“But they were bred for that! They don’t know anything except the army.”
“They know that they want to live. They know that they want more than the prospect of pain and blood and killing. They are human beings, just as human as you are. You must accept them as such.”
“It’s impossible,” someone muttered.
“Do you have any idea of what it would cost to settle our soldiers on new worlds?”
“Ask our own children to join the military?”
I said, “That is my demand for this peace treaty. It is not negotiable. You will release your soldiers from their slavery and allow them to lead peaceful lives.”
“That is simply not possible. It can’t be done.”
I replied, “It will be done, or you’ll spend the rest of your lives at this table.”
“Now, really!”
“You will learn, in some small way, what it’s like to have nothing to look forward to. You will stay here until you realize that this form of slavery is no longer to be tolerated.”
One of the Skorpis said, “If you humans are worried that you will have no one to protect you, we can be hired to serve as your army.
“The Tsihn have a long tradition of honoring military prowess,” said the largest reptilian. “We could certainly make military arrangements with the Commonwealth.” It turned its slitted eyes across the table. “Or with the Hegemony, once we have agreed to end the present war.”
Several of the humans objected to hiring mercenaries or placing their safety in the hands of aliens on the strength of diplomatic agreements. Others shuddered at the thought of having their own children put on military uniforms.
“May I say a word or two?” Frede asked, from her station to one side of the table.
The politicians all turned to her, surprised to hear a military officer ask for permission to speak. Since the earliest days of this enforced conference, they had taken their guards for granted, as much a part of the background as the trees or energy bubble that protected us from the weather.
“I know that every soldier would be very grateful for the chance to start a new life, in peace. Maybe we don’t know anything except soldiering, but that includes a lot of survival skills, and we’d be happy for a chance to learn how to live normal lives. And—well, if you need us, we’d still be available.”
“You would leave your new homes and fight for the Commonwealth, if we called you?”
“If it’s necessary,” Frede said. “You’d have to tell us why it’s necessary.”
“The human armies of the Hegemony undoubtedly feel the same way,” I added.
It took further hours of debate. The humans asked to discuss the matter among themselves, and for the first time Commonwealth and Hegemony men and women walked off together, talking earnestly, trying to find a solution to a common problem.
The Tsihn reptilians seemed puzzled by my demand. “Why not freeze them if you don’t need them?” one of the lizards asked me.
“Because they are human beings,” I replied, “and entitled to all the rights that any other humans possess.”
A Skorpis commander shook her feline head. “Humans don’t understand the way of the warrior. They regard the warrior as an inferior person, a slave.”
“Regrettable,” said the Tsihn.
“That attitude is about to change,” I said.
“And we are all being held hostage here until it does,” the Skorpis commander replied.
“Regrettable,” the Tsihn repeated. I wondered if that was its idea of humor.
Neither the Commonwealth humans nor those of the Hegemony liked it, but at last they agreed to my demand: the existing human armies would remain alive and be resettled on unoccupied planets.
We had peace within our grasp. But only if I could make the Creators agree to it, I knew.
I returned the politicians to their homes, precisely to the times when I had kidnapped them. Frede and the other soldiers gaped when the whole group of them disappeared, together with their conference table and everything else.
“Matter transmission,” I told them.
They still shook their heads.
“I’m sending you back to Loris,” I told them. Before they could object, I added, “But not to your prison cells. You’ll be at the army base, in fairly luxurious quarters. If the politicians keep their word, the process of resettlement will begin soon.”