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would culminate in Indian independence, but it took almost one hundred years.
    In modern times, food and water are under the careful administration of the United Nations Sustainability Project. The Population Crisis and Water Crisis are behind us. Sixth Extinction biodiversity restoration is underway throughout the Solar System, and we have seen the full-scale adoption of the revised Interstellar Declaration of Human Rights. The atrocities in Ireland and India, like so many atrocities in the Human Time Line, are words in a history file. They seem as antiquated, even ridiculous, as fossil fuels, large families or dying of cancer.
    But there is a place where oppression, cruelty and ecological disaster still exist, where preventable starvation is rampant, where plant and animal species are dying out by the day, where one race enslaves and subjugates another.
    It is Glin. I posted some vids of Duin, envoy of the Freedom Council.
    “No, best not write that.” Duin touched her hand to stop her typing on the tabletop. “The Freedom Council is a clandestine organization. We are afforded no political recognition by Tikat, and known members are arrested on sight.”
    I posted some vids of Duin, a Glin who has come to Asteria Colony with the sole purpose of informing us of the plight of our celestial neighbors.
    Duin read as she typed. “Oh, yes, that’s good. ‘Celestial neighbors.’”
    Duin’s people suffer as so many humans suffered in our past. Only, in his world, it is not Glin abusing Glin, it is a separate species from another planet. Tikat has invaded Glin, with a superior military and technological might that the Glin have no way to counter.
    The Tikati have taken over the most valuable resource on Glin: water. Water is not only essential to each Glin’s physical survival; it is the central component of their cultural and spiritual practices. In controlling the water, the Tikati have imposed their will upon the indigenous population with a tyrannical intensity which echoes some of the most disturbing injustices of our own past.
    “If I compare the situation on Glin with other struggles in human history,” she said, “maybe I will inspire some sympathy and support for your people. It might even motivate my followers to put pressure on the UN to at least meet with you.”
    “That would be glorious. Thank you.”
    Genny turned on the netcam and a window opened on her compartment wall, showing the two of them at the table. Looking at herself beside Duin, she couldn’t help comparing their similarities and differences. If he had ears and hair, he’d look almost human, save for his eyes. He was handsome, she realized, though it went against everything she understood as defining attractiveness—everything that had been cataloged as a desirable and expensive gen-mod. But, yes, she found him very pleasant to look at. Interesting. Captivating.
    After a few moments, she realized that he was watching her in return, with an amused expression on his face.
    “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to stare.”
    His expression warmed into a very forgiving smile. “Everyone stares at me. At least you do so without disgust or malice.”
    She tapped an icon on the table to begin recording. “I’d like to make a vid of our discussion to go on my blog, ’k?” It wouldn’t run live, she would edit and upload it later, when she finished writing her post.
    “Yes, that is very ’k,” said Duin. “I wish there were these devices on Glin, so I could show you what it has become.”
    “Maybe I can go with you the next time you return.”
    “Return? How would I return?”
    “You must have a ship. You said earlier that you brought water to the colony.”
    Duin covered the camera with his finger. The window on the wall went dark, but it didn’t stop the mic from recording his voice. In a hushed tone he said, “I’m not supposed to have a ship, and I’m not supposed to be bringing any water. I’m smuggling. Isn’t that a