TV Episode 2
Hoshitachi no Kenzoku (Members of the Stars)
The Abh have no interest in the conquered star systems themselves. For what they want to control is space, not the ground. All they deny to their subjects are the rights to interstellar trade and the possession of interstellar ships. They try to avoid the interstellar wars which mankind would otherwise eventually start by forceful suppression. This is probably the very reason why people say, "Abh -- their nature is arrogant and reckless." [This is a phrase commonly used in the non-Abh world and well-known among Abh, too.]
OPSeven years ago, Jint, as a small boy, was waiting for someone at a spaceport to go to Derctu. But now Ghintec, an Abh noble, is waiting for an Abh soldier to take him to the Capital. Whilst he's waiting, a young man comes up to him. He is Que Durin, Ghintec's friend in a local minchu club ['minchu' is a ball game but no detail is ever given by Mr Morioka]. Ghintec is very pleased to see him but Que tells him he is the only one from the club who has come here to see him off. Ghintec is a little disappointed but has half-expected this. He had never revealed his class to the club members until the very last day and they don't know how to deal with an Abh noble. "To be honest," Ghintec admits "I don't know how, either."
Ghintec, in the formal costume of an Abh noble, is certainly peculiar enough at the spaceport of such a remote planet and attracts unfriendly attention from many people. Que, who has only seen Abh in the 3D graphics, wants to know if all Abh really are beautiful. Ghintec cannot answer as he hasn't seen any himself. He recollects the incident which brought him to Derctu. "I was brought to this planet without knowing anything and, as soon as I've learned how to read and write, I have to go to the Capital." This surprises Que, who thought Ghintec was going home. Instead he is going to enter a Space Navy school so he can become an administrator. It is a duty of a noble to serve in the Space Navy to heir a peerage. In the Abh society, higher class means more duty. Ghintec tells Que that a Navy officer should come here to pick him up soon. Hearing this, Que becomes restless and decides to leave. He has no intention of meeting an Abh officer. Yet, before he leaves, he asks what Ghintec's full name is. "Linn Ssynec Rocr Ïarlucec Dreuc Haïder Ghintec, I think." Ghintec isn't used to this name himself. Que says farewell and hands a minchu ball, autographed by the club members, to Ghintec. He leaves the spaceport without looking back once.
In another part of the spaceport, a boy robs the bag of an old woman [both of them seem to be local and speak an unknown language]. As he runs away, he nearly collides with Ghintec, who throws the minchu ball at him, hoping to capture him. The boy deftly avoids the ball, which then heads towards a girl with blue hair. She catches the ball without looking and throws it at the boy. The ball knocks him down but he quickly picks himself up and runs away again. The boy whistles to call his fellows for help and passes the bag around. But the girl is so swift they eventually run way, leaving the bag behind.
As Ghintec picks up the bag, the girl hands the ball back to him. "Are you Ronyc Linn Ssynec Rocr Ïarlucec Dreuc Haïder Ghintec?" Ghintec meekly replies, "Yes, I am." Then the girl's arm moves swiftly and he steps back [he thought she was going to slap him]. She says, "I am sent from the Gauthloth. Please follow me," and walks away immediately as if she doesn't care whether he follows or not. This reminds him of that old day when Till walked away from him. But this time he manages to stop her, "Wait!" [Ghintec misunderstands her "impolite" behaviour as a sign of Abh's contempt towards grounders but he is totally wrong. Lamhirh does not meant to be impolite and can sense Ghintec's move without looking at him through her space sensor.]
He thinks the girl should at least give her name and tells her so. Her reaction surprises him. She smiles and declares proudly "Call me Lamhirh!" She also wants to call him by his given name, which Ghintec is more than happy to agree to.
The old woman whose bag the boys stole arrives at the scene with two spaceport officers. Ghintec runs to her to return her bag but she doesn't show any sign of gratitude. Instead she snatches the bag from him and shouts something at the Abh girl. She doesn't hide her hatred to Abh. It doesn't, however, offend Lamhirh particularly and she tells Ghintec to move on.
On their way to the ship, Lamhirh asks him why he stepped back when she saluted him. He decides to lie, "Oh... well, that's how we greet each other on my home planet." Thankfully Lamhirh believes it. "But, now that you're an Abh, you should do as we, members of the stars, do."
As they approach the ship, Ghintec is impressed with its size, "So this is the Gauthloth!" Lamhirh is appalled, as it is only a tiny boat the Gauthloth carries, and says, "This boat can take up to 50 people. You're the only passenger today, though." She asks if he prefers to sit in the co-pilot's seat or stay in the cabin. He jokingly asks if there is any pretty cabin attendants but Lamhirh is serious, "There are no pretty cabin attendants but you have an elegant pilot" (Lamhirh, typical of Abh, doesn't like to be called pretty or beautiful), which leaves him no choice.
She connects her tiara to the sensor system of the boat, which amuses Ghintec, who doesn't have a space-sensory organ. While the computer checks the status of the ship, Lamhirh puts the control glove on. Abh operate their ship through movement of their left hand but it appears unreasonable to the boy. "What will you do if you want to do something with your left hand while operating a ship?" Obviously this is something that the Abh never think about, "You just forget your left hand while you're operating a ship."
The boat is now ready. Lamhirh requests permission to take off, which is duly granted. Ghintec asks her to project the outer view for him. The view of dark yet starry space impresses him a lot. Lamhirh chooses gentle takeoff by low-temperature propulsion, rather than electromagnetic ejection, for his sake.
The boat eventually takes off into space successfully. It is a matter of course to her but a little surprising to Ghintec for such a young girl to operate a space boat. Lamhirh (who is extremely sensitive of being treated as a child) frowns at him but he is wise enough to change the subject, "It's difficult for us to tell your age." She tells him that she is sixteen, just a year younger than Ghintec.
A beep confirms that the boat has safely reached the acceleration area. She asks her passenger how much acceleration he can take. The boy is confident of his strength, "I can take at least as much as you can" (Abh keep the gravity within their ship at about 0.5G). But soon he realises he was wrong. The Abh's body is designed to withstand high acceleration because their ancestors had no gravity control.
The content of the bag that Ghintec and Lamhirh recovered from the theft is something they would never have considered, a propaganda video against Abh. It shows the Abh as an evil invader and ruthless destroyer. [Lamhirh wouldn't have minded it even if she had found it, though. The Abh disdains any form of propaganda *and* those who are deceived by it.]
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