Matt didn’t like it, but he nodded. “Do it.”
Twenty minutes after going in to the anteroom, he came back out, agreements in hand. He handed one copy of each to Matt. Together with Matt, Jaswinder escorted him back to the shuttle, where Kevin Geller waited.
“Kevin. I settled. We won’t need you after all.” Richardson turned back to them. “Matt Yrden, I won’t forget this,” he said. “Sometime in the future you’ll find the shoe on the other foot. Expect no mercy.”
Matt and Richardson glowered at each other. Then Richardson turned and stalked off, leaving a puzzled Geller to follow him.
Jaswinder felt all her energy leave her. “I need sleep.”
“I’ll give you eight hours. Then we work on my problems,” Matt told her. “You know, of course, what he did?”
She sighed as she walked with Matt and Hank back to the conference room. “He just planted two spies on Venture. Watching them will give Bettina something to keep her occupied.”
Matt chuckled. Bettina wouldn’t find it so funny.
She didn’t, but gave in with good graces. Together with Jaswinder, she went to greet her new crew, while Matt returned to whatever duties he had.
“Mr Carson,” Bettina said, “we’re heading back to Venture, now. I’ve had a long day, so you’ll pilot. Do something to earn your keep. Get the shuttle ready for departure.”
“Yes, Captain,” Carson said. He looked almost eager. Hank Lowe escorted him back to the shuttle.
“Ms Fulton, do you understand what happened here today?”
“Yes, Captain, mostly. Mr Richardson says that you’ve hired me and Wen away from Amalgamated. It’s nice to be wanted. I can’t talk about anything that happened before you rescued us, though. I signed something.”
“Yes, I know. Are you ready?”
“Almost. Ms Yrden ... Jaswinder?”
“Yes, Angela?”
“He wants me to spy for him, but I won’t. I promise.”
Jaswinder nodded gravely. “I believe you.”
“Come along, Ms Fulton,” Bettina said. “Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 8
Haida Gwaii
Saturday 05 June
Jaswinder groaned, and turned off the alarm. He rose before she could give in to the desire for more sleep. Blinking in the low light, she took a deep breath. She needed to get ready for the day. She stretched up towards the ceiling, feeling life starting to come back into her. Yesterday had been rough. Matt drove her relentlessly. But, she had to admit, as she twisted her body to the right, he drove himself harder than anyone else. She twisted to the left, and then took several deep breaths to calm her thoughts.
Once she had achieved that calm, she started her morning yoga in earnest. The memory of Tempest, the cat, came back to her. Tempest had welcomed Jaswinder to Venture the first time she had done yoga there. Tempest had left them ten years ago.
She frowned, and wondered what had brought that memory back up? At the time, she had felt alone, and afraid at the changes that others had forced on her. Tempest had ameliorated those feelings. Her face relaxed, and she nodded. New changes came their way, forced upon them by outsiders. Though secure in the Family now, the Family itself – all the Families – faced hard times if Matt proved a good prognosticator.
She took a moderately long shower – one of the benefits of rank – and dressed for the day. The door chimed.
“Hello, Matt. I wondered who might come knocking at my door this early in the morning.”
Matt blinked, then recovered. “I have the results from yesterday’s tests here, Jazz.”
He tried to pass the reader to her, but she refused to accept it. “After breakfast, Matt.”
“If you insist.”
“I insist.”
They walked in silence to the cafeteria. Seated, he watched her eat, which annoyed her. She felt pressured to eat more rapidly than she desired. Deliberately, she chewed more slowly.
“We boost again today.”
Again? What occasioned that? She raised her eyebrows. “Higher orbit?”
“Yes. I’d prefer to orbit the Moon, but that takes us too far away from the Agri-stations, and we have contracted for quite a load of foodstuffs. Some of that arrives this afternoon, and I want Venture fully stocked as well. Actually, overstocked.”
Matt offered the reader to her again. She accepted it, and scrolled through the report between bites. She frowned.
“Yes,” Matt agreed. “The readings aren’t even close to the calculated values.”
“No one has attempted to move anything like Haida Gwaii into hyperspace. She’s big and hardly symmetrical. We weren’t supposed to attempt jump before we completed her.” Jaswinder took a swallow of orange juice. “What does Bill Tannon say about the higher orbit?”
“The Tannons, Paxtons, and the rest of the Families agree.” Matt shifted in his chair, obviously wanting get up and moving. He glanced around before continuing. “We’ve made preparations for abandoning FTL-1.”
“We sweated blood to get that station up and running in face of TPC antagonism,” Jaswinder protested. Matt said nothing. “But it looks so calm.”
“Looks.”
They rose together.
“You had a vid-call from Earth, Jazz. An old friend noted that you entered the system, and wanted to send his regards.”
“Old friend?”
“Colleague. You remember a Harold Preston?”
Jaswinder smiled in fond remembrance. “You owe him, Matt. Without him, you’d never have gotten me.”
Matt stopped abruptly. “You’ve never mentioned this before. If the Family owes him, we’ll have pay off that debt. Maybe even get him up here.”
That reaction caused Jaswinder to look up sharply. “You mean it?”
“Of course. We Yrdens always pay our debts. This one has waited for too long already. As for getting him up here, we don’t want anyone going down who doesn’t have to. So, if he’s amenable, we’ll bring him up to find out how we can repay him. At a minimum, I must thank him personally.”
Jaswinder thought back. “He must be in his 70s by now.”
“If he’s healthy enough to take a shuttle, I’ll arrange it. Talk to him. The calculations can wait an hour.” He kept pace with her.
“Now?” Jaswinder wondered at his insistence. He’d been pushing her hard to work on an equation that might see Haida Gwaii jump unscathed to hyperspace, hardly giving her time to do anything else. Now he wanted her to take an hour to renew an acquaintance that had lasted only minutes?
“Now,” he confirmed. “I’ll walk you to the comm room.”
And so he did. She took one of the privacy booths, and Matt inputted the return address of the call Preston had made.
A much-older-looking Preston appeared on the screen.
“Professor Preston, good to see you,” Jaswinder said.
Preston peered at the screen where he saw her face. He smiled and relaxed. “Ah, Professor Saroya. So good of you to call me. I didn’t expect it. Are you keeping in good health?”
“Yes, Professor, the years have treated me well. And you?” Did he just want to talk pleasantries? Had his sharp mind dulled with age?
“Pretty good, pretty good. Though the mind does wander from time to time. It’s a failing of old men. Why, just the other day I recalled our last visit. Tell me, do you recall it at all? I remember we talked, but the subject escapes me.”
Jaswinder stiffened inside, but smiled into the vid. “I remember as if it were yesterday. You suggested that I take one of your courses.”
Harold Preston beamed. “Of course, of course. It all comes back now. My advice still holds ... though I no longer teach. Perhaps my protégé could fit you into one of her classes. Her name is Helen White. You could sit up in the front row. She’d like that, I’m sure.”
A whistle sounded in the background.
“Oh, could you hold on a minute, my water’s ready for my tea.” He disappeared from view.
“I think he’s senile,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
Jaswinder shook her head. “He’s sending me a message. That’s one sharp old man. You may be right, but I’ll bet my next year’s salary that he’s worried that someone may have access to the call. The course he recommended to me: ‘A Historical look at the Future’. He believed that we could predict the future by looking at similarities in the past. He suggested it to me when he told me to hide my findings – I was about to announce them publicly – and to get off the planet. He figured that if people knew what I had found, they’d either try to kill or co-opt me.”
Matt stared at her. “And that happened during your last visit with him?”
“My only visit. The only time I ever talked with him at all. We met just before a conference. Without his advice they’d have caught me. They almost did anyway. And if not for Johannes, they would have.” She looked to the screen. “He’s back.”
Preston took a sip from a cup of steaming liquid. Matt turned the audio-out back on.
“Ah, nothing like jasmine tea,” he said. “Now, where were we?”
“You suggested that I take one of Helen White’s courses,” Jaswinder said.
“I did? But you must have heard wrong. You take a history course? I’d think you’d have enough to occupy your time. No, no, I’m sure I said that Helen would love to talk with you, because you’ve actually made history.” He shrugged his shoulders. “But it’s not important – no more important than any of our little talks.”
So, they’d have to contact this Helen White.
“Professor Preston, I recall you once mentioning that you wished you could go into space, just once in your life. Would you like to come up for a visit?” Now they’d see the true state of his mind.
Preston’s eyes sharpened momentarily, then became vacant as his gaze shifted upwards to something off-screen.
“Ah, a fancy of my younger years. Yes, I believe I mentioned it in a few of our little talks. But the expense! No, no, I’m afraid I can’t afford it on my pension.” His eyes refocused on the screen, face relaxed in the contemplation. A little wistfulness crept into his voice. “To see the Earth from up there – like in the pictures and vids.” He sighed.
Matt nudged her, and she pushed over to allow him to join her in the vid camera’s view.
“Professor Preston, good to see you. I’m Captain Matt Yrden, Head of the Yrden Family Line. It would please me no end if you would come up as a guest.” He waved off Preston’s shake of his head. “No, really, it’s no trouble. We have workers coming up here regularly, and we would just add one person to the roster. You’d have to be prepared for a two-week stay, I think. Perhaps even a month. After all, you’ll want to experience it without feeling rushed. So, feel free to bring all the things that might make you feel at home.”
Preston gave a rather vacuous smile. “A vacation. I haven’t had a vacation in many years. Yes, I’d like that. My doctor says I’m fit as a fiddle ... though how fit a fiddle is, I don’t know. My mind just tends to wander a bit.”
“I’ll have our Earthside representatives arrange everything, and get in contact with you. We’ll have someone accompany you each step of the way – both here and back.”
Preston cocked his head to the side and looked up again. “Yes,” he said, speaking slowly, “that would be wonderful. A vacation. But it’s always nice to get back home again.” His attention shifted. “Oh, it’s almost time for my favourite afternoon vid program. Perhaps we can talk again later. I must go. Goodbye, Professor Saroya, Matt.”
“Goodbye, Professor,” Jaswinder said, but wasn’t sure her words reached him before he cut the connection.
Matt turned to her. “I’m still not sure.”
“He never spoke of wanting to go into space, Matt.”
“Perhaps not, but your suggestion may have created that memory in him.” He waved off her objection. “It doesn’t matter. If he’s as healthy as he says, we’ll bring him up. At worst, we have a doddering fool on our hands for a time. I’m sure we can find someone to entertain him.” He grinned suddenly. “We could always pawn him off on Bettina, and give him a ride out to Io Station and back.”
Jaswinder laughed. “Yes, I’m sure with what you’ve given Bettina to do, she’d appreciate that no end.”
* * *
Venture
Tuesday 08 June
Bettina didn’t appreciate the latest missive from Matt. He wanted her to hurry with the re-provisioning of Venture? Hurry? She already had ship’s pilots doing the job of work-pilots – much to their displeasure – pulling skids of foodstuffs from the Ag stations. She scowled at the words on the screen. She had half a mind to take one of the shuttles over to Haida Gwaii, and give him a blast in person. At least it would give her new pilot, Wen Carson, something to do.
“Captain?”
She looked up to see Jordan at the door. “Yes, come in. What is it?”
“I have a message from Dad.”
She closed her eyes. Matt felt she’d pay more attention if he had his messages hand-delivered? She sighed, then opened her eyes once more. Jordan hadn’t disappeared. Ah, well. She held out her hand.
“Thank you, Jordan. Now, go take a break.”
Jordan smiled with relief. “A pleasure carrying out your orders, sir,” he said, and gave her a mock salute.
She shoved the datastick he’d handed her into a port, then blinked in surprise. It carried heavy encryption. Before decrypting it, she rose and closed her Day Cabin door, locking it.
“Now, what have we here that Matt resorts to this? If it’s another trick of his, he’ll pay,” she murmured as she entered passkeys.
The text, when it appeared, stunned her. The message seemed simple enough, but the implications staggered her.
If you assume this your last chance to receive a cargo from Earth, what items would take priority? Discuss with your Traders. You have authorization to empty the listed accounts.
She glanced at the accounts, and marvelled at the total she could spend.
“Last chance for how long, Matt?” she asked the empty room. “For a year? For two years? Forever? Goods for trade, or goods for Family survival?” She frowned at the screen, vowing to give Matt a blast he’d never forget. Then her face went still. “Goods for the survival of humanity as we know it? What do you see coming?” A sudden chill went down her spine, and she shivered just as a knock came at her door.
Grateful for the chance to think of something else, she deleted the message from the screen. Another sigh, then she rose and opened the door.
“Ms Fulton. How can I help you?”
Angela Fulton had proven a worthy acquisition. She never complained, had a cheery smile for everyone, and did her job with a dedication that some few Family members the captain knew could well emulate.
“Captain Yrden, I’d like to use some of the money I have in the ship’s account.” She hesitated a moment. “I can use it, can’t I? The money Mr Richardson gave me? I know I haven’t earned much from the Family – though it’s good of you to pay me when I’ve already been paid.”
Bettina looked at the attendant’s face and wondered if she, herself, had ever been that young. Her newest crewmember carried a reader with her.
“Come in, Ms Fulton, and sit down.” She really should just pass her on to the paymaster, but dealing with this small problem would give her mind time to integrate the vastly larger problem Matt had presented her. She took her chair, and motioned Angela to the one across the desk from her.
“Of course you can access your money. It belongs to you. And we’re paying you for the work you do. Whatever Mr Richardson gave you, he gave you for his own purposes. Amalgamated Shipping no longer employs you. We do. I hope you realize that.”
Fulton’s deep brown eyes went wide. “Oh, yes, Captain. It’s just a little strange, you know, ’cause ... I’m sorry, I can’t talk about it. I signed something.”
Bettina smiled to herself. This young woman had no artifice about her. And, as Captain and Family member, she knew exactly what Fulton had signed – and why.
“That’s fine. I don’t need to know. As long as you’re sure about your position and the loyalty we demand from our employees, we’ll have no problems. Now, tell me, have my crew tricked you into gambling with them, and you need the money to pay off a debt?” As if they’d dare.
“Oh, no, Ma’am. I want to order something up from Earth, if I can.” She presented the reader.
Bettina looked at the screen, and raised her eyebrows.
“An Ellery Flon guitar? And a very expensive one, at that. Yes, we can order it, and bring it up. Do you play?” A rhetorical question, only. No one who didn’t know a lot about the subject would order such a piece. Fulton had probably longed for one for years, but never had the money – until now.
“No, Ma’am, I don’t.”
Bettina leaned back in her chair, and cocked her head to the side. “Don’t you think that’s a rather expensive piece to learn on? It’s going to cost you nearly a quarter of what you have.”
Fulton laughed. “Oh, it’s not for me, it’s for...” Her smile faded, and she looked down.
Bettina straightened up, wondering if someone had pressured the young woman. “It’s for whom?”
Fulton continued looking down, apparently studying her hands. Finally she spoke. “He spends all his off-shifts sitting in the Observation Lounge, just staring into space. Just staring. On 684 he used to play his guitar, laugh, sing, dance. He used to talk about getting an Ellery Flon. Said he’d save up and buy one, one day.”
She looked up into her captain’s eyes. “He needs something, Captain, he desperately needs something.”
Fulton looked as if she were about to cry.
“And he’s willing for you to spend this amount of money on him?” Bettina asked, already suspecting she knew the answer. Fulton didn’t disappoint her. She looked hunted.
Not With A Whimper: Survivors Page 8