Flash Fiction Friday: Started from the Bottom

Today's flash fic is set in the AI Universe a few hours after "A Lesson in Politics." Reading up to that point in the universe will fill you in on perspectives outside those of the characters shown here, but it is not necessary to understanding what is going on.

Started from the Bottom
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“I regret a lot of things.” Jay dropped his focus to the floor, chastised, as he tried to formulate his next argument, but Ambassador Franklin spoke before he could do so.

“Having this conversation tops the list.” The ambassador’s expression was pinched, brows creased and lips pressed into a thin line. “You have a knack for the work, kid. That’s why I stuck my neck out for you before, but you’re asking too much now.”

“You can’t trust Commander Ratraim,” Jay pressed.

He might be young, but Jay wasn’t naive. In the decades since the Ecitonae made contact with Earth, they’d been distant and cold. They’d offered technological breadcrumbs to humanity as a means of “easing” them onto the galactic stage. Occasional blips on the radar and stories from a few abductees after their return home spoke of other advanced species out there, but thus far, the insectoid species was the only one with whom they had any sort of real contact. After all, humanity had yet to venture past their own small system at this point, so they were not exactly big players or even all that interesting from a technological standpoint.

So why were the Ecitonae suddenly extending an offer for human engineers to join their crews? It just didn’t add up or jive with what they knew of their long term visitors.

Franklin rolled her eyes. “Your faith in my intelligence is overwhelming.”

Jay considered the older woman as she thumbed through the file she’d been studying since they’d beamed back to headquarters. She was infuriatingly difficult to read. It’s what made her good at her job, but it certainly made things hard for him when she played so close to the vest.

“My apologies, Ambassador.” Jay relaxed his stance and tone, slipping back into the professional mask he’d been perfecting the last few months. “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

Her enigmatic smile and the approving flash in her eyes as she glanced up at him before returning to the papers spoke volumes. Franklin had her sights set on reverse engineering the alien systems, playing dumb to make the Ecitonae underestimate them. He’d bet a month’s salary on it.

“What do you make of the newcomers?” Franklin asked after a moment.

“They seem friendly enough, but it’s clear Commander Ratraim doesn’t care for them.”

Franklin gave an amused huff. “I’m beginning to believe that’s just Ratraim’s natural stance, Smitherson.”

Unable to disagree, Jay said nothing on the matter.

“I have yet to find anything on the Zolacksains beyond the fact they are highly advanced, mammalian, friendly, and seem driven by a desire to seek out novelty and fun.” He said, returning to the topic of the second species to make official contact as of a few hours before. “That seems like enough to get on the commander’s bad side, but it doesn’t explain the anxiety Ambassador Hyutic keeps displaying.”

“Is that what has been off about her today?” Franklin closed the file and set it to the side as she regarded Jay, and he nodded. Franklin’s brow creased, and her eyes glazed over as she thought. 

“We’re missing something about the Zolacksains big enough to make the Ecitonae nervous,” she mused. Her expression grew pensive as she leaned back into her chair. “We’re being used as pawns in a galactic power struggle.”

“That’s giving us too much credit, so far as I can tell,” Jay mumbled.

“Oh?”

Jay shrugged. “I get the sense neither the Ecitonae nor the Zolacksains quite see us as sentient beings,” he said. “More like pets or service animals.”

Franklin grimaced. “I hate that I can’t disagree with your assessment.” She sighed. “Yet, insulting as it is, maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

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Flash Fiction Friday is a recurring series on the blog where I take a first line prompt I either found online somewhere or that was submitted by a reader, and I write a 700 word or less story based on it. Most flash fics end up being set in one of my six established universes, but a few stand by themselves or in small "clumps" outside the universes.

If you would like to suggest a first line prompt, comment below, tweet me, or email me. Reader suggestions get priority, and credit for the prompt is given via screenshot and in post shout out.