13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  Lawsuits by the Vinnitelli family to block the usage of patents were thrown out of court. The family had no say in the patents nor any income since Mr. Vinnitelli had donated some of the patents to charity or had left them open. Those he hadn't left open had been managed by a trust he had arranged prior to his leaving the planet years ago.

  The family attempted to declare him deceased but the courts ruled that a person couldn't be deceased if they left the system and the family didn't have proof of their unfortunate demise. The family fumed but were forced to concede that fact after some time.

  There were growing pains in the sudden accelerated evolution of civilization on the planet. Some business people embraced the changes, investing heavily into them. Some made fortunes on new devices that were rushed to market. A few were burned when devices that came to market too soon without proper testing failed disastrously or didn't have the support structure to sustain them and therefore their sales didn't bear out the hopes of the investors.

  The Governor and his wife encouraged change, especially when it came to basic infrastructure, health care, and education. Tablets and small personal computing devices had been promised during the Governor's campaign, he made every effort to bring them into the hands of first the children, and then the public at large. Unfortunately pilot programs only worked where there was electricity to support the devices, so places near large cities with a power surplus like Eternia fared well, but rural areas or farm lands fared poorly.

  Each month as infrastructure, education, and healthcare was improved upon only accelerated the pace, and the demand for still further change and improvements.

  Chapter 9

  Six months into development and investment backers contacted Alice to look into a low interest loan for the company. They offered a substantial loan with incredible rates as long as the shareholders gave them shares in the company. Interested but suspicious they sicked Clio into looking into it. Clio used her banking contacts to back track the investment group.

  She too became suspicious, it was new, brand new, with no history in the market. It also had no known assets, debts, or credits, which rang alarm bells.

  The AI was dismayed when she dug further. She discovered the McDougall Corporation along with Morgan credit corp were backing the loan and there were enough hidden time bombs to sabotage the dogs or to give the corporations controlling interest in the company over time. Essentially they'd be putting their shares up as collateral. Angry the group turned the deal down. “We'll make do with what we've got,” Savo vowed.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Clio tracked the offer but it was in a series of shell companies which dead end or turn in on themselves. Company A owned company B which owned company C which owned company A. It was twisted and borderline legal. Before she could get any more information the entire mess folded in on itself in bankruptcy. It was over in a rather suspicious amount of time, but the court records were a matter of public record. Her virtual eyes narrowed as she got her hands on them. “Kennet again. Will he never learn?” she asked, making a copy of the record as well as the offers and then sending them to judge Brown, the district attorney, the Antiguan attorney general, and D'red... and then to the bar hearing board. Let the little bastard get out of that, she thought.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The Tribecca project was finally off the ground, the Governor had stepped in and helped the project along. Of course the fact that the Yard Dogs had stepped up with superconductor wire and a relay satellite hadn't been mentioned in the news agencies. Nor did the company advertise it, though they didn't deny it when someone on the Tribecca end let it slip and thanked the Yard Dogs for going the extra mile.

  Digging and burying the line took more time than just hanging the lines from a metal superstructure, but when it was complete they made a show of flipping the switch. The camera's recorded as the lights came on slowly.

  The relay satellite was in geosynchronous orbit over the ground station. Each time it crested the horizon of the planet it received power from the solar farm, which it then dutifully retransmitted to the ground station, rain or shine. It gave the ground station 12 hours of coverage before the planet rotated far enough for the planet to occlude the signal. Then the microwave transmission was redirected to a pair of ground side locations for other utility companies until the planet and satellite swung around once more.

  It was an imperfect system, and someone in Tribecca threatened to sue the Yard Dogs for 'stealing our energy' and 'not providing 24 hour coverage'. Alice sweetly informed them that neither was in the contract, and that if they wanted 24 hour coverage they would have to pay for three additional relay satellites. After of course they paid for the first which the dogs had built out of pocket.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Mairi returned from a double shift exhausted to find her mother mournfully waiting with an unknown tall but grim man. A creditor from the look of him she thought in exasperation. When would she learn? Hell, when would Mairi herself learn? She thought with a pang. She climbed out of the bitch and ignored them while she handed a work tablet over to Jake the kid on duty.

  “You did it again didn't you?” she demanded, coming over to her mother. Olga looked down and away.

  “If you mean running up a hefty tab with my client I would say yes,” the tall grim man said. She turned to him. “Aaron Hill, Bet your ass Casino, loans, and collections. Fortunately for your mother she paid the initial interest by pawning items. But that still leaves the principle to repay and she doesn't have it.”

  Mairi glared. Finding out her mother had taken everything of value in the apartment to pay the debt but was still short wasn't all that surprising. Her mother had done it before and Mairi had learned to keep anything she wanted to keep locked up somewhere else. She was tired, she didn't need this coming off a 16 hour shift and was justifiably furious.

  Aaron, the debt collector threatened to have her mother deported or spaced if Mairi or someone didn't come up with the credit. “The interest is compounded hourly,” he said pointedly. Mairi turned on her mother and informed her mother acidly she was tempted to let him. Her mother stared at her aghast. She let her stare for a long moment before she turned to the debtor. She agreed to pay on the condition that he never ever gave her mother money again.

  “Don't have to worry about that,” the man said shaking his head. He held out a scanner. Mairi looked at the total and blanched, it would wipe out her entire savings as well as next week's rent. Not good, but what choice did she have? She pressed her thumb to the button and then hit the green okay button sealing the transaction.

  The man smirked and put the scanner into his pocket. “Nice doing business with you.”

  “I'm serious now. No more,” she warned. “You let her borrow money from you it's on your own head. I'm broke.”

  “Okay. Don't worry about it,” the man said, turning away.

  “Yeah I do, spread the word she's a welcher. Black list her, whatever you have to do. Whatever it takes. I'm not doing this again,” she said, turning on her mother with a glare. “You hear me? Enough is enough!” she berated her mother who shrank into herself, shoulders hunched, head down. “You made me a promise! No more gambling! That was the only reason I brought you!”

  “But it... I thought it was a sure thing!”

  Mairi inhaled, nostrils flaring as she turned, arms crossed. During her fit the debtor's had left. She looked around and then shook her head. “Mother how often,” she shook her mother to make her look at her. “How... hey. Look at me. LOOK. AT. ME.” Her mother looked up sniffling. “How often have you told me, has uncle Edgar told us both! Never bet on a sure thing? Never bet against the house? Never bet money you don't have?” she demanded shaking her mother's shoulders with each point. “You fracked up mother!” she let go of her and threw her hands up in the air in disgust.

  “I know,” Olga said meekly, sobbing now. Mairi paced, gritting her teeth in anger. She hated it with her mother cried. The sile
nt sobs were bad enough, the weeping she couldn't bear. Sometimes she thought her mother turned the water works on purpose to get her to stop. She sighed.

  “You promised me you wouldn't gamble. No more you said. I'm tired of this Olga!”

  Using her first name for the first time made her mother look up as if she'd been slapped. “I am still your mother! How dare you?”

  “Don't give me that!” Mairi roared, eyes flashing in undisguised scorn. “When I have to nurse you out of a hangover, when I have to bail you out how often? Chase off John's you've brought home... made sure you've eaten...” She watched her mother wilt again under that onslaught. Finally her mother couldn't bare it and took off crying, hands over her face.

  “Served her right,” Jake said nearby. Mairi turned her glare on him. He winced and ducked.

  “Stay out of it,” Mairi ground out and then ran a hand through her hair, pulling on it. Damn it! What was she going to do?!?

  ...*...*...*...*...

  On his way to the Yard Dog slip Savo turned as a body came through the hatch. A familiar human smell cut through his wool gathering, he turned to see Aaron Hill pass him. “What the hell? What are you doing here?” he snarled in surprise.

  Aaron turned his upper torso but kept walking. “Just passing through Savo.”

  “Bullshit. Stay out of my area you slike!” Savo snarled, waving a fist at him. Aaron Hill had been one of his people on Kiev 221 and had followed him over to the station when they'd gotten Prime up and running. He'd recently shown his true colors when he'd quit working for the station and started working for Bet your ass casino and loan sharking or whatever they called themselves this week.

  In a way he couldn't blame Aaron, at least his new bosses didn't pretend not to be bottom feeders and scum. Sure they wore the suits and crap same as the station council did but at least they were honest about their intent when they rolled you for everything you had. He could understand that.

  “Ah, don't be like that Savo old chum, how bout a beer Friday?” Aaron asked. Savo chuffed, fist dropping. “First round on me. Usual place?”

  “Yeah fine,” Savo muttered waving Aaron on. Aaron waved a backwards hand in passing and kept going. Savo turned and climbed through the hatch and then ducked to one side as Olga came barreling through, head down weeping. He turned, watching her go and then turned back to the bay. “What the hell's going on?” he asked.

  “Usual shit different day boss,” Jake said, polishing a wrench. Savo turned to him. The kid racked the tool in its box and then closed the lid. “Mairi's mom came in with Hill of all people. It got heated. Mairi's pissed,” he said.

  “Shit,” Savo muttered, turning back to the main bay just in time to hear the loud clatter of something getting tossed around or kicked. He winced. It sounded expensive. “I'll go talk to her,” he muttered entering the bay.

  Jake shook his head. “Someone ought to before she tears the place apart,” he muttered.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Savo winced as he heard Mairi kicking angrily at a box. “You done?” he asked, coming around the corner.

  She looked up angrily, still bent over and rubbing at the toe of her boot. “Hurt yourself?” he asked. She grunted and hopped to a crate and then sat down. She pulled her boot off and hissed in pain.

  “I'll say you did,” Savo said, looking at the bruise with a critical eye. “Not smart,” he said, going over to the first aid kit on the wall and pulling it down. He whistled at the dents in the boxes and crates. She'd really been pissed. “Want to talk about it?” he asked.

  Mairi grunted, still massaging her toe. He knelt, checking it over. She sighed and then winced as his small brown hands touched her. “Owe,” she said.

  “Serves you right, what'd those boxes ever do to you?” he joked.

  “I'll pay for it. I'll pay for all of it.”

  “Hey easy there,” Savo replied, looking up at her. His soft brown eyes made her want to tear up. Her eyes stung. She angrily wiped at them. “You've got the weight of the whole universe on your shoulders it seems. That's not fair. You're a good kid.”

  “Yeah well... life sucks.”

  “Not always,” Savo murmured, spraying the bruise with bruise relief. He loved the stuff, it zapped a bruise in hours, even cutting down on any muscle aches and pain. It didn't do anything for joint pain, but it was still cool. “I don't think you broke anything,” he said, glad her boots were steel toed. “Nothin is hopefully broke over there either,” he said looking over his shoulder to the crates.

  Mairi looked up at the dents and then snorted softly. After a few giggles she started tearing up for real, mortified that she was.

  “Easy kid,” Savo murmured, setting the foot down and then sitting beside her. She leaned over into him. He reached around her and wrapped a long simian arm around her and let her cry. When she'd had her fill she seemed to settle down, breathing easier.

  “Ready to talk? Or do we go to stage two?” he asked.

  “What's stage two?” she snuffled. He snorted as she sat up. He pulled a red hanky out of his pocket and handed it to her. She dabbed at her eyes and face and then blew her nose into it.

  “We both get drunk and you pour your heart out into a beer. My wives hate it when I do that though,” he replied. “We could skip to step three if you think you are up to it,” he said with a slight smile.

  “Three?” she asked stopping what she was doing to stare.

  He chuffed. “Yeah, I take you to the dojo and we kick each other's ass and then go get beer bombed,” he said. She laughed again, feeling better.

  “I think... talking,” she said.

  “So? Talk,” he suggested.

  He listened to Mairi as she told him her story, how she'd been piloting the Bitch since she was 6, running errands, doing odd jobs and nursing her mother. All to watch her mother throw the money away gambling. “Cards, dice, stupid bets, it never mattered to my mother, she loves it all,” Mairi said. “She keeps promising to quit, but...”

  Savo grunted. He kicked his shorter legs, unsure how the girl was going to take what he wanted to say. Finally he just decided to go with it, let it happen. Either way she probably knew it already.

  “You aren't going to like what I've got to say,” he started.

  “You're going to tell me to dump her?” Mairi asked. “Damn I so want to. But what then? What does that make me look like?”

  “Well, first off it's not what other people think of you that really matters, it's what you think of yourself. If you can't live with yourself you are really screwed kid,” Savo said, shrugging, hands on the edge of the crate. “I was a career fuck up until someone straightened me out,” he said.

  “You were?”

  “Yeah. Old security chief on Kiev used to hate me. He decided a bit of hair of the dog that bit me was in order. Made me an MP and had me clean up the messes others made. It sucked for a while but I got over it. I found out I still got my fill of bar fights and action while not getting drunk. It saved my marriage.”

  “Oh,” Mairi replied in a small voice.

  “Yeah. Some people though...” he sighed.

  “She'll never learn,” Mairi said in a small voice.

  “No, I'm afraid not,” Savo answered softly. “I'm... hell. I'm sorry kid, your mom is a user and a loser. A deadbeat. I know...” he held up a hand when she looked at him, eyes glittering. “I know you know this. You just said so yourself remember?” Mairi was stiff with indignation, angry for the insult. But he knew, and she knew he knew that she had to face it, one way or another.

  Mairi opened her mouth to object and then closed it. After a moment her stiff back slumped and she sighed. After a moment she nodded.

  “It sucks really. Your mom is a good person face to face, I like her don't get me wrong. But she'll always need someone because she'll always have a problem, always get into trouble. She'll expect you to pick her up until you aren't there, then she'll cry and boo hoo to get out of trouble or until someone else helps
her. It's her nature, she'll keep doing it and doing it. There isn't any way to change it. Just like her gambling.”

  “I... know.” Mairi wasn't happy about having someone point it out to her. She was embarrassed that her family's dirty laundry was there for all to see. It was humiliating. “What do I do about it?”

  “That's up to you kid. If it was up to me I'd let her swing the next time. Make yourself unavailable and she'll eventually get the message. If she doesn't get killed,” he said.

  She looked at him in shock and got up off the crate. She turned without a word and stormed off. He watched her go and sighed, shaking his head. “And of course I put my foot in my mouth. Way to go Savo!”

  Blindly, mostly by instinct, Mairi found her way to her quarters. Arms crossed she paced in her quarters. She fumed, not just because of what Savo had said, but because her mother wasn't here. Where the hell was she? She knew damn well her mother didn't have a cent, she'd just blown it all! So? Why the hell was she out and about now?

  Could she be in trouble? Thoughts of her mother in a dark alley, throat slit ran through her mind and she shivered. Damn the woman! It would serve her right! She hesitantly reached for the phone and then stopped. No, most likely her mother would turn a trick to get enough credits to either go gamble again or go get stinking drunk.

  She threw herself in a chair, too worked up to eat. She glanced at the digital display as she turned the wall screen on with the remote. She had ten hours to get sorted out before her next shift started. She needed to think she thought, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands. She needed to bring her A game next shift. How could she do that though with this going on? She realized the chimp was right after a while as she glanced at her mother's closed door. She hated it, but he was right.

  Six hours later her mother came home drunk and giggling. She made it through the door but passed out on floor. Mairi made sure Olga was still breathing and then left her there and went to bed. It'd serve her right if she woke up in her own barf or sore.