Transcript: Cultural Currents, June 4, 2440 Broadcast, GlobalNet Culture Stream
Host: Jaelani Hsu, GlobalNet Cultural Correspondent
Guests: S’rala T’all and M’Rak Y’eslin
Location: Freehold Pavilion, Missouri Territory, Earth
JAELANI HSU: Thank you both for taking the time. It is June 4th, 2440, and I imagine you’ve barely had a moment to breathe.
S’RALA T’ALL: That’s true. Though after deciding to turn in early last night, we’re among the few not nursing sore feet or hoarse voices from the concert.
M’RAK Y’ESLIN: We heard it from bed. Through the walls and through the laughter. Our room is on the far end of Lord Marmaduke’s home, generously provided.
JAELANI: You were at the pizza party when the emergency call came in, weren’t you? What was that like?
S’RALA: The shift from joy to readiness was immediate. I hadn’t even finished my second slice. Within minutes, the whole atmosphere transformed. Matt and Angelina moved like a practiced command team—no shouting, just motion. I was slower. The pain in my leg flared as soon as I tried to move.
JAELANI: That injury—for clarity’s sake—didn’t happen on Earth?
S’RALA: No. It happened during our last defense against the raiders that destroyed three of our sister ships. Shrapnel—low velocity, but enough to tear the ligament cluster behind my knee. I kept coordinating the evacuation of our compartment instead of going to triage. By the time we were clear, the damage was far worse. But I got the section clear before it finally decompressed. The landing here was smooth under counter-grav.
JAELANI: M’Rak, what went through your head when the emergency started?
M’RAK: Logistics. Instinct. The first moments are always inventory—who’s where, what do we have, what do we need. My protocols were to clear the children first. But then I saw her wincing, trying to stand. That wiped everything else away.
S’RALA: He obeyed once he realized I was right—we were responsible for others, not just ourselves.
JAELANI: You’ve both transitioned now from operational roles into something more… civilian, but still visible. Is that adjustment difficult?
S’RALA: T’mari’s trust in me is humbling. I expected to be placed with a logistics rebuilding team. Instead, she brought me into the communications core. There’s very little hierarchy in how she works, but she delegates like a tactician.
M’RAK: It was hard to let go of ship command structures. Lord Marmaduke offered me a position within his logistics enterprise, but I still have a lot to learn about how it runs. In the house, I’m a voice. A witness. And perhaps that’s just as important.
JAELANI: S’rala, your House name carries weight. T’all has become a symbol, especially after the blood-oath ceremony. Does that add pressure?
S’RALA: I’m proud to bear the name. But the House is not mine alone. K’rem restored its honor. L’tani may someday extend its legacy. I’m a distant cousin, not a direct heir. What I can do is serve well—and quietly, if need be. Our son S’baj bears the name of the ancient and storied House Y’eslin, and he can be proud of that.
JAELANI: And yet your presence at public meals, even with a walking assist, hasn’t gone unnoticed. You’ve become a figure of resilience.
S’RALA: I limp. That makes me memorable. But if the humans here see dignity in it, I will try to live up to that.
JAELANI: What do you two talk about when the lights go out?
M’RAK: We’ve been watching Earth media with S’baj to improve his English. We spend a lot of time discussing it.
S’RALA: As an anthropologist, I’m intrigued by a show he likes called Bluey. We wonder what the children born here will believe. What stories they’ll inherit. Whether they’ll speak our tongue with an accent, or sing human songs without knowing their origin.
M’RAK: I ask if we will farm. If her leg heals well enough, I’d like to at least try to garden. Lord Marmaduke offered us a new home he’s building. I want to understand what he means when he says the soil smells different after rain. I want to find out for myself.
JAELANI: What do you miss most about your world?
M’RAK: The low red light through the clouds before the winter rains. It’s a reflection off one of our moons.
S’RALA: My mother’s laugh. She was an engineer on one of our lost ships. But I will always remember it echoing through the apartment we shared during my childhood.
JAELANI: And what do you love already about this one?
S’RALA: The children. They are loud, unshaped, and wholly themselves.
M’RAK: The fact that no one here asks us to forget. They ask us to remember—in new languages.
JAELANI: One last question. If this were your last interview—if all eyes and ears in both species were listening—what would you want them to hear?
S’RALA: That mercy is not weakness.
M’RAK: And that loyalty is not owed to blood, but to honor. And earned again every day.
JAELANI: Then I hope this is only the first of many conversations. Thank you both.
S’RALA: Thank you.
M’RAK: Peace to your house, and your hearth.
