'The Navy of King George the third.'

  We looked at each other, Burns to Burns.

  'Why are you in my dreams, sir?' I said.

  'Why are you here in my reality?' he replied. 'You're the one who appears on my quarterdeck like a ghost, scattering my crew with your bizarre clothes and hat.'

  I looked down at the deck of the ship. Saw no-one. Then, I looked back at Captain Burns. His face was in shadow, but I could see the smallest of smiles.

  'Sir, I think you already know who I am.'

  'Yes, I know who you are, Lieutenant Burns,' he said. 'I think you know who I am too. The clue is in the name, laddy.'

  We stood silently as the ship pitched and rolled, and the ropes complained. When HMS Vengeance re-settled itself, I said, 'What year is this...sir?'

  'The year thirteen. Eighteen hundred and thirteen.'

  We stood in silence while I calculated the generations and the years. If this guy was some kind of ancestor, he would be my great grandfather twenty-eight times over.

  And this would be the pre-Accord era, the evil pre-Accord era that everyone in the Accord had been warned about. I looked at my ancestor with caution.

  'The person you mentioned, sir, the last time we were here...I know who you mean now. You were trying to warn me about her, right?'

  'And?'

  'I know who she is. Her name is Admiral Octavia?'

  'Is that what how describes herself--as an admiral?'

  'Yes, sir. Admiral Octavia Caesar.'

  'Admiral Octavia Caesar,' he said. 'An admiral's rank and a famous Roman name. Very fancy for a most dangerous individual.'

  'She's here, sir, with a great ship moored behind the moon. I'm on my way there tomorrow.'

  'So soon?'

  'Yes, sir. Admiral Octavia and the ship just arrived. She asked for me by name.'

  'How big is this ship?'

  'Very large, sir. About the size of a town.'

  He shook his head. 'About the size of a town. And how many crew are aboard this great ship?'

  'We're not sure, sir. The Admiral didn't mention crew.'

  He said nothing, just kept slowly shaking his head.

  'Sir, it's strange.'

  'What is?'

  'That you aren't surprised about Octavia's ship being behind the moon.'

  'That is just the beginning of the strangeness,' he replied, at which point he turned to look out into the dark, as if sensing something out there on the unseen waves.

  'Sir, I am deploying in a few hours,' I said. 'Last time, you said you would give me some advice.'

  He turned back from looking out to sea. 'All the advice in the world won't help you against her, Lieutenant--even if we had time for me to advise you, which we don't. You're not the only one on a mission, by the way. This ship, the Vengeance is ordered to find an enemy vessel, the French ship Indomitable, which I expect to engage at dawn.'

  I looked into the dark and thought I could see a fringe of gold in the distance. Then, I said. 'Sir, any advice would be welcome.'

  He was about to reply when there was a call from high above us in the rigging.

  'On deck there!' yelled a voice. 'On deck there!'

  'Yes, Evans,' replied a second voice, down on the deck.

  'Sail ho, sir.'

  'Where away?'

  'Larboard bow, sir. Hull down.'

  How had he seen anything in the dark? Unless, of course, from high in the rigging, he could see the dawn, perhaps the sunlight on a white sail.

  Within seconds of the exchange between deck and lookout, there were footsteps on the stairs leading to the quarterdeck. Then, a figure emerged, also dressed in a blue naval coat and with the same long hat as the captain. He was about my own age and looked very warily at me. He didn't come more than a foot away from the stairs.

  'Yes, Mr Collins, I heard the call,' said Captain Burns. 'Evans's eyes are as sharp as always, even in this light.'

  'Yes, sir,' the young man said. He too had a strange accent, though different to Captain Burns's accent. 'Should we beat to quarters, sir? We aren't certain it's the Indomitable.'

  'Yes, Mr Collins. Beat to quarters.'

  'Aye, sir,' said Mr Collins and clattered down the stairs.

  'Mr Pound!' he called once he had reached the deck. 'We shall beat to quarters.'

  Instantly, there was shouting on the deck below, then whistles, drums, and hundreds of feet moving on the timber.

  'It's nearly time, Lieutenant,' said my ancestor. 'You wanted help, so let me give you a few pieces of advice.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'And if it won't help you, it might at least open your eyes.'

  No-one had ever spoken to me this way, with this mixture of respect and concern.

  'Stand up for yourself. Don't believe all you're told. Think your own thoughts. Don't look at me like that, Lieutenant. You know what I mean. All the lies they tell you about the world and about women and men and power. It's shameful. It's wrong. And the way you let them push you around--it's worse than shameful. It's time to be who you really are, and who you are capable of being. You are a Burns, a descendant of a great Naval family, the inheritor of a great fighting spirit.'

  I looked at him not sure what to say.

  'Well, Lieutenant. Don't stand their with your mouth open like a fish. You heard me.'

  'Sir, I...'

  'Yes, I know. You've been waiting to hear this all your life. Is that what you want to say?'

  'Sir, I...'

  Mr Collins appeared at the top of the stairs again, still wary of me.

  'Yes, Mr Collins,' said Captain Burns.

  'A change of course to intercept her, sir? To cross her wake and gain the weather gage?'

  'Not yet, Mr Collins. Not until we're sure it's her.'

  'Aye, sir,' said Mr Collins and disappeared again. More shouts below. Men appeared on the rigging, climbing aloft.

  The captain turned back to me.

  'You've never seen action at sea, have you?' he said. 'Never tested yourself, never known victory; never known defeat. Never come close to dying. Never lived. You've just followed orders and been pushed around. Well, Lieutenant, you better prepare yourself to either fight on your feet, or to die on your knees.'

  I wanted to ask him more. I wanted to ask about everything. What did he know about the Accord? About life? About the sea? About women and men and power? About the pre-Accord era? About my family? About everything?

  'It's time,' he said.

  'What else should I know?' I said.

  He drew himself up to his full height, stepped closer to me and said, 'A-riamh deiseil.'

  'What? What's that mean?'

  But before he answered, the sea, the sails, the rolling ship, the coming dawn, and my ancestor's scornful face all vanished, and I was gone from the fighting ship, HMS Vengeance.

  15

  NEXT MORNING, I raced across the metallic blue of the AON China Sea in a Navy helicopter.

  On board were the two pilots and Captain Dravid from Navy Spirit. Captain Dravid had met me after I landed that very morning at AONS Equality of Outcome on the AONT sub-territory Luzon. He said he would escort me in the chopper the rest of the way.

  Now we were barely an hour away from AONS Accord Values, one of the AON's larger aircraft carriers. It had had been ordered by Admiral Zhou to halt its goodwill voyage to AONT Vietnam, and steam northeast to the exact location designated by the galactic visitors at 18°49'23.7"N 116°34'14.2"E in the AON China Sea between AONT Philippines and AONT China, sub-territory Hong Kong.

  'Forty minutes,' said the one of the pilots through my headset.

  Captain Paine and Admiral Zhou had gone on ahead to meet onboard AONS Accord Values with two Accord Commissioners and the three members of the delegation that would be going up to the visitors' ship: Katherine Le Seaux, Andrew Chen, and Kenneth Okwanko.

  'This is a great moment for the Accord,' said Captain Dravid through the headset. 'A great moment.' He was slim, dark, and recently promoted. Unlike Captain Odilli, he was friendly. Possibly this was because I'd been promoted overnight to Lieutenant Commander.

  'The sky's the limit from here, Burns--literally,' Captain Dravid said. He looked out of his window at the sea rolling away to the horizon, and then swung back to me. 'I think we can say the Accord's messages of fairness and diversity are about to travel out into the universe.'

  'Yes,' I said. 'As long as the Romans agree with the values.'

  'Why wouldn't they agree?' he said. 'The great worth of our values is self evident. Look at what they've done for our own world since the Accord was established. Anyone can see that. Equality. Fairness. It's obvious.'

  'Yes,' I said again. 'It's just that the visitors might take some convincing.'

  'Call them Romans or intergalactic friends, Lieutenant Burns,' said Captain Dravid. 'We're not sure which name they prefer yet, so use either one till they make it clear.' Then he pointed to the sky. 'When you're up there in space.'

  'Yes, sir. The Romans,' I said. 'They might not immediately take to our ideas.'

  'Whose to say they haven't adopted them already?' Dravid said. 'It's only natural that an advanced civilization would have arrived at the very same values. It's inevitable. The Romans probably adopted T.E.D millennia ago.'

  'Yes, sir. It makes sense,' I said, but I had my doubts. I had seen the blue beams and the pile of steaming blue sludge on the parade ground back at AONS Harmony. It hadn't seemed like a display of acceptance and appreciation for diversity. It seemed just the opposite, a hostile display of aggression--no doubt about it.

  I trusted the Accord Commission's wisdom, of course, but I couldn't help but think the Commission was too eager to trust the Romans. What did the Romans really want? Why meet behind the moon and not on Earth? Why request four unimportant people to be the messengers? And why me?

  And then there was the question no one dared to ask for fear of 'othering': What if they turned out to be monsters?

  Bad thoughts, Burns. There was no such thing as monsters, of course. There was only diversity.

  'Coming up now,' said the pilot's voice in my headset. Captain Dravid and I strained to see what he meant. From our side windows we could only see the endless sea, north and south.

  But a minute later, we could see the ship.

  The AONS Accord Values was an impressive sight, an aircraft carrier of six thousand crew and a main deck of over four hundred yards, like a great piece of the Accord itself. It bristled with Slingshot jets just like a real ship of war, except that it had never been deployed for anything other than goodwill.

  'That's your launching place, Burns,' shouted Captain Dravid. 'From there to the stars.'

  It was an inspiring vision and I could hardly contain my excitement at the thought of it. But when the chopper landed, and Dravid and I had stepped onto the deck, I sensed something wasn't right.

  A Navy commander stepped forward. She, or maybe he saluted Dravid, received my salute, and then said, 'Welcome to AONS Accord values.' The name patch read De Soto.

  'What's going on?' said Dravid.

  'I'm here for Lieutenant Burns, sir.'

  'I'm ready,' I said. 'What's first? The pre-mission briefing?'

  'Change of plans, Burns,' said De Soto. 'The personnel assigned to the mission has changed. I'm sorry Burns. You're out.'

  16

  NEXT MORNING, THE morning on which the Roman shuttle was to arrive, I walked onto the deck of AONS Accord Values. The reception personnel were already in position. There were Marines and crew members in Service Dress Blues, various admirals and generals, and no less than two members of the Accord Commission itself: Commissioner Daniel Genet, and Commissioner Rowena Martin.

  The Commissioners and the other VIPs stood on a podium while the photographers and videographers bobbed and circled around them. The Commissioners's smiles were total. This meeting with visitors from another world would be a career highlight. No doubt about it.

  My own career felt like it had reached a low point. Since, I had arrived onboard, I had been treated as a pariah. No de-briefing. No contact with senior command. No explanation. Nothing. If they didn't want me on the mission, why put me to the trouble of coming out here?

  A commissioners' aide called Onslow came up to me. She was accompanied by a Navy captain I had never met.

  'You heard the change of plan, Lieutenant Burns,' said Onslow. 'The Commissioners have decided you're not right for this mission.'

  'Yes, ma'am?'

  'You have a problem with that.'

  'No, ma'am.'

  'You know why, of course.'

  'I'm afraid I don't, ma'am.'

  'You're not diverse enough. You're too straight, too male and your family descends completely from the West. You will set a bad impression to our galactic friends regarding our values. Captain Paine told me you knew that already.'

  'No, ma'am. I mean yes, the Captain mentioned it, but I thought I was still to go.'

  'You're also too tall, Burns.'

  'Too tall, ma'am?'

  'The Commission believes your height will threaten the visitors.'

  'Yes, ma'am,' I said. 'If that's what the Commission decides.'

  'It's what the Accord believes, Burns.'

  'Yes, ma'am.'

  I saw the emissaries who were still going on the mission. They came onto the deck and saluted the Commissioners, the generals, Admiral Zhou and Captain Paine. I recognized the slim female in the Army BDU as Katherine Le Seaux, and the Asian man beside her as Andrew Chen. The third, Kenneth Okwanko wasn't there. Instead, there was a new guy, a slim dark guy in a grey suit.

  'May I ask who is replacing me?' I said.

  'We're going with someone inline with Accord diversity policies. We're sending a civilian named Mohammad Ahmad. He's from a minority people that were oppressed for centuries by Western pre-Accord imperialists in AONT Eurabia. He's a more appropriate fit. He's also partially abled which makes the delegation even more diverse, so that's even better.'

  I looked at Ahmad. He looked lean and healthy. I noticed he had no cane, nor wheelchair. Maybe he had a prosthetic limb.

  'Yes, ma'am,' I said. 'The Commission knows best.'

  'Of course it does.'

  'But a question, ma'am.'

  'Make it fast, Burns. It's getting near time.'

  'The Romans requested the four envoys by name. Might we be provoking them by not sending exactly who they requested?'

  'Are you saying the Commission is wrong, Burns?'

  'No, ma'am.'

  'Are you saying you know better than the Commissioners?'

  'No, ma'am, definitely not.'

  'Then shut it and do as you're ordered.'

  'Yes, ma'am. Tolerance, diversity, equality.'

  'Tolerance, diversity, equality,' said Onslow.

  Now the Navy captain beside Onslow spoke. The name patch read Teixeira.

  'Burns.'

  'Yes, Captain.'

  'Orders from Captain Paine. You're now demoted back to O-2 grade, instead of full Lieutenant. You are return to AONS Harmony at twelve hundred today, and resume your previous orders.'

  'Yes, ma'am.'

  'As a special consideration, I've requested AONS Accord Values Captain Bunyasarn to allow you to watch the arrival of the Roman shuttle. You will stand on the deck with personnel of equivalent rank in his crew.'

  'Thank you, ma'am.'

  'Dismissed, Lieutenant.'

  I saluted. The Captain and the aide called Onslow walked away, leaving behind a Lieutenant Commander, whose name patch read Nagoya. Not thirty seconds ago we had been the same rank. Now she was my superior, and she was not friendly.

  'Change your uniform back to a plain, blue NWU, Burns,' she said. 'Report to Lieutenant Commander Alaoui. She'll arrange for the uniform and then give you orders on where to stand when the Romans arrive. That's her over there by the Accord flag. Any questions?'

  'Yes, ma'am. Just one.'

  'It's sir.'

  'Sir, what happened to the fourth member of the greeting party, the one the Romans requested--Okwanko, the civilian from AONT Africa? I don't see him.'

  Captain Nagoya looked at me sternly, as if I should know Okwanko's whereabouts. She blinked a few times. 'Civilian Okwanko took his own life earlier this morning, Burns.'

  'Took his own life? Oh, no. Surely not.'

  'Do I sound like a liar to you, Burn?'

  'No, sir.'

  'His body will be repatriated to the Accord branch in AONS Africa tomorrow. It's part of Accord civilian law for people to take their own lives if that's what they choose, Burns. He should have obtained Accord approval, of course, but the circumstances were extreme.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'You got a problem with that, Burns?'

  'No, sir. No problem here, sir.'

  'Don't they instruct you in sensitivity at AONS Harmony?'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'They do or they don't?'

  'They do, sir. It's a mandatory course.'

  'Sounds like you better take it again, Burns.'

  'Yes, sir. My apologies, sir. I was surprised by the news.'

  'Now report to Lieutenant Alaoui and stay out of the way. Your mission is over.'

  17

  AT THE APPOINTED hour, dressed in an NWU with a new name patch and fewer stripes, I followed Lieutenant Alaoui who pointed to the rows of crew members standing out in the breeze on the ship's vast deck.

  All ranks were represented in the formation, even the crew from the ship maternity ward. I was four rows back, anonymous, just like the rest of the sailors.

  The clock ticked toward eleven, the rendezvous time. The breeze ruffled the collars of the sailors in front of me. The ship's engines groaned quietly astern, keeping the ship's position at 18°49'23.7"N, 116°34'14.2"E.

  One of the sailors in my row leaned forward and looked my way. She was a tall cadet with a wisp of dark hair escaping her cap and falling over one eye. She smiled and mouthed the word, 'Hi,' followed by a raise of her eyebrows and the word, 'Later,' I looked away. I didn't want to jeopardize what remained of my career.

  At five minutes after eleven, we were still standing. There was no sign of any ship. Whispers came along the row that nothing had been sighted by the monitoring stations in Hawaii and Fiji, and the telescope on AON sub-territory Canary Islands hadn't seen the visitors' ship itself, let alone a shuttle.

 

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