His hosts did everything possible to make him feel welcome; nevertheless, Reyn felt a sense of uneasiness in the chamber, as if the Ildirans were subdued.
Osira’h introduced him to her brother Rod’h. Though he was a year younger than Osira’h, he seemed older, harder, and extremely serious. “There is an uneasy mood on Ildira,” he said, “a dislike for outsiders… like a kind of shadow.”
Osira’h flashed a quick glance at her brother, as if exchanging a secret warning, then she turned to Reyn. “We will protect you, don’t worry.”
He hadn’t been worried about that at all, but now he reconsidered.
Yazra’h, a strong and feral-looking Ildiran woman with flowing hair, rose to her feet. “We have no results in our investigations yet from the incident at the procession, Liege. We spoke with the families of the attackers. We studied their work, their homes. They had no connection to one another, no prior suggestion of violence.” She struggled with her words, wrestling them out. “It is baffling.”
“I should have foreseen it through the thism, “ Jora’h said. “But they managed to hide their thoughts. The attackers were blank to me.”
“It is one of the ways the Shana Rei attacked us, during the ancient conflict,” Rod’h said. “Through our fears, through a weakness in the thism.”
Reyn felt uncomfortable as he finished his meal. Perhaps this wasn’t a good time for his visit to the Ildirans after all, but he needed his own answers as much as they did.
At a time of the day when only three of the bright suns were in the sky, the Ildirans noticed the diminished illumination; for Reyn it meant he could remove his filmgoggles when Osira’h took him to the lush greenhouse at the top of a palace tower. “The Mage-Imperator made this place for my mother,” she said, stroking one of the young worldtrees. “I thought you might feel more comfortable here.”
The well-lit chamber was full of exotic Ildiran plants, but the centerpiece was a small grove of worldtree saplings, each one taller than Reyn. He chuckled. “I’ve only been here a day, Osira’h. I’m not too homesick yet.”
“Still, I wanted you to know that this place is always here. You have to be experiencing culture shock with all these new things. I’m the daughter of a Mage-Imperator, and you’re the son of the King and Queen. We understand the need to have a special place. Your father must have had the same need when he was a Prince.”
Reyn smiled to remember the stories he’d been told. “My father lived on the streets of Earth. His real name was Raymond Aguerra, and he had three brothers, a mother who worked several jobs.” He glanced at Osira’h. “The Hansa thought he would be a perfect candidate to replace old King Frederick, so… they kidnapped him, staged an accident that killed the rest of his family, and then altered his appearance. They indoctrinated him so he’d be a good little King.” Reyn gave a harder smile. “That didn’t turn out exactly as they planned.”
Osira’h was surprised by the story, but she had one of her own. “And I was raised in a breeding camp where my mother was held prisoner. They trained me to be the savior of our race.” The two stood together, staring at the worldtrees. “I guess neither of us is exactly what we appear to be.”
Reyn hesitated, feeling the ever-present tremors inside him, but at least the twinges of pain had left him alone for now. “Then it’s good to know you.”
EIGHTY-FIVE
XANDER BRINDLE
The Verne arrived back at the Ulio transfer station a day before their scheduled meeting. Xander had intentionally pushed the date, because Terry enjoyed the place and loved meeting with old friends; Terry was also pleased to show his former coworkers how successful he’d become, how his life’s path had improved. He had a happy relationship, a good ship and an exciting career, and had seen much of the Spiral Arm. (Thanks to Xander’s obsessive list-ticking, he was going to see a lot more of it, too.)
Since they had agreed to the ekti-X business venture with Elisa Enturi, the two young traders had gained a great deal of clout, not to mention profits. If this meeting with Xander’s parents went as well as he hoped, the distribution operations could increase fivefold through Kett Shipping, and Iswander Industries seemed ready to expand even more.
After the Verne docked—in a much less convenient berth this time—he and Terry worked their way through the connected ships. Terry propelled himself along in the vessels that courteously kept their gravity off; in other ships where his useless legs were a problem, he held on to OK’s shoulder and used his antigrav belt to keep himself weightless.
Terry bought drinks for some of his old comrades on the engineering and repair crews. They were glad to see their former coworker, and even more enthusiastic when Terry bought them a second round. Xander indulged his friend. Thanks to the ekti-X runs, their accounts were flush and likely to be even more profitable. They played games, told bad jokes and tall tales. Xander and Terry regaled them with descriptions of Fireheart Station, Rhejak, and the now-destroyed Kellum skymine on Golgen.
Xander was glad to see his partner so happy, but when two former coworkers tried to borrow substantial sums, Xander interceded and said it was time to get back to the Verne, where they would be spending the night rather than paying for a rented cabin. They preferred to sleep in their own bunk anyway.
During the next day shift, they had breakfast at Terry’s favorite galley café and checked the board to see that the Voracious Curiosity had just arrived. While Xander signaled his parents, Terry scanned the eating establishments and picked a new restaurant that served “Ildiran-human fusion cuisine,” including beverages such as kirae (which Ildirans found intoxicating and humans found disgusting) as well as new kelp and plankton brews from Kellum’s distillery. Xander dared himself to try a pint of “Primordial Ooze.”
Tasia Tamblyn and Robb Brindle joined them, with embraces all around. Even though Xander worked for his parents, and the Verne was still a Kett Shipping vessel, their travels rarely took the two young men back to company headquarters. With so much potential business hinging on this deal, though, Xander insisted that Tasia and Robb could justify a trip out to Ulio.
In the Ildiran-human fusion restaurant, Terry suggested that they eat family style so he could try the different dishes. Tasia and Robb had both spent years eating military rations, and Robb had even endured bland textured nutrients provided by his hydrogue captors while he was held as a prisoner of war. His parents weren’t picky, and Xander was happy to eat whatever Terry liked.
As they settled in to the meal, Tasia said through a mouthful of noodles, “We’ve been impressed with your shipments. The profits from all that stardrive fuel are really helping our bottom line—but where is it coming from? That’s enough output for a couple of top-level skymines. And Golgen’s gone.”
Robb reached over with a napkin to wipe some brown sauce from his wife’s mouth. “We’re also concerned about the connection with Iswander Industries. I’m all for giving the guy a second chance, but I’d like reassurances that we’re not asking for another disaster. What is his new ekti source? Nobody knows.”
Terry said, “We understand you have questions, and we thought you’d like to ask them directly.” He glanced at Xander, and then in a comically simultaneous gesture both of them looked at their watches.