by Robin Roseau
“Of course, Hazelvarn.”
The girl turned to me. “We’ll be ready.”
“Please have everyone move back, and make sure it’s clear when I return.”
“We’ll stay on the steps of the Vendart’s house,” she said, pointing. Again she lifted her voice. “All right. Give Maddalyn some room.”
“I need it well clear from here to the waterfront,” I said, gesturing.
“There’s a fence,” said the man who had approached earlier.
“I’ll go over it,” I said. I headed for the jumper, powered up, and looked around. Hazelvarn was still pushing people back, but they weren’t giving her any trouble. A minute later, I was in the air.
I initiated a conference call. “Hire Hazelvarn.”
She laughed. “Is she coming?”
“I think so. If I have to, I’ll come back and kidnap her for you so you can meet her.”
“I’d rather we achieve cooperation through less drastic methods,” Cecilia replied. “Invite her politely.”
“I will, if she isn’t already one of the eight I’m picking up.”
“Where are you now?”
“Final approach to Beacon Hill.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
* * * *
Darratine introduced me to a grandmotherly woman named Minotarn. She smiled and asked, “How is Mistalarn?”
“She is sleeping but doing well. Are you friends?”
“She used to babysit me,” Minotarn said.
“You aren’t going to recognize her,” I said.
The woman nodded. “This is my granddaughter, Suzain, and her Galatzi husband, Toropid.”
“Toropid was part of the same trade as Farratain,” Darratine added.
“He has been a joyous addition to our household,” Minotarn declared. “Such a gifted artist.”
I nodded. “We’ll have time this week to get to know each other, but we should get moving.” I stepped to the back and showed Toropid where to stow their bags. Then I said, “Minotarn, I’m going to have you get in last.”
Darratine nodded to me and got Suzain and Toropid settled for me. I saw to Minotarn and climbed back in. I gave the same speech I’d been giving then reached over and took Minotarn’s hand, squeezing it for a minute.
“Don’t you worry about me,” said the woman. “I’ve been wondering if I’d get to go for a ride.”
“It’s a short ride today, but maybe we’ll have time for something longer, if you like it.”
“That would be lovely,” she said.
* * * *
I pinged Cecilia as we were passing Sudden. When we landed, this time I saw it was Sartine who was waiting. My passengers disembarked, and I was about to climb back into the jumper again when Sartine blocked my path. She had a water bottle, but she looked into my face. “Do you need a break?”
“I’m good,” I said.
“Cecilia said to ask about your blood sugar?”
I did a self-assessment then asked Melina for an analysis. I nodded. “My implant says I’m fine.”
“All right.” She handed the bottle to me.
But I paused. “Vendart, do you take care of everyone?”
“Only those I consider mine,” she said.
“Am I making a big thing out of nothing?”
“Cecilia didn’t leave my bedside, or so it seemed,” she replied. “Every time I woke, she was there. If it wasn’t her, it was Christianna or Savannah. I think she takes that sort of support for granted.”
“This is Talmon, Vendart,” I said. “Do you blame her?”
“No, I don’t,” she said. “You see how we respond when we know there is a need.”
“I don’t understand why Fandorid is here alone. You aren’t given to small families here.”
“You know why, Maddalyn,” she said gently. “Life here is hard. Cecilia asked Luradinine. Fandorid’s mother died giving birth to his sister.”
“Oh, no,” I said. “And his older brother?”
“Lost at sea. His grandmother is all he has left. That was part of the reason Luradinine chose Mistalarn ahead of some of the others. Maddalyn, this is why all of you are here, trying so hard to help us.”
I nodded then stepped forward. She hugged me then helped me into the jumper. But before she stepped away, she leaned in and said, “If you need me to do your next trip, I can.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Thank you, Sartine.”
She patted my cheek and stepped away.
* * * *
Hazelvarn had her charges waiting for me by the time I arrived. She provided introductions and asked, “Do you want me in the first trip or second?”
“Please hold things here until I get back,” I said. “It will be less time than this trip.”
“We’ll be ready, Maddalyn.”
I considered, then I tugged on her arm, pulling her further from the others. “The governor and I wish to take you for dinner this week.”
She grinned. “I get to meet the governor?”
“You do,” I said. “Well done here.”
* * * *
On my next trip, I eyed my passengers. Then I sighed. Hazelvarn was smallest, and I couldn’t suggest she sit up front. I got everyone settled. Once we were in the air, I contacted the governor and switched to German. “She’s with me. I told her you and I want to take her to dinner this week. She’s looking forward to meeting you.”
“Okay, good,” she replied. “We have dinner waiting for you.”
“I have trips to make to Sudden.”
“And yet, you can have dinner first,” she said.
I laughed. “Yes, Governor.”
“Tell Hazelvarn to plan spending tomorrow evening with you and me.”
“I will, once we land.”
“I’m going to send Kalorain this time,” she said. “She’ll wait in the normal parking area. We can hold my awesomeness until tomorrow.”
I laughed again. “Okay.”
* * * *
My wife was waiting, as planned. She helped with my passengers. We delivered their bags to one of the bungalows and then brought all of them to the medical center. Fessen Vendart was waiting to take charge, but I pulled Hazelvarn to the side. “Tomorrow evening.”
She smiled and nodded.
“I don’t know the full plans. I’ll find you during the afternoon.”
“All right.”
“See you then.”
She ran off to her vendart and I turned to my wife. “Come with me,” she ordered. We climbed back into the car, and two minutes later we came to a stop in front of Cecilia’s bungalow. She and Sartine were waiting inside, and they had a lovely table already prepared. Kalorain pulled me into a kiss first, which helped me to reset a little, and so I felt calmer when we sat.
Kalorain maintained possession of my hand, and I saw Sartine doing the same thing with Cecilia. We made small talk for the first half of the meal, and then Cecilia said, “Tell me about Hazelvarn.”
“She’s as young as you said, but she understood everything from that brief note, and she organized everything. Is she the future Fessen Vendart?”
“Not that I’ve been told. Her mother has an older sister and two older brothers.”
“It can happen that a vendart will bypass a generation and even the expected lineage,” Sartine said. “But it would be very rare.”
“I wonder why Fessen Vendart sent me to her, then,” I said. “Why not his heir?”
“His heir is a very business-oriented man,” Cecilia said.
“Ah. And we needed someone who is both nurturing and would recognize the need for nurturing in the others we brought.”
“When you are Vendart,” Sartine explained, “You recognize the talents of your villages. Well, if you’re a good vendart.”
“And Fessen has a very good vendart,” Cecilia added. Then she smiled. “That sly dog!”
“What?”
“He dangled the girl in front of you.”
&nb
sp; “That sounds like something Mother might do,” Kalorain said.
“It sure does,” I agreed. “Did you see your sister?”
“Briefly. I’m going to spend some time with Mistalarn. She’s an amazing woman. It’s hard to believe the girl sleeping in that bed is her.”
“That’s going to be a problem,” Sartine said. “I’ve heard other mumbling, wondering if the empire is pulling something over us.”
“We’ll have to trust that our patients can convince their friends,” Cecilia said.
“I checked,” I said. “They all asked for changes to make themselves closer to the ideal, but most of them were safely nudged to making those changes small. Anyone who knew them when they were young should recognize them now.”
“There are still people who don’t believe you are you, Cecilia,” Sartine said. “It comes up.”
“Why do you think I bring you with me so much?” Cecilia replied. “Otherwise I’d leave you home to warm the hearth.”
“Oh, yes,” I said. “Sartine is the stay at home kind.”
“She has duties,” Cecilia said. “She only goes because I beg.”
“We’ve heard your style of begging,” my wife said. She put on a voice. “Oh, Sartine. Yes, oh yes, there. Yes.”
Sartine snorted, but Cecilia waved a finger. She put on her own voice, and she did a good job of a Frantzland accent. “Ach, mein Gott! Ja! Ja! Kalorain. Ja!”
Kalorain laughed. “She doesn’t say that! Or I’d stop.”
Everyone laughed, even me. “She would,” I agreed.
Cecilia smiled. “Rillomorid dangled this girl in front of us. It would be rude not to notice,” she said, resetting the conversation.
“It would,” I agreed.
“What do you think we should do with her?”
“Teach her English. Teach her to operate a ground vehicle and maybe to fly. She took being a passenger fully into stride. After that, see where our needs are.”
Cecilia studied me. After a minute, I began to grow uncomfortable and squirmed in my chair. “What?”
“You have outgrown your title,” she said. “But for the life of me, I don’t know what I should call you instead.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m talking about a promotion,” she said. She smiled. “I should make this your problem. What do you think, Maddalyn?”
“Are you asking me if I think I deserve a promotion?”
“Oh, you’re definitely ready for a promotion. I want to know what you think I should do with you, and what I should call you?”
I turned to Kalorain, but she shook her head. “I will support you,” she said.
So I nodded and turned back to Cecilia. “All right,” I said slowly. “You could put me in charge of something specific, but I think that’s a mistake.”
“Why?”
“Because you have people in charge of specific things, and none of them are doing what I can do for you. None of them see everything you’re doing. They see their part. If you put me in charge of a part, I won’t see the rest.” I thought some more. “Why is your staff so small?”
“Money,” she replied. “I get a budget, and I spend it importing technology.”
“I don’t have the experience for one of the top positions,” I said. “And I certainly don’t have the political acumen. I may never have that. But mine is the only official title that doesn’t mean working for a particular department. Your personal assistant is the only person near my level of experience that shadows you around.”
“Ah, that pesky training they do on Tarriton,” she said with a smile. “You may not have learned this, but I hold a great deal of autonomy. When it can take eight months to get a message to the regional secretary and receive a reply, the planetary governors can do pretty much whatever they want, including making up new job titles. Let’s call this a two-rank promotion. What is your title?”
“Is there a raise?”
“That’s your question?”
“I’m buying time,” I said.
Sartine snorted. Cecilia smiled. “Yes. You’re paid based on rank.”
“Good. More refrigeration units for everybody!”
“Which comes out of my budget.”
“Oh, sure,” I said. “Ruin my plans. I don’t need the money. How about Senior Assistant to the Governor?”
“Perfect,” Cecilia said. “Effective immediately. Kalorain and Mordain now officially report directly to you. I don’t imagine that’s going to dramatically change anything, except I want you to accelerate how quickly they take some of your other duties. Figure it out with them and let me know what I need to know.”
“Yes, Governor.”
“And add this to your duties: recruitment of local assets. I won’t stop anyone else from handling it for their departments, but if it doesn’t clearly fall under someone else’s department, I want you handling it.”
“Yes, Governor,” I said with a grin. “But I want oversight.”
She nodded. “I’ll put an announcement out, but you should tell Mordain yourself. I’ll give you an hour once we’re done here.”
“Thank you, Governor. How much authority do I have?”
“As much as you want,” she said. “Advise me before you do anything that might cause trouble.”
“Seriously?”
“What good is having a Senior Assistant to the Governor if I don’t treat her like a Senior Assistant? Now, let’s get through the next few days, and then let’s talk about our plans.”
“Governor, do I have authority to assemble a meeting with the most local vendarti?”
“With or without me?”
“Definitely with.”
She paused. “Probably not, but I think we need one. When?”
“After Urban Green’s next visit,” I said.
“Interesting answer.”
“Senior Assistant,” Sartine said. “By most local vendarti, I presume that includes Indartha Vendart.”
“Absolutely,” I said. “I actually was going to ask our little council of vendarti to help me produce a list.”
After that, we finished our meal with small talk. Kalorain and I helped bring things into the kitchen for washing, and then Cecilia dismissed us. The moment we were outside, I accessed my implant and asked the center’s security system where Mordain was. Once I had my answer, I took Kalorain’s hand and said, “She’s in the medical center.”
We got moving and then I asked, “How do you feel about all that?”
“I am so proud of you.”
“She just said you work for me.”
“Maddalyn, at home, you are mine. I imagine the next opportunity, I will remind you quite thoroughly. But my duty has always been to help you reach this point. And now my duty is to support you. I cannot do what you can do, but you can’t believe how pleased I am with events.”
“I want you to start taking more of my current duties, but I remain the ultimate gatekeeper to the governor. I need to know why people want to see her, and I need it firsthand.”
“Got it. So does that mean I’m taking this flight to Sudden?”
“No. How is your patient doing?”
“She’s doing well. They only need me a few hours a day. She has a son and two daughters here and two more grandchildren.”
“Okay.”
“I’d like to help with Mistalarn.”
“That was actually what I was going to ask. We’ll talk to Mordain, then I’d like you to stay with her until I get back.”
“All right, but you’re not sitting with her all night. You brought all that help, and you’re going to let them do their duty. We’ll direct them to wake you if she wakes and is coherent.”
I didn’t answer that, but I let the thought percolate.
We found Mordain just as she exited her grandmother’s room. “How is she?”
“Sleeping. She woke for a few minutes, but she wasn’t really talking.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to believe that’s Grand
mother.”
“I know,” I said. “Have you eaten?”
“I had a bite but was going to head to the cafeteria for a bit.”
“Good. There’s something new to tell you.” The three of us walked together, and in the cafeteria, Kalorain and I took tea. Mordain got a sandwich and some fruit, and then we all sat down. We let her eat for a minute, then I said, “Cecilia just promoted me.”
She looked up. “What does that mean?”
“My title is now Senior Assistant to the Governor.” I explained the rest.
When I got done, she nodded. “Good.”
I finished and then I said, “If you see duties you think you could take on, talk to me. There might be reasons I don’t want to let go, or I might think you’re doing enough, but otherwise I’ll let you have them.”
“All right. I have my eye on a particular job.”
“Oh?”
“I want to run the embassy,” she said. “Not Cecilia’s job. I want to oversee all the stuff she shouldn’t care about. She doesn’t need to worry about horses and ground vehicles and any of that. If we’re hiring more local staff to work out of the embassy, I want to oversee them.”
“Beginning immediately?”
“Maybe not. Just think about it. Maybe a little at a time.”
“All right. I want two things from the two of you. Keep an eye out for good people we can hire. But don’t talk to them about it. Don’t even feel them out. We’re only going to take the best.”
“Sure,” Kalorain said.
“And second, we’re going to need to teach more people English.” I sighed.
“What?”
“If we were going to start up English language lessons in school, the two of you would be perfect teachers, but I don’t want to lose you to that.”
“Margotain’s English is nearly as good as mine,” Mordain said. “As the youngest of the vendart’s children, she doesn’t have anywhere near the responsibilities that Rordano has.”
I thought about that. “We’ll come back to that in a few months. But I think you’re right.”
* * * *
Along with Farratain and Darratine, I was there when Mistalarn really woke up. The first we realized was when she made a noise, just a “hmm”, sound.
It took seconds before the three of us were beside her bed. Darratine took one hand, and I took another. Then I smiled at the patient and said, “Mistalarn, do you know where you are?”