Far into the future, a generation ship from Earth finds a planet with the right atmosphere, plenty of water, and an established ecosystem, but no intelligent life, or so they think. It's only well after the settlements are established that the humans discover the planet is taken care of by an omniscient guardian. The guardian, having studied the Earthlings, is willing to let them stay, but only if they abide by his decisions regarding the use of the planet's resources. To facilitate communication with the humans, the guardian selects one of them to be his companion for life. When a companion dies, a new one is chosen by the guardian. Vale is a sharp-tongued introvert who enjoys his job summarizing research papers. He can't imagine a worse candidate to be the companion than himself, but when the old companion dies, it seems that may be his destiny.
“Vale” asks a deceptively simple question: Would you give up everything — your family, your job, your significant other — to serve an omnipotent being that has the power to destroy everything? That's the dilemma Vale is faced with. “It's tradition,” as everyone says, but Vale seems to be the first prospective companion to ask why. He has just met a man who sees past his hard shell and wants a relationship with him. Vale can't bring himself to walk away from that, but the guardian isn't accustomed to being told “no.”
Vale is quite an interesting character. I suspect that, in current terminology, he would be considered neurodivergent. He's socially awkward, unable to pick up the cues others do, and is more comfortable delving into arcane research, which makes him good at his job. His sarcastic wit is no doubt a cover for his social ineptness, but it is still very entertaining to read.
The story is related entirely from Vale's point of view, so we get to know the other characters through him. This includes his co-worker, Walther, who becomes his lover. All of the characters end up being foils for Vale's sarcasm. There are some very amusing exchanges throughout the story, which otherwise can be a bit serious. There probably should be a trigger warning for this story regarding frequent discussions of the main character's possible death. The story also features the author's distinctive style of very formal dialog between characters. It's very unrealistic but doesn't detract much from the story.
“Vale” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).
