“Several generations ago, before we were brought to this world, our kind flew between worlds in vehicles able to move on their own powered by small stars at their center. On each world we built great cities which were home to billions working to enrich their people and send tribute to our homeworld,” the Thisin woman told Jason.

“By world do you means within your solar system?” Jason asked. He had done research into the technological levels of species that had recorded that very few made it to Earth’s level and still fewer got much further beyond that. It seemed that there were no interstellar civilization, other than the J`nk, and it was questionable if you could consider them that. There were no signs that Jason perceived that there was some grander civilization than the hidden master of Debris who seemed to live somewhere on planet rather than being an outpost bound to some large governing body that controlled multiple star systems.

“I do not know this phrase, solar system”

“I mean, in Humanity’s past we used to say world and refer to a planet that orbits a different star. We didn’t think of other planets in the same system as different worlds. I’m trying to understand if you mean you colonized multiple planets around your star or multiple stars. I suppose there isn’t much of a technological difference but there is a large enough gap to make a difference.”

“You believe what I say is truth?” she smiled.

“I have no reason to disbelieve you. All of it sounds right to me.”

“I’m so happy that others believe us, finally.”

Jason laughed, “I understand the other madam. They come from civilizations that what you’re talking about is unbelievable, or at best, magic.” He stopped and thought for a moment, “Would you excuse me for a moment.” He got up and left the circle, returning a few moments later dragging with him Mya. He forced her to sit with them, “I’d like to introduce you to Mya. I think if you two work together we could redevelop some of our technologies and help work out the truth.”

“You can’t be serious, what could they know? They’ve been slaves for 200 years,” Mya argued with Jason.

“Considering that they came from 2nd most advanced civilization and at the very least have passed down stories of the time before they were attacked, I’d say that at worse they can give us clues to more advanced technologies than we Humans have dreamed of yet. We Humans were able to look forward in our technological growth and predict the things that they are talking about, yes, but we had not developed it yet and even with that, the implications of some inventions are just unpredictable. Which means there may be stuff in their stories that we could do but haven’t thought to do. So shut up, sit down, and listen to their stories.”

“Did you say 2nd most advanced?” the Thisin woman grew more interested in what Jason had been saying, “How can you know this? Are Humans the most advanced?”

Jason shook his head, “Unfortunately not. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this situation. The J`nk civilization is or was the most advanced. I’ve yet to meet every meet every species that have been captured by them, but from those I’ve encountered, there are only a few species as advanced or more than Humans. The Thisin were on the brink of becoming an interstellar civilization. I believe the J`nk were only a bit more advanced. Their tech is like magic to us, but it doesn’t take long to make one civ far more advanced than another. Most of the advancement that separates Humans from what appears to be the average culture on Debris is a few hundred years. And Humans from Thisin, probably about a century for the important tech, but 2 or 3 to set up colonies like you talked about. My guess is that the J`nk, before whatever lead to them create Debris were a few hundred years ahead of the Thisin.”

“Humans are third then?”

“In a sense, but only because the civilization that would be third all but died out. The Kesruc were slightly more advanced than Humans. They were destroyed, but their memory lives in Xev. I’ve never asked, but she probably has a good understanding of most Human technologies.”

“So what do you want us to do?” Mya said impatiently.

“I want you to listen to these stories, and with your knowledge, be inspired to recreate things that can help us. We need to build up our technology separate from the system so it can’t control us. Didn’t you say that you were blocked from seeing Human technology? Well we need to get around that and develop new stuff. If we work together we can combine our technologies come up with something greater.”

“You aren’t going to listen any more?” the Thisin woman frowned. “I was looking forward to our time together.”

“Of course I’m going to listen. I just want Mya here to listen along. If nothing else it will help with her interpersonal problems,” Jason chuckled softly at the same time Mya shot a glare at him.

The two settled in to listen to the Thisin woman continue telling the stories of her people. As they listened to her, they interjected from time to time, but the day passed quickly and more people gathered around to hear her words. When they took breaks from working on the wagons they would come to listen. Productivity went up over the course of the day and night. A makeshift assembly line was put together as people wanted to participate in the magical phenomena that was occurring. They wanted to know that they could add their own ability to these amazing machines. This freed up the T`kata to retrieve more logs to use and as the day went on those that went to Gondaluke started coming back. By nightfall most had realized that if they could get enough wagons done before the started out again they’d be able to make the trip within a day and so they reasoned to just stay and work on the wagons till they were done. Moreover, as the wagons were finished they could be used to transport more logs to and from the camp and the loggers which increased the speed of production exponentially.

The Thisin woman’s voice grew hoarse and she grew tired after some time of telling the story of Thisin as they were just before their capture. She had to take a break and those who had gathered were about to disperse, but that is when gruff looking elder Human male stepped up. He was malnourished, but you could tell that he was fit from who knows how much work. He had many tattoos. Not many knew what they meant exactly, but all the Humans were familiar enough with the style that they knew they were gotten in prison. He gave a loud roar raising his drink, “If the lady is tired, let her have some rest, but don’t go away. She’s not the only one who has stories.” Those that were beginning to get up suddenly returned to their seats to see what this Human would say. Humans were an unknown quantity to them and just about everything they had found out about them once they were given a path forward had proven to be amazing, if not simply intriguing, so when one offered to tell them tales there wasn’t a single person who wanted to leave and miss what was bound to be, at the very least, very interesting.

Of course, the man was not as practiced nor have the same intent as the Thisin woman before him. It didn’t take long for people to start chiming in and scolding him for at the very least exaggerating, but what the braggadocio and topics of his fantasy caught the ears of the Tok`phane and Sil`phane who didn’t care for the lies of the Thisin, but this Human was talking their language, of hunts, dominance, battles, and the like. He only had so many yarns to tell and then he was finished, but unlike last time no one moved. The crowd that had formed were waiting for the next speaker. They had never experienced anything like this gathering. They might tell of their days activities, their conquests, their breakthroughs, to others on a one to one basis but never had they thought to share them around a fire to a group. And even when they did share with a friend they didn’t exaggerate to the point of fabrication, but the Human had clearly done so several times. one of the Tok`phane dressed in Gondaluke’s guard uniform stepped into the light of the fire. At first he was cautious with his words as everyone held their breath not knowing how to react, but the old convict shouted a jeer at the dog. It lit a fire in the pit of the guard dog and soon he was regaling the group with a tale fighting the man with it, not wanting to be outdone. The other Tok`phane listened intently and cheered him on more than they would have otherwise, not wanting a Human to get the better of them.

With that, a constant drone of stories were told with laughs, jeers, cheers, and gasps. And not just between the Humans and Tok`phane. They were just the beginning. The other species jumped in, each one bringing their own culture to the fore. As they became more comfortable, the subjects and genres changed ranging from historical, mythological, personal, to the purely made up, which was mostly done by the Humans as the other species couldn’t quite get a handle on creating fictional tales from nothing. The groups had come to the fire as representatives of their individual species, unlikely to ever to really cooperate with other species, but by the time the wagons were done and made ready to set out they had all become much more mixed up, creating group dynamics that Debris had likely never seen before.

Jason rode in a wagon with most of his companions, Mya, and the Thisin woman. The Tik`rs rode in their own wagon that carried their belongings along with a few others that they had done business with to maintain their inn and the surrounding establishments. As they traveled Jason broached the topic that they needed to do two things when they arrived; establish a government and bring the settlement up to at least Human standards. He’d be relying on Mya for the latter, but for the former, he wasn’t sure what to do. He had to create an acceptable government, but he didn’t know enough about the customs and cultures to know what would ultimately be unacceptable.

The Thisin woman reached out to Jason and took his hand to comfort him, “I do not think that you have anything to fear. If they were not willing to try something new, willing to try a way that you propose, they would not have abandoned their homes so easily to follow you. And look at what you have already brought them. Where else could they experienced these marvels and experiences that your leadership has already conjured. No. Do not be afraid of failure. Just continue to be open and willing to give an ear to their concerns.”

“Thank you, madam,” he gave a complicated smile. “By the way, its a little late, but I never did ask your name.”

She looked down, her mouth turning from happiness to a mildly embarrassed frown, “Like the clothes of my kind, we are generally not given them until we are sold to a permanent owner so you see, I am as naked in name as I am in dress.”

“We’ll have to remedy that. In Human culture we do it in many ways and some of us have many names. Perhaps the Thisin can create a new naming tradition that they can be proud of, Madam.”