but well, and yet without even realizing it I did nothing but belittle and patronize you." Then he formally bowed, right out in front of everyone. "I'd very much like to begin our friendship anew. Will you accept my deepest apology?"
"Of course," I replied, extending my hand. "But you don't—"
Then he embraced me in a warm hug, having bypassed my hand entirely. "I'm so terribly sorry," he whispered in my ear. "I've manumitted every single Rabbit on my estate. Eventually, I came to realize that it was the only way I could live with myself."
12
"I heard about the goings-on out in the waiting area," His Lordship Admiral Panetta began, once we were finished with the polite preliminaries. "Especially with Blaine."
I felt my face coloring under the fur. "Well, sir… He and I—"
"I've held this office for almost ten years," he interrupted, pouring himself a second shot of whiskey. The Second Space Lord was a notoriously heavy drinker, but no one ever claimed that it interfered with the execution of his duties. If anything, the alcohol seemed to further hone an already sharp mind. "And in all that time I've never once heard of any such goings-on out in the lobby. Fights and arguments, yes—one of them actually led to a duel, a few years back. My aide Peter has worked in this office almost three times that long, and he's never seen the like either." He paused and looked down at his glass awkwardly. "Are you sure you won't have some, David? It's a rare interview indeed where I'm forced to drink alone."
"It's a Rabbit-thing," I explained. "Our senses of taste are different."
"Ah!" he replied. Then he dribbled in some water and took a long, deeply-satisfying sip. "You know, that makes matters more remarkable still. You being a Rabbit, I mean. The last slaves kept on a large scale before your kind were Africans. Many of my ancestors among them, I'll add, which has made me more interested than most in the subject."
"Indeed, sir?" I responded.
"Indeed!" he replied. Then he frowned and set down his glass. "What just took place out there in my waiting room would've been unthinkable for a freed slave in that era. While a handful were indeed manumitted, they were never allowed anything resembling social equality. Just like you weren't, at first."
I nodded.
"Once upon a time, His Majesty sent a Herald to discuss the possibility of enrolling you into the Academy," he continued. "For what it's worth, David, I supported the idea. But I also warned him that I felt you were almost certain to either wash out or at best would prove a minimally effective officer. Because that's what my knowledge of history led me to believe would be the best-case scenario, you see. Even after you performed so well there despite the social difficulties, well…" He sighed, then placed his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. "There was a lot of pressure for you to be assigned to a backwater post, David. Some of it was political, but there were legitimate concerns as well. What effect would a Rabbit officer have on morale, for example? And while your courage and intellect were proven, well… Leadership is a quality that's nearly impossible to evaluate in an academic setting. While on the surface you seemed to show some promise even in that arena…" He sighed. "I'm the one who sent you to Graves Registration, David. Ultimately, it was my decision. While many other officers boasted of having been the key string-puller at the time, they don't know of what they speak. Your folder has crossed my desk many times, Commander. And I'm personally the one who made the decision, outside pressure be damned. I thought it best to place you among as many other Rabbits as possible, and most of all I thought it important to be certain that you'd never be faced with the prospect of leading humans in combat. For your sake as well as theirs."
I blinked. That duty had been so miserable… "I see,
"Of course," I replied, extending my hand. "But you don't—"
Then he embraced me in a warm hug, having bypassed my hand entirely. "I'm so terribly sorry," he whispered in my ear. "I've manumitted every single Rabbit on my estate. Eventually, I came to realize that it was the only way I could live with myself."
12
"I heard about the goings-on out in the waiting area," His Lordship Admiral Panetta began, once we were finished with the polite preliminaries. "Especially with Blaine."
I felt my face coloring under the fur. "Well, sir… He and I—"
"I've held this office for almost ten years," he interrupted, pouring himself a second shot of whiskey. The Second Space Lord was a notoriously heavy drinker, but no one ever claimed that it interfered with the execution of his duties. If anything, the alcohol seemed to further hone an already sharp mind. "And in all that time I've never once heard of any such goings-on out in the lobby. Fights and arguments, yes—one of them actually led to a duel, a few years back. My aide Peter has worked in this office almost three times that long, and he's never seen the like either." He paused and looked down at his glass awkwardly. "Are you sure you won't have some, David? It's a rare interview indeed where I'm forced to drink alone."
"It's a Rabbit-thing," I explained. "Our senses of taste are different."
"Ah!" he replied. Then he dribbled in some water and took a long, deeply-satisfying sip. "You know, that makes matters more remarkable still. You being a Rabbit, I mean. The last slaves kept on a large scale before your kind were Africans. Many of my ancestors among them, I'll add, which has made me more interested than most in the subject."
"Indeed, sir?" I responded.
"Indeed!" he replied. Then he frowned and set down his glass. "What just took place out there in my waiting room would've been unthinkable for a freed slave in that era. While a handful were indeed manumitted, they were never allowed anything resembling social equality. Just like you weren't, at first."
I nodded.
"Once upon a time, His Majesty sent a Herald to discuss the possibility of enrolling you into the Academy," he continued. "For what it's worth, David, I supported the idea. But I also warned him that I felt you were almost certain to either wash out or at best would prove a minimally effective officer. Because that's what my knowledge of history led me to believe would be the best-case scenario, you see. Even after you performed so well there despite the social difficulties, well…" He sighed, then placed his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. "There was a lot of pressure for you to be assigned to a backwater post, David. Some of it was political, but there were legitimate concerns as well. What effect would a Rabbit officer have on morale, for example? And while your courage and intellect were proven, well… Leadership is a quality that's nearly impossible to evaluate in an academic setting. While on the surface you seemed to show some promise even in that arena…" He sighed. "I'm the one who sent you to Graves Registration, David. Ultimately, it was my decision. While many other officers boasted of having been the key string-puller at the time, they don't know of what they speak. Your folder has crossed my desk many times, Commander. And I'm personally the one who made the decision, outside pressure be damned. I thought it best to place you among as many other Rabbits as possible, and most of all I thought it important to be certain that you'd never be faced with the prospect of leading humans in combat. For your sake as well as theirs."
I blinked. That duty had been so miserable… "I see,
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