Read Stellarnet Rebel for Free Online Page B

nice word? It sounds like someone dropped a large boulder into a lake.”
    “Pirating,” Genny said. “Bootlegging. Stealing.”
    “It’s not really theft, J’ni. The water of Glin belongs to all Glin, and I have the agreement of the Freedom Council to share it with humans. But if the Tikati knew—” he made a nasty face, “—I would be killed. Or worse, incarcerated.”
    He removed his hand from the netcam and their images reappeared on the wall.
    “I’ll delete that before I post the vid,” she said.
    “Thank you.” He took a sip of tea. Nana’s chipped porcelain cups almost hadn’t made it past ESCC inspectors because they weren’t recyclable. But Genny insisted that they were of personal spiritual significance. That made them exempt under Section 8 of the colonization contract. It wasn’t entirely bullshit—they really did mean a lot to her. And she thought tea tasted better in them, for some reason, than it did in glass or plastic.
    “When did the Tikati first arrive on your world?” she asked.
    “It was more than two and a half rain seasons ago, when—”
    “Hang on. Can you explain a rain season?”
    “A rain season is a recurring pattern of weather cycles. Equal to 1.582 years on Earth.”
    Genny typed the information into her notes window, then used the calculator to do the math.
    “So it was four years ago when they attacked?”
    “It was four years ago when one —” he held up a finger, “—Tikati representative came and asked for water, saying their world was dying and they needed the water to survive.”
    “And the Glin sold it to them?”
    “We do not sell water. It is evil to claim ownership of those things necessary to survival, and to make others subject to you for their use. Water, air, food, medicine or knowledge.”
    Genny touched the tabletop and paused the recording. “But, Duin, you sell water to Asteria.”
    “I do not . I give Asteria the water because the humans here are in great need of it. For survival. I am in great need of aid for my people, for our survival, but that has hardly been forthcoming.” Disappointment was written on every inch of his face. “So, I don’t see any commerce going on.”
    “I didn’t mean to piss—” No, he might not understand that phrase. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
    “No, no,” he reassured her, covering her hand with his. “I don’t mind being challenged. If I did, I’d certainly be the wrong Glin for this mission.”
    His touch did not give her the same odd sensations as it did when they met the day before, but it still affected her. When he removed his hand, it left an emptiness behind.
    He gestured to the netcam, prompting her to turn it back on.
    “The problem began when the Tikati returned again and again.” He shifted with agitation in his chair. “Ship after ship, coming to every lake, every sea, every river, swooping down, collecting the water in great holding tanks and flying away with it.”
    Duin swooped his hands over the tabletop, dipping a spoon over and over into his tea, transferring the liquid to hers. Then he pointed to his cup. “Water levels in lakes and rivers dropped. Marshlands began to dry out. Over time, the rain fell less and less. That is one of the reasons for the famine. Before the Tikati came, the water was teeming with plant and animal life, which the Glin used for food, clothing, tools, medicine…everything. When the water is gone, everything in it dies. Then we die.”
    The Glin inhabited only a fraction of the total planet. It was an area of marshes, lakes and extensive river systems. This she knew from reading the reports of Asteria’s first team of researchers.
    “How many Glin have died since this began?” she asked.
    “I don’t know. The last planet-wide population estimate was made by your scientists several rain seasons ago. There were about 15 million Glin then, but—”
    “Wait, did you say 15 million? ” The human population hadn’t been that small in tens