by Gian Bordin
They spent their Saturday climbing Mount Olympus on foot, rather than use the gondola — a four-hour walk with some fairly steep parts. The narrow path, clearly seldom used, let up through mixed forests with the occasional small meadow that offered beautiful vistas over the length of Lake Carda and the hills on its other side. Yuen-mong voiced her surprise by the often impenetrable undergrowth in the forests — such a contrast to the clean-swept Aros forests.
"No night scavengers here," she mused.
As they got higher, they could even see the ocean in the distance. They did not encounter a soul.
They had a picnic in one of the meadows they spied through the trees a short distance off the path, savoring the excellent bottle of Riesling left over from their Old Earth purchase.
Afterward they lay in the soft grass. Yuen-mong tickled Atun with a blade of grass, until he suddenly wrestled her to the ground and started kissing her.
"You don’t know how much I love you," he whispered.
"Yes, I know and I like it."
He searched her eyes. How he yearned for her to say these three words. He found it difficult to reconcile her willing response to his love making, often even initiating it, with her silence. That she was fond of him, he had no doubts, but he wanted more. He wanted her to love him as he loved her, but he also trusted her. She had said that he was her choice, and he wanted to believe her that she would stay with him.
"Atun, Atun, why are you troubled? We have it good together. Come, love me."
She has seen right through me, but he didn’t mind. It felt good to be wanted. She opened his shirt and slowly rubbed her flat hand on his chest. There was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, the kind of sparkle that promised bliss. Then her hand traveled down to his groin.
"But what if somebody comes?"
"That’s their problem, not ours. I’m not ashamed to make love to you."
Only his love could give such a response, he mused as he found her lips.
15
They were invited to the traditional Young Sunday family dinner. It was the occasion to introduce Atun to her grandfather. She again wore her ceremonial Chinese dress, while Atun looked distinguished in one of her father’s formal suits.
They arrived a quarter hour early for a private audience with the old man. She knelt, her head bowed, a short distance from her grandfather, while Atun stayed upright a bit behind her.
"Rise, my granddaughter, and introduce your companion."
She lifted her head and smiled, sensing the pleasure she gave to him, and rose gracefully. Taking Atun’s hand, she led him to her grandfather.
"Grandfather, this is Atun Caruna from Palo."
"I am honored, sir," said Atun as he bowed to the old man, "to meet one of the most famous people of the Galaxy."
"You are welcome, young man. You have helped restore my granddaughter to me, and I am in your debt."
"Sir, I may have had the good fortune to crash near your granddaughter, but it was her unfailing determination that got us off Aros. Without her, I would have perished the first night."
"Yes, Yuen-mong has told us of the many dangers on Aros. This is why it is all the more surprising that you seriously contemplate visiting there again. I have just been advised that another ship has lost its lander shuttle with two people when they tried to descend to Aros. An expedition from Old Earth."
She exchanged a quick glance with Atun. "Old Earth? They tried to rob us of our gold there. Maybe there is a connection with that."
"Possible. Aros really seems to be the planet of no return, as they say, so it is all the more surprising that you were able to escape from it." He turned to Yuen-mong. "Granddaughter, I hope you will not try anything foolish. I don’t want to lose you again."
"Grandfather, I promise, it will not be foolish. If I ever visit there, we will make sure that we will get off again."
"I fear young people are often impulsive and do not consider all the consequences. They think themselves invincible."
"Sir, you do not need to worry on that account. Yuen-mong considers all consequences."
"Did you, Yuen-mong, when you caused a riot in the Mall the other day?"
She smiled and replied: "I considered the consequences for me of being insulted by rash young men and threatened by a machine. I must admit, I did not consider the consequences for other people or the Foundation."
"Good, Yuen-mong, that you are aware of this. Let us now go down for our family meal. The husband of your cousin Bee will be there too, so will her two children."
Everybody was already assembled in the dining room. They were introduced to Bee’s husband, Dan, and their two children, a girl of three, Yuen-mong recognized as Mai’s model, and a boy of six months.
"Oh, what a darling girl. May I hold you," she asked.
"She is rather shy and cries. I would rather you did not," replied Bee, but the girl immediately held out her hands, and Yuen-mong lifted her up.
"Will you tell me your name?" she asked.
"Ming."
"I like that name. It is easy to sing to it," and she hummed the dawn bird’s morning chord ‘ming, ming, ming’. "See?"
"Do it again, please."
Yuen-mong did it another two times, and the girl laughed joyfully, repeating it herself.
"Come, Ming," said Bee, "you should not impose on Yuen-mong."
"No, please hold me," the girl exclaimed, turning her head away from her mother and hiding it on Yuen-mong’s shoulder.
"I’m sorry, Yuen-mong, she has never behaved badly like this," Bee said.
"It’s OK, and she’s not behaving badly," Yuen-mong murmured and then whispered in Ming’s ear: "Would you like to be my sister?"
"Yes."
"I would like that too. Maybe, one day I will have a beautiful little girl like you and then you can be her sister too."
She noticed that her grandfather was standing behind his chair at the head of the table and whispered: "Look, Ming, your great-grandfather is ready to sit down for dinner, and we all have to get ready too. And you will also have to eat."
"Will you hold me again afterward?"
"Yes, my sweet girl. I promise."
She gave the girl a kiss and handed her to the child nurse who had appeared at her side.
After the nurse had left the room, Bee remarked: "I don’t know what magic you did, but I have never seen her take to a stranger."
"You know that she has empathic abilities."
Bee frowned. "I hope not. How do you know?"
"Because I have it too. That is why she felt safe with me." When Bee’s brows creased in worry, Yuen-mong added: "It is a wonderful gift to have."
All the others had taken their seat and they joined them. The talk around the table broke into small groups. She felt the undercurrent and knew that it would not take long before the topic of the riot would come up, with the fingers pointed at her. Not unexpectedly, it was Pat.
"Cousin, what you did on Thursday was not only outrageously foolish, but criminal. You injured two Foundation members. You can count yourself lucky that they decided not to lodge criminal proceedings against you. But you will not get that lightly off for damaging the security system. It will cost you at least two million credits."
She noticed that all conversation had stopped and everybody was watching her. She smiled and replied: "Expensive toys, these androids, are they?"
"They are not toys. They are the most advanced and sophisticated surveillance and security system in the galaxy."
"Impressive!"
"Yes, it’s a first of its kind."
"I mean impressive that it took me less than ten seconds to disable it."
He opened his mouth and then closed it abruptly. Mai’s giggle was met with an angry look. "You may joke about it, but it will cost you dearly. The Foundation is likely to censure you and that can lead to expulsion."
"Pat, you are correct that it will be costly," interjected her grandfather, "but not for her, only for the Foundation
."
"But that is impossible."
"It is so, my son," said her uncle in turn, "Yuen-mong’s lawyer has already lodged a suit against the Foundation for threatening her."
"But she will not succeed. It is clearly her fault."
"No, it is not," remarked Chen Young. "The security system only got the approval after it was guaranteed that it would never intentionally or accidentally attack a Foundation member. It was supposed to recognize Yuen-mong and fire a shoot at her, not even point a gun at her. For some reason, security failed to file her picture."
Pat looked at his grandfather, mouth open, ready to protest, but Dan preempted him: "This incident also points to serious flaws in the system. If Yuen-mong could disable it with two stones, just think of what a well-armed and determined assailant can do."
"The scanners at the gates would detect weapons. That’s just the point of this whole affair. The system is vulnerable to unexpected weapons, like a sling," replied Ko Young.
"Do you always carry arms like these?" queried Mai.
"No, Mai. The sling also serves to tie my hair. That is why I had it on me that day. I don’t walk around with a bow and arrow," she replied chuckling.
"But where did you learn how to use a laser gun?"
"Atun had one and I studied it after I met him." She felt Atun’s surprised expression without even looking at him.
"You were naughty with me that day. You lied when I asked you if you had seen something. And there you were the cause of it all."
"Mai, I didn’t lie to you. You asked me if I had seen something, and I told you yes. Granted I held back information, but that was for good reasons. I never lie. If I don’t want to give an answer, I will tell you so. But you also have to ask the right question." She felt the smile of her grandfather, and it confirmed to her that he had humor.
"But what happened between you and the three young men?"
"The one with the broken wrist called me a cripple and ordered me to move aside to let him pass. When I refused, he tried to slap me. The one with the broken nose also made a move to hit me."
There was an embarrassed silence around the room, and she knew the reason. She had mentioned the unmentionable — the topic nobody had yet dared to broach, although she knew that it was constantly on their minds. It was her grandfather who replied.
"Granddaughter, I know your affliction must severely distress you and I realize that nothing could be done about it on Aros. But here we have the best surgeons and they can restore you to full physical ability."
"Thank you, grandfather. But my limp doesn’t bother me, nor does it prevent me from doing anything. I may consider it in a year or two."
Her words were met by stunned faces. After a pregnant pause, her grandfather addressed Atun: "And what is your view about this, Atun. Is it not a shame that a lovely person like Yuen-mong is afflicted like this?"
"Sir, it bothered me when I met Yuen-mong on Aros, but then I realized that the affliction is not really hers, but rather was one in my mind. I know no man or woman who can match Yuen-mong in physical skills and stamina. She’s not a cripple. It’s our minds that are crippled for thinking so."
"Well spoken, young man. I can see why she esteems you highly."
She met Atun’s gaze with a smile, ignoring Pat’s sneer.
Before leaving, she asked to see Ming again.
In the limousine back to their apartment, Atun confronted her: "You tried the laser gun while you were leading me to your cave?"
"Yes, I tried it and it confirmed my father’s theory."
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
"But I did … more than once."
"Yes, you told me that electronics don’t work, but not that you had tried the gun."
"I don’t think you would have believed me. You didn’t after I threw you into the river, and I would never have pointed the gun at you if I hadn’t been certain that it didn’t work."
"I felt such a fool then, and you were so beautiful in your anger."
"Was I?"
"Yes, like an angry goddess. That’s when I fell in love with you."
"I like it when you talk about me like that." She kissed his cheek. "I like being your woman."
* * *
"I really do not understand that young woman," Ko Young remarked when he accompanied his father back to the latter’s apartment. "Refuse to have her limp corrected. She puts shame on all of us."
"Did you hear what her lover said? That it was not her affliction, but ours to think so."
"Oh, he is completely under her spell. He cannot be taken seriously."
"I think it was very brave what he said, and there is much truth to it. She definitely is not handicapped physically. I watched the broadcasts on the Mall incidence several times. The speed with which she acted was phenomenal and decisive, as if she had rehearsed it many times. But I have no doubt that it was spontaneous. She even avoided the gun blast, fortunately. The Aros instinct of survival. And she is equally sharp and decisive in what she says. I think you should have a word with Pat. She makes a fool of him every time he opens his mouth."
"Yes, unfortunately she seems to target him. Only last night, Syd Twan has informed me that she wants to move into his villa within three months. Pat will be furious."
"I suspected that when she refused to take up her mother’s old quarters."
"I will talk to her and make her a good offer for the property."
"She will refuse, I’m certain. I think that the connection to her mother means more to her than any money you can offer."
"She definitely does not show any loyalty to our family tradition and shows no respect for the Foundation spirit. It has been a tradition for more than a century that Foundation women yield to men. It is her refusal to honor that tradition which caused this security debacle."
"But why do you expect her to show respect for the Foundation? She grew up on a savage planet where survival came first and foremost, and she is a survivor, you better take note of that. You cannot expect her to shed suddenly twenty years of upbringing in a fortnight."
"There is more to it than that. She deliberately wants to cut her ties with her family and even the Foundation. Right after that incident — in fact it happened on her way to me, and she showed no sign, nothing; she was as calm as anything — she offered to sell all her shares in UniCom to me."
"She did? And what did you respond?"
"I tried to dissuade her. But she was adamant that she needed ready credits of unlimited amounts, so she offered them to me at 90 percent of market value."
"And you took it?"
"Yes, what else could I do."
"You could not let such an opportunity slip by, could you?" Chen Young shook his head.
"I think I did the right thing. She really makes no effort to fit into our family and severing the UniCom ties will make it easier to keep our distance. I think most Foundation members will approve of it, especially after this incident."
"Yes, she made fools of them too. Broadcasting the action repeatedly and asking people to come forth with information, advertising the security failure, and the only person who came forward was Syd Twan with a suit for four million credits."
"That is why I think severing our ties with her will show that we do not approve of her actions."
"I don’t like it. She is up to something and by buying her stake you played right into her hand. She set you up, don’t you see? … Did she say why she needed ready access to funds?"
"I asked her, but she was not forthcoming at all. All she mentioned was going back to visit Aros. I guess they plan to exploit its gold deposits there, but I think that is doomed. You heard another ship was lost there recently?"
"Yes, but she and her lover escaped. They may know something that nobody else does. You should have offered the help of UniCom’s exploration division with a reasonable split in profits."
"But she does not seem to be interested in credits. She was willing to lose half a billion credits as if it
were peanuts."
"I think you underestimate her. She may never lie, as she claimed, but she is definitely withholding important things from us. I think you will rue the day you bought those shares. Did you already sign the contract?"
"Yes, Syd Twan drew it up yesterday and I signed. He has also taken over the management of her fortune."
"I guess the mistake happened over twenty years ago when I yielded to Zoshan and let her marry Scardan rather than insist that she marry Syd Twan." He pondered that for a few seconds. "I want her kept under surveillance. We have to find out what she is planning. Once we know we may still be able to twist her arm to let us in. But no violence, Ko, hear me?’
16
"Let’s review our list of potentials," said Yuen-mong. "There is the old man. I think he is a wily fox — is that the right expression?"
"Yes, it is," Atun replied with a smile. "He was in charge of UniCom when your parents were sent to investigate the ring of Aros. As one of the biggest shareholders, he had the most to lose. And from what he said today, he was probably aware of Aros’ reputation."
"Furthermore, he was also opposed to my mother marrying my father, but I don’t know how this enters the equation. The trouble is, I like the old man. Except for Mai, and Bee’s little girl, I find it hard to warm to any of the others, although none are on our list, with the exception of my uncle. They were all too young at that time."
"Yes, and he’s the next one on the list, and from what I have seen so far I trust him the least. He has been in charge of UniCom for the last three years. You remember that he has already shown keen interest on two occasions about your father’s research record. He even mentioned the communication breakthrough. For a second there, I was scared when you went right along with it."
"I was aware of that, but I wanted to draw him out, see whether he would give himself away inadvertently."
"He didn’t. Your father could well have hinted that he was on the verge of a breakthrough."
"Yes, that’s plausible. Still I put him fairly high on our list. I also think that he’s vindictive. We have to watch out for him, and even more for the little snot of a son of his." She grinned. "Ain’t I adding daily to my non-Foundation vocabulary?"