Family Law 3: Secrets in the Stars (50 page)

"You seem to be ahead of us in tech in several areas," Lee said. "Is there any way we can get you to ally with us, or trade with us, to get some of it? Do we even
have
anything you want?"

"The life extension therapy is available on Home. Or on Fargone if you can come to terms with them. Not free, but then food and air to sustain life aren't free either. The Earthies withhold life, not us. All the rest of our tech in closely held in the Central Kingdom. The Lunar Republic and Home will admit anyone who can afford to live there, but Central is more selective.

"We will admit people to visit for business. We even get a very rare social scientist or news person, if you believe either label has any basis in reality. We mostly regard them as tourists with delusions of grandeur, and tolerate them, because excluding them leads to accusations of mysterious conspiracies. But to live at Central as a permanent resident you need the permission of a peer or the Sovereign. Even then Heather can revoke your rights and expel you if a peer chooses poorly."

"Do you allow the spouse to reside if one of your people gets married?" Lee asked.

"Why do you ask?" April said, raising one suspicious eyebrow high.

"It just seemed a natural question. Such things happen," Lee insisted.

"It has," April admitted. "Although most of our marriages were between people already sworn. A few even had a trial period of residence before committing to a marriage. A very few, two actually that I know of, went very badly. One couple moved off to the Republic with our blessing, another divorced.

"However, to actually share proprietary tech, and have a hand in our private endeavors, you need to be sworn to the Sovereign. We take such an oath very seriously. If you break your fealty to Heather you might well be killed instead of expelled. It's that serious. I'm one of two peers who can swear a subject to the Sovereign at my discretion. It is my firm opinion you might prove a worthy subject, but I think you lack sufficient information and experience to make that decision with wisdom. I will take your oath if you insist, but advise against it at this point. Are you prepared to send your people off without you, and take a new direction with your life here and now?" April asked.

"No. I want to stay with Gordon. We still have a lot of... unfinished business. He assures me I need seasoning, and I trust his judgment," Lee said. When April just nodded, Lee added. "I trust your judgment and advice too."

"Thank you. Go then, buy the life extension is my suggestion. It changes your perceptions and the way you regard other people and what sort of projects and business you find worthwhile. In another hundred years, or two, you may be back asking to be sworn." April smiled. "Or by then I may be asking you."

"If we're not going to be formal allies, I just have one small personal favor to ask for now," Lee asked. "I'd really appreciate if you'd tell me should you see me doing something tremendously stupid. My inclination is to keep exploring. I have my own lands and a family relationship with Gordon's clan and Talker's family, but no desire to be planet bound and build a home, or stick my nose in the affairs of either family. Would you counsel against going out again?"

"Not at all," April said. "We've surveyed enough that I can tell you there are vast areas accessible from the Human sphere of influence that have no owners. We have no reason to oppose that. I don't expect you to go far enough into the deep to find where we have active claims, but if you do they aren't hidden, you'll know they are inhabited systems on entering. We had a few places we exploited closer and abandoned them to set up and become well established much further away. Perhaps Earth society will be easier to deal with when they get that far into the Beyond. That's the hope anyway. I'm certainly willing to tell you if I see any other errors, in a spirit of friendship."

"I know. We found one of the places you mined around a brown dwarf," Lee said.

April lifted an eyebrow again. "Is that conjecture? There are others who have tapped those sources for minerals. I'm reading the log summaries you released, and you are aware the ones you call Centaurs left a great deal of evidence behind before they withdrew to a large extent."

"The Centaurs didn't use a Wright's Sure vacuum marker made in Armstrong," Lee said.

"Ah, somebody screwed up and didn't sanitize the place thoroughly," April admitted.

"Well it's clean now, if that's all they missed," Lee said.

April looked serious for a few silent moments. "Thank you. The other side of that coin is true too. I expect you to tell us if you see us doing something stupid," April requested.

"I'll be glad too," Lee allowed. "It was just a vacuum marker," she said. "No big deal."

"But it wasn't supposed to be there. We do make errors," April insisted. "Being friends is both more and less than being allies," she said, smiling. "I'm comfortable with that at this point."

"Agreed. If you need to contact me just send a message to Derfhome and it'll get to me eventually," Lee suggested. "Bye for now."

April nodded and disconnected.

Chapter 30

"You have powerful friends," Talker said, very seriously, when the screen closed.

"You among them," Lee said.

Talker opened his mouth like he was going to deny it, and stopped. "It's good to
be
on the list," he said. Not his original thought at all, Lee was certain.

"You are after all, spox for your race," Lee reminded him. "Let's go over and sit. I'm tired from all this intense emotion and thinking under pressure. I need some coffee.” Gordon accompanied them and Thor ambled off to look at something in the theatre.

When he was seated and had a mug of sweet coffee, Talker opened up further.

"I should be honest. My value as spox may come to an end when we return. I orchestrated the Little Fleet leaving early before any higher ranking spox from our central government could arrive. I knew they would make as thorough a mess, if they got involved, as your Earth governments here have done. They can't
prove
it, but they aren't stupid. They'll know I rushed off to shut them out. I fear when I go back I'll be the minor son of a minor lord on a frontier world once again."

"You don't seem all torn up about that," Lee observed.

"Very few voices serve for their entire life," Talker observed. "It's stressful and involves traveling. There can be risk from some persons one must confront to deliver a message. I will regard this action as the most successful of my career, even if I never get to reveal the purpose of it publically. Just like military service, nobody ever gets called to serve as a voice who is a first heir, or needs to work at a trade and would be impoverished by having his work interrupted. I'm pleased I served the race so well at a critical time. Or at least I think history will judge it so."

"I had no idea," Singer the Bill spox said. "
That's
why the big rush to leave near the end." It was a speech for him. He stayed quiet in the background until they forgot he was there almost. "How did you manage to get Gordon to hurry? He isn't the sort to be pushed into anything."

"I explained how much more complicated it would be if every official had his finger in the pie," Talker recalled. "So it was to his advantage, and I appealed for a hearing and asked it on the basis of friendship. More Lee's than his at that point," Talker admitted. "In fact it was at her urging."

"Like what we just saw Lee do with April," Singer said with sudden insight.

"Yes, personal influence seems to work where formal processes don't," Talker agreed.

"Ha! If you went all by official channels and strict rules it would be gridlock," Lee assured him. "Even in North America when I got fostered out to my cousin's family he made himself personally agreeable to the negative tax people to get stuff instead of demanding his rights. It works. In fact networking seems to be the only thing that keeps the whole mess from breaking down, everywhere."

"You saved me from being supplanted by a mob of officials from our bureaucracies too," Singer admitted. "I thought it was a happy accident, not devious plotting. I owe you."

"And so it starts," Lee observed. "You owe him one, and next time he has a problem you're the guy he'll call for help. Or he'll rack up more favors, knowing you play that game."

"Indeed, if that means I'm in the network, that works for me," Singer said cheerfully.

"I've been studying this English," Talker said modesty. "These people even quantify it. They'll say – I owe you one, or they'll say, I owe you a
big
one." The range of subtle meaning is amazing."

"Since it was an unintended favor, I think I just owe you one," Singer decided. "Besides, I wasn't even a planetary spox. I just happened to be the high Bill official in your system. With a little luck I'll go back to my job and not be rewarded with a promotion I don't really want."

"If you don't like how they treat you come see me," Lee said. "If you are willing to work hard on your English I'll give you a job."

"Really?" Singer said, surprised. "What skill set do I have you'd need?"

"If we are going to register and administer claims from your entire civilization we'll need people of all the races who can present our terms in a way that makes sense to each. I'll need help to write those rules, and the form of the applications and documents, so they seem acceptable and reasonable. To Bills in your case. I expect you'd hire others for their own species."

"That's right, you're not a government, so they can be reasonable," Singer marveled. "I suppose next you are going to tell me these forms will be
short
?"

"Contracts of one to three pages are very common on Derfhome," Lee remembered. "When our attorney was upset at the Commission turning down claims I thought of inviting him to Derfhome to help set up our claims system. But then I realized we won't have near as huge a formal system. I think he'd starve to death on the low volume of work, the way Derf do business. There
aren't
going to be ten thousand page legal nightmares. And nothing will be limited to any rigid form. If claimants feel the need to attach more information or express themselves extemporaneously that's fine with me. I suspect our bank will be useful to help us set it up."

"That job sounds interesting enough I might apply for it even if they don't find fault with me for my actions as self-appointed spox," Singer decided. "Would you consider an application even if not from necessity?” he asked.

"Yes, but Derfhome might be a hardship post for awhile, until more Bill food and goods become common." Lee frowned. "You seem quite able in English when you have something to say and get rolling. Why are you holding back other times?" she demanded.

Singer said nothing, but Talker spoke up. "Not speaking up is a staple of Bill culture," he revealed. "If you speak up and it goes well, that's fine. But the way Bill institutions work if you speak up and are shown to be wrong later, they are very unforgiving of error. You first significant mistake is usually the last of your career."

"That just removes anybody with any real experience!" Lee said, astonished. "If it doesn't kill you screwing up makes you stronger, because you won't make the same mistake again. Promote a fresh guy into the job for every mistake and he's just as likely to mess up as the old one."

"Talker has the right of it. I've seen that's not the way with you, listening to the command channel. People make all kinds of bizarre speculations and outrageous suggestions easily," Singer acknowledged. "But changing a lifetime of habit is difficult. I'll
try
to cultivate it if I work for you," Singer promised.

"I'm
dismayed
," Talker said, but it was an obvious tongue in cheek exaggeration from his theatrical gestures. He had the facial part down pretty good too. "I am the one befriended, but you didn't offer
me
employment if I get the boot as spox."

"I had other things in mind for you," Lee admitted. Talker looked like he regretted saying anything. Gordon tried to cover his amusement at that with a huge hand, but failed.

"Since you expressed interest in life extension therapy for Badgers, I figured to pay for whatever information we can buy on the Human version. Then if we can get somebody schooled in the theoretical side of it we'll have them come to Derfhome, and eventually on to Far Away. I figured you could supervise the effort, and we'll have it all squared away and for sale before any of your government can even decide who should be in charge of studying it.

"As far as being spox. If they don't fire you, I don't care if you double dip and get paid for both. You and your household will get a steep discount to get treated yourself of course. I'd let you guys fumble around and get it in your own sweet time, but I want it for Tish," Lee admitted.

"That's remarkably generous of you, but why Derfhome first?" Talker wondered.

"It's on the way. Gordon hired a human to provide medical services to his clan, and I figured an expert could consult with her about what she has learned about the Derf, and then once he's looked over the situation there, he can continue on to you. If he says we need to hire somebody else out of Human space for Derfhome it's a lot closer to Earth or Fargone, and we shouldn't have any trouble."

"You seem to have thought it out carefully," Talker admitted.

"Nah, that was just off the top of my head because you asked. If you have other ideas just tell me. See? That's how we do it," Lee told Singer.

"I'd like to start us on the road to get this technology too," Singer said. "I'm just not sure we have funds to buy the weapons we need for the Biters and this life extension tech too."

"We're going to buy everything public we can find on the Human techniques to apply to the Derf and Badgers," Lee reminded him. "I'll make a copy available for you," Lee offered.

"For free you mean?" Singer asked hopefully.

"Heck no. You will owe me a
huge
one," Lee informed him. "God only knows what it will cost you when I come to collect."