Appears in After Amargosa
Shortly after returning to Hanar from Amargosa, Lattus Tishla is diverted to a security bunker outside Gilead City when an unknown spherical craft lands directly in the plaza opposite the Residence. The newcomers—dubbed turtloids by Trevor Colt for their turtle-like appearance—speak both Humanic and the Mother Tongue, immediately demanding to be “taken to Hanar’s leader.”
The turtloids request land to raise their young, showing little understanding of local politics or the rights of existing settlers. Tishla tentatively agrees to relocate them to an uninhabited region, but they instead settle themselves in the Gilead Autonomous District, a human separatist enclave governed informally by leaders like Shelly Parker and, more dangerously, Nobu Katsumoto.
Tensions flare when one of the separatists, a woman named Patsy, kills and eats a turtloid clutchling. Nobu cynically offers Patsy to the turtloids as a scapegoat. In an attempt to understand human customs of “revenge,” the turtloids retaliate by killing and consuming her—a disturbing act that leaves them morally shaken.
Realizing the species of Hanar are too violent and chaotic for peaceful coexistence, the turtloids abandon the planet, returning a human skull to Tishla as a grim parting gift. Their departure leaves Tishla emotionally battered, acutely aware of Hanar’s ongoing struggles to balance its diverse populations and build a truly cooperative society.
In the aftermath, Tishla struggles with the burdens of leadership, yearning for a simpler life she knows she cannot have, and recommits herself to securing a future where her daughter Athena can grow up free of such violence.
Key Themes:
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First Contact gone wrong despite the best intentions.
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Culture clash: differing views of land, ownership, violence, and justice.
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Burden of leadership: Tishla’s growing disillusionment.
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Human and Gelt savagery: an honest reckoning with past and present sins.
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Hope for the future embodied in Athena and the possibility of change.