The Space Merchants

by Wendie Nordgren

  "I'll see you when I get back. You still owe me blaster lessons. Is there anything you want me to pick up for you on Scipio?"

  "No, but try to have fun and do some shopping." Simon opened my door, and Thunderdrop jumped into the back. We waved goodbye.

  I watched my husband's hands on the transport controls as he drove us down the long road from Simon's estate to Tora. He glanced at me and asked, "How are you feeling about leaving Arachne? I do not understand your emotions through our bond." I took a deep breath.

  "I feel all mixed up. I'm excited to go home with you to Tora. I want to put our things away and get back into our routine. I want to see Felicia, shop for Mr. Gregory, and visit the baths, preferably with you. I want to try to make one of my grandmother's recipes. I want to sit at Gram's feet while she brushes my hair, to have Gina bossing me around, to tease Simon and Eliot, and to watch Thunderdrop play with Cass and ZeeZee. I want to hear Hiroshi's satisfied grunting noises and laugh at Phillip's belly scratches. I want all of that while holding your hand in mine. No, I don't want to leave Arachne, and I don't want Tora leaving without us either. That's how I feel. Simon was right. Being without you would do more than break my heart." Yukihyo took my hand and kissed my knuckles as he drove us home to Tora. He smiled at me.

  "Whatever we do, we will do together. Don't worry. You have a very powerful and intelligent family. I believe they plan to entice Hiroshi into much more profitable business with Arachne in order to see more of you. He will not turn his back on profits."

  "Ha, ha! That would help!"

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tora came into view. She appeared ready to go. Yukihyo pulled up the ramp after he powered down the transport. "It does feel good to be home."

  "Chirp chirp!" I started to help Yukihyo unload.

  "No, my love. Allow me to bring everything to your quarters." He carried my grandmother's box into the lift, and I followed. The lift opened up in the laundry room. Thunderdrop led the way to our quarters. In the corridor Hiroshi strode forward with a toothy smile and spun me around in a dizzying hug.

  "I have missed you little sister. Home is now only when you are with us."

  "I missed you, too. Three days felt like a life time, and I have so much to tell you." I breathed in Hiroshi's scent and felt safe and at home. He had no idea how much he meant to me.

  "Yes, he does," Yukihyo said.

  "What?" Hiroshi and I both said at once. Yukihyo looked shocked.

  "I heard your thoughts."

  "Huh," I said. That might be interesting.

  "Well, well, well. Looky here. Cupcake came back looking like an Arachnean princess! Dang girl, is that real?" Phillip pointed at my necklace.

  "Simon gave it to me, and Gram gave me this." I held up my right arm so Phillip and Hiroshi could see the sapphire spiders. Thunderdrop chittered in my quarters. I turned to look at him. The sculpture stood in the center of my room. We all followed him inside. "Well, where do you want it?" Thunderdrop walked over to the corner between my bathroom and vanity under his web.

  "Okay, little buddy. Move out of the way, and Uncle Phillip and Uncle Hiroshi will move it over there for you."

  "Chirp chirp chirp chirp!" I laughed at them as they struggled to place it just where Thunderdrop wanted it.

  Yukihyo said, "The sooner we are underway, the sooner you can discover how Teagan has become the Lady Teagan Alaric Montgomery Lee in her absence from us." Hiroshi and Phillip's eyes both showed the whites all the way around. I shrugged. Thunderdrop climbed his tree's branches. The three of them brought everything up to my room except the spider food which they left in the pantry.

  I walked into my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I no longer looked like the Teagan Green of Union Port City. Above the neckline of the expensive silk dress, sapphires and opals glittered, as did the large opal hanging between my breasts. I held up the masterpiece on my right wrist. I moved closer to the mirror. On the necklace the prongs holding the opals and sapphires to the strands of platinum and gold resembled tiny spider legs. Eight tiny prongs held each gem. My vid-screen beeped from my room. I went over and tapped it. Gram's concerned face greeted me. I gave her a huge smile. "Gram! It's so good to see you here in my room."

  "I hope it's not too soon. I just wanted to be sure you got there safely," she said.

  "It isn't too soon. You can contact me every day if you want." Her face lit up at that offer. Ethan and Sydney were standing behind her. "Can you see my room, Gram?"

  Ethan said, "If you tap the icon with the arrows going in each direction, we will be able to see the entire room." I found it and did as instructed.

  Gram said, "It is a lovely room! I see Thunderdrop up in his tree." He blinked.

  "He made Hiroshi and Phillip adjust it three times before he was satisfied. I'm glad it fit through my door." I walked behind my couch. "I thought I would put our pictures here." I patted the table.

  "That would look nice," Sydney said.

  "Mother, let Teagan unpack, and you can talk to her tomorrow," Ethan said.

  "Ethan, how do I see the place, the one you said was mine? You said I could see it from here."

  "All you need to do is find your name in the menu and tap it. Your transport should have synched with your ship once you boarded."

  "Thank you. Gram, do you want me to call you after dinner?"

  "Oh, yes! Please do." Her blue eyes swelled.

  "What do I do?" I asked. Ethan did some more tapping.

  "I am adding Alaric, and Montgomery names to your menu. All you have to do is tap the name of the person you wish to call."

  "Thank you, Ethan." Ethan ended the transmission.

  My grandmother's box rested near my door. I opened the lid and removed the picture of her, with Gram, and Ethan Montgomery. I placed it in the center of my table. I couldn't decide which way to turn it, toward the door or toward the vid-screen. I put the picture back in the box and moved the table to the wall beside the door. That way if I were sitting on my couch, I could turn my head to the left and see them all. I took the picture from the box and placed it in the center of the table. I added to it the pictures I now knew to be wedding photos. Lovingly, I placed my own among them. Simon, Eric, and Eliot with a baby ZeeZee were adorable. Lastly, I placed the larger version of the picture we had taken for Gram's locket. I saw myself with my two strong cousins at my back, each with our own spider companion. I would never be alone again. I felt tears coming, but Yukihyo entered followed by the most curious versions of Hiroshi and Phillip that I had ever seen. I handed the photo to Hiroshi and pressed myself into Yukihyo's chest. Pretty sure that I had regained some composure, I turned my head to Hiroshi. "Simon, Eliot, and Eric are my cousins. My grandmother, Eliot and Eric's Gram, and Simon's grandfather were brothers and sisters. They said my grandmother, Ettie Montgomery, went missing during the Parvac War. Do you want to see a picture of her?"

  Hiroshi, his voice thick with emotion, said, "Yes, I would." I took his hand and showed him. Hiroshi placed my picture with Simon and Eliot on the table. I showed him and Phillip the pictures of our new family members.

  "I wish I could have had some way of knowing. I could have figured this out," Phillip said.

  "How?" I asked.

  He said, "We've been friends for years. They mentioned Lady Ettie Montgomery to us years ago when we introduced Yukihyo to them."

  "Phillip, the thought of testing me just occurred to them a few days ago. I think it was because Thunderdrop and I were talking about buying his tree sculpture and word of it got back to the ladies. Simon and Eliot's mothers came and got me and took me to a fancy rich lady tea party where their plan had been to serve me up. Lady Ling Chan wanted to know if I belonged to her family or to one of the others and took a genetic sample from me and Gram, the Lady Alaric." Hiroshi picked up Yukihyo's and my wedding picture.

  "You are a beautiful couple." I showed him the picture of my great-grandfather and his Laconian bride. I placed the blue silk square in
front of our wedding picture.

  "What's in there, Cupcake?" I put my lips in between my teeth and tried not to cry.

  "They gave us land, Phillip. They took the picture of us in front of trees on land they gave to us. I can even show it to you." The last words came out soft and husky, but I didn't cry. I found my name in the menu just as Ethan told me I could. I tapped it, and the screen filled with tall old trees. The sun fell through their leaves. "Look, those are the ones we stood in front of, and the soil came from right... there." Someone had placed a stone bench below the trees. Yukihyo adjusted the view so it was more visible. I put my hand to my throat. Hiroshi pulled me to his chest and patted my back. With Yukihyo near me, I managed to calm myself and breathe. "Hiroshi, they've been doing stuff like that for three days now. They even made me spring rolls." Hiroshi looked down at me with his warm eyes.

  "You are precious to them, and they have lost much time with you. I am surprised they allowed you to leave."

  "Well, I will be talking to Gram every night after dinner." Thunderdrop had fallen asleep in his web above his tree.

  "Nice symbolic ring designed as a female deterrent, Yukihyo," Phillip said.

  "Thank you. It was a gift from my Arachnean bride and seems to denote her ownership of me."

  "What?" I looked at their faces. They were trying to make me laugh. I rolled my eyes at them. "Hiroshi, do you think I should put my grandmother's box here under the table?"

  "Yes, I will move it for you. There are still things inside of it," he said. Hiroshi handed me the music box. Seeing it made me think of the woman, who I assumed was my mother, and the sad humming. "What is it?" Hiroshi asked.

  "It's a music box. It plays a song I remembered being hummed to me. I guess hearing a happy version of it from that box made me realize what they were saying was true." I took the music box and placed it on top of my vanity.

  "What is this?" Hiroshi asked as he pulled out the old palm sized vid-screen.

  "It has recipes my grandmother Ettie and her mother made."

  Hiroshi said, "I can save this all to a new device and sync it all to Tora for you."

  "Thank you, that would be good. Then, I wouldn't have to worry about breaking it or losing it."

  Phillip snorted, "We leave you alone for three nights, and you come back being related to two of the most powerful ruling families on Arachne. What are we gonna do with you, Cupcake?"

  "Ruling families?"

  Yukihyo said, "Leave it alone, Phillip."

  "Teagan, do you think you might be able to clean some laundry for me? Without you along on our trip, things really began to pile up. We each brought back quite a lot."

  "Of course, Hiroshi. I should change first, though."

  I put away my clothes, placed Thunderdrop's toys on the floor under the vid-screen, and changed into a shirt and a soft pair of pants. I placed my jewelry in a drawer of my vanity and braided my hair. Hiroshi, Phillip, and Yukihyo worked on the bridge. Thunderdrop rested. I was shocked to find a full basket of laundry in Hiroshi's quarters. I carried it to the laundry room and ran it all through the cleaning unit. I returned Hiroshi's basket full of clean laundry to a spot just inside of his quarters to the side of his door. With dread I entered Phillip's quarters. It was even worse than I had expected. I put his basket in the center of his floor and began tossing dirty clothes into it. Phillip had made an effort. Two sets of clothes were in one pile, and a third was in his bathroom, but the forth was scattered about the room. Finding a missing sock under his couch, I threw it in the basket and brought it all to the cleaning unit. While I waited, I put all of Thunderdrop's food in the pantry. After I had placed all of Phillip's clean laundry in his room, I went across to Yukihyo's quarters. His room was just as I had left it. Only his bathroom showed any use. All of his garments were placed neatly in his laundry basket for me. After I had cleaned and put away his things, I ran the cleaning bot over all of the habitation deck's floors. Falling back into my domestic assistant responsibilities centered me. I finally felt like myself again.

  After dinner that evening, I pulled up the menu on my vid-screen and called Gram. She asked about my day, and I explained to her what I had done. I showed her where I had moved my table and placed my pictures. "Gram, I watched the land Ethan and Sherman gave me on my vid-screen today. I wanted to show Hiroshi and Phillip. A bench was there. Do you know where it came from?" Gram's eyes crinkled in the corners.

  "Ethan thought you might like it," she said.

  "I do. I like it very much."

  "Teagan, you can call me after breakfast, if you like. I miss you so much already." I thought of how comforting it had been to kiss her soft cheek.

  "I already miss you, too, Gram."

  "Good night, Teagan."

  "Good night, Gram." That night Yukihyo and I fell asleep watching the stars.

  The next morning, I woke up before my alarm. I felt a wetness and jumped from the bed in a panic that I had made an accident in my sleep. "Well, crap," I said in disgust. Blood soaked my undies and made a mess of my sheet. I fled into the bathroom. By the time I had showered and wrapped myself in a towel to venture out to my storage unit, Yukihyo had vanished taking my sheets with him. "How embarrassing." I grabbed clean undies and went back for my hidden bathroom supplies. I had dressed when Yukihyo returned with my clean sheets. "I'm sorry. Here let me take those." He handed them to me, nodded, and left. "Great. He must be grossed out."

  "Chirp chirp."

  "Thanks." I made my bed. Then, Thunderdrop and I went to the laundry room where I set out his food and water. Phillip had eaten half of his breakfast, and Hiroshi had just heated his.

  Around a mouthful of food, I got a "good morning" from Phillip.

  "Hey," I replied, getting some juice.

  "Are you sick?" Phillip asked in alarm.

  "No."

  "Why are you having juice?" he asked.

  "I'm thirsty. Don't worry. I'm having coffee for breakfast." Hiroshi sat down to a stack of pancakes. Yukihyo didn't join us. I did the dishes and then got my laundry, hoping I hadn't ruined anything.

  Back in our quarters, Thunderdrop played with his color shape, while I called Gram. "Good morning!" Gram's sweet face greeted me. Sydney and Gina sat to either side of her.

  "Good morning, everyone! What are you all doing today?"

  "We are going for a walk in Sydney's gardens today. I do so wish you were joining us, Teagan. Instead of being so far away, I want you with us."

  "I'll be back. Maybe next time you might want to come with us to Polybius. It's beautiful and you would love the baths. I do." I hoped I would be able to go, and that my little problem would be over with by then.

  "What was that expression about?" Gina asked.

  "Nothing." Sydney shook her head.

  "Gina will find out what is wrong. Evasion is pointless. You actually look angry."

  "I'm not angry. I might be a little cranky."

  Gina frowned, "Has someone upset you?"

  "No."

  Gina said, "Well, what happened?" I blushed.

  "Is this a private conversation?" I asked. When they assured me it was, I mentioned my problem.

  "You weren't expecting it?" Gram asked.

  "Well, since Phillip fixed me, I don't have warning cramps for a few days before it happens, so I forget." The next part of our conversation was very informative until Eliot and ZeeZee entered the room, and then I turned red, and Sydney changed the subject to how lovely my pictures looked on my table.

  "You will call after dinner, will you not?" Gram asked.

  "I'll call. Enjoy your walk." Huh? Who knew? I pulled up the program they had told me about through my vid-screen and entered in the date. After I entered in the end date of my current annoyance, it would warn me next time. Then, I could sleep prepared.

  "Chitter chitter chirp."

  "Well, how was I supposed to know?" Thunderdrop drew his front claws down his pyramid and colored lines appeared. "I guess I'll go take a walk, too.
Do you want to come with me?" He followed me. In the exercise room, I began my usual walk, but at some point my mind began to wander. Things I had learned about my family and myself, my past, and how my Arachnean family had treated me, circled through my thoughts.

  "There you are. I have been looking for you." Hiroshi stood inside the door. I stopped the treadmill. Hiroshi looked at me and at my distance. "You walked five miles? Good for you. Perhaps you may run with me in time." I was as sweaty as I had been after mornings of reclamation work.

  "I was thinking." Hiroshi placed his hand on the treadmill's handrail.

  "You have much to think about. Do you want to talk about it?"

  "Yes, but I don't even know what to say. How are you with all of this? Is it okay that I let them add their names to mine and Yukihyo's?" Hiroshi's warm chocolate eyes had love in them.

  "Yes, it is okay. Your family wants to claim you. Had you been born as you should have been, on Arachnean soil, your life would have been much different. They must suffer with that knowledge and wish to replace your pain with happiness."

  "They don't need to try and make up for anything." Hiroshi looked down at his hand where it rested on the handrail.

  "The Alaric and Montgomery families control Arachne. They are accustomed to power and wealth, along with the respect they have earned through their fairness and generosity toward their peers and community. One of their own, stolen decades ago, had a child they never knew. That child never knew their love, and they mourn her loss. They have been given a chance with you, though." I felt a furrow forming between my brows.

  "I want to be with them, too. But, Hiroshi, being without Yukihyo, you, and Phillip would be too painful. I could never be happy without you all. Yukihyo would be destroyed without you and Phillip. You know that as well as I do. I ache to be back with Gram, Simon, Ethan, Eliot, and Sherman. It seemed like something just clicked together in my heart with them. I don't know what to do or feel. I'm happy and frustrated at the same time." Hiroshi smiled.