thousand are still alive and half that number is undergoing treatment at different mental health facilities.”

The bull closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging. Russet brown hands came to rest on the bull’s gut, interlocked fingers trembling. I reached out and placed my own hand over his, before I said, “If you need some time we can continue this later.”

Amber eyes stared at me, firm with resolve. The bull cleared his throat but he never rejected the offered hand. Instead, he covered it with his as he continued.

“Whatever methods were employed, the project did fulfill its promises. With the new promoted officers, operations on all fronts went smoothly and the Empire’s new weapons were soon neutralized at the core. Sabotage of the mining facilities inside the Empire ensured the Empire was running on a limited amount of their best weapon, while diplomatic overtures to allies reduced their importation to a trickle. Five more months of war culminated when a joint operation between six states crushed the main invasion force of the Empire, taking out his royal Higness Everning. The death of the Emperor threw a wrench into the Imperial machinations, in-fighting broke out as soon as the news reached them, and reach them they did. Every allied state broadcasted the news in as many frequencies as possible and spies inside the Empire distributed the news to every corner of it.”

“But why was the Emperor there in the first place? Wouldn’t he have been safer in his country?”

“He would have yes, but his royal highness was never one to take the prudent route. Even before he had taken the throne he had deployed on many fields of battle, and according to Ted, his strategies were formidable. Maybe that’s why he didn’t think it was a risk to head out that day. Or maybe he thought himself invincible. I can’t say for sure. The one thing everyone knows is that he died on that day.”

“From that point on, the Empire was beset by enemies at every turn. Rebellions broke out in captured territory, the Imperial court was a mess of betrayals, and the army was left in disarray as conflicting orders came every minute. The war ended on the tenth year. The empire had been reduced to a quarter of its size, the captured territory repossessed by what remained of the old countries and we were finally free to worry about other things. And we had plenty to worry about.”

The chubby bull got up from his chair, his legs carrying him slowly to one of the shelves. His fingers traced some of the tablets before he picked one and came back to the desk. The tablet lit up with a touch of his finger and after a bit of searching a series of holograms appeared before us.

“These are the official reports of the army at the end of the war. I...I kept copies of it after they were released and I checked them more times than I care to count. But as you can see, we were not left in the best situation. Economically we were in shambles, population wise we were at around a tenth of what we had been before the war. Politically we were also a mess. Not only were there planets recovering from the invasion but the sense of unity created by the war was gone. The old grievances started popping up and we were short on experts of every sort. We needed workers and resources if we wanted to return to any sense of normalcy and we didn’t have enough of our own.”

“And that’s why the program was born?”

“In part, there is one more thing that led to that decision. Sarah can give you the thorough explanation, but the simple one is, the Empire fucked us up in more ways than one. Years of fighting them had messed with us in a deep way and our fertility had come to an all-time low. Treatments for that are still being developed but it’s a slow process, too slow for us to recover in time. The program was designed for that. Plenty of research material, plenty of data from a variety of persons, and a way to recover our lost population.”

“Couldn’t you let more people in your country to make up the difference? If you were in such dire situations some extra hands would have been welcome.”

“We did, brought in as many as we could. The shadow of the Empire’s wars still hung over us though, and every country touched by them was scrambling to get immigration flowing their way. Trained professionals were worth their weight in gold, even trainees were poached at the earliest opportunity.”

“And you think it was a good idea?”

“I wasn’t sure at the time, and I don’t think I’ll live long enough to find out the answer. I hope it is. I hear about all the good it has done from Sarah and Ted, I’ve run over some of the numbers myself and they are inspiring. But I’m not sure if it will all turn out well, I’m no longer sure about any sort of future.”

“Do you regret joining it?”

“No. Whatever it may become, I have no regrets about this. It may not be much, but we’re rebuilding in our own way, at our own pace. There’s little else for us to do but wallow in despair. And that I would regret.”

---

“Brian, come here for a second!” shouted Ted from the house, his strong voice carrying all the way to the barn.

Martin let out a chuckle besides me, shaking his head before he said, “He always forgets he can call any of us through the network.”

“Sorry, I should go see what he needs.”

“Don’t be, we can continue this another time. Maybe you can show me more of your planet, seems like quite the place.” The bull said with an amused tone, donning his working gloves once more.

“I will if you give me a few more stories of Mr. Braun’s childhood.”

The titanic bull laughed and with a soft push sent me on my way. I trotted all the way back to the house, where the Sire stood waiting. His tail swung from side to side energetically while his eyes shone with excitement.

“Glad to see you’re getting big Marty to open up. He doesn’t go out as often as he should,” he said once we were close.

“I just offered to help for a bit, the talking was a surprise for me as well.”

“Well, as long as you two enjoyed yourself it’s all good for me. Now, I know this is a bit out of the blue, but the girls called a while back and they’ll be here soon.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. I thought it would be some more days before they returned.”

“Things went well this time, so they are coming back a day earlier. Which is where you come in, my dearest Eloise wants to talk with you right away. Well, as soon as she gets here.”

“Sure, I can do that. When will they arrive? I need to make sure my devices are charged.”

“Right about… now. There they are. I am quite sure Lydia is driving. That girl doesn’t know how to take it easy.”

The bull pointed out to a speck in the distance, a soft golden point that dotted the purple sky. I didn’t have much time to appreciate it before the rough shape of a vehicle caught my eyes.

“She really loves her fields and she never loses a chance to get back to them. You may want to stand behind me, she’s a good driver but she will want to show off.”

True to the bull’s words, the hover traced sharp curves around the house before it landed softly a few meters before us. Ted’s tail beat against my leg as three cows exited the hover.

“I told you we would get here before sunset,” said the tallest cow, her dark brown fur contrasted by her deep red shirt.

“I only said I didn’t want to miss dinner Lydia, not that I wanted to be in an action movie,” shot back another cow, her sand yellow fur shining under the setting sun.

“Oh Sarah, you can say you had fun,” the smallest cow added as she climbed down from the hover. Her long cream dress meshed nicely with her fur, black with spots of white and brown.

“It would have been fun if my heart didn’t threaten to break from my chest!”

“Oh, love, I’m sure that’s not why your heart was so excited,” Lydia replied as she gave the yellow cow a quick kiss.

“You’re lucky you’re so beautiful.”

Ted laughed as he crossed the distance. In a feat of strength, the bull picked all three ladies in a hug and swung them around. A chorus of laughter came from the bovines, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Oh, Teddy, stop, I’m getting dizzy,” shouted the smallest cow. The bull did as instructed but hugged them tightly all the same.

“You’re all beautiful, lovely and handsome,” Ted said with unabashed love, giving each of the ladies a quick kiss,

“Alright, alright, no need to pull out the big guns,” Lydia replied with a happy tone as she broke away from the hug.

“We missed you too big bull,” added the tri-colored cow as she caressed Ted’s muzzle.

The quartet continued trading sweet nothings for a few minutes more while I did my best to not infringe on their intimate moment. The tri-colored cow was the first one to notice me, letting out a small gasp before she patted the Sire on the chest.

“Oh, Teddy, why didn’t you tell us our visitor was waiting for us?”

“Well, I had three beautiful people before me, it escaped my mind.”

“Dreadfully sorry for the rudeness,” the cow said as she approached me, gifting me a big smile, “Eloise Haldir, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. The boys have been talking about you all over our chat.”

“Brian Loreto, the pleasure is mine, Mrs. Haldir.”

“No, no, no Mrs. Haldir with me, call me Eloise. I’ve been hearing so much about you it feels like we already know each other.”

“El, give the man some time to breathe.” Sarah intervened, shaking her head at the shorter cow. “Sorry about that, she’s been really excited about this whole interview business.”

“It’s been years since someone came to visit from outside this planet Sarah, I’d say it’s right to be excited.”

“Whatever you say, El. Sarah Medina at your service, Teddy speaks highly of you.”

“I feel he has spoken of me to everyone.”

“Well, at least with us he has, being part of the Herd and all.” Eloise replied with a kind tone. “But it was all good, don’t worry.”

“El...”

“Alright, alright, I’ll go start dinner then, I’m sure you could all use a big feast for the night. Don’t be a stranger, Brian,” Eloise gave me one final curtsy before she went inside the house.

“As for me, I have a mountain of reports to work over. I’ll see you later Mr. Loreto.” The sand yellow cow left as well, heading for the “milking” barn with purpose to her step.

“Those two really bailed on us, we must be losing our touch,” Lydia said, poking Ted’s stomach with her elbow.

“Like you’d be any different if it wasn’t so late. You’d head straight for the fields and spend the day there.”

“Someone has to make sure everything is in order around here, specially with you boys being trapped in that barn all day.”

The two taurians laughed as I approached them, the easy rapport between them easing any doubts I had. Ted’s ears twitched once I was in front of them and his eyes shone with mischief.

“So you’re offering to take my place in the barn? I could use a break, you know how needy the boys get.”

“Oh no, you’re not pulling that one on me again. Once was enough.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind keeping our dear guest some company? Maybe do that interview while you’re at it.”

Lydia huffed at that, her tail smacking Ted’s rear with a quick move. The bigger bull laughed it off, caressing his partner’s arm with a stray finger.

“I can stay here if you want.”

“Fine, fine, I’m not getting anything done today either way.”

“You heard her lad, you got your glasses ready?”

I nodded as I pulled out the glasses from my pocket. The display showed forty percent of battery left and I hoped it would be enough for the whole interview. The recording program was set up in a matter of seconds and soon the red dot of recording appeared in the edge of my vision.

“Alright, so where do I begin? Is there some protocol for this?”

“You can begin wherever you want and you only need to share what you’re comfortable with. I can guide you with some questions, but anything you give me would be a big help.”

“Have the others already talked about the war?”

Ted pulled Lydia close at the mention of the war and she leaned into the touch. The way her ears dropped only confirmed my supposition.

“They have all covered it, Raul even filled out some of the blanks in my research.”

“Good, good, so I don’t need to talk much about it.”

“If that’s what you prefer...”

“It is.” There was steel in her tone and pain reflected in her forest green eyes.

“Then, whenever you are ready.”

“The war sucked, I don’t think anyone can deny that. It was worse if you were close to the battle, obviously. Food was scarce, the threat of bombing was ever present and drafting was tougher than anywhere else. I joined the war effort like every damn fool in my town. Farmers became soldiers and we did as good of a job as you can imagine.”

“You did get training, right?”

“Yeah, we got training, for as much good as it did. Training or not you still had to spend days in a tiny space knowing one shot could end it all. Training only meant you knew what to hit before you were done in.”

“You did better than most even back then.” Ted interjected, caressing Lydia’s back.

“Well, I was very angry and there was a chance to take that anger on people who deserved it. But, that doesn’t matter. The only good thing I got from the war is this big lug over here and Sarah.”

“How about the others?”

“I like them all alright, Eloise can do one marvelous Tres Leches cake. Daniel takes care of all the annoying stuff and Andrew is almost funny now.”

“And Martin?” I asked, earning a huff from the dark brown Taurian.

“Martin is a decent farmer, alright, he’s a good farmer. Reliable even. You give him a task and it’s as good as done. But he needs to care about himself more, if I hear him say one more time that he can adapt to our rhythm I’m going to--”

“Lydia, dear.” Ted said softly, making the cow close her eyes.

“I know, I know. It is very irritating that he still goes on about that. Where were we?”

“The war and what you got from it.”

“Yeah, so the war gave me some of the best friends anyone could ask for but it took a fair bit as well. My....my home planet was....The falling skies, well....my family didn’t make it. So after it ended I didn’t have anywhere to go or anything I wanted to do. And I had all this pain and anger in me that I didn’t know what to do with.”

“You weren’t the only one.”

“I know, I know. It did feel like I was alone in that.”

“Did the military help in any way with that?”

“They gave me the number of an official therapist or something, with a waiting list larger than Ted. So, yeah, it didn’t help for a long time. The compensation post-discharge did help us get set up here. And boy did we need that because it was a mess.”

“Ly...” Ted said with a melancholic tone, his tail falling flat behind it.

“I know it hurts to hear it but it was the truth. I was surprised your parents managed to do as much with what they had.”

“Could you elaborate on that?” I asked before the two could go on another tangent.

“Well, there was a lot of wear and tear in the equipment as a whole and some of the areas on the outskirts of the farm had fallen into disuse.”

“There weren’t a lot of hands available to help with the war and my parents alone couldn’t cover the whole place, after dad fell on his knee, well...”

“On top of that, all the garden worlds had specific seed banks. The war had placed a toll on them like everything else, food needed to be distributed to the frontlines after all. With one of those banks essentially out of commission, the others had a hard time providing farmers with seeds everywhere. Of course, no self-respecting farmer would be caught without a bank of their own. The problem was, every farmer had used all of their reserves to scrape by. So things were pretty dire.”

“What did you do then?”

“We threw a party of course!” Lydia shouted before she caressed one of her horns and gave me a quick bow, “Sorry, had to make the joke. The truth is, we had to work hard from the get-go. Teddy and I led the efforts, doing as much as we could each day but even then, it seemed like an endless task. The first couple of years were spent pretty much on restoring the farm. our first crops weren’t nothing to write home about. The end of the second year brought with it a plague that should have broken us.”

“But it didn’t?”

“No, Ly saved us from it with a brilliant reckless idea.”

“You only say that now, but boy how did you fight me on that one.”

“What was the idea?”

“I had acquired a few seeds from my homeplanet. I had been looking for something to keep from my old place and seeds had been all my life before, so it was fitting. When the plague hit us and the usual crops started to die I gathered everyone and proposed we planted my own seeds to see if it worked.”

“But wouldn’t the plague kill them too?”

“That was one of the risks, yeah. There was also the fact that the soil was different from the one I had worked at home, climate was different as well, and the list goes on. We had no way of knowing if my seeds would make it or if it was the soil that had gone bad. There was no way to find out before it was too late to plant either. So it was a bad plan altogether. And I defended it like a fury.”

Ted shook his head and huffed, earning a soft slap from Lydia’s tail.

“She argued with us for days on that one until we relented....to a small plot.”

“It was one of the few plots that survived that season.”

“Even with that, we didn’t get as much as we needed on that harvest nor on the next. But we made do with what we had. For years. And then you married Sarah.”

“Are you telling the story now?” Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow, reigniting the mischievous glint in Ted’s eyes.

“If you want to, I still got pics of the wedding, you looked so beautiful with that--”

“Nope, my story, I tell it.”

“You married Sarah after the plague?”

“Yeah, it was our third year here and I had been going out with her for about a year I think. She was so smart and funny, and whenever she talked I could just get lost in her voice. She also listened to me so well that, I...we married soon after. The therapy helped too, the pain didn’t sting as much and the anger was easier to focus.”

“They became quite the team, none could stand against them.”

“You speak as if we ran a prison.”

“Well, when you put it that way...”

“Teddy! You scoundrel.” the brown cow replied, pushing the bigger bull softly. Ted laughed and raised his hands in mock surrender-

“I’m only joking, Ly, only joking.”

“Hmmph. Well, two years after I married Sarah, I also married this big lug. He cried the whole morning before it, he was so happy about it. The honeymoon was amazing too.”

“Anything for you my dear,” the white-furred bull whispered before he planted a quick kiss on her lips.

“Teddy, behave!” Lydia replied with a teasing tone, her tail swinging excitedly behind her.

I held back a chuckle at the antics from the two taurians. Giving them a few seconds before I cleared my throat and asked, “Were you already in the program then?”

“No, the program came about 13 months after that. It was quite the announcement too. Letters were sent to every citizen of the republic. Full description and hotlines were set up for any questions and our dear Sarah even got a few calls from some government researchers or something.”

“They were their friends Ly...”

“I’ve never met them so they’re friendly government researchers at best. Still, it was a good cause with some nice benefits. Teddy would hear none of us going into it before he tried it out.”

“It was all experimental.”

“And we had a lot of conversations about it. Raul handled the boring stuff as usual and Sarah explained the whole thing to us, or at least she tried.”

“She’s still the brightest out of us all.”

“While Teddy was enjoying his time busting a nut for the government I took over his duties at the farm. Planned out the whole thing, checked on crops, and consulted with other farmers about possible trends. By the time the rest got into the program fully, I was running the whole operation, at least when it came to crops and seeds.”

“She’s been consulted several times by the experts for an ‘on-the-ground’ opinion.”

Lydia chuckled at that and shook her head before she added, “It’s been more like an ‘on-the-shout’ opinion but the results speak for themselves. The whole area got back on track and despite the interruptions every so often, our farm is well supplied and taken care of.”

“Do you have anything to say about your experience with the program?”

“It has had its highs and its lows. The check çups and the money are nice, keeps us healthy and well fed, the farm really appreciates it too, you can feel it on the land. It sees our hard work and pays us back in kind. The whole process is something Sarah is very familiar with. I frankly hate the weeks before we go for it, the thing makes a mess of my emotions until I come back. There are worse ways to make a living and if Sarah says it’s a good idea, I believe her.”

---

The stairs to the basement were different from the rest of the house. The steps were made of a dark gray metal covered with a black mat that firmly held my feet. The hallway itself was painfully bright thanks to soulless white lights on either wall. A heavy door laid at the end of the steps, the metal hiding what happened behind it. There were no sounds as I went down the stairs, not even the chatter from the dining room that I had left moments ago. Once I was in front of the door, I looked for the pad Ted had told me about and found it hidden in plain sight, only a thin black line marking the bottom of the lid. I opened the lid carefully and after a few seconds of search hit the only button near the speaker symbol. A single beep came from the machine before a voice came from the pad.

“Hello, Mr. Loreto, I’ll open the door in a minute, you may want to stand back.”

I climbed back a couple of steps for good measure. A clicking came from the door followed by a sharp hiss. Cold air hit my skin as the door opened, revealing the sand yellow cow. A pristine lab coat covered her orange blouse and reached all the way down to her ankles. She nodded my way and waved me in.

“You’ll go through a quick disinfection protocol. I’ll guide you through it so we don’t lose too much time.”

“If you’re still busy I can come at another time. There’s no rush.”

“I’m always busy, Mr. Loreto, comes with being the only researcher in this sector. But I can answer some questions while I wait for the results of a few tests.”

I followed her into the small chamber, where the white of the walls was only broken by small tubes that poked from them.

“You are the only researcher here? I thought the Republic had invested heavily into the project.”

“And it has. Even with outside help, we’re quite limited on the amount of people we can deploy anywhere. Look at the wall and lift your arms to your side Mr. Loretto.” Sarah guided my arms until I made a T with my body, “You’ll feel hot liquid hit you for a few seconds, I recommend that you close your eyes. When you hear the beep turn around. Don’t worry, there’s enough space for us both.”

I nodded at Sarah and waited nervously for the air to hit. I wasn’t prepared for the first jets of liquid hitting my skin. Hot but not enough to burn. It quickly covered me fully and I wondered if I would have to change clothes after. A loud beep came from the ceiling and I did as instructed, getting thoroughly drenched in the slimy liquid. A second beep sounded and hot air hit me next, taking the liquid with it. A final beep reached my ears before a hiss announced the opening of the door.

Sarah nodded with satisfaction as she walked into the lab. The first thing that greeted me was a wide desk with a host of holographic screens displayed on top. A trio of tablets were distributed on the surface, their screens black. Far to the side I saw a series of large machines that hummed with life, square and tall. A monitor implanted on their surface showed in bright numbers their status. Far away from those, were a series of cabinets filled with a host of flasks and bottles, ordered by color and size though I could not guess their purpose.

Sarah guided me to her desk and from a small closet hidden to the side, took out a foldable chair. I took it graciously and sat down before the desk as she said. “Most researchers in the inner Republic are juggling several projects while those who are in less demand like me, are used to gather and process data for them.”

“That sounds like a lot of work for you.”

She waved her hand in dismissal as she took a seat, pushing all the holograms to the side of the desk.

“You get used to it after a few months. And I wouldn’t trade it if I could.”

“Sounds like you got a lot to tell. But first, is it okay if I record here and record what you say or would you prefer I took notes and worked from there.”

Sarah inclined her head, her dark brown eyes narrowing on me before she huffed in amusement.

“Mr. Loreto, I’m sure the entire Program leadership knows you are here and they approved all of it. The first message I got when I returned confirmed as much.”

“Oh, that’s surprising. They didn’t reply to any of my inquiries.”

“You are here right now, with a host of program members. I’d say this is quite the reply. You caught someone’s eye up there, I’d make the best of it.” Even though her tone was soft, the warning was clear. I nodded to her as I took out my glasses, the recording program was already set so a single command summoned the awaited red dot on my screen.

“What can you tell me about yourself first? How did you get involved in all of this?”

“Hmm...I was studying medicine at the university when the war started. It was my dream job since I was a kid and I had been very happy with the subjects I had seen. I thought I could change the world, but with the war came unexpected expenses. My family did what they could to keep me in school but I knew we weren’t in a good position. So when a recruiter said the military could cover my bills for a few years of service, I took the chance. I was a fool and I can still hear my mom saying I’d regret it when I remember those days. She was right, as usual.”

“Were military scholarships common back then?”

“Yes and no. The program itself was old, over a hundred years from what they told me. Most people never took them on the offer, there was no need. And even those who did, spent most of their time in some base in the frontier, did their country a favor and then they’d be back home, none the worse for it. Of course, with the war casualties piled up quickly and now people avoid anything to do with it.”

“So you served during the whole war?”

“Yeah, at first I was a doctor’s aide, learning from a different one every month or so. Transfers were common throughout the war, specially for students like me. After it got worse with the Falling Skies, I was cycled through a few different posts. It was hell. We couldn’t do much for those on the frontlines, the anti-shield weapon developed by the Empire tended to kill the soldiers whenever it pierced the hull. It was radioactive you see, though unlike normal radiation, or perhaps due to crashing against the shields, the effects tended to decrease more sharply with time than usual. So any unlucky sod that was near a hull breach would suffer the full effects of radioactive material, but those who came to clean up ten minutes after tended to be safe. Or that’s what we believed for a long time.”

“It wasn’t true?”

“To an extent it was, if you were only exposed to it occasionally then the effects on your body would be negligible, nothing we couldn’t heal with a few months of treatment. The problem came when the war lasted as much as it did. Our ships were remodeled several times after the anti-shielding ammo wrecked our navy, better protection, anti-radiation dividers inside the ship, thicker plates on the outside, you name it, we did it. But handling heat and radiation in space is always an issue. Our own shields reflected some of it back to us when they were in use, the plating got chewed with repeated hits, and radiation leaked inside, slowly affecting whole crews.”

“But I thought you were all checked before you joined the program?”

Sarah smiled, her ears raising higher.

“And we were. We all got treatment for any leftover damage, and we were selected because we were all exposed the least to it. Taking out Teddy and Lydia who were both on the frontlines several times, most of us were either support staff or in the reserves, far away from the fight. Teddy was lucky, he never got caught in the worst of it, so his body had never absorbed a dangerous amount of radiation. Lydia on the other hand, she was sturdy and lucky enough to avoid the worst of it. Most of her teammates weren’t from what I heard.”

“What were the effects?”

“Major effects were severe organ failure, degeneration of the nervous system, hallucinations, decrease of the bone mass in the body and sometimes rapid aging. Anyone of these on their own we could treat on a one-by-one basis. Combined and in the numbers we were facing, it wasn’t as easy. The first few years we didn’t know what was causing it, our usual tests didn’t show any cause only the symptoms. Only when we started doing the tests directly after the attacks happened did we get our clue.”

“Do you think the Evenians knew?”

Sarah paused at that, a single finger tapping the desk with irritation.

“I don’t think so. The ammo itself caused a few problems their way if the reports are truthful. Nowhere near as bad as ours but I can’t find a reason you’d risk your people to that extreme. Specially as an expanding Empire. But maybe I’m giving them too much credit.”

“I see, so you dealt with many cases like this? Suffering from radiation poisoning?”

“More than I care to remember,” Sarah said as she buried her face in her hands, “We did what we could and it was never enough. Shifts were eternal and the number of patients only grew as the years passed. I couldn’t quit fast enough once the war was over.”

“And you moved here with Ted after that?”

“Yeah, we moved in. Our relationship in the military was...less than ideal but I had fallen for that bull hard and I married him. I even got along with his beau, Daniel. He was a lot cuter back then, if you ask me, always looking at Teddy with big green eyes, as if he was the most important person in the universe. And he was right. Though I do like how confident he’s gotten.”

“How was the move?”

“Horrible, we worked ourselves to the bone and the land never seemed to quite like us. It was better than playing medic in the field, that much I can say. I think Daniel is the only one of us who actually learned something from Ted and Lydia. Raul and I only learned we belonged behind a desk, where our smarts could save our loves some trouble.”

“How did you find out about the program?”

Dark brown eyes stared at the empty space for a moment before she pushed one of the tablets toward me. A hologram appeared between us, portraying an elaborate flier with lots of videos embedded below it.

“We all got one of these, even Martin got one. An invitation to the program, praising its generous benefits and the glory of serving your fellow Taurian. It was very sketchy.”

“So you didn’t believe it was real?”

“It sounded too good to be real. Still does, but after I talked with a few friends in the capital I was convinced it was true. Even if I didn’t know what to do with that. Of course, my friends weren’t ones to let sleeping cows lie. They kept in touch with me for weeks until they offered me a position as a researcher, complete with full access to the truth behind the program.”

“The truth? You make it sound ominous.”

“Hah hah, I do, don’t I? It is a lot simpler than you’d think. A lot of experts had come to a grim conclusion about our little republic. Simply put, with all the radiation damage, the losses of the war and the ongoing political and economical strife, we would be destroyed in a matter of decades if we didn’t do anything. The program, officially called the Emergency Taurian Restoration Initiative was enacted to prevent that. It pulled every single scientist, researcher and technician they could get their little hands on and distributed them to a host of different projects. You yourself benefited from one of those already. The Initiative’s outreach center, I’d guess. They are in charge with bringing new talent from outside our Republic, don’t be surprised if they ask you to stay.”

I placed a mark on the recording for future reference at that point. Further research would be needed if I wanted to confirm that claim.

“I’ll keep it in mind. You said the initiative pulled everyone they could into it, what are you tasked with?”

“I’d say that’s obvious Mr. Loreto, but I’m sure you want the details. At first, I was only in charge of checking the status of the program members in this sector and to ensure their nanites were all in working order. Over the years, I was granted a degree in Taurian Fertility and Reproduction Assistance for my contribution to the research. My job shifted as soon as I got it, and I also got assigned to develop, apply and track methods to increase the effectiveness of the program. And in my free time, I’m also contributing what I can to cures for the damage radiation did to our people, though that one has not made as much progress as I’d like. Our best method so far takes years of constant treatment and the facilities for those are few and far between.”

Sarah brows furrowed and her ears twitched, “I hope we find a better method. As much as I enjoy seeing Ted live to his title, I know he’ll hit his limits at some point. We all will.”

“I hope for that too. You deserve a break after all you’ve been through. If there’s any way I could help– ”

“Hah hah, Teddy was right about you. You better be careful who you say that to Mr. Loretto, or you may not be leaving the Republic any time soon.”

I couldn’t hold back a laugh at that, the whole idea was ironic after all the denials I had received before coming.

“I promise to be careful. Now, could you elaborate a little on your work? Any stories you could share?”

“Of course, though I can’t share many details about my patients. Confidentiality and all that. I am currently in charge of 56 patients in this sector...”

---

“Mr. Loreto, do you have a moment?” Andres said from the barn door, interrupting my conversation with Martin and Raul. I gave my apologies to the two naked bulls before I rushed towards the brown bull.

“Did you need something, Andres?”

“No, not me. Mrs. Haldir was asking after you.”

“Did she say why?”

The bark brown bull shook his head, “Sorry, Mr. Loreto, I didn’t ask. It wouldn’t be polite.”

“Of course...and it wouldn’t be as fun for you either.”

The bull gave me a sheepish smile and his tail swung happily behind him.

“Maybe. You did seem like you were having fun. All that ‘cultural exchange’,” the bull gave me a wink and traced the edges of his bulge, leaving no doubt to his meaning.

“I was conducting proper interviews of their experiences in the program, Andres.”

“Of course you were, Mr. Loreto, of course you were,” the taurian farmer replied before they handed me a long spray bottle, “You may want to use this before we enter the house. Your interview left quite the odor on you, not that you seem to mind.”

I shook my head but accepted the spray, applying it generously over my clothes. “I swear, between you and Martin I have no refuge in this farm.”

The bull patted my back in commiseration before they started walking back to the house.

“Mrs. Rosenbaum says you got quite red during your interview, I’d say you’re getting quite the following here.”

“Of course she did.” I grumbled as I trotted to keep up with the bull’s pace.

Andres was thankfully tamer on the way back, poking fun of me only a couple more times before he took me to the dining room. Eloise stood from her seat when she saw me, her long apple-green dress fluttering behind her as she rushed to meet me.

“Brian, nice to see you were free,” the tri-colored cow said, shaking my hands with clear excitement.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“Oh, think nothing of it, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Eloise said with a singing quality to her voice. Her smile didn’t falter when she turned toward Andres, who had stayed by the door this whole time, “Thank you for finding him so fast dear. Won’t you join us for some tea?”

“Oh I couldn’t, Mrs. Haldir, Mr. Braun surely has something waiting for me.” The bull replied with a respectful tone and a slight bow.

Eloise giggled at that, a soft and disarming sound that brought a smile to my face.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. I saw Martin go out for a ‘walk’ not too long ago. And I’m pretty sure the two will ‘casually’ meet by the scarecrow.”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment at the comment, and based on the twitching of Andres’s ears, the bull was also caught by surprise.

“Now, if you’d be a dear, could you bring the cookies I left over the oven.”

The bull only nodded in reply and left the room, his tail swinging slowly behind him.

“Is there any way I could help?”

“Oh, no, no need. You’re a guest and a very important one at that. Just take a seat at the table and make yourself at home, the tea will be ready in no time.” Eloise said with a kind tone, gently guiding me towards the table, “we can do that interview too if you want to, but don’t feel obliged to do it either.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d love to, there are a few things that still aren’t clear to me.”

“I’d love to help however I can, just give me a few moments to check on the tea.”

The pair of Taurians returned a few minutes later. Andres placed a tray of round light brown cookies on the table. Eloise for her part filled three cups with tea and distributed them with practiced ease.

“I hope you like my cookies, Brian, they’re an old family recipe, my great-grandpa taught me how to do them.” Eloise said as she pushed the cookie tray my way. Andres gave me a reassuring smile when he sensed my hesitation, covering the gesture by taking a sip of his tea.

I gently picked one of the cookies, one crowned by a glazed green cream. I took a tentative bite of it and heard it crunch in my mouth. The cookie was sweet, the gentle flavor of vanilla from the cream was accompanied with the fuller flavor of chocolate and cinnamon from the mix. A giggle came from Eloise, her eyes glinting with satisfaction.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Here, you can have more.”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment at the comment, but the kindness in the tone took away the sting of my rudeness. “Thank you, they’re wonderful.”

“They really are, Mrs. Haldir.” Andres seconded from his seat, a handful of cookies already in his hand.

“It’s good to hear that, I was worried they wouldn’t be done in time for tea. And tea without cookies is not the same.”

Eloise took a few sips of her tea, before she picked a cookie for herself, a smile clear on her face.

“Do you make these cookies often?” I asked after my third cookie, my hand already picking the fourth.

“Oh, already looking forward to the next time, are you?” She replied with a teasing tone, throwing a wink my way for good measure. “I do like to make them every week, it lifts up the spirits after a hard week of work. Specially for Lydia, there’s nothing a few sweets won’t fix when it comes to her.”

“Should we be saving some for them?”

“No need to worry, I got another batch cooking, it should be enough. So don’t hold back.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, Mrs. Haldir,” Andres said, his proclamation followed by a proud huff.

“I never have to unless I ask you to call me Eloise.”

“No, can’t do, ma’am. My parents raised a proper bull, or at least a decent one.”

“I’ll have to send them some cookies then, show them my appreciation.”

“There’s no need ma’am, they’re very grateful to you all for straightening me up.”

Eloise’s ears twitched at that, her tail swinging high behind her for a moment before she replied, “All the more reasons to send them cookies. Let them see the perks of the job.”

“She got you there, Andres.”

“That she did Mr. Loreto, that she did.”

Eloise had a pleased expression as she took another sip of her tea. Her tail swung behind her once again when here eyes glinted with purpose.

“Have you done this for a long time, Brian? I can’t imagine what it takes to travel around the universe like you do.”

“It’s been around seven years since I’ve been with the company. But I’ve only been traveling like this for about three years. Our readers really enjoyed our human interest articles and when the last journalist announced his retirement, a few of the juniors were assigned to cover up for his departure. I got lucky when it came to my stories and ended up with the post long term.”

“Could you tell me a bit more about those stories? I’m afraid your journal doesn’t reach us all the way here.”

“I’d be surprised if it did, being so far from my home galaxy. It was quite hard to get anything recent from your republic back home. I’m guessing that will change in the future.”

“I hope it does, there’s so much to see out there and so little time to do it.”

“Now about my stories, it’s been mostly about developments in countries beyond the frontiers of my homeland. Usually in the same galaxy, though I guess I’m an intergalactic traveler myself now. I remember my first article was about an architectural revolution in Efretis. After years of producing houses made of a new type of polymer to cut costs, a small group of agencies had joined to build houses out of trees. Genetically modified of course. The architects and engineers would work in tandem over days, shaping the tree as it grew to create houses that looked like nuts but were every bit as complex as an apartment in the cities. Of course the movement had its detractors pointing out the impracticality of such construction methods when it came to apartments or bigger houses. And a few engineers raised issues with the sustainability and regulation of such buildings. But it sounded like a story right out of a faerie tale, living in houses made of living wood that looked like nuts and could glow at night. It was hardly my best work and yet, I can still remember it clearly.”

“Were you able to visit any of those houses?”

“Only once, most weren’t open to the public and Efretis had a few intense months shortly after I published that article.”

“Sounds like you have quite the luck with your travels, Mr. Loreto,” Andres chimed in with a teasing tone.

“It certainly does. It’s a blessing you have avoided the worst of it,” Eloise added, a hint of worry in her voice.

“It is. Thankfully those times are rare. Even if they make me appreciate the safe trips.” Both Taurians nodded in approval, bringing an end to the conversation. A comfortable silence hung over us as the tea and cookies were appreciated in full. Andres took the lion’s share of both, a fact that bought a proud smile from Eloise.

The tri-colored cow placed her cup on the tray with a click after we had finished.

“Those cookies were pretty tasty and not only because I made them myself.” Eloise declared with a satisfied no, eliciting a laugh from Andres and me.

“They really were, you got quite the hand for sweets.” I replied, earning a warm smile from the Taurian.

“Thank you, dear. Now, we should get on with that interview before it gets too late. The boys get quite rowdy when they are hungry, though I don’t think you’d mind that.”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment at the implication, my mind conjuring images better left for lonely nights.

“I doubt the others would at least,” Andres added before he laughed softly.

I busied myself with setting up the recording program in what I hoped was a professional manner. The recording program offered me a slight reprieve from the teasing. The red dot of recording appeared in my vision in a couple of minutes. I gave Eloise a nod and urged her to begin when she was ready.

“Now, where to begin? There’s just so much to talk about.” Eloise said.

“Let’s start easy then. What did you do before you came to live here?”

“Oh, well, I did a lot of odd jobs before I came here, though none were farming. Unless you count those times I helped my uncles make marmalade on their farm. You could say I was a chef in the inner Taurian circle, even if I never really got a chance to experience the professional cooking world before the war. I think it was only my third year working in a small restaurant when the war broke out. It didn’t change much for me at first, even if things got a bit more expensive overall. But a couple of years later both of my brothers had enlisted and I had to pack all I owned and go back home. My mom had been sick at the time you see, and despite our savings, we couldn’t afford a nurse to look after her. So back home I went to help dad care for her.”

“Couldn't your uncles help there?”

Eloise sighed as her gray eyes stared past the ceiling into a distant memory. “They did what they could but, they were a few planets away from my parents and leaving a farm is not an easy thing. We cared for her faithfully but when news came of my brothers’ deaths nine months after, she passed away.”

Tears came into Eloise’s eyes and her tone broke at the end of the sentence. Andres was quick to respond, handing her a big cream handkerchief. Eloise thanked the bull softly, taking the offered cloth in one hand while the other sought the comfort of a friendly hand.

“Dad took it hard, losing three loves all at once, it almost killed him. For years he had been strong for all of us, sought to keep us safe and happy. He sunk into a deep depression and I had to pick up the slack for us two. I took a lot of jobs during those three years, anything I could to help keep up with the bills. But, as you probably know, things hadn’t gone well with the war and despite all prognosis to the contrary, a draft was passed in the inner Taurian ring. Eventually even I got called into it. I made arrangements for my dad to move with my uncles and joined the war effort. Thankfully, I was assigned as support staff. Probably because they realized I was a lousy shot and I’m not that good with battle. Organization and cooking, that I could do for hours.”

“Was it strange that they drafted people from the inner ring?”

“Well, I’m not that learned in history myself. I always had a bit of trouble following on all those dates and events in school. My dad said it hadn’t been done since he was a kid and the news always painted it as a surprise, ‘the great price of freedom’, they called it.”

“So you were tasked with organizing things in the military?”

Eloise gave me a sad smile and shook her head, “I did many things, not only organizing. Of course, none of it involved high military secrets or the like, I was still only a draftee and they always made sure I remembered that. Most of the time I was tasked with helping in the kitchens or providing support for other teams. A few times I was tasked with clean up and some menial tasks. It was nothing glamorous but it helped.”

“Did you stay there until the war ended?”

“It’s not like there were many choices, Brian, but I did stay. It was a few rough years, but a few persons made it tolerable. Sarah and Raul among them. I met them on one of the teams I assisted and we became fast friends. We remained in contact after the peace talks were signed and we went on our ways. I was even a maid of honor in their ‘secret weddings’, Ted is a romantic like that.” Eloise giggled after she said that, her tail swinging in an arc behind her.

“What did you do after that? I can’t imagine it was easy to return to your old life.”

“It wasn’t. I tried a few cooking jobs at first, as a way to keep busy. My service gave me some monthly pay, so it wasn’t as pressing as it could have been. Still, the industry wasn’t what it had been before. Positions were few and far between, clients were rare and prices were high all around. Some friends told me several shops we visited before the war had closed, though I never had the heart to check if it was true.” She said with a nostalgic tone, her gray eyes clouded with regret.

“It didn’t pan out and all the places I worked closed sooner or later. I was at my wit’s end and I reached out to many friends and acquaintances looking for something to do. Raul offered me a position here, helping out with tasks around the farm. I think it was a few months after the program had started and they had their hands full renovating the farm. I took the offer, of course, traveling far away from the city and all its troubles sounded like a great opportunity, and knowing I’d be with some good friends made it all the better.”

“How did that go?”

“About as well as could be expected. The days were busy, the company was nice and before anyone knew it I had taken over the kitchen. With the extra free time, everyone actually had the chance to relax and talk like couples should. You wouldn’t believe how many workaholics are in this household.” She said, earning a chuckle from Andres.

“We have plenty of work to do, Mrs. Haldir.”

“And I understand and respect that, but you also need to take care of yourself.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I took over a few extra duties as well once I had gotten used to their pace. Pushed a few of them to talk when they let problems fester, let them vent when the frustrations threatened to swallow them, gave a few scoldings when they behaved like kids.”

“That sounds like a lot more than ‘a few extra duties’.”

“Perhaps it was, but they certainly needed it. And I did as well. Falling in love with a big softie like Ted was a good bonus to such a good time.”

“Were there any problems when it came to that? I can’t even imagine how you juggled the farm, the program, and relationships.”

Eloise gave me a conspiratorial smile and leaned close, her voice coming out as a whisper, “Oh there were many problems dear, but nothing my mom’s old secret couldn’t fix.”

“And what is that?”

“Always set aside some time for dessert.”

“Dessert?” I repeated, caught off guard by the strange advice.

“Yes. If you just worry about work and duty all the time, you will break. No matter how big and strong you are. That’s why you should share something delicious with those you love. Big gestures are all well and good, but it’s always the ordinary things that keep relationships strong in the long run.”