Interstellar Age

Chapter 333 Cultural Differences

While Erich and S'aleth were at dinner, discussing their pasts, and getting to know one another. The Deputy Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire was meeting with S'varin and a few other politicians from the Dvrakian Consortium.

S'varin was inclined to believe the severity of the situation at hand regarding the Naraku Splinter Fleet known as Terminus. But at the same time, he remained skeptical until Karl could provide some solid evidence of his claim.

But it would take some time before this evidence could arrive, and thus at the moment he was entertaining the Deputy Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire at a nice dinner which was simply a cover for a diplomatic meeting.

The other politicians by S'varin's side were also skeptical of the Germanic Star-Empire's claims. Or their motives for approaching the Dvrakian Consortium. Yet despite this skepticism, they all treated Karl as if he were a distinguished guest.

Of course, as the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire, Karl wasn't a fool, he knew that S'varin had gone out of his way to have Erich absent from this important meeting, and thus he was quick to address this issue with a stern tone in his voice.

"I must say... I find it disturbing that you would host an informal peace conference while deliberately excluding my adjutant from it. Has he done something to offend you, or do you simply want me on my own for some ulterior motive?"

The Dvrakian politicians were immediately appalled that Karl not only knew of their intentions, but had also spoken them out loud for everyone to hear. It was because of this that S'varin immediately tried to backtrack and claim that he had done no such thing.

"Please... Mr. Deputy Leader, I believe you are being paranoid. Your adjutant had volunteered to go on a tour of the city. It's not my fault I have not been able to get ahold of the young man..."

Despite this being a reasonable excuse, Karl was not so easily fooled, as he quickly pointed out the failure in logic within S'varin's statement.

"Did you not send your daughter out with my aide as a tour guide? Am I to seriously believe that you can't even get ahold of your own daughter under these peaceful circumstances? Does it not bother you that a young man and a young woman are alone together and are not responding to your attempts to contact them? Perhaps the two of them have decided to wander off and engage in a serious taboo!"

This statement was a serious slap in the face to S'varin, who, like most of his kind abhorred the idea of their women going off and forming romantic relationships with other species. To suggest that his daughter would do something so scandalous with a foreigner, and a diplomat of the Germanic Star-Empire no less, it made S'varin clench his teeth in rage. The red-skinned man could not even hold back as his anger as he lashed out at Karl for his daring choice of words.

"How dare you slander my daughter in such a way! You are a guest in our world, and yet you speak of such heinous acts, and insinuate that my daughter is engaging in them! You best watch your words Mr. Deputy Leader, because if you did not have diplomatic immunity, I would be compelled to arrest you for such a false accusation!"

Knowing that he had caused the Dvrakian Governor to lose his rationality for a second, Karl smirked smugly before responding to the man's threats.

"I am not accusing your daughter of anything, Mr. Tavarian. I am simply stating the fact that it is a possibility and am questioning your apparent lack of concern. I assure you, our society is far more strict about such relationships than yours are, and I would never wish to accuse my personal aid of such a mortal sin unless I had some evidence to back it up.

But the fact remains here we are, and yet your daughter and my adjutant are nowhere to be found. Unless, of course, you deliberately went out of your way to prevent his arrival to this occasion."

Knowing that he had played right into Karl's hands, S'varin flushed in embarassment. If it was at all possible to see him blush on his already blood red skin, then one would have seen it in that moment. But it lasted for only a moment before the man quickly composed himself before speaking up to Karl about more important matters.

"Enough of such nonsense... I believe we have more important matters at hand, yes?"

---

Erich and S'aleth got back on track after the question about his military service, and his brief reflection on the sacrifices that might be necessary in this lifetime for the greater good of the Germanic Star-Empire and the galaxy as a whole.

S'aleth was surprised to find that Erich was genuinely interested in her people and their culture. Perhaps the man was somewhat of a xeno historian, which was a rare study among the Germanic Star-Empire. But whatever was the reason, Erich wanted to know everything about Dvrakian society that he could learn during such a limited timeframe.

The reason Erich was so curious was twofold. One, it made S'aleth think he was nothing like his own people, and thus far more endearing to her. And two, the Dvrakian Civilization was all but annihilated in his past life, and its history was washed away with their rivers of blood.

In his past life, Erich had never learned much about Dvrakian civilization. All he knew was that he had fought a war against them, and that they considered themselves to be "lovers rather than fighters."

It was interesting to see the perspective of a peaceful society like the Dvrakian Consortium. Especially when compared to the fanatically militaristic one that Erich hailed from. Dvrakian history was older than human history by tens of thousands of years. And was much better preserved.

After all, most human civilizations were wiped out during ancient wars, and were only rediscovered and pieced together through fragmented records and archeological finds. But the Dvrakian Civilization had a continuous line of history that recorded pretty much everything that happened since they first developed a system of writing.

War was not in their nature, and though they would wage it in defense of their own territory. They had seldom waged it against themselves, and when they did it was always conducted with some form of civility. Rules of war were always established to protect cultural and religious sites, as well as civilian populations. And these rules went back to the earliest era of recorded Dvrakian history.

In comparison, formal rules of war that protected such interests continued to be broken and violated well into the 21st century of human history. Meanwhile, the Germanic Star-Empire thought of such things as the notions of the na?ve and foolish.

The results of such a mindset had been nothing short of destructive, resulting in a very fragmented history where the only truth that people knew about the past of humanity was that which was written by the victor.

When Erich spoke of his civilization, he was surprised to find that S'aleth was struggling to stop herself from crying. It was abundantly clear that she was not the same S'aleth that Erich had known in his past life.

Probably because war was such a foreign concept to the woman in this life, whereas in Erich's past life S'aleth had fought on the front lines of two major wars, and had been hardened to the cruelty of the universe by the time Erich had met her.

Once thing was certain, by the time the dinner was over, S'aleth found herself having a new understanding of Erich and his people. One that made her deeply confused about her own feelings towards an alien.