A Hop, Skip and a Jump (Family Law Book 4)

by Mackey Chandler

"Huh, what assumption? You've lost me," Lee admitted.

  "Being the Judicial Voice is a lifetime appointment, and none of Timilo's concern. Why would I step down from it? I have a deputy who has complained for years I didn't pass along enough important readings for him to perform. With my new earnings I can even afford to allow him the larger allowance as Acting Voice, and just take the smaller deputy pay for myself. I'm not technically obligated to do so, but it makes me look very good and generous to everyone involved. Timilo undoubtedly thought I'd have to resign to avoid looking greedy, but taking the lesser pay avoids that nicely, while saying I still very much value the office to everyone. Of course he'd have never thought to do anything so moderate himself. The Deputy Voice pay at half my usual allowance is still a considerable mass of silver every year.

  "Even if Ha-bob-bob-brie had not gifted me with a half share from the Little Fleet I would eventually have enough from these positions to buy my own estate."

  "Oh, my God . . . You're double dipping!" Lee exclaimed. "That's great, because it may be awhile before our new Claims agency starts making payments."

  "Another English idiom?" Talker blinked and considered it. "Yes, it does roll off the tongue nicely, doesn't it?" He seemed pleased. "Retaining my other position gives me alternatives. It makes me more independent than just relying on the dubious kindness of Timilo in the future. Undoubtedly, he sought to make me entirely dependent upon him. Instead it elevates me above other deputies who don't hold multiple positions in distinct agencies. Such a thing is regarded as a sign of superior ability. If Timilo treats me poorly I can reclaim my full office, and I've not forgotten that if all else fails you offered to put me to work."

  "Yeah, in Human management a guy who belongs to a whole bunch of governing boards of corporations, and things like charities and universities, is seen as pretty hot stuff," Lee said. "It's good for you to have a back-up position."

  "Interesting . . . Do you have back-up positions?" Talker asked Lee.

  "I do, but I didn't exactly plan them," Lee admitted. "I have the hospitality of Red Tree clan available. I suppose if I stayed put there for very long they'd put me to work and keep me busy as well as welcome as a guest. I have my own lands on Providence, even if my Claims income would get cut off. I can't picture them seizing that sort of physical private claim. I'd have to build something to live there. I just haven't got around to doing that yet.

  "Gordon and I have Fargone citizenship now. That's what this trip just now was about, if Gordon didn't tell you. I have no idea yet what all the obligations and benefits of that are going to be. I did make sure they don't tax money made off-world. Anything else they want I won't sweat. But it's another place I know where they have to accept me. I even have a real passport.

  "If you'll remember, I also have the hospitality of Par Goy on his estate. I'm not sure what your dad would do with me as a long-term houseguest, probably put me to work like the Mothers would, but it's a place to belong. I could drive tractor for his farm."

  "Indeed," Talker agreed, ignoring her tractor proposal. "He tends to find all sorts of chores and errands for me if I have so much as a day off being Voice. It's part of being family, to be at his call, nothing about it implying you are a burden or lack initiative. He just places little value on idleness.

  "You friended me," Talker reminded her. "You were irritated with me for not recognizing that by your actions rather than your formal word. I'd like to not make the same error again. Since she will be coming here I'd like you to tell me explicitly, do you feel the same about Tish?"

  "Oh my, yes. Why would you doubt that?" Lee wondered. "You saw me give her a gift to mark our friendship, and I promised her free passage on my ships. I even mentioned to you that I intend to gift her with land when the time is right. No need to tell her yet though."

  "Ah . . . well, I took that as a possibility, not a promise. I didn't want to build something in my mind that isn't there. You only spoke with her a handful of minutes."

  "We visited more, later, in your father's library. You might be surprised to know she composed two lengthy messages to me before the second group under Timilo followed you here and gave them the files to deliver," Lee revealed.

  "Whatever would she have to write about?" Talker asked, surprised. "She isn't pestering you for favors is she?"

  Lee laughed out loud. "She's been listening to all the news feeds and reading some of the better known political writers. She's advising me about the mood at Far Away, as much as can be told from public sources on your home world."

  "And you take time to read political commentary from a nine-year-old?"

  "I found she cut to the heart of things better than some adults," Lee assured him. "She said Timilo was sneaky and every time he spoke publicly she was more convinced he was the sort of person you couldn't trust with a pantry key."

  "Well, perhaps she is a good early judge of character," Talker allowed. "I can't fault that analysis, or have expressed it more succinctly."

  "Wow, all these changes! I was worried when we came back from Fargone that Gordon and Timilo would go at it with each other and there'd be this huge conflict and argument. That maybe they'd even go home in a tiff with things left hanging. He'll be very pleased with you being left here to represent the Badgers."

  "There will be a few Bills also," Talker said. "They want to see to their own interests. Singer has already agreed to stay, and I find myself regarding him as an ally far more than I ever thought possible."

  Lee scowled so hard it was easy for Talker to read her expression, and that alarmed him.

  "Is that a problem somehow?" He asked very directly.

  "It could be," Lee admitted. "Gordon has not been amused when your internal rivalries made it difficult to deal with you. Remember when you and the Bills wouldn't work together to do a side survey? He came very close to cutting you all loose to find your own way back home.

  "We understand seeing to your own interests, to a point. Perhaps he has such strong feelings about it because Humans treated the other races they found so badly. Or at least in the case of the Derf they tried to treat the Derf badly. They simply wouldn't stand for it.

  "So I have this advice for you. It's great if you are getting along with Singer better, but don't try to cut your other minor races out completely and do them dirty. If you try to do that it's going to come back on you and hurt worse than letting them have a little cut of the action in the first place.

  "I have a sense of fairness just like Gordon, but he has no sense of humor about it at all. Once he decides he's being obstructed and is determined to fix something like that, you don't want to be in the way. He tends to want to deliver a message in the correction that discourages the same thing from ever happening again."

  "I'm not sure how to do that sufficiently to satisfy Gordon. I'm getting closer to Singer, but not certain at all the other Bills will cooperate," Talker said.

  "Make it somebody's full time job to include them. Not just the Bills but all the others," Lee said. "And give them some teeth to enforce it, not just an empty gesture."

  Talker's grin got even tighter. "Yes, yes. That has the advantage it will also drive Timilo insane. And I can blame it all on you and Gordon, because he can't touch either of you. Indeed I can cite your moral imperatives and history and he can't really frame a rebuttal in terms of our own history or mores, because they simply don't apply."

  "I'm happy to be a hammer in your hand, in this case," Lee agreed. "I won't say anything to Gordon. When he gets up you can have the pleasure of telling him yourself."

  "Thank you. I'm enjoying having some good news."

  * * *

  Gordon chugged down a two liter mug of coffee so visibly steaming that Lee doubted she could sip it without burns. Then he put honey in the next mug and slowed down enough to enjoy it. Once he had breakfast ordered, and stopped the little hum he did under his breath, Lee felt safe to talk to him, and know he'd remember.

  "Talker has some news for you," Lee
said. "Nothing that's an emergency, so I promised I'd let him have the joy of sharing it with you. He might be shy to risk calling too early if you want to let him know you're up."

  "Oh yeah, Timilo got him to take a job as ambassador," Gordon said, unexcited.

  "How could you possibly know that?" Lee asked.

  "I got up in the night, drank a bottle of orange juice and looked at my messages. Timilo left it as an urgent message. The idiot would have waked me, again, if I didn't have him blocked. It will be interesting to compare how Talker describes it compared to Timilo.

  "I have a program now to condense long messages, remove redundant words, and null statements. It was expensive because it's near being a full AI, but the Badgers, and Timilo in particular drove me to buy it. It condensed thirty-four pages of his text to one and a half."

  "Thirty-four pages?" Lee demanded. "That seems excessive."

  "Umm . . . hmm," Gordon confirmed with a nod and barely audible rumble again.

  "Send me the source," Lee decided. "I probably need it too, or will when I really get into making a Claims Office and making it function. What did the page and a half say?"

  "First paragraph was reminding me how important he is. Second was kind of weird. I think he wanted to make me feel good that I was important enough to be privileged to deal with him. Thirdly he was so sad we wouldn't be doing that anymore, which really didn't sound sincere.

  "Then he told me Talker would be the new ambassador for the Badgers to Red Tree and any other Derf or allies who had an interest in trade and relations with their civilization. That might have been meant to be inclusive of their other races, but the program said it was indefinite.

  "Timilo made a crack that was probably meant to put me in my place, implying that since I was going to be dealing with his subordinate now I was on a lower level than the relationship we enjoyed on first meeting. Not real sure about that subtle a translation, but it sounds like him being full of himself. Lastly, he asked who was going to escort them back home."

  "Why does anybody have to escort them back home?" Lee asked. "I thought they are buying pea-shooters. That should handle any Biters they run into."

  "What if they run into something else?" Gordon asked.

  "Is that what he said?" Lee said.

  "No, but Timilo seems to think I have some small skill at mind reading," Gordon admitted. "I have to read between the lines a bit, even with thirty four pages of them. I think what Timilo really wants is an escort with the sort of weapons we won't sell him. Who supplies that armed escort likely doesn't matter. Now, I can understand why he'd like that, but I wouldn't lay an X head on a Caterpillar ship even if they directly attacked him on sight for no apparent reason."

  Lee nodded agreement. She'd have come to the same decision easily.

  "Not that I have any love for the Centaurs, but neither do I want to keep blowing their ships away, until they come looking for the reason too many of them are not coming home from this part of their sky. We know nothing about them other than they acted aggressively with us once. We have no idea why they are in apparent conflict with the Caterpillars, They may have come at us just because we were with the Caterpillars. Who knows how they will act if we run into them alone?"

  "Maybe," Lee said, skeptically. "They made up their mind to shoot awfully fast. I got the impression they're like the Biters, naturally aggressive. I really wonder who put a big rock into their world with the flare shield? There could be another race out there fighting the Centaurs besides the Caterpillars."

  "If they're so naturally aggressive it might have been other Centaurs bombarding their own," Gordon pointed out.

  "I didn't consider that," Lee said. "Wiping out most of a hemisphere seems pretty drastic. Even if it was some sort of outpost world without a real colony or population."

  "The impact area was so extensive it might have had a colony there and we'd never find a trace," Gordon pointed out. "It's amazing any structure survived even a full quadrant away.

  Lee frowned and scrunched her eyebrows together. "Did anybody ever name the Centaur world?" She demanded.

  "I think you were off the bridge," Gordon said. "I told Ernie Goddard to name it, but he declined and said Choi Eun-sook should have the privilege, since she figured out the essential nature of the planet's features. She was shocked when called to the bridge and seemed at a loss. She first suggested Target very tentatively, but read the horrified looks on all our faces. She considered and rejected Impact and finally settled on 2 Ball."

  Lee looked at him with a complete lack of comprehension.

  "There is a game called pool, played on a special table, in which the balls are numbered. The planet being second from the sun got that designation from her because of how it was kissed by whatever impacted it. Look it up on the web-fraction and there are videos of the game being played," Gordon insisted. "It'll make a lot more sense."

  "If you say so. I've seen crazier names for planets in the catalog. How do you feel about escorting the Badgers?" Lee asked.

  "They're buying weapons from New Japan. Let them go along and guard their new customers," Gordon suggested. "Or the Fargoers. They are selling them some stuff too. I feel they have much more of an interest now than us. I have no desire to transition from an exploration company to a mercenary band."

  "Good. I'm glad you feel that way," Lee said, relieved. "I doubt the Mothers would want to be involved with it, and I have my doubts if you shot off an X-head to save his butt that Timilo would want to pay for it. You'd have to make sure it was clearly called out in the contract to reimburse you for extraordinary expenses. Remember it flipped them out how many ounces of silver an X-head cost?"

  "Yes, well just having the joy of Timilo's company going back is enough reason to decline. I wouldn't have Talker to tell me if anything he demanded on the way back was really within his authority. And I'd have no idea how long they would take to organize and authorize a return trip once we got there. I'd have to get minimum guaranteed costs for lay-over time and return."

  "They're committed to bringing Talker's household here," Lee said. "He figures he got a pretty good deal from Timilo for pay and perks. I figure they'll be coming and going between Far Away and Derfhome pretty regularly, but they should be here awhile so I'll get to see his little girl Tish. I'm looking forward to that. She's a sweet kid."

  Gordon looked sour, which surprised Lee.

  "I can see you don't like something, but I have no clue what," Lee told him.

  "I can't see why Talker would agree to work under Timilo after everything I heard him say about the man, er . . . Badger, and all the bureaucratic infighting and puffery. No matter how well paid or separated from him in distance and travel time he is. I can't get rid of the apprehension he'll go back and do Talker dirty. He'll have Talker's replacement on the next ship out of Far Away. Then what will he do? Move back in with his dad?

  "Also, nobody asked us if we want an ambassador. I'm pretty sure the Mothers will support a Claims authority, but only by using it. They aren't about to try to force it on the other clans. It's not worth risking a new inexperienced Champion, and I can't see extending it to having a Badger ambassador in residence at Red Tree.

  "I know you have leave from the First Mum to invite guests to the Keep, but it would be very bad form to stretch that to offering long-term residence. You could precipitate a crisis much more divisive than your first visit."

  "Don't worry about Talker. He's neither dumb enough to trust Timilo nor was he corrupted by a bribe. Were you worried that was the case?" Lee demanded.

  Gordon looked uncomfortable. "It was one of the possibilities I considered."

  "You have to have more faith in your friends," Lee complained. "You know Talker has a half share coming from Ha-bob-bob-brie. Character aside, he isn't desperate enough to knuckle under to somebody like Timilo just for the money."

  "I'm aware, but it's delayed. He seems to have an obsession with having a vast estate, just like his father," Gordon said, wi
th a grand sweep of his hand to suggest just how big. "He may doubt he'll ever get a payout, now that the intended deal with the Earth Claims Commission fell through."

  "I think he's more confident in us than the Earthies," Lee objected. "We were too honest if anything about the Claims Commission and he was aware they had a lot of weaknesses and problems. Now, Timilo may not be pleased by it, but Talker learned to trust you on the voyage here. We didn't just blast through to get back and Talker saw how you deal with things. He may be a little afraid of you, but he isn't going to doubt your character."

  "I've just had a little more experience in life than you," Gordon objected. "I've had a few occasions where people disappointed me. I trust Talker about as much as I do anybody but you or Thor."

  "Well, I think Talker should be in a close second tier," Lee said firmly.

  "That seems reasonable to me," Gordon agreed. It was enough for Lee.

  Chapter 9

  "How interesting," April said. "Lee Anderson has hired the same private investigators we use in Armstrong to run a series of inquiries on us."

  "I knew she wasn't stupid," Dakota said. "Marsh and Hasan are the best in the business. I give her points for zeroing in on them to hire. My only concern is the potential conflict of interest. They shouldn't have taken her money if they can't do their assignment properly, and they certainly shouldn't tell you that they were approached even if they turn her down. You could reasonably conclude they will simply hire someone else but be alerted to her interest."

  "They didn't tell me, I have others watching them. I think the key word is what you said, properly. The assignment reads to find and sort all public information and interview third parties. However they were told specifically not to try to breach our privacy, data systems, or suborn present or past employees. Marsh and Hasan may well conclude that puts them in no conflict with their duty to us."

  "They should have just hired a clipping service, and asked them to do a search back to such and such a date," Dakota said. "It would be a lot cheaper."