“With a different design and some help, maybe. I’ve asked the Herr Human Augmentation Institute already.” Herr’s research group had helped design the legs Garrett had now.
Martin sat, scratching his chin. “What if we improved our manufacturing abilities? Not specifically for you, I mean, but as another profit source?”
Garrett said, “Isn’t that already in your grand plans?”
Martin’s eyes narrowed. “Someone had to look ahead.”
Zephyr interrupted. “Boys! Quit arguing.” Garrett saw something of Tess’ attitude in the robot’s reaction, and it made Garrett miss her more. He’d have to convince her to come back someday.
Leda arrived, wearing the grey jacket of the Holy Confederacy. Garrett had no idea whether that was good or bad, and said nothing about it. He’d guessed that she’d take over the Pilgrim group. But had she fallen back into that nonsense right after escaping it? He shook his head, not wanting to get into quicksand again.
Leda sat, hands uncomfortably limp on her lap. “I’m part of your council now?”
“I suppose so,” said Garrett. “I’ve asked you all here to talk about Castor’s status. Forgive me for not standing. Zephyr?”
Zephyr turned on the wall-screen and a video presentation. “The current financial picture, based on the numbers Martin gave me, is hovering near the break-even point. Money comes in through tourism and our farm products, and goes out through our imports of food and manufactured products. We also have substantial maintenance costs due to the innately corrosive seawater environment and the fragility of some of our farming equipment.” The latest virtual model of Castor spun alongside graphs and charts.
Martin said, “That’s not the full financial picture. We’re relying on some big-ticket purchases like this platform, and if you amortize those costs over their expected lifespan, we’re losing money. We’re effectively self-insured, which is not ideal. Also we’ve had various things donated to us, including legal services.”
Zephyr added, “But on the bright side, we’re about to officially have a hotel, casino and a real restaurant, thanks to the Pierpont and Dentrassi families. According to satellite imagery, a ship is headed our way from Boston. It could be the bio-lab team.”
“It is,” said Eaton from the doorway. “Having a strategy meeting without me?”
Garrett stared at Eaton, who he hadn’t invited. The man had earned a place here as a resident, but Garrett wasn’t comfortable letting him in on everything. The group stayed awkwardly silent until Garrett said, “I respect you, sir, but this is a private meeting.”
Zephyr said, “He means, no spies.”
“Zephyr!” said Garrett.
Eaton smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But yes, the research team is on its way. I’ll let myself out and make sure you folks don’t get surprised again.”
When the door closed Zephyr said, “We won’t be surprised like that again. I have been keeping watch with the satellite feed.”
Garrett said, “From now on we should be looking in all directions and hailing anyone that looks remotely interested in coming here. How hard would it be to get us a new radar unit?”
“Searching. Also, simple sensor buoys would be easy.”
Garrett was a little rattled. “Anyway, that’s the basic situation. We’re alive and afloat, but cash-poor and surrounded by damned nebulous legal threats. Now, the latest problem: a party of Cubans is being forced on us tomorrow with a demand that we hire them.” He put personnel data on the screen. “Three dozen men and women, mostly young, with few skills and a couple of minor criminal records among them. What do we do?”
Martin said, “So they’re following through on their ‘offer’. What about funding to expand the farm?”
“I’m told it’s coming. I’d like to tell Cuba we’ll turn the boat away unless we’ve got the funds first.”
“Do that,” said Martin. “Force their hand. It’ll be bad enough that we won’t have the equipment until after they arrive. In fact we ought to beg for a delay of a few weeks. There’s nothing for them to do yet.”
“We shouldn’t hire them at all!” Zephyr said. “We don’t need to be pushed around.”
Martin told Zephyr, “Some of us can’t upload ourselves to safety in the event of a police raid. We’re dangerously close to earning one.”
Leda spoke up this time. “Give them to me.” She saw the eyes on her and looked down, but then made herself return the stares. “There are people coming who’re being used as pawns by their country, and I don’t want us to treat them that way too. We ought to welcome these people to our community. Garrett, you may not like the Pilgrims, but we work hard, don’t we?”
“Who’s ‘we’?” said Garrett. “How can you be back with them after what they did?”
“It doesn’t really matter what I believe. The Pilgrims need me. They’re my friends, and even if I don’t agree with everything Sir Phillip stood for, I have to help people in his stead. I can do that with this newcomer group too.”
“How? By getting them to worship Lee?”
Leda glared at Garrett. “It’s more complicated than that. You might think it’s not important to have faith, that it’s something you can take off like a coat, but your survival and your profit depend on our group!”
Garrett was getting exasperated by Leeist theology. Was she making it up as she went along? “So do you believe again or what?”
Leda shut her eyes tightly. “It doesn’t matter. I believe in something bigger than myself. You wouldn’t understand. And if these words of mine leave this room, the consequences will hurt all of you.”
After he and Zephyr had stopped Phillip and Duke from driving this woman to suicide, how could she fall back into believing the same old lies, and call him wrong for not joining her? As sick as he was of the Pilgrims, she was right about one thing: he needed them.
He sighed. “I’ll demand the money. In the meantime, what will you do with the newcomers?”
“Make them your best workers. Get them started with training, and make them begin to be useful. You’ll see.”
“They’re people, Leda, not machine parts to hammer into shape.”
Leda was resolute. “They can be more than that, more than just ‘people’.”
Garrett took off his legs in Zephyr’s presence, in the room that had been Tess’ lab. Posters of robots real and fictional lined the walls: Astro Boy, Cog, Qrio, Megaman X, Tachikoma. Garrett hated to be sitting there vulnerable.
Zephyr set the intact leg and the damaged one on a table, peering at both and emitting a sonar hum. “Interesting.”
“How is it, doc? Will I be able to play the violin?”
“Violin? We could make a version with opposable toes, if you want.” Zephyr blinked. “Oh! That’s a joke, right?”
Garrett nodded. “You’ve gotten smarter.”
“I feel dumber. A piece of me is missing.”
“I miss her too.” Garrett kept thinking lately about tasks for Tess, and remembering that she was gone. There was more to the feeling of loss than that, though. One of the things that kept him going was knowing that he’d built a place where she could be happy. She had flourished here in a way he’d never seen on land. In a way, he valued that fact as much as her technical skill.
Zephyr went back to studying the legs. “There’s no reason to limit yourself to normal human functioning. To the extent that we can build it, why not have additional strength or other features?”