Hill chuckled to himself. "I think we won that one."
McClintlock shook his head. "I don't see how."
"Ellis may not like us," he said. "He may not trust us, but I don't think he'll cry any more over New Granadan migrants than he will over our land claim." Hill drank his second shot of bourbon, grinning broadly. "The worst thing that the Confederation will do is slap some penalties on us. With the war on, we'll make up those losses in no time."
McClintlock nodded. He understood but he wasn't convinced Hill's optimism was justified.
* * * *
Ellis felt the slight gee-force pulling him into his seat as the launch lifted off the ground. He had come down alone. With the computer's aid, piloting a launch only required one person. Ellis opened a channel to the Firebrandt. The communicator answered. "Check records. Who is governor of New Granada?"
The holographic image of the communicator faded a bit as he moved slightly out of the transmitter's range. He came back more solidly. "Since New Granada has never been officially recognized by our government, we don't have that on record here, sir."
Ellis frowned. He was on course for the ship and thought about opening an official channel as he had with the Governor of Tejo. He shook his head. There was a fast way to get the information he needed. "I'm changing course," said Ellis. "I'm going directly to New Granada."
"But, sir," protested the communicator. "We don't know whether or not they're hostile."
"They won't be hostile," Ellis snapped then instantly regretted it. The communicator was showing exactly the right concern. "My new course is for the city of Succor along the Nuevo Rio Grande. If I don't contact the ship within twentyfour hours, leave orbit and report to Titan."
"Aye, aye, sir," said the communicator.
Ellis turned off the teleholo unit. He entered the new coordinates in his computer. He had never been to Ellison Firebrandt's house or Sufiro before, but his mother had shown him pictures when he was young. It had been years since he had spoken to Firebrandt. Ever since his teenage years, Ellis avoided contact with a man he simply regarded as a notorious pirate. When he called his mother on the teleholo the week before he got his assignment, Roberts had answered.
Ellis leaned his seat back as the launch piloted itself toward New Granada. He chose a course and speed that would take him there through the night so he could get some sleep. The bucket seat was not very comfortable, but it was almost better than the tiny bunk aboard the Firebrandt. Light headed from the alcohol he'd consumed, Ellis fell asleep with unsolved questions running around his brain.
A few hours later a buzzer on his comp panel sounded. It was the proximity alarm saying he was within a hundred miles of Succor. The commander sat up, and turned on the coffee processor. He ran a brush through his hair and frowned when it didn't seem to do any good. A beeping indicated the coffee was done. He pulled a warm bulb out of the dispenser and drank it gratefully. As he finished the coffee, he could see the small settlement coming into view. The timing was almost perfect. The sun was just coming over the hillside, illuminating the lush green valley. With the wide river and green trees, he could see why lonely space travelers who had been left to the wiles of the galaxy had called the place Succor.
Ellis scanned the town. Soon, he found what he wanted. There was a large house on a hill overlooking the river. The scanners indicated that nearly forty percent of the house was made out of Erdonium. Since there was no naturally occurring Erdonium in the rocks of New Granada that meant a space ship. He found the house visually. As his mother had told him, an enormous field surrounded the house. He set the launch down in one corner of the field next to a hover and an old carryhover. Both were sitting on a large pad of concrete. The launch itself only needed twenty square feet to sit down on.
Sitting in the launch, he called the ship to let them know he was down safely. He told them to wait for another twentyfour hours before doing anything. Ellis thought for a moment how odd it was that the military still did everything in twentyfour hour increments. Sufiro's actual day was closer to twenty-six hours. Ellis shrugged and stepped through the airlock, closing it behind him. He straightened his uniform jacket and strode toward the house.
Ellis knocked on the door. While waiting, he cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back. Roberts opened the door. He sat in the black-cushioned seat of an old, brown hover chair. "My God," said Roberts. "It's Mark, isn't it?" He smiled. His eyes moved to the epaulet. "Commander Ellis, two surprises. Come in, please." Roberts floated away from the door. Ellis stepped in, closing the door behind him.
Roberts led Ellis to a large sitting room. Light from the morning sun flooded the room. A valet entered with an urn of coffee. Fire Ellis soon followed him. "Mark!" she exclaimed. She rushed up to him, putting her arms around him.
Ellis was not a man for physical displays of affection, but he put his arms around his mother. "It's good to see you, mom." He stood back and looked at her. Her hair was starting to turn gray and a few more lines had appeared on her face since he'd last seen her.
"I see you met Roberts," she said.
"I have," said Ellis nodding to acknowledge him. Fire indicated a couch. They both sat.
They all looked up as Ellison Firebrandt entered the room. He wore a green smoking jacket and black trousers. A battered pipe was clenched between his teeth. He almost dropped it as he saw Ellis. "Why it's Mark, isn't it?"
Ellis stood. "Good to meet you in person, Captain Firebrandt," Ellis forced himself to say.
Firebrandt put down the pipe. "Is that any way to greet your grandfather?" He put out his arms. Ellis reached out and shook his hand. Firebrandt shook his head, grinning. "You're a tough one," he said. "Worse than your father. Don't want to associate with the privateer captain, eh? Well, I don't blame you. You're an up-and-coming officer. By the looks of it, a commander now."
Fire hadn't noticed the epaulet. "Indeed," she said, beaming. "Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Mom," said Ellis.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" asked Fire.
Ellis shook his head.
Fire shook her finger at him in mock anger. "What did they teach you in that Naval Academy anyway? Dad, have Jones bring in a tray with some of breakfast on it."
"Aye aye, sir," said Firebrandt with a gleam in his eye. He turned and left.
"So," asked Roberts. "What brings you to Sufiro? Did you get some unexpected leave time?"
Ellis sat on the old, comfortable couch. "I wish this could be a purely social call." The valet brought a plate of eggs and bacon on a silver tray. He set it down in front of the commander and poured coffee into a porcelain cup. "I need some information about what's going on with the Erdonium mines."
Firebrandt stepped back in the room and crossed to a chair facing Ellis. "So," he said, sitting. "The Confederation wants to know who's slowing up the Erdonium shipments."
Ellis nodded. He dove into breakfast. He was so tired after his meeting with Hill that he'd forgotten to eat dinner.
"The Tejans are doing it to themselves," said Firebrandt, measuring his words.
Ellis looked up and washed some food down with coffee. "The Tejans say that the mines have been sabotaged by outsiders." He looked to his mother then back to Firebrandt. "They say they're being sabotaged by New Granadans, possibly with the help of the Rd'dyggian ship in orbit."
"Well," said Roberts with a grin. "Rocky Hill and Clyde McClintlock may be smarter than we gave them credit for."
Firebrandt laughed, nearly spilling his own cup of coffee. Ellis had to suppress a grin of his own. "Mark," began the captain, "the fact of the matter is, yes, New Granadans are sabotaging the Erdonium operations. But, the Tejans have been asking for a fight for the past twenty years—ever since Sam Stone killed Espedie Raton to keep him quiet about migrant labor."
"You mean this is all about migrant labor?" asked Ellis, wiping his lips with a cloth napkin.
"More than that," said Roberts. "It's about slavery and territory rights.
"
"I know about the territory rights," said Ellis, his brow raised. "What's this about slavery?"
Fire took her son's hand. "For nearly ten years, Tejans have been taking New Granadans as slaves to do the dangerous work of Erdonium mining. They call it migrant labor, but it's really slavery." She told Ellis about how the kidnapping was stepped up at the beginning of the war so that Tejo would become a key Erdonium center, necessary to the war effort. She told him about the kidnapping of Juan Raton and his neighbors throughout New Granada and their rescue by Edmund Swan. "They've been violating human rights. You've got to do something."
Ellis sighed. "I have to admit, it begins to make sense now. I just wish there was something I could do."
"What?" said Fire. She looked at her son.
"I'm sorry, Mom. It's an internal matter. The Confederation has no jurisdiction over the planet." Ellis shrugged. "If New Granada had joined the Gaean Alliance, I might be able to do more."
Fire stood. Her face turned red. "Damn it boy!" she said. Ellis jumped back. "If you weren't my son, if you weren't bigger than me, I'd pound you where you sat!"
Firebrandt stood and put his hands on her shoulders. "Easy, Little One," he said. He rubbed her shoulders. She relaxed a bit. "He's right. It's not the Confederation's problem." He looked back to Ellis. "It is your problem, though."
Ellis blinked. "What do you mean?"
Firebrandt guided Fire back to her seat and then returned to his own throne-like chair. He picked up his pipe and relit it, taking a puff. "You're not here just to find out why the Erdonium shipments have slowed down. You're here to get the shipments to resume. Am I right?"
Ellis nodded. "If the terrorism stops, the shipments return to normal." Ellis fished around his uniform for a cigar.
"If the terrorism stops, the slave trade resumes," said Firebrandt through gritted teeth.
Ellis found the cigar and pulled it from his coat. "The slave trade will stop if sanctions are imposed." He lit the cigar.
Roberts shook his head. Firebrandt leaned forward. "If the Gaean Alliance imposes sanctions, Tejo will simply walk over this continent, raise her flag, and take the people she wants. The Tejans didn't file their claim against New Granada for land. They filed it to get the people."
Ellis sucked on his cigar in silence for several moments. "So, why didn't New Granada ever join the Alliance?"
"Didn't want to," explained Firebrandt.
Roberts nodded. "Joining the Alliance would have meant assuming national responsibilities. We're on the frontier, a continent good for individual farms and not much else. I think the last thing anyone in this room wants to see is New Granada become a suburb for anyone, much less Tejo."
Ellis shook his head. "There's a war going on out there!"
Firebrandt chuckled. "You've never even seen the face of your enemy. You think they're evil, but you don't even know what their motives are."
Ellis tossed the cigar butt on the tray. "Don't tell me they're not evil. I've seen what they've done to human life."
The captain nodded slowly. "I know about the Cluster. They take human lives quickly and efficiently, we don't know why. I also know about Tejo. They take human lives for pure profit. I won't argue that the Cluster must be stopped. I will argue that Tejo must be as well."
Ellis pounded his fist on his knee. He felt trapped and needed air. "Excuse me," he said tersely, and stepped toward the front door.
"Mark..." Fire jumped up and started after him.
Firebrandt stood and grabbed her shoulder. "Don't," he said.
She looked to her father with tears in her eyes.
"He has to make a command decision," he explained. "It's probably the first really difficult one he's ever had to make." He shook his head and sat down on the couch. Fire sat down beside him. He put his arm around her. He stared at his feet for some time. He felt the irony of trying to teach his daughter how to be a good mother pressing down on him. Finally, he looked into her dark, moist eyes. "They teach a young person many things in the academy. They try to prepare you for everything. The reality is that the galaxy is a lot more complex than it looks." He squeezed her shoulder. "He has a decision to make. Whether we think it's right or wrong, we have to support that decision. It's just like when you decided to go to Earth with Jerome."
She looked into his eyes as though trying to fathom some deep meaning. "Did you think I made the wrong decision?"
"I didn't like it at the time," said the captain. "But I'm your father. I knew you had to go your own way." Fire put her head on his shoulder. "There's no easy decision for him. If he sides with Tejo, he risks his family. If he sides with New Granada, he risks his career."
"He could defer the decision to a higher authority," said Fire.
"Indeed," said Firebrandt. "But then, who would ever promote a man to full captain who couldn't sort out a simple planetary squabble?"
She nodded, understanding. A tear rolled down her cheek. * * * *
Ellis walked down the hill, away from Firebrandt's house. He had found another cigar in his jacket and smoked it furiously. His hands were clasped tightly behind his back. Grudgingly, he had to admit admiration for Ellison Firebrandt. He was a much more formidable presence than he remembered. Certainly, Ellis respected him more than the two petty administrators he had talked to the day before. Still, the commander had a problem to sort out.
He looked around and found himself standing in the middle of town. He hadn't paid attention to the buildings he passed. Now, he looked around. Some of the buildings were tin Quonset huts. Others were adobe structures. There was even an old building with weathered shingles and white trim on the windows. He walked up to it and touched it.
The door opened and a little blonde-haired girl skipped out. She stood, looking at Ellis with wide eyes. She smiled. Ellis had to smile back. "Whatcha doing?" she asked.
"This house reminds me of one I lived in when I was your age," said Ellis, his problem momentarily behind him.
"It's my house!" she exclaimed, clapping her small hands together. She inclined her head and studied him. "You look like Mr. Firebrandt on the hill, only your hair's brown."
"I'm Mr. Firebrandt's grandson," he admitted.
"I like Mr. Firebrandt," she said. "He's a nice man." She smiled and waved then skipped away, singing. Ellis walked in the direction of the river. He sat down on the sandy bank, watching the mighty river. It rushed by, giving life to the little town behind him. An old wooden water wheel slapped the river. The water reminded him of stories of how the ocean once gave life to his home. He thought about the little girl and the tiny town. He thought about the industrial complex of Tejo. He put his face in his hands and let the tears flow. * * * *
Ellis returned to Firebrandt's house late in the afternoon. His eyes were red and slightly swollen. Fire was worried but Firebrandt understood the pain of the decision. Without hearing an answer, Firebrandt led Ellis toward the dining room. With his arm around his grandson, the captain whispered, "You've come to a decision?"
Ellis nodded. He started to speak.
Firebrandt put the index finger of his free hand to his lips. "If you have a final decision, I'm proud of you." Ellis stopped, turned and looked at his grandfather. "You don't know what I've decided."
"You're not deferring a decision to the Admiralty on Titan?"
"I could never do that," Ellis said. "My posting would never be confirmed by the full Admiralty. I'd remain a lieutenant forever."
"Then I'm proud of you," said Firebrandt. "Your mother wants us to have a dinner as a family—no arguments, no politics. I happen to think that would be good for all of us."
Ellis nodded, being persuaded largely by the charisma of Firebrandt. He also had to admit to himself that he liked the idea of a family dinner with his mother. Firebrandt led his grandson into the dining hall.
They sat and talked through dinner. Firebrandt wanted to hear about Ellis' career to date. Ellis told of life aboard a small destroyer. Firebrandt and Rob
erts told some of the less seedy tales of their days aboard a privateer.
Firebrandt laughed as dessert was brought out. "And to think," he said. "It all ended because I was sent to my planet by my mother."
Ellis inclined his head. "What?"
Firebrandt grinned at him. "You've never heard the story?"
Ellis shook his head.
Firebrandt chided his daughter. "You've been negligent in your duties. You didn't tell him enough bed time stories." Fire grinned sheepishly as she took a bite of chocolate ice cream. She had not told her son any stories because Jerome Ellis didn't want his son to grow up to be a pirate like Firebrandt. The captain looked back to Ellis. "My privateer, the ship in which this hall is built, was captured by my mother, Barbara Firebrandt."
Ellis' jaw dropped. "Barbara Firebrandt was your mother?" Ellis covered his mouth with his hand. "Why that means she's my great grandmother," he whispered, half-afraid someone at the table would hear. He felt a newfound sense of pride in his family.
Firebrandt told the story of Legacy's capture. He told of the years that he resented his mother for ending his career. Finally, how he came to thank her. His years on Sufiro, he said, had been the best of his life. "As long as it isn't all ruined by the Tejans," he spat out at the end.
Fire glared at him.
Ellis held up his hand. "It's okay," he said. "I've decided that the only way the Erdonium will move again is to fix the problem on Sufiro's World. If Tejo marches over New Granada, the slavery will continue. The revolt won't end. That's the flaw in their logic. If all the slaves are simply let go and no one is there to replace them, the Erdonium'll still not move quickly. Would the present miners work in Tejo for fair wages and good homes?"
"It would be a reasonable proposition. Keep in mind, though, I don't speak for the planet," said Firebrandt. "There is one possible flaw in your logic."
The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth) Page 23