“How long?”
“You’ve been out for five days.”
“And you’ve been here all this time? How touching.”
“If I had, it would be.”
“I’m disappointed.”
“I’m sure you’re not. A young man called Stefan has been calling on the hour every hour. Do you intimidate your staff so much that they daren’t sleep?”
“I like to think so.”
“Pav Danniri has sent you her resignation. She says it didn’t happen like you said. It was a fair fight. Her brother was careless and he paid the price.”
Crowder’s scalp crawled. Had Danniri been talking to Benjamin?
“And Victoria LeBon called once to say the Board has met and unanimously decided to ask for your resignation once it was obvious you weren’t going to save them the embarrassment by dying.”
“They what?”
“There’s a vid of you confessing to trying to kill some settlers on a platinum planet. It’s gone viral on every major planet in the inner systems and beyond.”
Crowder groaned.
“Did you?”
“What?”
“Try to kill ten thousand people.”
“You don’t understand what was at stake.”
“I think I do.”
“Platinum, Aggie.”
“People, Gabe.”
“The Trust—”
“I don’t care. I stayed here until you woke up for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to tell you face-to-face that you are not to have any further contact with our daughters or our grandchildren, and if you ever come near my home again I have a smart-dart pistol and I’m prepared to use it. Four darts should do the trick. Maybe five to be sure. Oh, yes, and my lawyer is sending you the bill for my house repairs, with an added amount to cover compensation for my mental trauma, which includes you signing over the deeds of the property to me and an amount which, if properly invested, will keep me and mine comfortable for the rest of our lives.” She stood and loomed over him. “If you want to fight me through the courts, I’m happy to do just that. Your credibility is about as low as it can go right now and you seem to be out of a job. Do we understand each other?”
“I think we do.”
“Good.”
She flounced out of the room, leaving only a waft of Longest Day, her favorite perfume. He watched her go, her perfect behind swaying. I should have died, he thought. It would have been simpler if I had—and cheaper.
“I’ve never seen Rion like this before,” Ben said. “Oh, sure, he’s got his quirks, but I think he’s losing it.”
Ben and Cara were in their new apartment, one floor below and one apartment over from the one Ben’s family shared. They could hear Rion’s voice from here, though they couldn’t make out the words. Finally a clump of pink leaves landed outside their front window, scattering growing medium and peppering the glass.
They heard Nan’s voice and then Rion’s high-pitched reply. “It’s no substitute!”
“That’s it,” Ben said. “Enough’s enough. Someone’s going to get hurt.”
He headed up the balcony steps, Cara close behind.
Kai was on his knees trying to rescue the remains of a planter, and Ricky was as far away from his dad as he could get, his eyes wide. Nan stood in the middle of the floor, her face impassive, but Rion leaned against the doorframe, breathing heavily.
“Rion,” Ben began.
“Get me out of here, Ben. I can’t stand it. Take me home.” His red-rimmed eyes overflowed.
“Sit down. I’ll think of something,” Ben said. “Ricky, why don’t you make us all some tea.”
“That’s usually my line,” Nan said.
“I’m learning,” Ben said. “How are you this morning, Nan?”
“I ditched the cane yesterday. My leg’s a lot better. Your Doctor Wolfe is a fine young man. He called in to see us last night with his partner, Jon. Just a social call, he said, but managed to check on us all while he was here. Gave Rion some pills, but he’s too stubborn to take them. I’ve seen this kind of reaction before in space virgins.”
Ricky carried six mugs of tea to the table on a tray, and Ben sat down, looking at Rion to follow. Nan sat, Cara sat and then Kai and Ricky followed suit. The social pressure worked, Rion flopped into the last empty chair and reached for a mug.
“Fine,” he said. “Sit. Drink tea. Things will all work out. Yeah, right.”
“Take a pill, Rion,” Ben said. “If Ronan gave them to you he must think you need them. He’s an Empath as well as a doctor and he knows his job.”
“What are they? I won’t be knocked out again.” He put the pill pot down on the table.
Cara reached across to take a look. “Tranqs. Macadom. I’ve taken them myself. They won’t slow you down, just buffer your anxiety a little. Make it more manageable.”
“I don’t have an anxiety problem.”
“Yes, you do,” Nan said. “Take a pill.”
“Space doesn’t suit everyone,” Ben said. “It’s big, but the habitats we build in it are small. Sometimes too small.”
“I can’t see the sky.”
“I know. I have an idea. A planet you can wait out your time on.”
Cara looked up from her tea and mouthed, “Jamundi?”
He nodded at her and she nodded back, completely in agreement.
*He’s a damn good farmer,* Ben said to her privately. *Suzi Ruka doesn’t have such a big team as she did on Olyanda, so maybe the settlers would appreciate some sound advice, especially from someone who isn’t a psi-tech.*
*What about your Nan?*
*We give her the choice. Give them all the choice.*
“A planet?” Rion asked. “What kind of planet?”
“A new settlement. A virgin planet. Jamundi. The settlers from Olyanda are going to need a lot of help, experienced help.”
“What’s it like?” Kai asked.
“Basically very Earth-like,” Cara said.
“We’ve never been to Earth,” Ricky said.
Ben compared it to Chenon. “Much shorter days than you’re used to. Temperate zones with a good climate for agriculture. Seasonal shifts. Green vegetation. Gravity slightly less than Chenon. Three main continents. Some serious mountain ranges, but plenty of lowlands, too, very promising farming country. Rivers and oceans. Polar icecaps. The occasional desert, some massive forests of tree-like growths that will look a little strange at first, but you’ll soon get used to them. There are few native nasties to worry about. Some volcanic and seismic activity but mostly confined to where our settlers aren’t.”
“And these settlers?” Rion asked. “Ecolibrians, yes?”
“Set out with the intention of getting back to basics,” Ben said. “They want a colony free of genetic engineering, and that includes psi-techs. They’ve begun to compromise after their experiences on Olyanda. They’re beginning to see the advantage of not shutting themselves off from help should they require it.”
Cara leaned forward. “Victor Lorient, the colony director, pretty much lost his grip back on Olyanda. He’s got a few hard-line colonists, but the rest of them just want to get on with their lives. Given a choice I’m pretty sure that some of them will vote for retaining more tech. They’ve found out how hard it can be going back to fire and the wheel.”
“So how much tech can they afford?” Nan asked.
“When I did the deal with Crossways I cut them in for five percent of the profits from Olyanda’s platinum,” Ben said. “It’s not producing yet, but once it is they can afford whatever they need.” He turned to Rion. “It’s a good planet. They’re good people. Right now it’s the best I can offer. A safe place with ground beneath your feet and sky above you.”
Rion nodded. “Let’s do it.”
He took one o
f the small white pills, popped it into his mouth, and washed it down with a gulp of tea.
“What about me?” Ricky heard his voice squeak and everyone turned to look at him at once.
“I’m sure there will be other youngsters your age,” Dad said, completely missing the point.
“The Ecolibrians don’t do implants. What happens when I’m old enough to be tested? If I’m on Jamundi I’m not going to get an implant, am I? I’m going to be stuck there and never learn to pilot a starship or fly the Folds.”
“That’s a long way off.” Dad frowned. “You might not even be suitable for an implant. Kai wasn’t.”
Ricky saw the look on Kai’s face.
“Yes, he was. He turned it down to make you happy.”
You could have cut the silence with a knife. Ricky turned pleading eyes to Kai, knowing he’d said the unsayable. Kai stared resolutely into his tea mug.
“Nan, you know I have psi potential,” Ricky tried. “I might even get onto a fast track program.”
“And put yourself into the hands of some ruthless megacorp?” Dad said. “No way!”
Nan shrugged and gave Rion a long, appraising look. “The boy has talent, Rion. He’s going to test positive and if you try and hold him back you’ll lose him.”
“I . . . I didn’t . . .” Dad turned to Kai. “Did you really turn down an implant, son?”
“I really did. I just figured that if I had an implant I’d have to go where I was sent, do what I was told. It’s okay if you want to be a small cog in a big machine—” He looked up. “Sorry, Uncle Ben, I don’t mean that like it sounds . . .”
“No problem, Kai.”
Kai nodded. “I didn’t want the debt. I just wanted to learn to be the best farmer I could and then stay on the farm and be who I wanted to be. My choice. No need to feel guilty, Dad. You didn’t make the decision for me.”
“But I don’t want to be a farmer,” Ricky said. “Yeah, all that about cogs and machines and doing what you’re told and owing lots of money doesn’t sound so good unless you’re doing the thing you most love doing in the whole world. In the whole darn galaxy.”
Nan cleared her throat. “Well, you can’t stay here, Ricky, so we’d better reach a compromise.”
“Why can’t I stay here?”
“Your schooling for a start.”
“There are schools on Crossways.”
Uncle Ben nodded. “Schools and a university, too, though the degree is not always accepted on the inner system planets.”
“See. I could stay here.”
“I want you safe, Ricky,” Dad said, “with me.”
“But . . .” Ricky felt a swell of righteous indignation. It was his life.
“Your Dad’s right, Ricky,” Uncle Ben said. “We have a job to do and there are people after us who won’t stop to ask if you’re an innocent bystander. You don’t want to have to watch your back every minute of every day and be taken to school by an armed guard. You’ve already experienced the Trust’s hospitality.” He spread his hands on the table, big capable hands. Ricky had never noticed before how alike Uncle Ben’s and his dad’s hands were. “Jamundi isn’t going to be completely isolated. We’ll come by and visit whenever we can and I promise you that we’ll arrange for your preliminary testing at fourteen, and if you are suitable you can have your implant fitted here, so as not to be tied to a megacorp.”
“And learn from Mr. Jussaro, yes?”
Uncle Ben smiled. “Possibly. It’s still three years in the future. A lot can happen in three years.”
“Yes, a lot can happen,” Dad said, in that kind of way that made Ricky think he’d be getting a lot of lessons in farming between now and his fourteenth birthday.
“No pressuring the lad, Rion,” Nan said. “It’s his life. He’ll be what he’ll be.”
Dad sighed and nodded. “Agreed.”
“What do you know about Cotille?” Garrick asked Ben on a visit to Blue Seven. They’d settled in Ben’s office over caff, which Garrick drank with good grace.
“Not much,” Ben said. “It was set up by the Trust just as Hera-3 was kicking off. It’s a planet with some small potential for platinum, but not enough to draw unwanted attention. It’s heavy in iron and coal, so several manufacturing firms took out industrial contracts and sent out engineering specialists. Sofia Lake was the officer in charge of a two-year setup program. She’s a very competent administrator, so I doubt there were any problems with the initial mission. Sofia’s team would have left behind a Trust officer in charge of a small admin staff, but I’m not sure who that would have been. It should be on the Trust’s open records.”
Garrick checked his handpad. “It was Lake herself who stayed behind. She’s enquired about terms for a potential trading agreement. They’re interested in discussing a move to declare independence.”
“Interesting. I worked with Sofia a couple of times, just after I joined the Trust. She was my boss on my very first colony setup. She always said she might retire into colony admin eventually. Looks like she’s finally done it. She has a family who used to go with her on missions, so I expect they’ve all settled together.”
“What did you think of her?”
“Psi-3 Telepath and a skilled pilot. Very reliable, evenhanded, a good person to learn the ropes from. Was always particularly good at bringing on new talent in her team. Several of her younger officers have since gone on to command positions.”
“Loyal to the Trust?”
“Yes, but not slavishly. She’ll always stand up for what she thinks is right.”
“Ah, good.”
“Does that fit with what you wanted to know?”
Garrick nodded. “One of the reasons she’s quoted for wanting to talk to us about leaving the Trust is that she’s seen the vid of your confrontation with Crowder and says that she knows you well enough to believe your account. She wants to talk to you.”
“To me?”
“Might it be a trap?”
“If you’re sure the message was from Sofia Lake herself and not someone else on her behalf, I would be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Good, because on your behalf I turned down the invitation for you to visit Cotille, but I invited Lake here.”
“And?”
“She accepted. She’ll be here tomorrow morning.”
“I’m planning to take Rion and the family to Jamundi and then to get on with hunting down the lost colonists.”
“I know. Please bear with me and meet with Ms. Lake first.”
Ben waited on the concourse outside the public dock for Sofia Lake’s ship to cycle through the air lock and her delegation to emerge. The port operated on a low-pressure, thin-air system designed to cut down on incidents. For anyone newly arrived it was like experiencing high altitude without the slow ascent to acclimatize. Try and cause a ruckus and you’d most likely fall over and pass out. The port officials wore a bio-grafted breathing tube in various imaginative ways. Some snaked along their jawline, up and around the side of their mouth to their nostrils, others had the tubes grafted horizontally from above their ear with slim oxygen packs worn as hats.
Ben watched from the glazed arrivals gallery as Sofia led three individuals to the immigration gate. With Garrick’s personal invitation, the small party was quickly admitted, though, Ben noticed, they still had to pass through a scanner that would pick up most kinds of weaponry, including minute traces of explosives. All four were clean.
Ben scooted down a short flight of steps and arrived at the main gate in time to meet them at the outer air lock where Syke and Nan were already waiting. He’d enticed Nan away from her packing duties. Her Empathy was much more reliable than either Ronan’s or Cara’s when it came to reading emotions and intent from both psi and non-psi.
“Benjamin.” Sofia held out both hands and Ben too
k them. “It’s good to see you again.”
She’d aged well, her hair iron gray, now, instead of black, but she was still trim and carried her height well. Her skin was barely lined.
“Good to see you, too.” Ben only just stopped himself from calling her Boss. “You retired into colony admin like you always said you would.”
“I did. Got a bit tired of all that cryo.”
“How is your family?”
“Well. Janie is with me on Cotille, but the kids are off doing their own thing. Bran got his implant and is at university on Earth—Edinburgh—studying exobiology and contracted to the FPA. Juno tested negative for psi, but did rather well in engineering. She’s an independent contractor on the rim, married to a very nice couple from Walder-5. I’m a grandma four times over. I’ll show you the baby pictures later.”
“Sofia, this is my grandmother, Louisa Benjamin.”
“The Louisa Benjamin who negotiated the peace on Scarra?”
“That’s some time ago.” Nan smiled.
“But still quoted in the textbooks.”
“I believe so.” Nan inclined her head.
“And this is Captain Syke,” Ben said, making a final introduction. “Norton Garrick and Mother Ramona’s Chief of Security. Forgive us for being overcautious. We’ve had some close calls over the last few weeks.”
“No apology required. These are my colleagues from Cotille, Elder Zakhar, Elder Gully, and Andrew Hoffman.” Everyone shook hands with everyone else except for Syke, who settled for a bow of acknowledgment and stepped back with his crew. “Elders Zakhar and Gully have been recently elected as Speakers on Foreign Affairs,” Sofia continued. “Andy is my legal guru.”
Ben led the way to the tub system where one of Syke’s men had a flotilla of cabs waiting to take everyone to Garrick’s Mansion House. Nan sat with the two elders and Syke while Ben settled himself in with Sofia, Andy, and one of Syke’s guards. Two tubs of guards, one in front and one behind, escorted them.
“You’re looking well, Sofia,” Ben said. “Does colony life suit you?”
“Surprisingly, it does. You should try it. You look like hell, Benjamin. What have you been doing to yourself?”
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