The Seventh Gender

"Someone's following us," said Boston. 

"Clocked that mother fucker. No cybernetics. Probably dyes his beard with black ink." said Leary. "What do you think he wants?" 

Boston and Leary were at Leo City, the domed mining city on one end of Valles Marineris on Mars. They were there for resupply and looking around for new contracts. 

"You got any earth warrants?" Boston asked. 

"Um. Probably not?" Leary said sheepishly. 

"Bobby?!" Boston sneered. 

Leary put up his hands "Hey, hey, hey no Earth bounty hunter is coming to Leo City for an Earth warrant, they don't pay Alliance credits; gold at best." 

"Probably not, no." she chewed her lower lip in thought. She was well known; they made a comic book about her after all and she was tattooed from neck to ankle and half her tattoos were active illustrations. 

"Shit. You watch the news?" Boston said. "Uroon temple. It's Lirookan." 

"Fuck." said Leary. 

They both touched the firearms slung low on their thighs. 

The Uroon have seven genders, with two compatible pairs in the first six. The seventh gender can breed with any other gender, as they evolved their culture over the centuries the seventh became more and more subjugated.

As advanced as they became, they needed someone in their culture to hurt.  

And so the seventh left. 

"Not getting a fair shake on your home planet? C'mere you!" Leary would often say. 

Boston and Leary stepped hard and fast to their destination through the town squares that dotted Leo City like neurons. Boston knew Leo City far better than Leary so he just followed, stepping almost exactly in her footsteps, moving smoothly through the crowd.

The Uroon Temple is a simple place;  a simple beige dome with seven small altars, only one of which is used with any frequency by the seventh gender.

And it only had one entrance. 

"I hate this," said Leary. 

"Me too," said Boston. 

They drew their weapons and exchanged a look. They are about to go into a religious place with weapons up.

Disgusting.

But you do what you have to do. 

"Lirookan?! You here?" Boston shouted, breaking the calm of the place. Nothing. 

Boston's sidearm was a custom-made double-action heavy revolver. 

Leary watched the exit as Boston checked the altars. Incense was still burning at the center altar for the seventh. And some was left on the fifth. Burned some time ago. Boston touched it, it was still a little warm. She holstered her revolver with a little disappointment. 

"Leary?" Boston started. 

There was a scuffling noise and by the time Boston turned around, Leary had the bounty hunter that followed them into the temple down on the ground with one arm behind his back. 

"Yeah?" Leary said. 

Boston descended on him like a wolf. 

"Hey, asshole whatever they're paying you..." 

"You'll double it?" He gasped. 

Boston had to laugh. 

"No mother fucker, it's not worth what I'm going to do to you if you don't tell me where they took my crew member." 

"Like I'll tell you." the bounty hunter spat. 

"You will tell me," Boston said and she unsheathed her revolver again. "Right." Boston put her revolver against his shoulder. "The Fuck." She pulled the hammer back even if she didn't have to, just to make the point. "Now." 

"Fuck you, Alliance cunt." he wheezed. 

Boston looked at Leary. "Should I?" 

"I dunno Chief, this is a holy place." Leary shrugged. 

"I'll make it holier." Boston pulled the trigger and the shot was muffled by the bounty hunter's body. 

The bounty hunter screamed, but Boston just slid her weapon across his back to his other shoulder. 

"Now, my crew member you Earthbound scum fuck. Where are they?" 

"You are in Violation of Sentient Protocol One Point Five Zero!" Came a voice from outside. 

"Sentient Protocol Seven Zero Six takes precedent!" Leary shouted back. 

The slick sound of weapons being holstered. 

"Who is missing?" asked the Sentient Code Officer. 

"Lirookan Jessak In" said Boston. "One of my crew. And he," Boston kicked him. "was following us."  

"Did you have to shoot him?" asked the SCO. 

"He's lucky that's all I did. Leary, let him go." 

Leary theatrically rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Fine." 

The bounty hunter stood up shakily and gathered his bearings. Leary felt a little bad for the guy. He still didn't know who the fuck he was dealing with. 

"Well," the bounty started..." 

Boston jammed her thumb right into his fresh wound, covered his mouth, put her nose against his, and screamed "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY CREW MEMBER?!"

He said something with his mouth covered. 

Boston whispered into his ear like a hissing snake "One more time." she took her hand away and twisted her thumb in the wound.  

"Spaceport. They are all at Spaceport, Bay Six!" he sobbed. 

"Good boy." Boston sneered. "I see you again, you're going to die crying. Leary?" 

"Aye, Ma'am," Leary said. 

"Assemble the team," Boston said. 

"Are we gonna talk about that pun, though?" Leary asked as the bounty hunter slumped to the floor and bled. 

...

Akira Shima was luxuriating at the Four Seasons Mars in a rich terry cloth bathrobe while sipping a coffee and eating a bagel when his personal device pinged. 

"Red Alert: Space Port" 

"Fuck," he groused. 

...

Maria Chavez was at a nice restaurant called Mexically Mars having an oaxaqueño with a Jarrito's soda over crushed ice when her device rang. 

"Red Alert: Space Port" 

She wolfed it down, swiped out some credits, and ran off.

... 

Boston was, as usual, intense. 

They were down in the cargo hold of the NSXS-Juke Joint Jezebel and loading up. She put a full load of magazines and did a function check on a SCAR-XX assault rifle. 

Leary loaded magazines for his AR-3000 into a similar chest rig and performed a similar functions check. 

"Sorry, I'm late," Akira said. 

"You're not late," Boston said grimly. "This wasn't planned." 

"What is the plan?" asked Chavez as she stepped down into the hold. 

"Whoa, Battle, you good?" Leary said. 

"Nanomachines. I'll deal with it." Chavez said. 

"You just had major surgery," Leary said. 

"It was major surgery when you were a young man, you old fuck." Chavez laughed and put her hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey, if I don't worry about my people I ain't doing my job," Leary said. He took her hand off his shoulder and kissed her knuckles. "You feeling good?" 

"Ready to work," Chavez said. 

Chavez and Shima came around the planning table as they got their kits together. Shima used a short sub-machine gun from Heckler and Koch MP80 and Chavez with an AA-99 with solid slug rounds. 

"Alright, here's the deal," Boston said. "The Uroon Protectorate is having issues breeding with the six genders, and they can't make the as many members of the seventh gender come back as they are 97% Alliance citizens now." 

"Wait, what?" Chavez said. 

"That means they are putting out contracts for them. Throughout the galaxy." Leary said. 

The gravity of the conclusion hung in the air like the smell of burnt toast. 

"And they sure as fuck ain't taking our crew member" Boston spat. Her tattoos glowed a little, "And they aren't getting off the planet with any Alliance citizen. Their ship is here, and we are here. Eleven hundred meters. Sentient Code Enforcement is going to take forever and by forever I mean ten minutes after we move they might be ready."  

"Ma'am," Shima said. 

"We put a perimeter together here, Chavez your take point." 

"Ma'am," Shima said again. 

"Leary, coverage from the flank." 

"Ma'am!" Shima shouted. 

"What?!" Boston shouted. 

"Hacked the local, look." Shima cast the data into the planning table's screen. "Look at these heat signatures, if these are correct they are taking one hundred Uroon Sevens." 

"Okay," Boston said. "New plan." 

...

"I have worries," said Shima over the comms. 

"I love that about you," Leary said, from behind a rifle scope, posted up on a random cargo ship that they found out wasn't moving for another eight hours. Chavez spotted him.  

The one hundred Uroon Sevens, were on their knees and shivering in fear. 

"What do we got?" Boston asked. 

"One hundred and ten total," said Chavez. "I don't know why they aren't resisting, they got the numbers." 

"They don't know we got their back, yet," Boston said. "Shima, who's talking the most?" 

"Wait for one..." Shima turned the parabolic sensor. "Got 'em. Leary? Check this signature." 

Shima sent the image to Leary, Leary moved his scope "Patch me into what he's saying, Akira?" 

"On it." Shima did some things. "Hear it now?" 

"Got it," Leary said. 

"What is he saying?" Boston crackled. 

"Something something... 'owed these of the seventh...'" Leary said, having learned from Lirookan "We are allowed their bodies.' The gist is 'They belong to us.'" 

"Leary, when you have a clear shot, you put a bullet through his goddamned face." Boston hissed. 

"Aye, Ma'am." 

"Shima, get ready to move." 

"Aye, Ma'am," Shima said. 

Four seconds passed like Pluto's orbit, waiting for the shot. Leary tracked him. Can't risk anyone behind him. Different gravity on Mars; changes the ballistic arc of the slug. Don't overthink it... don't overthink...

"Manda Bala" Chavez whispered. 

Leary squeezed the trigger. 

A cloud of green mist burst out one side of the Uroon leader's head. 

Shima moved forward as did Boston. 

"Drop your fucking weapons!" Boston shouted as she moved to the ship. 

The ten Uroon who weren't Seventh did not. 

"Fuck." Leary said as he stood up. "Chavez take the rifle. Support as needed" 

"On it." Chavez rolled over and wrapped herself around the weapon. 

Leary flung himself off the ship and pulled his sidearm. 

"Lirookan!" as he sprinted "Lirookan!" he said again each syllable equal because extending sounds renders Uroon language unintelligible "Lirookan! Kaskan enyee!" 

Lookin realized what was happening. They went for one of the non-sevenths weapons and ripped it away, turned it on him, and fired two into his body. 

The rest of Seventh followed suit; taking the weapons from their potential kidnappers. 

It was a blood bath, as humans would say. 

Lirookan dropped the weapon. They never wanted to do anything like this. They were a quantum programmer who joined the Alliance to be free of being a 'Seventh' class citizen. 

Leary was too late, so he wrapped his arms around Lirookan while they cried. 

"Hurt hurt hurt hurt" they said. They were using their best English.

"I got you." and wrapped his arms around them. 

Lirookan had an embedded cybernetic translator. Their potential kidnappers cut it out of them. All they could say was "Hurt hurt hurt."

"Aliki, aliki" Leary said. The closest translation to English is "You are okay" 

...

"First time in a holding cell?" Leary asked Lirookan. 

They nodded. 

"This happens a lot in this business," Boston said. She was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, slouching on a bench, her active tattoos were holding very still as she was calm. 

"At least they kept us together," Chavez said. 

"Movie game?" Shima asked. 

"Chavez, referee?" Leary asked. 

"Sure." Chavez said "Five seconds or ten seconds?" 

"Five seconds," Shima said. 

"Done," said Chavez. "Pick a number between one and ten." 

"Seven," said Leary. 

"Two," said Shima. 

"Shima serves," said Chavez. 

"Arrival," Shima said. 

"Avengers: End Game," Leary said. 

"Jojo Rabbit," Shima said. 

"Free Guy," Leary said. 

"Shit. Deadpool 2?" Shima said. 

"Fuck, you already used Free Guy. The Adam Project." Leary said. 

"Columbiana" Shima said. 

"Fuck. Never saw that." 

"That's one!" said Chavez. 

"Hey," a low-ranking SCO interrupted. "You're cleared." 

"Took your fucking time," Boston growled. She went from chill to moving as did her tattoos. 

"You have a meeting." the SCO said. 

"Aw fuck." Boston groused and her tattoos held still but glowed. 

"See you back at the ship?" Leary asked. 

"Hope so," Boston said. 

...

Lt. Col. Al Wali's office was sharply organized. Some awards were framed on one wall and a quote from the Quran: "Oh ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice as a witness to God, even against yourselves or your parents or your kin and whether it be against rich or poor, God can best protect all. - Surah Al-Nisq 4:135" 

"Cigarette?" Al Wali opened his cigarette case.

"Thank you." Boston took one and Al Wali lit it. 

"I have all this fixed." Al Wali said. "But I had to attribute the shooting in the temple to Leary in the report." Al Wali said.  

"Now wait a minute, I shot that guy," Boston said. 

"Well your record is impeccable," Al Wali said and took a drag. "I don't want you getting blood on your hands." 

"I'm fine with blood on my hands if some xeno-fash mother fuckers kidnaps my crew. You can put that in the report." Boston seethed. "If some fucked up fringe from earth was taking humans back to earth for their gametes we'd not allow it. This is the same." 

"Yes, well, you know the Earth Firsters are picking a side. Intelligence suggests the Old Kings are perpetuating lies and funding them." Al Wali sighed. 

"Oh fuck them!" Boston said. "This isn't even their business!" 

"Be that as it may they are picking a side. Earth Firsters are protesting the seventh wherever they are," said Al Wali.  

"Well, you know the biggest enclave," Boston said. 

"New York." Al Wali said. 

"Well we got our next mission anyway," Boston said as she stubbed out the cigarette, stood up, and turned around to leave. 

"Wait." Al Wali said. 

"What?" Boston asked. 

"Bring this back to me." Al Wali tossed a gold lighter to Boston. 

"Will do," Boston said. 
...

The alarm clock pinged. Jamila Qadir was about the turn it off and then she inhaled. It's four in the morning. The other side of the bed was empty but a rich smell of bread, eggs, and spinach had reached the second-floor bedroom already. 

She changed into her scrubs and walked downstairs. 

The smell went from gentle beckoning to a loud shout. 

"What... is this?" Jamila asked. 

"I think your first day as Chief of Nursing is a special occasion." Achmed Qadir said. "I made makhlama bil sbenagh and gaymer wa dibis. A good meal starts a good day." 

"How long have you been awake?" Jamila asked. 

"Long enough," Achmed said. "Please sit, it's almost ready." 

Achmed didn't want her to worry. He was nervous about something too. Jamila sat down at the island  Bobby Leary and her husband built over a weekend last July.

"There you are," Achmed put a large plate in front of Jamila and slid food hot from one skillet and then more food next to it. 

The smell had made Jamila ravenous and yet she tried to be genteel as she ate. 

"My darling," Achmed said, "There is no need. Eat!" 

Jamila wolfed down about half her food. Achmed laughed. 

"I'll make some more for our children and guests too," Achmed said. 

"You fill my heart," Jamila said and she kissed him in a sweet gentle way. "I love you so much." 

Then she ran out the door to catch the bus. 

"But... you didn't...eat all your food..." Achmed sighed. She ate most of it, at least. Always in such a hurry that woman. 

Footsteps from upstairs again. 

"Baba!" Baan said. Always also in hurry like her mother. 

"Why are you running on stairs!? My darling daughter, you are great with child!" Achmed said. 

"Baba! You are such a nerd! No one talks like that." She said as she slid into a seat.

"Ah, I'm glad you noticed," Achmed said. 

"Are you still going to New York?" Baan said. 

"Yes, when the crew gets here," Achmed said. 

"Is Uncle Leary coming by?" Baan asked. 

"We shall see," Achmed said. 

...

"Ready," said Leary. 

"Ready," said Chavez. 

"Fucking ready," said Shima. 

"Ready to launch," Boston said. "Fill us up." 

An extremely thick perfluorocarbon flooded the shuttle's interior, "bump drive," is an explosive that would obliterate a human body without high levels of cushioning.

Leary reached over to Shima and looked him in the eye while the chamber filled up. It was clear but very thick like shampoo. Shima started to panic. He'd never done a short jump. Leary told him to inhale. Inhale. Drink it. 

Drink it. 

Leary held Shima's hand and while rubbing his own throat and helped him through it as his body shuddered and fought. Breathing a perfluorocarbon is scary, breathing the thick jump stuff is worse. Your body thinks it's drowning until you this weird tingle in your lungs, and then you are feeling your lungs for the first time and then your lungs are like "Oh hey, this works." and it all gets easier.

Leary gestured sliding his hand down his throat this is how you do it. Take it in. 

Lirookan had no issues. This was definitely not their first rodeo. 

First, their ears ring a little. And then... Earth. 

They landed at the Sparrow's Point Spaceport, drained the used liquid, and opened their sealed bags for fresh clothes.

"Remember when they made us do this naked?" Leary said to Boston. 

"Yeah, you know we didn't have to do that?" Boston scoffed. 

"What?" Leary asked. 

"Yeah, apparently that was kinda pointless and actually worse. Spreads diseases and whatnot." Boston said as she pulled down her pants. 

"Aw fuck, you mean?" Leary started as he pulled off his sopping wet clothes. 

"Yup. Spread the military crud." Boston laughed as she pulled up a fresh pair of cargo pants and slid her belt into them. 

"What's the 'military crud'?" asked Lirookan. 

"It's some shit only humans get," Shima said as he dropped off his flight suit and put on some bootcut jeans, a tank top, and a biker-cut jacket covered in patches and pins from ships, units and cities from all over the galaxy.   

"And we don't know what it really is." Chavez sighed and she pulled off her cargo shorts and pulled up some leggings with a Una-Bet pattern print that said "You Wish" in seven languages.

"We kinda do," Boston said. "It's got a ton of variants and whenever you get a lot of humans together, it evolves and everyone gets it." 

"Why don't I get it?" Lirookan asked as they put on dry clothes. 

"Couldn't tell you, but be thankful you don't get it," Boston said and she wiped behind her ears with a tissue. 

"You'd be coughing up bright green goo for a week or so," said Shima as he wiped his ears off and then took the cloth to the back of Leary's ears as well. 

"Waste not," Leary said. 

"Want less," Shima said.

They took an autobus to a part of Baltimore City called Charles Village. Midday there it wasn't terribly crowded but they all looked like former Alliance with their Uni-Bet patches and prints, cybernetics, and the pallor that comes from an extended time away from the light of any star.

Lookin of course looked like Uroon with their mildly blue skin and large eyes

"Man, this is way nicer than the busses when I was a kid," Leary said. 

"Wait until you see New York," Shima said. 

"New York?" Lirookan asked.  "The New York?" 

"The one and only." Boston sighed as she fiddled with Al Wali's lighter, flipping over and doing 'zippo tricks.' 

"You don't like it?" Lirookan asked. 

"My nickname is Boston," Boston said. 

"Boston is a real city?" Lirookan. "I thought that was only in the comic." 

"Which of you dorks let them read it?!" 

Leary and Shima laughed. Chavez held up her hands. 

"They sell them on like every space station," Lirookan said sheepishly. 

"Hey, I'd like to have a comic about me..." Chavez said. 

"Comic book me still has tits, and I haven't had tits in a decade!" Boston griped. 

"You had breasts?!" Lirookan asked wide-eyed even for them. Bodily alterations were against the law for the Seventh on the Uroon home world, to such an extent that their version of sexual education was vastly different from the other six genders. 

"Human breasts are cancer magnets planet side to start," Boston said. "In space? Fuck that. Better to just be rid of them. I breastfed both my kids and I'm not having anymore." 

"You can just. Do that?" Lirookan was still bewildered. 

"Alliance humans can," Boston said. 

"And Alliance Uroon can, too," Leary said. 

Everyone paused. 

"Sentient Protocol Seven Zero Six, paragraph five: Sentient beings are mandated complete bodily autonomy to include alteration and pregnancy termination." Leary recited. 

Everyone was silent. 

"I gotta know the regs," Leary shrugged. 

"I knew there was a reason I hired your old busted ass." Boston laughed. 

...

Breakfast at the Qadir residence is an exercise in controlled chaos. The doorbell ringing? Please. 

Faith, Baan's oldest child, ran to get it. He flung the door open and Leary had him off the ground lightning fast.

Mohammed Qadir just returned from a Coast Guard tour doing refugee recovery in the Chesapeake Basin, Baan was giving a hard time about being unmarried - as older sisters are wont - as they heard Leary shouting. 

"Security breach!" Leary said hoisting Faith over his shoulder. "Admiral, you're security officer is lax as hell!" 

Faith laughed hysterically and Leary plunked him down on an empty stool at the kitchen island. 

"We have penetrated the perimeter!" Boston said. 

"Move the kitchen! Secure the breakfast!" Shima shouted. 

"Dibs on the dibis!" Chavez said. They gathered around the table. 

It was all joke of course. Very funny. They all had been through terrible situations and had that morbid sense of humor. 

Something hit Leary, a kind of feeling like embarrassment. Like he'd made a cancer joke at a funeral of someone who died of cancer. 

Silhouetted in the doorway, was Lirookan. 

"Shut the fuck up." Leary hissed. 

"Lirookan." Leary. "Usina, ah lee jez. Aliki." 

Welcome, this is a safe home. It's okay. 

They were shaking. 

Leary went to them at the doorway. "Usina." 

Faith was right there and took Lirookan's four-fingered, binary-thumbed hand and said "Hello. My name is Faith!" 

Lirookan looked down at the human child. And saw in that human child... so much taken from them. The babies they made them have. The babies that they would never see. 

"Hello. I am Lirookan. I am very happy to meet you." they said through a new translator unit.

"It's breakfast time," Faith said and pulled them inside. 

Leary gently closed the door behind them so it barely made a sound. 

"Lirookan?" Achmed said. "Welcome to my table. Please, I had just finished something that works within your dietary needs, I hope." 

Achmed put something on a plate that was seven different kinds of proteins; vegetable and animal. 

"Please," Achmed said as he poured and refilled orange juice, "join us." 

...

"It's a little loose..." Leary said of Achmed's dress whites as they were all getting ready 

"Well yes. I was shot quite a bit. An extended magazine if I recall" Achmed said.

"Yeah yeah, I was there, old man." Leary snuffed. "Who got some pins?" 

"Here!" Boston said. "Get some!" 

"There we go!" Leary pinned Achmed's coat up. "Try this on now." 

Achmed looked at it in the mirror. 

"That's lovely!" Achmed said. "Enlisted!" 

"Enlisted!" Leary said and high-fived. 

Leary went through and checked Boston, Shima, and Chavez, even though they weren't wearing dress uniforms, gotta look sharp. 

"Mister Leary?" Lirookan whimpered. 

"Hey what's..." and they are scared again. 

"I don't know how to do this." Lirookan was shaking again. They were holding their dress uniform, they were still in the Alliance reserves. 

"I'm uncomfortable," Lirookan said. "With this clothing." 

"Gimme the room," Leary said. 

"Done," Achmed said. Everyone cleared out. 

Leary took  Lirookan's uniform. 

"I think the problem is the fabric doesn't move exactly right, there's enough but the cut..." he said as he cut their uniform apart with a fabrigun. "Look you're a seventh-level quantum programmer? That's gotta mean something and this cut? Ugh. Rude. Here let's try..." Leary used fabrigun in reverse to reform the uniform better. 

Leary stood up and turned around to see Lirookan was naked. 

"Let's try this... please?" Leary said to Lirookan. They were quite beautiful by any standard; even with the scars and the forced tattoos the rest of the Uroon inflicted on them. A map of resilience. Leary thought of his ancestors then. The Alliance dress Blacks had a mandarin-style collar so no shirt was necessary underneath. 

"This feels... good?" Lirookan said. Unsure of themself. 

"Damn right it does; this little gadget is handy as fuck!" 

Leary broke and reassembled the pants. "Try these." 

"These?" 

"This," Leary said realizing how annoying English is for the seven thousandth time. 

Lirookan put their legs into the pants Leary re-made. 

"Now how does that feel?" Leary asked. "Is it too tight? Too loose? Take a walk around." 

"This is very good," Lirookan said. "This is the first time I've felt comfortable in human-cut clothing." 

Leary pressed his forehead against Lirookan's. "We are running out of time. Do you know if you want to say anything?" 

"I'm afraid to," Lirookan said. 

"I've been there," Leary said. 

"You've seen worse," Lirookan said. 

"It's relative," Leary said as he ran a static roller over their uniform. 

"What?" Lirookan asked. 

"War," Leary said. 

"But... you... Boston, you saw the real war." 

"Don't do that," Leary said. "Just don't," Leary said. 

"I don't understand," Lirookan said. 

"War is war; it's stress and pressure. Thassit. If you didn't do your job well? I'd be dead." 

"What?" Lirookan asked. "What do you mean?"

"I have to get the rest of this lint..." Leary started. 

"I'm not stupid," Lirookan said. 

Leary sighed. 

"What did I do?" Lirookan asked. 

"We were pinned down. You were on Waorani. Shima got the coordinates. But I know you did the calculations." Leary said. "You threw those rounds down range. You saved our lives." 

"That's different," Lirookan said. 

"No, it's not. You saved our lives. And yesterday? You saved your life. And the lives of people just like you. And I know it hurts. You knew. You knew what the alternative was, didn't you? You knew what they do to you and those other people again." 

Lirookan started to cry. 

"It's okay." Leary embraced them. 

...

The forum was a large, loud, and upsetting place. 

It was a combination of the United Nations and the Alliance. 

Achmed emerged in his bright white Alliance Navy uniform. His hat was under his arm. He was painfully thin and somehow still looked powerful. He moved to the podium with a purpose. 

"My friends, colleagues, and veterans. I must speak about respect. I must speak about dignity." 

They all fell silent. 

"You know me. My history and my reputation. Today I've asked you all here using my full clout to say something. And to ask for something." 

And more silence. 

"I am from Iraq," Achmed said. "We did not know real peace until I was twenty-two years old and our infrastructure was dreadfully unstable until I was forty-five. I am an old man now. Proudly. To grow old is an amazing privilege afforded to not enough people. We fought hard for this peace. When the Alliance came to Earth with humility and asked us to help them end their war we obliged. With pride and dignity that only humanity could bring to a fight, we fought! And we won!" 

There was a round of resounding praise sounds and applause from many sentient species. Achmed waited for it to lull. 

"My friends, the most dangerous place in the galaxy is between a parent and their children. Liberty is the parent of all sentient beings who wish to be free. Today, I bring a motion before the United Nations and Alliance Representative Joint Council, granting asylum to the Seventh gender of Uroon across all Alliance Planets." 

"This is unprecedented," said Wea'Kall, the Asai Jiya representative.  

"Unprecedented but not unnecessary," Achmed said. "Many others can apply for asylum, and the entirety of your species did so if I recall correctly." 

"That was different; our planet was dying." 

"It is no different," said Valera Vall said. They rarely spoke so the room got so quiet you could hear someone outside selling hot dogs. 

Vall was a member of the Omega, an entirely artificial race, and the founders of the Alliance. The Hiraska Empire tried to murder them all. They recovered.

"Lirookan" Vall said. "If you would tell them why it would be necessary to be appreciated." 

Leary put his hand on Lirookan's shoulder. "Are you ready?" 

"I'm ready," Lirookan said. 

"Speak the truth," Leary said. 

Lirookan went to the podium and Achmed stepped aside for them.

"Hello Everyone. I have given birth to fifty-two children. I was not allowed to see them. I have contributed to one hundred and seven children. I was not allowed to see them. I will never see them. The Uroon Protectorate believes this is acceptable. I do not find it acceptable. I met Admiral Achmed Abdul Qadir's grandchild today. His name is Faith. He was kind. I ate breakfast with him. I will not beg. I will not ask. I demand that one day I can have breakfast with my own grandchild. I demand it! For all five million of us who fought in your war, I demand!" 

Silence. A silence reached into the streets. Up into the air. A silence only evil would argue against. 

"The motion carries," said Vall.

Lirookan shrunk away from the podium. 

Leary... being Leary "HEY! A VICTORY WITHOUT WAR!" 

The chamber exploded with an entirely unique noise. 

The Alliance just might endure.