

## Sharon L Reddy

## Governor's Tribute

### ©2012

### Target Yonder

### Smashwords Edition

### ISBN 978-58338-960-7

### Chapter One

Thiretess Boer Hadlain watched the delegation from the planet his ship was orbiting walk toward him. There were more of them than there should have been and some were obviously not delegates. The emperor, his second-cousin, Tam, had warned him the entrenched bureaucracy would not be pleased to have a governor appointed and were the prime reason one was needed. He'd done it quite some time before and Boer had been working on getting himself ready to not please them for several years. Then he saw the small person in the midst of them was hooded, cloaked and being dragged along.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Meaning? We've brought the concubine required by the treaty of Relatross. Remove the hood."

He held himself still. The "concubine" was a terribly scarred boy. He fought the men who held him, who dragged him forward by his cuffed wrists. Boer slowly stood and glared at the chief delegate. His sly smile was a mistake.

"Gen scan, Anverd."

"Excellent, Governor. Physical scan says he's capable of reproduction. I'm sure he's adult by their laws."

"He obviously can't see. Can he hear?"

"No."

"How old is the damage?"

"At least six years. Nine bones were broken in addition to the obvious burns. None were set. There's no indication any treatment was given for any of the injuries. It must have really surprised a lot of people that he survived. He meets the treaty specifications. There's nothing that says the person selected for the governor has to be of the opposite sex."

"Thank you, Anverd. He's accepted. Take those cuffs and hobbles off him."

"What?"

"He's an interesting choice as advocate for your world within my family."

Boer moved fast when the cuffs were removed. He pulled the boy into his arms and held him gently, but firmly, against him and laid his cheek on his head. The boy stopped struggling and slowly raised his hands, both missing fingers, to touch the face of the huge man who held him. Boer guided them to feel his tears, then slowly began to undress him. The marriage must be consummated. The scars were terrible and the fact he was capable of reproduction amazing.

He grasped his wrists and moved them to the position in which the cuffs had held them, held them with one hand while he touched the scars where his eyes had been, then dropped his wrists. He raised one of his hands to touch the coronet he wore, then guided the other to his genitals. The boy jerked his hand back, but then laid it on Boer's chest and stepped forward. Boer gently picked him up and carried him to his bedchamber.

The chief delegate was not politely escorted to the witnessing booth. Lieutenant Jastorim noted it hadn't been used in awhile and was a bit dusty when she shoved him in and slammed the door. Lieutenant Urber said it was too bad the bath the delegate was going to need would only wash the "crud" off the outside. They set the bio-monitor that was the only recording of the consummation kept for imperial court records. An assurance it would be, when the governor and one chosen for his family became well-acquainted, was usually all the proof planetary delegations wanted or needed.

The bureau directors who'd had a stranglehold on the people of their world for over three hundred years had made a mistake. Instead of choosing a nice girl and giving the new governor no excuse to look closely, they'd listened to the stories about the "Great Boar" and decided just how to make him angry enough to repudiate the treaty. Lieutenant Urber noted a real challenge always did get "the general" excited. Lieutenant Jastorim grinned and nodded.

Anverd glanced up from his comp panel and smiled. No one had offered refreshment, or chairs, to the group in the middle of the ornate audience chamber of the ancient official ship. He certainly didn't plan to. He completed the extrapolation and sent it and the information from the scans to his wife. He expected an explosion so turned down the volume on the comm button in his ear. It proved a wise precaution.

"THOSE BASTARDS! Those heartless, cruel... Anverd, I want him now!"

"He's busy now, Ven. You know the treaty and the general. They thought they did. Surprise."

"Surprise. The answer is I think so, but it's going to take awhile."

"Estimate?"

"Ninety-plus days."

"What?!"

"You think Boer wants him to have prosthetics? I could do that in three."

"No. He's something very special."

"A feeling?"

"Observation. You saw the scan. Now the meeting."

"Oh, my. Anverd, do they know he's first?"

"No."

"Good. Let's not tell them."

"Oh, I'm sure we won't. It's chilly up here."

Boer realized the boy was trying to tell him something. Suddenly he understood. He carried him to the bath and hunted 'slick' while he used it. He was working on what else he'd been saying. When it dawned on him what it was, he laughed and started hunting through the cabinets. He hadn't stocked them, which made it more, not less, probable he'd find what he was looking for. When he found it, he placed the boy's hand on it and got a nod after he'd examined it with the two fingers and thumb of his left hand. Boer was working on whether he was left-handed or ambidextrous. He smiled when he realized he was thinking about everything, and anything, but what they were trying to accomplish.

He'd gone from 'handed,' to wishing he knew his name, to what had happened to him, to why the injuries hadn't been treated... He decided 'the boy' had made up his mind to accomplish what was necessary and knew more about it than he did. That made him angry. Then he decided it wasn't experience. Someone had answered all the questions an adolescent had.

He glanced in the mirror and nearly winced when he saw the coronet. It was the same reaction he always had to it, but he was beginning to get used to it, at least to the reaction. When the emperor had put it on him, he'd told him he knew it was a lousy thing to do to a friend, but at least it wasn't as heavy as the one he had to wear. He sighed and brought his attention back to what needed to be done, again. Somehow, the two of them would manage it.

It took awhile, but they did manage. Boer used the towelettes in the cabinet above his bed to clean them both, pulled the boy into his arms and fell asleep curled protectively around him.

Anverd called Captain Farner and told her to get the delegation off the ship. She said she'd appoint someone to escort them because asking for volunteers would empty every duty station. A bit more than a standard hour later, the shuttle docked and the ship left orbit. Ten minutes later, translight drive was initialized. The old ship had some very new pieces. There were other members of the governor's family to be picked up, thirteen of them in a very specific order. He called his wife again.

"What else did you learn, Ven?"

"He's all the way through beautiful in a badly damaged case. I assume you got into their comp files."

"I had nearly three hours."

"You've been reading for about two."

"Two-and-a-half."

"You're bragging."

"Of course."

"The injuries are almost seven years old. He was a child, Anverd. Why didn't they heal him?"

"They didn't expect him to survive. It would have been expensive and 'heroic effort' isn't wasted on the poor. There are too many of them, anyway. Basically, you get medical care if you're a member of the bureaucracy, or can pay for it. If there are any who can. He's got some type of skill, Ven. Someone did work to keep him alive and teach him something useful enough to earn food, probably because it would irritate the bureaucrats."

"Whatever it is, he must be fairly good at it. He has fewer nutritional deficiencies than I expected."

"Small is genetic?"

"Yes. Did you learn anything about him?"

"He was scanned to see if he fit the criteria, rinsed, dressed and declared an adult by the court."

"No identity."

"None. He was chosen because he was the ugliest male they could find in eleven hours."

"Boer's escapades are legendary and severely exaggerated."

"It's considered a matter of honor by his marines. All the women who seek his attention are great beauties and the number is beyond counting."

"It did keep him from being considered a good marriage prospect by a great many ambitious parents."

"Speaking of which, we're on our way to Dereva."

"You don't think they'll be happy."

"Oh, I think they'll be delighted. Ainda Brumerani will be intensely irritated and that will please them all, especially Dirda Brumerani. She'll be the choice if she can manage it, specifically because she isn't the first. She'd do everything she could to avoid it if she was. Her mother has been trying to marry her off to royalty since she was born. Becoming 'one of' the new governor's wives would be perfect."

"That fool said, 'concubine,' to Boer."

"He could have chosen a worse term."

"Worse?"

"He could have said, 'tribute.'"

Boer carried his bride to the medical section and gently laid him on the diagnostic bed. He didn't know if he'd understood what he'd been trying to explain to him or not. He looked into the eyes of the finest physician in the empire and smiled wryly.

"Surprise. You love him."

"I've been arguing it's because he's small and been hurt so terribly, Venida, but I'm not winning."

"He's the first person you ever met who is truly your equal, Boer."

"What?"

"Your size, station, rank, reputation and actual accomplishments wouldn't awe him, even if he knew them all. He'd find the accomplishments impressive, but not awe-inspiring. You find his accomplishment impressive."

"I think I'm awed."

"No, just amazed and impressed. It'll take ninety-three days."

"What?!"

"Do you want him fixed or healed?"

"You know the answer to that, but it creates a problem."

"Thirteen of them. Bring them down here. Let them see why you accepted him and why he is first to you. Not the damage, but the very young man who battled to survive it and made the decision to do what you indicated was necessary. Boer, he knew you weren't going to hand him back over to those who had put the cuffs and hobbles on him and dragged him around, from the moment you put your arms around him. He probably doesn't know what the coronet means, just that it's a crown and your reason for what you asked him."

"I didn't ask."

"Of course you did. He was sure of it. He gave you a very clear answer."

"True. He led me through the whole thing. He knew what to do. I didn't. I was angry at first, then decided it probably wasn't experience."

"It wasn't."

"You could tell that?"

"I can tell he wasn't raped and could see yours was the first caring embrace he's known, at least since this happened. Compression fractures. Not much lung scarring at all. Very strange. I think we're looking at damage from a very hot explosion, not a fire."

"A bomb?"

"Your military background is showing."

"That's not military service. It's family history. Tell me about him."

"Would you believe me if I said he's very healthy?"

"Despite appearances, yes."

"He's just shorter than average, even for Nunceon, about the opposite side of the bell curve from you. He's a little dark-haired doll. Satiny blue-black curls with cute little pink ears peeking out of them. Big, light green-blue, eyes with long thick lashes. Want to see what he looks like?"

"No, I'll be here to watch him heal one day at a time. How old?"

"Adolescent, but that's a stage of development, not an age. Quarner is adolescent physically and she's twenty-four standard. Thormeike's son is and he's thirteen. She's not much farther along than he is. He's about the same. My guess is sixteen-plus. I'd be less surprised if he's twenty than fourteen. Make you feel a bit better?"

"I'm trying to estimate how much education he had?"

"Oh, that's a good one. There's an imperial library on NuncTura. Because the government does not provide full medical restoration to the general populace, it has a hard-copy Vart printer. That's raised type designed to be read by touch. The government can't tax it, charge for it or deny access to it. The imperium pays for delivery to anyone who needs it and the library computer sends the kit to teach a person how to read with the fingers to start with. If anyone told the library comp about him, including sticking 'blind and deaf' in a public record, he got one and a catalog and return delivery-paid punch cards."

"He'd have had to have an address."

"That's what I said when Anverd was telling me all this. No. The comp will send a courier to a street corner at a certain time a certain day. Your cousin's great-grandmother got very upset when she found out 'permanent address' was working rather well as a subsidy for slum landlords on Jumis. They charged rent to use one, but anything that came to the address was just dumped. However, you had to have a permanent address to get a very expensive gov postal box, one family same surname only. The poor were paying a quarter of their subsidies to get their subsidies. She couldn't change the local regulations, but she made a very strong statement that the imperium did not approve. Quote, 'The imperial library provides services for the people most abused by the local system and nothing that system does will keep it from doing so.' She was twenty-three at the time and no one on Jumis knew she was on Jumis."

"Princess Evair the Fair, went only her mother knew where. She read the Prince and the Pauper when young. When she became twenty-one, she said, 'Mother, I'm going out there.' One of my favorite nursery rhymes. My father was good at them. All my nursery rhymes were family history. Princes are expected to know who their ancestors were as soon as they can talk."

"Boer, you worked to end up with that thing around your head."

"Tam was sure a governor was needed and I was the only one who could both qualify for and do the job. I'm a prince, but not in the direct line of succession. I commanded a division of marines for six years. I... wasn't married."

"Thump!"

"Thump. No exchange of vows, but that's what it is. They can petition for someone from their world to replace them after a half standard year, but I can't for any reason, except refusal to consummate the marriage. Heal my bride, Doctor. He's the only one who accepted me. The others will all accept the position. I'll bring him back after I find a way to tell him what you're going to do, how long it will take and I'll... miss him."

"Day after tomorrow. Early."

"Thank you."

Boer spent the two days and two nights with his bride. He sat in the floor with their feet touching and rolled a ball to him, which he delightedly rolled back. He grinned when his marines came up with ideas for games for them to play and ways to teach him things. He surprised himself a great deal when he 'showed' them both he wanted to make love to him again the night before he took him to medical to be healed. He whooped when his bride giggled aloud for the first time and pulled him toward the bath. They were six days from Dereva when he laid him gently in the surgical unit, closed it and watched the unit make the circulatory connections and fill with fluid.

### Chapter Two

Dirda smiled at her mother and went to get ready. She was very happy. She was marrying a man she admired immensely, liked a great deal, found extremely attractive and she wouldn't be the princess. She'd always understood the emperor helped spread the stories about "The Great Boar" for a reason, but she hadn't expected him to appoint him sector governor. No one had. Of course, no one had thought about the fact he was the first to meet all the qualifications for a Relatross sector governor in over two hundred years, either.

She chose her favorite gown, not the one her mother had selected for her, before she found out she wasn't first. She'd been told she was first of the family. That meant second. She wondered who had been first. She felt a bit sorry for the poor girl. As bride, she was stuck with politics and ambitious politicians. She would have been a political choice, or rather the world would have been and she'd have been selected very carefully.

She went through the fourteen worlds of the sector in her mind and tried to figure out which one the governor, after long talks with the emperor of course, would have chosen. Dereva, as closest politically, had been second. First, second and fourteenth were the most important positions, but all had duties. She set aside politics as usual and thought about Boer as governor. That got her a fast answer that stopped her with a gown half over her head.

She slowly pulled it the rest of the way on. The sector had a governor for a reason. That reason was NuncTura and the Turon bureau directors. Rampant racism, general oppression, a misogynic, nepotistic, oligarchy who controlled more of the world's resources and industries with every year... Of course, expressing that opinion was a good way to get your assets seized for back taxes. Back regulations were written to do it. They were the most common kind. Would he have chosen NuncTura as first? Yes. Would he have told them? She suddenly grinned. The answer was not before he gave them a chance to do something stupid. She knew him even better than she'd realized.

She forgave her mother, of course. They'd been forgiving each other for having very different opinions since she was four. She'd told her she didn't want to be a princess because they had to work at being princesses all the time. Her mother said that's why they needed those who could do the job right and she could, so she should do it.

"Mother! Fasten me! Come on! You know he picked me specifically for the position he's sure I'm the one to hold! You know he's sure he won't get 'A' woman here!"

"That one?"

"He likes it. He had a great deal of difficulty looking in my eyes when I wore it to the representative's tea. They kept slipping down. We both thought it was hilarious. Mother, there's not a man I just plain like more. First of the Family is the... strategic advisory position. He's the first Relatross Treaty Sector governor in two centuries. He knows why and I'm the who he wants to help. You made sure I was the most qualified. I, personally, am second. All the others will be 'A' woman. Do you think his bride is Turon or Nunceon?"

"What?!"

"Mother! We're talking about Prince Thiretess Boer Hadlain, the golden-haired hero the Imperial Combined Service Command Staff demanded the emperor let them make a general at the age of thirty-five. He said waiving regulations wasn't his prerogative and an hour later Boer was protesting he didn't have the years in service, while marine generals and navy admirals pinned crowns on his uniforms. The emperor won't play trilev with him. I quite understand. I have."

"That's a game of luck."

"Only for most of us. It just takes Boer longer to win if luck runs against him. What's the reason for a governor? NuncTura. 'You have a governor, me. Your move.' Can I use some of your teffis oil?"

"Two dabs. If you use more, his eyes will water when he gets within a meter, but you can take the bottle with you. You're sure that gown?"

"Yes, Mother. It distracted him enough I almost won a game. He'll know I understood exactly why he came here second when he sees it. No vows of fidelity, but don't break them. I'm the only woman he chose, for both reasons."

"But not the princess."

"The princess has a great deal of difficulty finding out what people are worrying about for the governor. She's swimming in respectful polite even when she's not stuck beside him. Fourteenth is his official representative to the imperium, more respectful polite. Basically, he's giving me a staff of eleven to help him accomplish what the emperor wishes. He wants the Treaty of Relatross enforced. If that takes marines, Boer will do it, but he'll be sure that's the only way to do it before he does. Pack that one for me for the first ball I attend at the Imperial Palace?"

"Well, at least I'll be sure you're dressed appropriately for something."

"Mom, the only thing we've ever really disagreed on was why, not really who, I should marry. This is the only compromise that could settle that disagreement. It's the job you were sure I could and should do, without putting me in the middle of Empire Sector politics. That's always been what I was sure I should avoid. I'll miss you."

"You know they all think it's hilarious."

"Yes, but they know it's a compromise too. In some ways, it's a very clear statement our new governor does know us and will be a good one for us. Forgive them for being so pleased I didn't end up a princess too, Mother. They didn't want a Lady of Dereva in the imperial family. It's a nice functional democracy with a bit of the pomp of a monarchy. If I'd become a princess, that bit would have become much more important than they want it to be."

"I know. I'll go get the teffis oil and an appropriate carry-all for the wardrobe you should pack."

"You see, I am excited. I didn't get beyond Boer is coming for me and he likes this dress."

"He is the one you want to marry?"

"Always was, Mother, but he knew the reasons why we shouldn't even better than I did."

"I don't think I'm even surprised."

"Huge, beautiful, brilliant and I won't be working not to argue with women who have heard all about him."

"You're saying his reputation is not deserved?"

"Of course it is. He and a great many others, including the emperor, worked hard to make sure he had it. It worked well to keep him unmarried long enough for the emperor to appoint him governor."

Boer saw Dirda and grinned. She'd worn the yellow gown that had made concentrating on anything else difficult for an entire afternoon. He'd been rather sure she would understand she was why Dereva was second.

"I accept her."

"Boer, you're supposed to wait to accept until they present me."

"Oh, then I guess telling them I'll see them later and carrying you off is probably not a good idea. Hanus, Dereva is the world I will point to as example in my sector. You don't need a governor, but I need you."

"You have our support, Governor. I present our selection for your family, Lady Dirda Brumerani."

"Now can I climb on his lap, Hanus?"

"Dirda, you're outrageous."

"We'll make a good team. Won't we, Boer?"

"Yes, Dirda, we will. I ask you to accept the designation First Lady Relatross."

"Oh, my. I thought I was prepared for this."

"I'm sorry, but I need you to carry that old title."

"I trust your judgment on it. I accept. At least it's not princess. Where is your bride?"

"He's being healed. It's going to take some time."

"What?! Oh, those fools!"

"I ask none of you mention this to anyone until my family is complete. I hadn't planned on telling you. You now understand how much I trust you to aid me."

"I'm working my way through it, beginning with 'he.'"

"There's nothing in the treaty that says opposite sex, Hanus."

"They made you so mad you... "

"Managed, Dirda, but more because of who he is."

"Well, now I understand why the title. Hanus, he's Nunceon, poor and damaged. How badly, Boer?"

"They were sure I wouldn't accept him, that no one would. I'm very glad they made the mistake."

"You love him."

"So will you. You're the person I most anticipate introducing him to, in about a quarter standard year. Hanus, I wish I didn't have to tell you we need to go immediately."

"We understand completely. Let's see, forward the record to the imperial court and do let us know if you need a fleet or ten."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Fems and gens, let's go. We're steaming up the audience chamber."

"Do tell my mother about the title, Hanus."

"I will. A point of agreement is too rare an opportunity to let pass."

Dirda leaned against Boer and wept. He held her gently and told her of the two days he'd spent with his bride. She suddenly smiled and noted he wouldn't be as busy as most governors. He looked at her a few seconds, then burst into laughter and nodded. That part of having another male in his family hadn't occurred to him. He hugged her and Venida smiled as they walked out of the medical section together. She programmed the unit to prepare for surgery. She'd wanted to wait until after they'd been there, so the unit would have time to clear the blood before Boer saw it.

It didn't surprise Dirda that Halcyon was next, but their selection did. They showed a great deal more wisdom than she'd expected. Miman was an accountant and in her early thirties. Boer was delighted and told them he hoped others gave as much thought to the selection as they had. Mim told him she hadn't planned on marrying, but they'd convinced her he needed someone who knew something about interplanetary finance in the family and she was quite pleased they had. When he took her to see his bride, she stormed out of medical and went to work. Anverd had just the files she needed.

Micali knew fourth was usually the historian and selected a student of it for him. Loucala was shy, lovely and very surprised when Mim called her "Lou," but it was exactly what was needed. She began the history with Boer's acceptance of his bride. She was as angry as Dirda and Mim had been.

The delegation from Baslior had to work to keep up with Aura. People usually did. She grinned and told Boer it would be interesting to dance with a man and not look down at the top of his head. He laughed and said she probably still would because he'd have trouble remembering to look in her eyes. She told him it was interesting not to just think of her "tits" as things that had to be "strapped down" when she was working out. She spent quite some time talking to Venida about what Boer's bride would need in the way of physical training when he was healed.

O'Dona chose a young Lady of the aristocracy. Dirda yelled, "Misty!" and they met in the middle of the audience chamber in a hug. Boer said she was obviously accepted whether he planned on it or not, then grinned and told the delegation he was as pleased as First Lady Relatross. Misty looked at him, then back to Dirda. She squeezed her hand and nodded. Misty was the one who understood exactly what it meant. She was a countess and understood palace intrigue, that it was primarily well-intended and how to use it. She demonstrated a very extensive and surprising vocabulary for a Lady when she saw Boer's bride. She went to work.

New Cander selected a young woman who'd gotten an advanced degree in child psychology by the time she was sixteen. Barri stated she planned on lots of children and for several of them to be hers. Boer noted he hadn't gotten that far on the idea of family yet. She told him that was her job and not to worry about it. The delegation was still laughing when they left. Barri spent two hours talking to Boer about his bride and headed for Anverd's records. Anverd noted sitting beside her while she pulled those she wanted made him want to check to see if the comp was overheating.

Rinder chose a politician's daughter. Androvia knew democracies and bureaucracies and how both functioned properly. She hated the system on NuncTura before Boer escorted her to the medical section. She said, "Yell, 'Via' if you need me. I'm going to be trying to come up with something besides a bomb to blow that system apart." Anverd already had the files she needed pulled.

Sealore's selection was an ecologist in her late twenties. The chief delegate smiled and told Boer that Minadona had "rolled over" the person with the responsibility of admitting only authorized persons to the senate chambers. She'd yelled she'd selected herself and get back to work on budgeting the plan to re-seed a shoreline with native plants. She said the completed plan to pay for the re-seeding she'd dropped on her desk had shortened that task a great deal too.

Dona sat down at a comp in medical section, told Boer she'd find him later and asked Venida for the initial scans. She told her she could learn things from anything that helped determine his normal diet. She had everything she could get on the biota of the fourteen worlds of the sector on sixteen data store crystals in the capacious pockets of the field vest she was wearing.

Granitine's selection was 'just' a nice girl of nineteen, but a very intelligent one. Linlola was interested in everything and could "find anything in a library. We think she's read all ours." Lola said she'd discovered there was something she wanted to know everything about after all and had work to do and walked out of medical section.

Osmindra wasn't ready. Boer wasn't really surprised. Dirda told the fem, trying to explain why, that she wanted the best "unpaired" comp programmer they could find between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five in twenty standard minutes and Boer would prefer a woman. Boer was laughing too hard for the chair of the selection committee to have any doubts First Lady Relatross meant exactly what she said and he approved.

Callio was barely eighteen and knew exactly who Anverd was. She almost noticed Boer on her way to his comp station. Anverd introduced Cal to Boer's bride on the screen and she yelled at him to accept her so Anverd would give her the access codes, so she didn't have to break in to get started.

The delegate asked Dirda if she was who she had in mind. She told him the governor accepted her. He was laughing too hard to say it. He nodded and they headed for Lobora as soon as the shuttle returned from the planet.

Angeli, Li, was a tiny thing, with a cute little girl voice, who was twenty-four, but looked seventeen. She was a "tech." She pulled a design peripheral out of her pocket and connected it to the medical section comp. She had an idea that might reduce the time needed to heal Boer's bride by several days. Venida got her the specs on the surgical unit fast. Boer smiled and left them working.

Kime held a drawing. The winner was a girl from a farmstead on Greens, their agra and mining colony. Dinora learned she'd won when the shuttle landed beside the barn. When Boer walked out of it, she whooped, yelled for her mother and seven sisters to pack her and at her father and four brothers to fill the shuttle's cargo bay with "fresh stuff." Boer grinned at the slightly plump big girl and said she was accepted. Nora looked him up and down and asked if the shuttle had a bed. She sat down on the deck beside the surgical unit and cried for the "all the poor babies" on NuncTura.

### Chapter Three

Cherissa knew they were last and what the job of fourteenth was. Edwardiana was a rich society girl with a flair for public relations. She'd been making her family's company very popular with people since she was six. As soon as the shuttle left, she said, "Call me Eddy and tell me why you need a Lady Relatross-Thiretess in the imperial palace." Boer took her to see his bride and she nodded.

"You need them ready to accept both him as your bride and that you may have to go in with marines to end this kind of abuse."

"That's why there's a First Lady Relatross and a Lady Relatross-Thiretess. You'll like Tam and you'll be a great deal more help to him than I'd expected."

"You expected them to pick someone who could handle the syrup and pour it out just as fast. They did. My uncle picked me for what they didn't know you needed, which is, of course, why he's rich and they're comfortable. He called me as soon as he heard 'First Lady Relatross.' I need to be pregnant when I get there. You need the feeling of family that will instill. I'm extremely pleased it's a good excuse for insisting I get to play in your bed several nights in a row too."

"I'm amazed and wondering if Destiny is laughing because I don't really believe in it. I was rather sure you'd all be intelligent and charming, but I didn't expect you'd all be... what, as well as who, I needed to build my family. I didn't expect to feel like it was a family this soon. I'm glad you're in it, Eddy, and I'm already sure I'm going to miss having you around."

"Gives you an excuse to visit the palace often, all of you. I like them all and he's... already a piece we're missing to be complete. A damaged boy. Idiots."

"They expected me to refuse and refute the treaty. He was blind, deaf and fighting the cuffs, hobbles and people dragging him around. I pitied them, not him. He didn't need any. It was as close to mercy as I could come for them. It did keep me from strangling the chief delegate when he said they'd brought my 'concubine,' as the treaty required."

"I think pity is as close as I'll get as well. Your bedroom, then I need to talk to the others. We have a lot of work to do."

"I like the schedule. Venida, Li said you'd know if her idea would help and how much by today."

"Tell her to apply for a patent. It's needed too much to keep secret. Twenty-two days, not fifty-six."

"Yes! Li! Dirda! Girls!"

"Oh, my."

"He's been down here every day, Eddy. He talks to him about building the family and how much he's looking forward to introducing you all. Come here. I'm going to show you what he looked like and their meeting, then a bit of the two days they shared. After that, I'm going to show you what he's going to begin to look like very quickly."

"Obviously Nunceon?"

"Obviously Modicio Nunceon."

"One of the High Clans?"

"Descended from. The great compromise of the Treaty of Relatross was the structure of the governor's family in exchange for the disbanding of the clans."

"I remember. Empress Hoshia the Third refused to imprison the chieftains and seize the clan holds and won the support of the other planetary delegations with the proposal for 'advocates within the governor's family.' The clans accepted it when it was made marriage."

"Lou said they were tired of fighting the much more numerous Turon for the continent the colonial charter had said was theirs, but the only peace settlement the Turon government wanted was every square meter of ground and them all dead. The treaty protected them for nearly two hundred years. Racism was ending, but those who wanted to control the power inherent in a bureaucracy saw how convenient a tool it would make. Via said NuncTura is the 'perfect example' of the takeover and destruction of a democracy by an oligarchy."

"You're very much part of the family, aren't you?"

"Every person on this ship is. Anverd commed and told me he finally had a good enough reason for asking me to leave Grainland University Hospital and he'd wanted to ask me to marry him for nine years. I said I'd wanted to ask him for ten, but didn't have a good enough reason to ask him to leave marine headquarters on Boniface. He laughed and said the marines had a real epidemic of resignations and were handing out forms to those they were sure should catch it. I didn't know he was at the hospital, until he walked into my office with a magistrate and witnesses. One of them was Boer. That's when I learned why there was an epidemic."

"Had you met him before?"

"Our mothers are friends. I've known him since he was just a very big baby. He introduced me to Anverd."

"Is he really going to use this ship as... home?"

"The only answer I can give is this section is assembled, not built into it. He isn't wealthy, Eddy. This is the ship he was given."

"I am. I wonder if he'd like an estate, a big new ship, maybe a fleet."

"Does he know?"

"No one knows I'm Wardian Investment but me and Kass Loudahl, and now you."

"Mim will giggle for days."

"I hope she can help me figure out how to get all those credits I have, which we really need, where he needs them, without him discovering who put them there."

"You don't want him to know?"

"No. Some people in his sector are sure a governor was needed, he's the right one and the sector, not the imperium, is going to see to it he has the best physical tools for the job as well as the right personnel. Even Anverd would only be able to find out Kass must know who actually owns Wardian Investment."

"Why did you tell me?"

"Because I'm sure you don't keep secrets from your husband. Boer needs his assurance there are no strings attached and he'd get very frustrated trying make absolutely sure of it. I'm selling Wardian to its employees. The chunk they can buy is equal to the percentage of the payroll of their salaries and costs them five percent of their annual wage. They can only borrow from another employee or family member and they have twenty days. No one who is not an employee will be sold any piece of the company for five years."

"That's ten days' pay?"

"Approximately. They deserve it. I chose each of them and sent a personnel recommendation. It was my judgment of people, not my investment acumen, that made me very rich before I was twelve. They already paid for it. Making them make a cash investment, but making it that small, tells them I do know what the company is worth and that they did it. It's also five percent of what they made for me last year and I thought they'd find it humorous the two figures are the same. It was coincidence. Kass loved it."

"You girls are going to drive Boer crazy and he'll love it. That young man will help."

"Not even a name."

"He'll tell us."

"No, Doctor. He'll whisper it to Boer, someday. He has a new life. He spent a long time in hell to win it. His name is Job. We'll spell it like it sounds, but some will know exactly what it means."

"I don't."

"I'll pull the reference and make sure it's easy for everyone to find. Now, I need to get pregnant and I'm really looking forward to Boer's expression when he finds out I'm a virgin. I'm sure I'm not the first he's run into, but I do expect it to be a surprise."

"Eddy, each and every one of you has been a surprise, and they've all been wonderful."

"Especially that one. Going to be nice having two men in the family. His children too. Don't let him talk you out of it. He will try. Remind him reproductive capability is specified in the treaty, after he's nearly convinced you it would make things difficult for Boer."

"Barri won't let anything damage your children and Nora knows exactly how bunches of brothers and sisters are supposed to be."

"A ship and an estate. Now where should it be?"

"Valer."

"Why?"

"It's the closest Empire sector world to the treaty sector, moderately populated semi-agrarian and I know someone who'd sell a nice farm, with a sixteen-bedroom house with a ballroom, eighteen kilometers from Brossom port, for a good price. He just got my old job and would trade that monster for ten years' lease of my condo as down payment. He inherited it, leased out the farmland and lived in five rooms of it. It was the perfect location, eleven kilometers from the university the other direction, or he'd have sold it years ago. Yard, pools, garden and fountain maintenance are part of the land lease contracts."

"Perfect."

"So are you. Scan says this is a good time."

"Oh, thank you. I was too worried I'd lose my excuse to ask."

Eddy was asking directions when Boer strode into medical, still grinning widely. He apologized for deserting her. She told him she quite understood him running to tell the rest of their family wonderful news in person and would have followed if she could have kept him in sight, or even knew where he was going. He smiled and offered her a tour. She told him as long as it started with his bed. They got in an argument before they got there.

It started before they got to the living suite where the others were waiting to meet her. It ended when she yelled she was sure Jobe would want to help end the oppression on NuncTura and a Modicio name might say the same to them, but it wouldn't to bigots on either side.

"Modicio?"

"Want to see what Tiram Urtala looked like when he was young, Boer? Jobe won't be his double, of course, but anyone who's really looked at the record of the signing will think of it."

"It was a bomb."

"Fish oil heating stoves explode too, Boer."

"I don't understand, Lola."

"That's what's used in gov-subsidized housing in Taslom. The gov-owned fishing fleet and processing plants supply fish oil to the gov for use in stoves built by a gov-owned factory for use in gov-owned housing."

"Does Anverd know this?"

"It's just one moderate-size city and business as usual, Boer. I just happen to have read one explodes once in awhile. I was presenting it to support Eddy's point."

"Which I got. It's not the Modicio, or the Nunceons, it's the people of NuncTura who need to be freed from oppression and it's not the Turons who are doing it. Those who are doing it are Turon males, but that's just their race and sex. Neither makes one a member of the oligarchy. One gets to be one if he finds a way to wield the power of a bureau to increase its power."

"It's a semi-open elitism. Sometimes the most ruthless isn't someone's grandson or nephew. His name is Jobe. He got it because it's appropriate and I refuse to talk about 'him' or 'Boer's bride' when making plans for the future of our family for twenty-two days. He's your bride, Boer, but he's our sweet love too."

"Lady Relatross-Thiretess, we have work to do and I'm going to enjoy doing it with you."

"I'm looking forward to it too, First Lady Relatross, but pregnant is first. Nora, the palace isn't the place for any of our children full time after a certain point. That being, basically, infants. I'm sure you agree a ship isn't either. Venida says she thinks she can get us a huge home, an estate with a large farm attached, a bit outside Brossom on Valer for ten-years lease on her condo. The farmland is currently leased for some plus yard care, including pools and fountains. See how much more she knows about it. Mim, help her figure out if it would make more sense for us to farm it or collect the lease payments. It must be a solid three-way contract, but she'll probably give us more than ten years to pay off the down payment."

"I've got data on the district, Nora."

"Thanks, Dona. Thank you, Eddy. I really don't think a ship is the right place for a bunch of kids either and I'm already pregnant."

"You are?!"

"It only takes once, Boer. It just doesn't happen the first time every time. I wasn't around anyone but family often enough to bother with contracep. I knew when I should have started and I didn't. Ran a scan on myself to make sure just before Eddy got here."

"Venida!"

"Medical! What happened?!"

"Nora is pregnant, Ven. She ran a scan on herself."

"Oh. I'll pull the scan, Nora, but I want to do a full medical down here in the next couple days. Nice to know the emergency connect and sounder work."

"Oops?"

"Congratulations, Boer."

"Thank you, I think. Out."

"Thank you, Nora. He's much easier to steer now. I'll really meet and get to know you all later. I'm sure stunned and steerable is too good an opportunity to pass up. It should keep us out of an argument at least long enough to get to his bed."

Mim started giggling and Anverd winked at her. He knew just how she felt, then the next tally came up and he started to giggle too. He ran the check again and came up with exactly what Eddy had told Ven he would. An elderly woman attorney had to know who had started and owned Wardian Investment, but it wasn't her and she wasn't telling. Boer looked over at them.

"Uh, Governor, someone in the sector is sure they need a governor. You've got... amazing financial backing and it's so free of strings I can't find anything that tells me who to tell thank you. About fifteen years' profit from a very profitable business is being dumped into an account in Empire Interstel Bank in your name as fast as it can be transferred. So is the incredibly low sale price of it to its employees. They don't know who they're buying it from."

"Thank you, Eddy."

"What?"

"The question is who and you're the only answer. You don't have to admit it. I'm sure you think it's important all I know for sure is someone decided the sector needed a governor, the emperor knew it and started making sure that governor had the finances to do something about the situation on NuncTura. You know me too well, my lovely Lady Relatross-Thiretess. You may not have been sure I would be the governor when you started preparing for one, while still a child, but you've been sure for quite some time. Anverd knows who or he'd have yelled don't touch it until he learned if it was going to blow up in our faces. You knew that too. Anverd, your careful wording was noted."

"I'd never lie to you, General."

"Boer, it came without strings attached from the sector. I'd be delighted to say you think someone began Wardian Investment specifically to assure 'A' governor had the resources needed for the job. I'll also tell them that makes you more comfortable than thinking someone decided to give it to you personally, to do what you thought was right, after you were appointed."

"Uh... "

"The only thing anyone can find out is there is a very elderly, extremely respected attorney who must know who. I shall note most 'heirs' I know already have more than they need and too many watch to see great-grand-whatever-over-a-hundred-thirty doesn't risk 'their' credits on a senile scheme. They'll all know several who fit the description."

"I came up with two names. All right, contributor unknown. Thank you anyway. Mim, can we do a remodel on this ship?"

"Yes, and have a bigger one built, and have a fleet built, and pay a navy wages... "

"Huh?"

"Wardian Investment is a phenomenon, Boer. It's been called 'the greatest collection of financial investment genius ever to exist in the universe.' Even they don't know who collected them, but they were all unknowns when offered jobs that paid very well. The investment firms various of them left, all over the empire, didn't."

"Thank you, Lola. Uh, Mim, do I owe taxes on it?"

"Not much and being paid as it's transferred. You'll owe taxes on the interest next year."

"I can pay all the marines full wages?"

"Attempt it and you may have a rebellion."

"Anverd, if I can, I should."

"And take away their statement of commitment to the principles of the empire and firm belief you hold them as ideals? You'll have one hundred eighty-two stating they're volunteers and will supply their own rations if you do."

"I notice you counted you and your wife."

"She'd be upset if I left her out."

### Chapter Four

Ven warned Boer and put a surgical gown on him. Jobe was healed, but his skin would be terribly sensitive and he had fuzz, not hair yet. He asked her if he would be able to see and hear.

"Healed, Boer. He was old enough he won't have difficulty interpreting sounds or images."

"I noticed the lights are low."

"That's just for his comfort for the first few minutes. You're in a gown for yours. He's going to be very sticky."

"Ven, why did the unit Li built make it so much faster? I looked at it and understood it was an improvement, but not why it reduced the time by more than thirty days."

"There are always individual cells that don't grow properly, or don't stop multiplying. Our bodies produce them and have defenses against them. We still treat a large percentage of the population for that type of overgrowth at some time during their lives. It has too many causes to name them all, but they always begin with a damaged cell 'missed' by the body's defenses. When we stimulate regrowth because of damage, we cause a much higher percentage of individual cells that don't form properly or don't stop multiplying. Therefore, each cell must be examined to see it's formed properly and watched to see that it stops multiplying when it should. The detector Li built finds those cells that do not much faster, allowing the unit to get rid of them much sooner. That speeds the process in two ways. First, it reduces the time between various stages of the regrowth. Second, it reduces the amount of damage done before the malformed cells are found. Basically, the unit doesn't have to back up and start over as often, speeding every step of the regrowth. It wouldn't have reduced the early part of the treatment by the same percentage, but it would have sped it considerably because it would have located the individual damaged cells in the tissues to be replaced. The ninety-three days would have been about forty-five."

"That's less than half the total time."

"Yes, and reduces the cost by about a third. I didn't expect Li to just donate the patent to the manufacturer of the units."

"Mim said they paid their employees reasonably, their investors less than they'd get making other investments and delivered units to hospitals that needed them on the basis of they'd pay for them as they could. Li said send it to them to help them help others because that was obviously their primary concern. I was very pleased."

"So was I, but doubted an invitation to my bedroom would have been the way to tell her I was."

"Tease. How soon will he wake?"

"A few minutes. We should be able to get him clean and dry first. How are you doing?"

"Battling exhaustion, but I like it. I love them all."

"You've always loved women in general. You wouldn't have been happy married to one, at least not if it included vows of fidelity."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem. I have thirteen wonderful women who are... becoming incredible friends, with me and each other. I won't stop noticing other women, but I don't think I'll really want to do anything about it. I don't think all of them will stay with me though."

"Why and who?"

"I think some of them want what you and Anverd have and are going to fall in love with someone who they want as best friend for their whole lives. Who, I don't know. I've just worked to make sure they know I do know it may happen and would be furious if they didn't ask. I told them I wasn't married to everyone who was working to help find a way to change NuncTura and a few more couples in the family would be nice. I didn't think I needed to mention new women should belong in it, at least for awhile."

"You know who won't leave."

"Nora. A big family with lots of children is what she wants most. I'm a nice bonus."

"None of the others?"

"Jobe."

"I see. You won't speculate and you won't expect."

"I love them all. I expect them to know I want what would make them happiest. Sticky is about glue."

"Yes, but it will rinse off."

"He's beautiful, Ven."

"He always was. You saw that more clearly than anyone else. He's just a lot prettier now."

"Yes."

Warm and safe. It was wonderful and new. The arms that held him were so strong and gentle. He loved the man who held him. He sighed in contentment and opened his eyes in shock.

"Easy. I've got you. The girls named you Jobe. Well, Eddy did. She said she refused to talk about a member of the family as 'him' and you were theirs too, so 'Boer's bride' was also out. Do you understand?"

"Boer, he needs a bit more background. Thiretess Boer Hadlain was appointed governor in accordance with the treaty of Relatross. According to that treaty, each world of the sector chooses a person for his family to be advocate for that world within it, fourteen in all. The first is his bride. You were who NuncTura presented as his bride, though they didn't know you were first. They also didn't know Boer. They expected him to refuse you and, thereby, repudiate the treaty and, basically, get them out of the empire so they owned NuncTura and no one could stop them from... enslaving all its people. Our Boer looked right through the damage and saw the strength and courage of the man who had battled to survive it. He accepted you and you proved the wisdom of his judgment to all. Yes, Jobe, he's beautiful to the eyes as well as the soul. Now you are as well."

"Venida is the physician who healed you. I've known her since I was born and introduced her to the only man I ever met I was sure was good enough for her. He was a captain in marine intelligence at the time and she was just beginning teaching at a university hospital. It was nearly eleven years before they got married, but I couldn't think of a way to convince them they should because they were badly needed on two different worlds. When the marines decided I needed him more, he decided he had the right reason to ask her to leave the university."

"Jobe, you can speak, just as you can hear and see. Don't think about how to do it. You know how. You learned to talk as a baby and you didn't lose the ability. It's still there, just as the way to use all your fingers is."

"Yes, you have all of those too. Don't have much hair yet, but you've got dark fuzz all the right places. I love you, Jobe. I want your true name when you're ready to give it to me, but the story of Job tells people the truth of my bride and Eddy is sure that truth is very important."

"I... luf you."

Boer was suddenly shaking and crying. Jobe reached up and touched his tears and smiled. They had been the reason he'd agreed to what he'd asked. He had understood it was something needed, not wanted. The arms had been sheltering, not desiring. The tears had been that anyone had been hurt and not healed, not pity. He'd had no doubt of that either.

"I know you don't want to let go of him, Boer, but I need him on his no-longer-damaged feet to scan muscle function. Jobe, you may fall on your face a few times. You have all your toes and the amazing balance you built to compensate for the lack of them is going to trip you now and then for a few days. Aura has a plan to make sure it's a very few. I'm warning you. I got tired just reading it."

"I got tired working out with her. I exercise because it's necessary. She likes it. I don't really understand, but I certainly like the results on her."

"She's as oversize as he is, Jobe. Li is as much smaller than average as you are."

"They're all your family too and delighted there are two men in it, not just one. So am I. I'm enjoying it, but I'm glad Li found a way to improve that device over there and reduce the time it took to heal you. Collapse from exhaustion was becoming a distinct possibility."

"They've all been down here many times. Boer is the only one who came daily, but you had several visitors every day, many who aren't officially in your family."

"They're all up in our quarters working at being patient. Whoops! Oh, I'm sorry. Ven told me your skin would be sensitive."

"The thump from falling would have hurt more, Boer. Jobe, talk to us. He needs it and I'm working on convincing myself that I just want to hear you speak for professional reasons."

"I... don't know... what to say. I said all I needed to."

"How about telling the doctor thanks?"

Jobe looked surprised, then embarrassed. He thanked Venida and she laughed and told him she'd thought he'd said all he needed to, as well. She pointed to clothes for him and told him they'd been chosen because they wouldn't irritate his very sensitive new skin and style and fit were very secondary considerations. Boer worked to just steady him a bit while he dressed himself.

"The hell with it. I'm going to carry you because I just plain missed you and want you in my arms too much to keep fighting it. You can practice walking later."

"Good."

"You sound strange to yourself, don't you?"

"All strange. I think I expect more strange than is."

"You weren't aware of it, but you moved your body, wiggled your fingers and toes, blinked and such while you healed. I had the feeling you knew I was there."

"I think I did."

"I talked to you, told you about the girls and what they were doing. Three are pregnant, Nora, Eddy and Mim. Your turn."

"What?"

"Some of our children need to be yours, Jobe. They all, including Venida, expect you to argue the point. I'm telling you they convinced me they were right. It wasn't difficult. It hadn't occurred to me you would argue it. I didn't look at the projections of your appearance."

"It will be very... easy to see."

"Probably. Jobe, Nunceons aren't discriminated against anywhere but NuncTura, and that discrimination is a tool used by those who are oppressing them all. In fact, our main difficulty will be making sure people separate them from Turons in general."

"I must show them. It will be hard. Tool works good. I think 'Turon,' too."

"Tell them it's hard. Tell them you know it's a tool that works too well to keep all of you from joining together to overthrow them. The Turon poor are sure they wouldn't be if the government didn't have to support so many poor Nunceons. The Nunceon poor are sure all Turons support their Turon oppressors. The question to be asked is if all women believe all men support the all-male oppressive government. There are no women among them either. What did you do to earn food, Jobe? You were healthier than most who are just poor."

"I fixed fish nets. No boats or things to tell where fish are, but nets are used at night from the beach. The rocks tear them. I fixed the holes so they could be used another night and they gave me fish and sea weeds."

"Then it may have been the explosion of a fish oil stove that injured you so badly."

"I don't know. I don't remember before. I learned that pain was too much."

"Someone cared for you and taught you."

"Old hands guided fingers to food and nets. One day, no more hands and more nets."

"How did you learn... what I didn't know?"

"Old hands taught the cleaning when I hurted inside because I couldn't... make it come out. Hands hard from pulling nets taught oil and feel good. One day I did feel good and smooth hands taught mine women, men and how babies are made, but just hands."

"You were masturbating where a woman saw it and she decided you ought to know what that thing you were playing with was really for."

"Also taught I should do feel good just when air said it was night."

"Did you ever get anything from the Imperial Library?"

"Library?"

"Something to teach you how to read with your fingers and a way to tell the library what you wanted it to send you to read."

"Can't read."

"You should have been old enough to have learned before you were hurt."

"Was always poor."

"Poor children aren't taught to read?! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not angry at you."

"It was... surprise, not scare. Much. Your anger is only because people have been hurted. I have known it since I felt your arms and touched your tears the first time."

"I admired you. You didn't know where you were or what was happening, but you were making a very definite statement you didn't like it. I didn't have any doubts you'd have slugged them for dragging you around and run if they hadn't had you cuffed and hobbled."

"Slugged?"

"Hit hard with your fist."

"Yes, I would have slugged if they didn't move fast away. Almost tried to hit you, but felt you were different and remembered. You cry for me again, but because I'm the one you know."

"Yes. Basic universal education is an imperial law. That means every child will be taught to read, write and use numbers well enough to know if they weren't paid back the difference in the amount they gave someone to buy something and what they were told it cost."

"I can count. Four holes is four pieces of fish this big. Four big holes is four fish and four weed. Very big holes are a fish for four ties, or a fish and weed for six. Sometimes I fixed very big holes for one thing different to eat. Old hands taught me one different was harder to get than many fish and weed."

"You have a very good mind, Jobe, and you're about to meet thirteen who will be as angry as I was children aren't taught to read. They'll about bury you in things to learn. Yell if you feel like it's more than 'about' buried. They do know how many of them there are."

Boer said he was just carrying him because it felt good, put Jobe in a chair and sat down in one near it. Jobe was giggling within a minute. He was already buried. Boer was laughing too. The girls were trying not to, but they were excited and remembered it after they realized they were all talking at once again. Aura took over. She yelled they'd all be working out with her for ten days and twelve jumped back a half meter and it got quiet fast. Boer rolled out of his chair and Jobe sort of tumbled out of his, crawled over, laid on him and giggled.

"Cute, aren't they, Dirda?"

"Yes, Aura, they are. Jobe, we did have a plan for this meeting, but we obviously forgot about it."

"I like you forgot, but names I got are all mixed up."

It took a while, but Jobe eventually got all their names and got them all straight. That's when Boer told him there were one hundred eighty-one more people waiting to meet him. He just hadn't been able to resist. Jobe looked at him and started to giggle again.

Dinner was too many wonderful things and he had trouble with the utensils. He got too much help. That time Nora took over. She hit the table with her fist hard enough to make the dishes bounce and shouted getting the food in was the most important thing and everything else was "company stuff" he could learn later. Barri picked up a hunk of meat with her fingers and bit a piece off. Nora told her she was a "terrific terrible example," and grinned.

"Thank you, Nora. Jobe, Nora is quite right and we needed the thump to remind us. You're doing so well, we forget that you're even having to learn how to use your hands again. None of us think of teaching you things we would a child because all of us know you aren't one. You've been a man since you fought to survive the injuries that ended your childhood, if not before. You've basically told us you don't want to remember what childhood you did have. I think we all understand why."

"Warm and safe all gone, Barri. Hurt too much other ways to hurt that way too and more. Time came I didn't have to think not to remember. Now don't."

"He can't read. The poor receive no education. Quiet! I know just how you all feel. I apologized for scaring him when he told me. It's what we need, but I didn't want it. And I didn't expect it. I also have no idea what to do about it. Currently, I don't know how to prove it. Jobe's statement they aren't is enough to look for proof, but not enough for me to tell the emperor I'm going to order martial law. Proof, however, would be. They're covering it somehow or Anverd would have found it. Money for education is being budgeted, perhaps even being spent on the tools to do it, though I doubt it."

"I think we found the missing piece."

"What do you mean, Mim?"

"Bureaucrats are paid well, but not so much it could be used as a reason for investigation, Boer. All we had as motive was power. There had to be a fiscal reward somewhere, but we couldn't find it. Health care and such are standard services which most governments fund for employees. It's not common, but some finance very low interest loans to them to buy homes. Entire neighborhoods of people who work for the government aren't uncommon even on worlds that do not. There are several of them on Halcyon and a great many on Boniface. According to the records Anverd got, the government finances low interest loans on moderately-priced homes. Moderate being about the same multiple of annual income as elsewhere. I was sure that's where it had to be because it was just too typical."

"Power must be wielded to prove one has it. Most often, that power has a financial base, but wealth doesn't need to be exhibited. Power does. The system is disguised as a bureaucracy. Personal aggrandizement isn't acceptable in such, so there have to be visible trappings of power."

"There must also be a 'common' reason for that power to be worth working for, Eddy. A craving for power is most often found in those who have been powerless, or rather felt they were. It's one reason the cycle of child abuse is so difficult to stop. The powerless child grows up and exhibits power over a child who grows up and does the same to another child. Often they begin bullying smaller children before they grow up. Sometimes that's how emotional abuse is discovered. If a child is a bully, there's already an obvious lack of self-esteem. It's imperative to find out why. Sometimes the trail leads one up through the age groups to one bigger bully after another, but there's always a top. Power itself, as the basis for ambition on NuncTura, just didn't make sense. I kept trying to define it as societal pressure, but I was sure there was something missing, especially as regards the women. 'My home is nicer than yours.' is just the type of bullying that would make women push sons to do well and daughters to seek husbands who would."

"There's a good two thousand years of history to prove the method works, Barri. There's almost that much to prove racism and illiteracy are two of the best defenses against the overthrow of an oppressive government."

"Ignorance has always been the greatest weapon of the oppressor, Lou, and knowledge the greatest threat, but it never occurred to me children weren't being taught to read. I'm trying to figure out how they kept them from teaching their own children."

"No comps, no screens, no books, no styluses to write with, no paper to write on, Boer. Kill the few who still manage to do it anyway. It was a race riot. The Turons killed some Nunceons. The Nunceons killed some Turons. Keep doing it or say it wasn't and you'll be one of those killed in the next one."

"I wish I didn't think you were right, Via. How many of the empire's one hundred eighty-four worlds with seventy-one colony worlds hide abuses behind seeming normality?"

"Not many, Boer. One could almost... find them by how normal they seem. Only one thing wouldn't be. They wouldn't have a great deal of interplanetary trade. Traders have very good eyes."

"Want a list, Eddy?"

"You have one, Lola?"

"There's about fifty, Misty, maybe more. Who trades how much of what and how stiff regs are for trading with them are important information to every independent trader. Every trade association has one, or several, for their area. They all send them to the Imperial Library."

"It would be easy to write a program to do a match-up. Dona, didn't you say it was hard to get info on the ecology of NuncTura?"

"You think that's a clue too, Cal?"

"Yes. Pop figures can be messed with, but a good ecologist would yell there was something wrong with them."

"I couldn't get anything more recent than one hundred seventy-three years on NuncTura, other than flat statements there was no encroachment on reserved native biota lands, not even a pollen count. I checked the orbital survey to assure they weren't lying about the encroachment."

"Probably wouldn't have much new tech either. Even agrarian worlds come up with new and better. Greens has a bunch of new patents on a drik fiber robo-harvester cleaning system."

"Oh, and it's a blessing, Li. My parents bought one before this year's harvest and we had no jams and no blades to replace. My mother said it will pay for itself in about three years."

"All of you organize your contributions and give them to Cal and Lola."

"Dirda, I'm only governor of one small sector delineated by one rather odd treaty."

"Boer, you are... warm and safe for all who need it. They know the emperor needs your warm and safe all places people are cold and scared. If he doesn't know it, Eddy will tell him. But NuncTura first. He knows only the nine directors aren't cold and scared there."

"Yes, Jobe, he does."

"Let's do a put-together of our ideas and see how they apply there. It's a good way to see how well the system works."

"I've been thinking about what Boer said earlier about proof, Dirda. Check for sports equipment purchases. Opportunity to participate in team sport competition is part of the required basic education program level six through twelve, even if just intramural. Injuries incurred while participating must be treated. That's an imperial law. The percentage of every type of injury for every sport is known. Insurance for them is expensive, but you can apply for imperial aid if you can't self-insure. They have to tell who got hurt how badly and cost of treatment, even if the gov is doing the insuring. It's to protect them from suit for damages at a later date because someone says they got hurt playing whatever as a kid. If they haven't covered every bit of it for every district, you've got your proof they're not providing basic education as defined by imperial law."

"Aura, you just may have found something they missed. Transportation from schools to medical treatment for students injured while participating in any school activity, including just running around on the grounds, would also have to be well documented and insured. Girls, let's see if the sports equipment they say they're buying is causing the percentage of injuries expected, who they say they've treated for them and who took who where to get it."

"The boys who go to school play tumball."

"I don't know what that is, Jobe."

"It's a type of football, Boer, a rough sport."

"Thank you, Aura. Jobe, do only boys go to school?"

"I don't know. I don't remember how I know boys play tumball. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for. Barri, he doesn't want to remember."

"Just remind me I said I understood why every so often, Boer."

"Right now, they're scared as hell and covering tracks fast. They don't know anything about him, but you can be sure they're trying to find out."

"There may be nothing they can find out, Dirda. Anverd couldn't find any record of anything happening at about the right time. Jobe remembers old hands teaching him to repair fishing nets. One day they weren't there. Find me proof. Excuse me."

Jobe started after Boer and fell. Boer was beside him in one long stride. Jobe told him he forgot to remember his toes wiggled and wiggled them. Boer smiled, picked him up and carried him to his room. A little more than an hour later, Dirda commed.

"We've got chocolate cake, ice cream and proof. We pulled the string Aura pointed out and it all fell apart. The clue was tumball. Rough sport is an understatement. We've got equipment purchase records for it, but no records of treatment for injuries. There's no public education at all. We found where the money goes."

"Houses."

"And cars, flyers, boats, and private education for boys. The higher your position in the government, the better school your sons, nephews, grandsons go to."

"There aren't any government food subsidies for the poor either, Dirda. They just build large wooden boxes of little apts and supply them with water and something to produce heat places it gets cold. No lights."

"He remembered a bit more."

"He's learning to read. He remembered that while we were reading a story. I'm amazed. He remembered what words were after the first time he saw them. Cake and ice cream sounds wonderful. Be out in a minute."

"It's supposed to take more than once?"

"I really don't know, Jobe. We begin teaching our children to read about the time they start to learn to talk. Now I have a decision to make. Do I turn around and go back and go in fast with marines I've got, get some from other sector words, or continue on to Boniface and talk to the emperor first?"

"How close is the emperor and how far is NuncTura from us and him?

"We're about right between."

"Do they know Venida could heal me?"

"Good question. Comm, locate Venida."

"Yes, Boer?"

"Venida, Jobe asked if the government of Nunctura knows you could heal him."

"Good question."

"That's what I said. I figured your guess would be more educated than mine."

"Well, they wouldn't know it could be this fast. They probably wouldn't expect you to have the surgeon and equipment to do it with you. My guess is they think they have at least a quarter-standard-year before he could tell us anything and that's with prosthetics. It's based on the file Anverd just put in front of me. They don't have any of the surgical units we do. It's why I could have done prosthetic replacement in about three days as well. They also know the first order of business is building your family."

"I doubt they know how fast I did that, but they also didn't know they were first. Ice cream and cake await us. I'm looking forward to the expression on Jobe's face when he tastes them. Tell Anverd to put the ship on full alert. Staff meeting in thirty minutes. Out."

The expression on Jobe's face was as interesting as Boer had expected. He obviously liked the cake, but Boer and all the rest of the family burst into laughter when he put the first spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. He warned him eating it too fast would give him a headache and watched him try to eat it more slowly. He wasn't exactly successful, but he did learn bites of cake helped the headache. Then Li said she had an idea and it got very quiet.

"What kind of idea, Li?"

"The new drive is an innovation, Boer. Nice thing about innovations is they open up a whole bunch of possibilities. I think I found one. Need to check some things, but I'm pretty sure it would make it more efficient."

"Which translates as faster?"

"Should be, but it's going to take some real heavy programming to use the potential if I'm right. The control systems would have to work faster. Might have to change them a bit too."

"Are you sure you want to do it in this ship, Li?"

"Nothing really wrong with this ship, Dirda, except it's about too formal and you can't land it. Can't do much about the formal, but landing ought to be possible."

"What?!"

"Well, would be if you could find a place big enough, Boer. It's got enough power. It's just not set up to use it to land. Might as well do that while we're reworking the control systems."

"Li, what were doing on Lobora?"

"I was born there."

"That's not what I meant. I meant... you built something to improve the surgical unit, now you think you can improve the drive and control systems enough to land this ship. Why didn't you... do this kind of thing before?"

"I did. That's why they picked me. Well, more or less. I was on the design team for the winning car of the Lobora Grand Touro for three years. Didn't like the guy who ran it much. He yelled the object was to improve the design of that car and that's what I was being paid to do, not design a new one. So that's all I did."

"There are idiots everywhere, Boer."

"I totally agree, Dirda. I'm sure you've met Sergeant... Tech Issidi, Li."

"She's the one who gave me the idea. She was talking about the power generation curve and the drop off in efficiency that made it impractical to run at a higher multiple of light speed. I like her."

"So do I. Do not speak the same language, but I do like her."

"She does have a little trouble remembering most people don't think of FTL physics and drive specs as casual conversation topics. Said her mother was the same way. Mine thumped me for not noticing people were blinking at me. Miss her some, but hadn't lived at home in awhile and it's mostly I'd just like to comm and talk about you all."

"I know that one very well, Li. I've wished I could tell my father about all of you. Mother too, but not the same things. Anyone actually homesick?"

"We are home, Boer. We're all a bit surprised that we feel that way, but together, especially with you, is home for all of us. We've talked about it. Nora and Dona miss being on a living world, but not a particular one."

"I feel 'home' too, Dirda. I didn't know that's what it was. Thank you."

"You did, Jobe, but the only terms you knew for it were warm and safe. You've known you were home since Boer put his warm and safe arms around you the first time."

"He showed me the computer record of meeting all of you one at a time and said he knew you and Misty, but mostly you and you were a surprise anyway."

"Thank you, Jobe. I always wished I could get to know him better, but if we'd spent more than a few minutes at a time in close proximity, even in public, our mothers would have been making wedding plans for us."

"Yes, yours wouldn't have had any trouble convincing mine they should. We have a staff meeting. You're my help remembering it's not a military staff meeting."

"We noticed they have to think about it or they call you 'General,' instead of 'Governor.'"

"That's not a great deal better, Eddy, but at least they don't salute when they say it."

"Maybe it's the feeling of home to them, Boer, and it's hard not to."

"That's why they're all with me, Jobe. I just need to... separate the salute from the feeling. Of course, calling them marines probably doesn't help."

"You'll work out a compromise, Boer. They are marines, just no longer in the Imperial Marines. Most of them are not really comfortable out of uniform."

"It feels a little odd to me too, Aura. I wore one most of the time for twenty-five years. I started the Academy at sixteen. Let's go."

### Chapter Five

Jobe made the decision. He asked if the time to go to other places would be enough for the bureau directors to give people weapons and make them think they should fight. Boer ordered a course change and sent messages. The emperor received the one he sent to him six days before they reached NuncTura. He played it twice and began issuing orders.

"Admiral Grader! Meeting of the Joint Military Staff here now! Wing Seven of the fleet to NuncTura full speed! Wing Nine will be escort for Transport Group Five! Stuff them with every bit of educational equipment and teacher we can get on them! Wing Five will escort Transport Group Three with all the household tech we can come up with in four days! I want every doctor, med tech and surgical unit we can get on a ship headed for NuncTura in two days! Get Marine Engineer Group Three moving to rendezvous! Boer is about to take apart Hell and he's going in with one old ship and one hundred eighty nearly unequipped marines!"

"Shit! Excuse me, Highness!"

"I consider it an appropriate response. Get on it."

They didn't move quite as fast on Dereva and their ships weren't as fast, but they were a great deal closer. They met with the fleet from Baslior and received messages fleets from Rinder and O'Dona were coming from the other direction, but they were all several days behind their governor.

On thirteen worlds and six colony worlds, people were preparing to follow the fleets. Boer had sent them the proof they'd found, what they knew and what they'd surmised. Illiteracy was enforced and the populace being reduced and prepared for enslavement. He'd interrupted the plan by accepting the hideously scarred boy they'd presented instead of repudiating the treaty. Jobe softly explaining the government let the poor fish from the beaches at night where he'd been, but he didn't know what the poor who didn't live by the ocean ate, roused them to fury.

The fleets followed their governor, but people prepared because his bride had asked for their aid for his people. Not Nunceon or Turon, the poor, most of the people of a world.

On the governor's ship, everyone who could read a spec list, use a tool or program a comp was at work on Li's idea. Boer authorized the drop to sub-light to install the parts for the drive and the control system. If they worked, they'd lose half a day, not six, and landing the ship had become very important. If they couldn't, they could only get forty marines down to the surface at a time and it would take the two shuttles nearly an hour for each round trip.

Li said she had an idea for them too, but hadn't had time to really work on it. Anverd said giggling probably wasn't the appropriate response, but he certainly felt like it. Boer said he did understand. Nineteen hours later, the ship initiated FTL drive and one hundred ninety-five people cheered. Li and Jobe giggled. Boer had both of them in his arms and was dancing around the bridge.

The ship dropped to sub-light and went straight down. They'd decided where to land from the visual orbital surveys they'd done and a very old geology mapping of the planet. They were pretty sure the ship wouldn't sink, much. The six tumball practice fields south of the gov center spaceport were on pretty solid ground. Boer hit the broadbeam comm as they dropped toward them.

"This is Governor Thiretess Boer Hadlain. The planet of NuncTura is hereby placed under martial law for failure to comply with Imperial Law One-three, Section Two-one, Paragraph Six in accordance with the Treaty of Relatross. The nine senior directors of government bureaus are placed under arrest and all government offices are closed. All government accounts are frozen. All government assets will be seized. All personal assets of government employees will be seized for inventory. Failure to comply with any order from any of my staff will result in immediate arrest and any resistance will be dealt with by force of arms. I'm landing. The weapons on this ship weren't really designed to be used on a planet, but I'd thoroughly enjoy seeing what they'd do to government center. Give me an excuse to just blow you all to Hell and save the empire the expense of providing you with defense counsel."

"Well, that should slow them down a bit."

"I hope so, Anverd."

"This is NuncTura government center. You can't declare martial law for failure to... treat and document injuries incurred during practice or game play in team sports competition in levels six through twelve in public schools."

"I can and I have. It's just an excuse, but I do have proof of it. There isn't any public education and I know it. So does the rest of the sector and the emperor. There aren't any food subsidies to the poor, which is about everyone who doesn't work for the government. There's not much, if any, private business left. The general populace is totally illiterate and is being reduced through lack of medical care and starvation in preparation for enslavement. My bride was rather young when he survived the explosion that rendered him blind and deaf and left him terribly scarred, but he remembers what it means to be poor on NuncTura very well. You probably won't like him, but everyone else does. You severely underestimated me and what I could, and would, do once already. Don't make the same mistake again. Pity is as close as I can come to mercy for you. Surrender or die."

Some didn't listen to the warning. They tried to run. Captain Farner tossed Boer the only artillery they had. He shot the a-grav generation unit on the bottom of the ship from the hip with a 'weapon' designed to reduce the dangers of avalanche on Sealore and yelled, "Down!" Dona had forgotten it was in her field camp kit until he'd said he wished they had something that would at least knock down a door. She'd had three rounds for it.

No one among those who had gotten off Boer's ship was hit by any of the debris from the other ship when it hit the ground and exploded, but it did make a real mess of the port. He apologized to Jobe for flattening him when he'd landed on top of him. He said he did usually land a bit more gently and he had noticed the ground was harder than a bed, but he didn't think he was much flatter. Aura noted he was obviously right about the ground being hard because the ship seemed to have stopped sinking. Men began to come out of buildings with their hands raised.

All nine bureau directors and their thirty-six deputy directors had been on the ship. They'd been planning on running, as soon as they finished stocking the very large luxurious yacht awaiting them on NuncTura's smallest moon and transferring a great deal of credit into accounts in Yarrow sector. They'd expected to have at least a quarter-year to disappear, but they'd planned on leaving NuncTura in about six days. Anverd and Cal had managed to stop the wipe command of all nine bureau records before it got very far and enjoyed the "small challenge" of breaking into their secret files.

The Great Boar had taken a world with one old ship and a hundred eighty ex-Imperial Marines with hand weapons. But now that he had it, he really didn't know what to do with it. Or where to start to fix it.

"With the people, of course."

"How, Dirda? Which people? I don't even know how many people there are, or where they are. Currently, the only ones who know the government has fallen are people who... worked for the government in government center. I don't even know how to tell the ones who need help most it's on its way."

"Tell one poor. All will know before night falls."

"Perhaps in one district, Jobe, but it's a whole world."

"You're right, Boer. It might take tomorrow too."

"Uh, Jobe, there are four continents and a lot of water between them."

"We'll cross them in a flyer and tell one poor on each side of each one. They'll all know by the end of tomorrow in this place."

"Word can't spread that fast without communication equipment."

"They'll get it if it's needed, Dirda. No one will stop them using it. The ones who work as laborers on the boats and in places their grandfathers owned will help them use it."

"Agreed. Let's go find a flyer."

"I'm going with you."

"So am I."

"Me too."

"And me."

"No. I'm not being protective. I need you here. I think my mind stopped running in neutral, or in circles, when Jobe said, 'flyer.' He's right about telling the people and that those who do have access to comms and such will help. Dirda, you're the one who can speak for me. The rest of you have skills that none of the marines do. However, they can all operate flyers and cams and they can all talk to people. Now, we do need some here and some ready to move fast if someone decides to get even. Aura, that's yours and you have eighty marines. Nora, assess crops, herds and cropland; how many they'll feed, how close they are to harvest, how fast we can plant more. Li, we don't have any idea what the actual level of technology is on most of this world and that means we don't know if we can get fields planted if we can get enough seed to plant them. Dona, you know we don't know anything about the current condition of this world and we need to. Barri, boys and girls and Nunceons and Turons have to think of themselves as kids and people. Misty, I need you watching the bunch who were in power and Via figuring out how to build a new system and what kind it should be. Lou, what we learn and what we do are important, but they need to know... what they did have and where it went wrong. Mim, you know what I need you to do. Lola, the same with you and Cal. Eddy, there are fleets from four worlds and the empire headed this way and a lot of just people coming because they want to help. You've got figuring out how they can work together. I don't want 'You here, you there, you there.' The cooperation of many 'races' from many worlds is critical. And most of all, I need you visibly here and putting it together because you're women. It's why Jobe and I are the right ones to contact the people. He's very obviously Nunceon, but doesn't think of himself as such. He thinks of himself as one who was poor. That's the important designation. I'm very obviously neither Nunceon nor Turon and I think of them all as my people. We'll be making a lot more stops than just one on each side of each continent. We have about fourteen days to put a plan together for this world before a large number of people begin to arrive to help implement it."

"He took care of that argument effectively, didn't he, Eddy."

"He certainly did, Dirda. He's getting too good at it."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't get too smug to tolerate."

"Oh, thank you, Jobe."

"You're welcome, Boer."

"Jobe, you should wear your title on this."

"Title?"

"Boer, you didn't tell him."

"I forgot about it, Eddy. You're Prince Thiretess-Relatross, Jobe."

"You think I must wear this title?"

"I trust Eddy's judgment on it."

"All right. I will wear the title. Do I have to wear shoes too?"

Boer burst into laughter. Jobe did not like shoes. Of course, they hadn't actually had any that were more than an approximate fit and those had been Lola's. She had wide, but not big, feet for a woman. Jobe had small feet, even for a small man. He told him his feet were liable to get very cold some places they went, but they'd look for sandals and socks for him. An hour later, the marines had found boy's sandals, socks, some nice clothes, including a warm jacket, and a flyer for them. Jobe thanked them and told them he'd wear them when his feet got cold. Boer was still laughing when he climbed in the flyer. So were the marines.

Boer had the orbital survey map and a listing of government housing projects. They were all near the sea or a river. "Allowing" the poor to fish with hand-drawn nets at night "reduced problems" and hadn't cost the government anything. They started with the one he thought Jobe had come from. He landed the flyer near the sea on the trampled dirt of what was called a street on the gov project plan. Jobe stepped out of the flyer and sniffed the air.

"Yes, this was my place. That way."

"There's nothing there, Jobe."

"I was there. They'll know me when I am there again. I'll fix their nets so they'll be sure."

"You want to do more than just tell them."

"Only in this place, Boer. I think there must be one the people know, who knows what is said is true, for all to believe. Boer, you won't like my place."

"I don't like any of it already, Jobe. Since I already killed the ones most responsible for it, I'll use my anger constructively to begin healing the damage they did."

Boer used his anger to hold his stomach down. Jobe's "place" was a lean-to, with rags on the ground in the back, beside a channel dumping raw sewage into the ocean. Jobe explained he knew the fishers cast their nets on the other side of the rocks so they didn't make people sick, but the sea was wild there and the rocks were slick. In that place, he didn't get lost because he could find his way by smell.

Boer sat on his anger and his stomach and sat down beside him at the front of the lean-to. Jobe smiled, reached back and pulled strands of yellow seaweed from beneath the rags and began to tightly twist them together to make a cord.

"It's harder to do. I have fingers that get in the way and I'm not used to seeing what I do with the others, but I think about how happy I am to have fingers that stick out and to be watching them every time I breathe in the air."

"Tell me your name."

"Jobe. None here will call me by another."

"I didn't ask for them. I asked for myself. I can't explain why it's important to me, even to myself, but it is."

"I felt very strange when you told me Eddy had named me Jobe. I had heard no voice since... the warm and safe ended. My name was Jobim Urtala and my mother called me Jobe."

"Uh... I'm reminding myself I don't believe in destiny again and I'm sure it's laughing at me."

"No, Boer, Destiny laughs with you. They come. They have a net with them. They want to know if I really am the one some came and took from this place. Bring your net! I will fix it! This time I won't hold out my hand for fish after I have found the hole! This time, you need not wait for darkness to cast your nets! This is Prince Thiretess Boer Hadlain, our Imperial Governor. He killed the bureau directors and the government of NuncTura is dead. Give it to me so you will know I am the one whose place this was. A big hole. It would have cost a fish and a weed. Boer, tell them how you came to be beside me in this place."

Boer told the three men the story of the emperor appointing him governor and the bureau directors bringing Jobe to him, sure that he would refuse him and end the treaty that made them part of the empire. He told them of his admiration for the boy who had still fought them and of learning to admire and love him. Then he told them of his anger when Jobe had been healed and begun to tell him the truth of what the bureau directors were doing to all the people of his world, to the people the emperor had given him to protect. Then he stood up and they backed up.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I killed the only people on this world I wanted to kill. I admit I wish it had been with my hands and one at a time instead of all at once, with a shot that took out the a-grav on the ship they were using to try to escape. The one fixing your nets is the first of my family, called my 'bride.' He is Jobe, Prince Thiretess-Relatross. I know you brought your nets to him because you needed them fixed, but I also know you assured none took the fish you brought him from him and none hurt him further. The others of my family, the thirteen women the other worlds presented to me as the best aid they could give, are learning all they can about you and your world. They will build a plan for you for the future, so that this will never happen again. I swear to you it will not. The other worlds of my sector and the emperor are sending aid, foremost among them teachers and doctors. They will teach you to read and write and to govern yourselves and heal the injured among you. From this day, there will be no Nunceon and Turon. You have been forged into one people in the flames of oppression by the few who ruled. The name of this world will be changed. It will be Nunture and all its people Nunturi. I have so ordered and the emperor will so command. He's my cousin and I've been bullying him for years. I'm the only one he lets get away with it. We both knew he was going to stick a crown on my head and marry me to fourteen people as soon as I met all the treaty qualifications for governor and figured he deserved it."

"He had to get to be a general in the Imperial Marines first and manage to stay unmarried. I think staying unmarried was more difficult, but I've heard many stories that tell me he enjoyed the challenge a great deal. The marines who followed him to find the truth of... Nunture and free the Nunturi enjoy telling them to one who has not heard them already."

"You've been talking to Lieutenant Urber."

"And Lieutenant Jastorim and Captain Farner and... They all ask to make sure I haven't heard a story yet. I've never answered yes and they don't seem to be running out of stories. I think Lou is collecting them for the family history."

"Uh, they are exaggerated some, Jobe. The marines know it."

"If they know that, why are none of them surprised being married to fourteen is not tiring you out? Your net is fixed. Bind it well to those of several others and take a boat onto the sea to fish the reef. No one will tell you that you should not."

"We'll get that damn sewer fixed for you fast. In fact, we'll get it all fixed for you fast. Once it is, I'll come back to see how you're doing once in awhile and pat you all on the back. It's the part of the job I'm looking forward to most. Tell all my people they're free to become all they can be and many friends are coming to help them learn all that is. Now can we leave this smelly place, Jobe?"

"Yes, Boer. I wasn't really homesick for it."

"Good."

Boer surprised Jobe when he smashed the very sturdy lean-to apart with his fists, then 'tossed' him over his shoulder and trotted toward the flyer. He'd have told him the trot was more bouncy than when he ran, but he was giggling too hard.

The three men looked at each other and smiled. Then one whooped and they ran to tell what they had learned to all who had watched the flyer land and hidden in fear. The ugly "net boy" had become a beautiful prince, and the prince who had rescued him had named them Nunturi and freed them all.

Chapter Six

Dirda looked over the plan and smiled. Boer was going to be very pleased with it. She glanced out the window and her smile widened. Aura was drilling her volunteers. Barri was grinning when she looked back.

"I'd have never thought of it and I'd have never come up with anything that would work as well."

"I told Boer about it and he whooped. Three years service in the Nunturi Volunteer Restoration Corps will make the sons and daughters of government employees just Nunturi. We had four who aren't ask about joining."

"We did?!"

"Four girls. Lieutenant Jastorim told them volunteer service was for one year for everyone else, but they could volunteer for another at the end of it. She said all four of them seemed pleased with the explanation of the three-year commitment asked of those boys and girls whose fathers had just done what everyone else did to keep their families from ending up in one of the gov housing projects."

"We're going to do it. We're actually going to end 'they' this generation."

"They?"

"They did it to us. They deserve to be punished. They punished us for what our fathers didn't know how not to do. They deserve to be punished. One generation after another getting even for what was done by the last at its worst."

"There are records of tribes doing that for a couple millennia. A king or big nation would come in answer to the pleas of the people caught between them, who just wanted to raise their crops, or go to work at their jobs, in peace. As soon as the king or nation pulled out, the ones whose grandparents had been on the receiving end the time before started getting even, until somebody sat on them. The horror stories those told their grandchildren assured they'd get even, as soon as they got the chance. 'They did it.' The directors used a variation of it here, until they were well-enough entrenched to drop the pretense and just begin to take everything from everyone who didn't work for them taking that everything."

"What's in Yarrow sector, Lola?"

"Thirty-two empire worlds and nineteen classified as independent colonies of those worlds. Remembering to say 'classified as' is important. Those worlds aren't like Greens and Bounty. Most of them are also classified as moderately-high-populated technological. The colony classification includes them under the sector treaty without having to petition the empire for inclusion or negotiate a separate treaty. Yarrow sector had some pretty nasty wars before reps from twenty-six planets asked the empire to stop them. Unlike our sector, those wars were between worlds, not on one. The sector treaty is pretty standard. These worlds got fed up with losing trade and traders and asked for the protection given to empire worlds. 'You really want to sign it too, don't you?' Same story as before but the empire outlasted the horror stories."

"The empire that doesn't rule."

"Tax is point two percent of the planetary government budget at the time of signing for the protection of the empire fleet and the laws are you don't make war, you don't oppress your people and you educate all your children. Those terms are just defined extremely clearly, so there's no misunderstanding. If your military budget was extremely high at the time, you cut it fast or you paid for it from then on."

"Dereva-Baslior combined fleet calling Governor Thiretess."

"First Lady Relatross receiving you Dereva-Baslior. Welcome to Nunture. We've really been looking forward to your arrival."

"Dirda, this is Hanus. Start with Nunture."

"Boer, of course. The planet is Nunture and the people are Nunturi."

"Where's the ship?"

"On the ground. Boer landed it."

"What?!"

"Well, more who, but that's what exactly what he said when Li told him she had an idea of how to do it. We came down fast and Boer disposed of the bureau directors and their senior assistants with a well-placed shot from the hip, with an avalanche danger reduction shell from Dona's kit, in their a-grav as they were trying to escape to a yacht they were stocking for the purpose. Everyone else got real cooperative real fast."

"I... can see they would. I have two admirals behind me who are wondering what they're doing here and working not to giggle."

"We need your help down here badly, Hanus. We've got a plan to help them, but there aren't enough of us to teach them how to do things, so they can do them. Start with there's no such thing as sewage treatment in gov housing and only enough cropland under cultivation to feed government employees. You already know they can't read."

"Why didn't the cropland show on orbital surveys?"

"The fields are all nicely maintained. They're just not growing crops. We found out most of it was grass and not grain when we sent flyers over them. We've located enough seed for about twenty percent, but we haven't got the personnel to teach enough people to get the crops in fast enough for a harvest this year. The majority of the population is in gov housing, wooden boxes with cold water, oil stoves, no lights and a sewer pipe straight down to a drain, concentrated on the coasts and along major rivers. The people in them fed themselves with fish they caught by hand at night or starved. Moving out of the boxes wasn't allowed. The fences around gov housing projects assured no one tried more than once. That's the power cost for the projects in the annual budget. No one saw anyone who was arrested for fishing during the day again, or anyone who was arrested for anything else either. So, the people have stayed where the government put them and fished only at night for about one hundred thirty years most places. There's no business and very little industry. That industry made things only for government employees and the people working in it were government employees. The only thing supplied to everyone at no cost was contraceptive. Cases of five-year patches were just delivered to housing projects at regular intervals. Once a year, a mobile medical unit went to each and the poor could get treatment for an injury or disease, for themselves or a child, if they requested permanent sterilization. We have a suspicion the government made sure many of them needed treatment before the unit went to them, but that hasn't been necessary for quite some time. Our estimate is the population is about thirty percent of what they said it was."

"Thirty... Why didn't the orbital surveys show that?"

"I'll send them to you. The average number of people living in one of those lovely complexes with large pool, ball courts and such is nine. They're bachelor complexes and primarily empty. Most houses around here have a detached garage big enough for four cars and a hanger big enough for two flyers. Basically, even the lowest government bureau employee had a home the equivalent size of a very spacious six-bedroom house and anyone above that level had a vacation home or six in pleasant places. Since keeping house was all women were allowed to do, and the judgment of their value as people, they didn't need other assistance with them. It's not visible on the orbital surveys because about ten percent of the population was occupying space enough for seventy percent. It was carefully laid out so it wouldn't be visible on orbital surveys. The plan was get out of the empire in about ten years because the emperor hadn't appointed a governor and the treaty called for one."

"If the emperor hadn't appointed Boer, they could have done it."

"They thought they'd found a way to shorten the timetable went they took Jobe to him."

"Well, we don't have farmers and such with us, but we've got people who can read an instruction manual on farm equipment."

"That's what we need."

"Where's the governor?"

"He and Jobe are going from one housing project to another and telling the people the government has fallen and they have friends coming to teach them, so they can help themselves. There's no comm to any of them."

"The rest of the people?"

"The former government employees, in all but the bureaus, are helping. The older children, boys and girls, of those are joining the Nunturi Volunteer Restoration Corps for three years and getting in shape to rebuild their world. Anyone else who wants to join the Corps only volunteers for a year. The three-year commitment is for those who know they most benefited in a very unfair system and intend to help straighten it out. The former bureau employees are just waiting. Most of them are sure they'll be needed in their old jobs soon. The truth is, they will be. There aren't many others who can read or operate a comp and most of those don't know anything about record-keeping and such. The plan is move the people in the projects into the condo complexes and operate them as training schools, then move the former bureau employees into the housing projects while their houses are being rebuilt into multi-dwelling units. We want to make sure it's not defined as punishment, but as a learning experience. They need to know what the policies of those above them, that they helped implement, were actually doing to people. Those at the highest levels to be last to move out of them. There will also be a limitation on advancement when they do go back to work. Basically, no one who did work for one of the bureaus can rise above the position of office manager and the benefits and power of those positions will be greatly reduced."

"It sounds like all you really need is people to help implement a good plan."

"That's the job Boer gave us, Hanus. He told us these people needed to see women do it nearly as much as to have it done."

"You're going to have about sixty thousand people arriving within the next fifteen days to put the plan in action, Dirda, and I'm not counting the personnel of four fleets. Those from Rinder and O'Dona should arrive by tomorrow. Thirteen worlds and the emperor are sending a lot of help."

"It's all needed, but I hope they're bringing a lot of food with them."

"If they aren't, we'll get it here fast. Admiral Hoster sent a message farmers, seed and bedding plants were needed as fast as they could be gotten here while we were talking. Admiral Lahaliha is organizing transport down."

"We'll get them to farms with instruction manuals on how to get them plowed and ready for planting."

"Dirda, they were feeding themselves."

"Yes, Hanus, most of them did get just enough fish and seaweed or river bank weeds to survive to about age fifty. Jobe was very healthy because he was highly skilled in an essential craft. He repaired holes in fishing nets."

### Chapter Seven

People and equipment poured onto a world to help and began to implement the plan built by the governor's family. The imperial supply ships didn't return to Empire sector after unloading. They made trips to and from worlds that had grain, seed and plants for farms.

Much of the aid was donated, including all from the imperium itself, but a large percentage of it was paid for with the seized assets of people who'd worked for various bureaus of the government and the government itself. None were impoverished, but their credit balances were reduced to the average of people who held equivalent positions on other worlds in the sector and a large number of very nice cars and flyers were shipped to other worlds in trade for other types of technology.

A not really surprising, large number of people who had come to help requested permission to immigrate. The requests were granted and the much simplified naturalization process begun. In sixty days, the world of Nunture was a very changed place and not in debt. The sector governor left it in the hands of its people and those who had come to aid. It was time to report to the emperor.

The fact several members of his family were pregnant was becoming obvious. Boer decided a 'slight detour' to see the home they'd bought made sense. He didn't know if any of them would want to stay there, but thought they should at least have the option. Eddy agreed they should make the detour, but thought they should all go to meet the emperor. He said if he heard Nora sigh even once, they'd turn around and go back. She told him the house was unfurnished, definitely didn't have a nursery, and she expected Nora and all the others to do a great deal of shopping on Boniface, where very nice furniture and baby clothes were reasonably priced. He smiled and nodded.

Valer traffic control was surprised when Boer didn't ask to land the ship. He worked not to laugh and told them he didn't really plan to land it often, but appreciated the offer to move ships out of the way at Brossom Port. He got permission to land shuttles on the farm they'd purchased and exact coordinates for it. There was a welcoming committee waiting when they arrived. The woman standing a bit in front of the group introduced herself and welcomed them as mayor of Brossom. Boer introduced his family to her. She obviously knew they were 'in a hurry' because she explained who the rest of the group were instead of introducing them all.

"Governor Thiretess, most of the people behind me are representatives of civic organizations, but some of them are the people who lease fields and maintain the property."

"And do it beautifully. Nora and Mim say it really doesn't make sense for us to change any of those lease agreements, at least not now. Nora does want to grow some of our own food and purchase horses and a bit of other stock in the future. However, we aren't planning on either farming or ranching as business ventures, so there shouldn't be a great deal of difference in the leases when we do ask to renegotiate them, probably just reduction in the amount of care given the grounds in exchange for the reduction in area leased. Did I remember everything, Nora?"

"Yes, Boer. We'll invite all our new neighbor families to a picnic and get to know them after we get moved in. We can figure out what's good for both us and them then."

"We'll also have a more formal social occasion, Mayor M'tuang. Some of my family will be here full time and plan to be active members of the community, not just residents of it. However, this is a very fast stop to see what we need to furnish what we've been told is an empty house."

"It is. Marver was about too busy to furnish the bit he did live in. He packed a bag and told Genna Gothirt, chair of the university hospital volunteer organization, to come pick up the rest and see it got to people who needed it. I have the current key code. I ran in to see it wasn't knee deep in dust and everything was working when he messaged you'd purchased it. I had the filters on the air circulation and heating system replaced."

"Not knee deep, but getting there?"

"About mid-ankle. He'd turned it off and opened windows in the part he used, probably so it wouldn't be damaged before the filters were changed. I suspect he immediately forgot he was planning on doing it. He never forgot a student or a patient, but his secretary kept socks for him in his desk. The hospital did his laundry and sent someone to collect it when he forgot to take it to them. We liked him immensely, but about the only time we saw him was when he came to a banquet to pitch for contributions to the medical school scholarship fund."

The house was big, beautiful, in excellent condition and they loved it. It had been built to be a home for a very big family fifty years before, not a showplace. It had been maintained extremely well, but had been basically empty for thirty of them. The mayor said she'd driven by it and sighed that no one wanted or needed it since she was old enough to drive. It had been for sale for most of that time.

The carpet had been replaced before the house was put on the market the first time and periodically cleaned, but there had been no traffic to cause wear and it looked as if it had been laid a few months, not many years, before. Jobe said his toes liked to wiggle in it. They decided to replace it in the rooms the doctor had used.

It wasn't really worn in them, but did show someone had lived there. Boer ordered that done by a local company that assured him they could 'match' the soft bronze that had been used on the ground floor of the two story house. Nora chose a different type for the kitchen on the recommendation of the company owner. She agreed it would be easier to "mop up baby food" on the shorter pile and the pattern would "show tracks a bit less between mop ups."

Five hours after they'd made orbit around Valer, they left it. Nora wasn't the only one who sighed, but there was no doubt all of them wanted to go to Boniface. They were making lists of every place he and Anverd could remember having heard had nice furniture, or had seen what they thought was nice in displays. Boer yelled, "Run for it!" when they started asking about clothing stores. Anverd ran one way and Boer grabbed Jobe and ran the other. Boer dropped Jobe on his bed and dropped onto it beside him.

"I think I already want to go back."

"So do I, Jobe. It was a real surprise. I've never been in a house that big that felt like it was meant to be lived in before. I wanted to fill the spa in the house and play in the pools outside."

"So did I. I like to swim."

"You learned fast."

"You're a good teacher. Boer, I'm glad things got rearranged for our family too."

"So am I, Jobe. It's going to be harder to leave Eddy on Boniface, but the time we spent on Nunture working together brought us all a great deal closer than even just living together would have, I think."

"You're thinking about what should come next."

"Yes, and I think the answer is ships."

"I think more than one too. I think Eddy needs a little one and some marines who can take her home to visit. I think home should have a bigger one and marines who can take the others places, like to visit Eddy. I think we should have one big enough for most of the marines and Anverd and Venida that doesn't say you're a sector governor to go places where things need fixing."

"I have one to add to the list, a yacht."

"A very fancy ship that would fit inside the one with the marines?"

"Exactly, and inside is a very good idea. The empire is a big place, two hundred fifty-five worlds, about a third of human settled space, but there are still a lot of worlds outside it and some of them are rather odd. There are also three other species out there that we, the empire, don't really know much about."

"The world where our species began isn't in the empire and I think I would like to see it."

"So would I, Jobe. I found myself thinking about how much less time the trip up arm to see it would take with Li's 'idea.' I think she's going to want to go with us. I don't think Aura will let us go without her."

"And Lola would be mad if we went places with new things to learn and see without her."

"Yes, Venida said she flat stated no babies yet. Cal and Lou both want yours."

"Uh... "

"Jobe, why haven't you accepted an invitation from any of them?"

"Because Cal and Lou want my babies?"

"That's what I thought. Who do you want to make love to who hasn't invited?"

"Do I have to answer?"

"Dirda?"

"Yes."

"Did it ever occur to you to ask her?"

"No. Boer, what are you going to do?"

"It's time we straightened this out. Girls, we need to talk. Come in here."

"All of us?"

"Yes, Eddy, all of you. That's exactly what we're about to talk about."

"Good. Let's take Jobe's clothes off first, girls. He'll be giggling too hard to run by the time we finish and that will give us time to get Boer's and ours off. That what you wanted to talk about, Boer?"

"Exactly, Aura."

"I kept looking at that spa big enough for us all and thinking about one person at a time in this room with you too, Boer. It's time we stopped saying it's nice to have Jobe to reduce the number of us waiting in line."

"Nicely put, Lola. We're sure we are a family, but we don't act like people married to each other. Boer, you're part to blame in this too. You don't walk out of here without your pants on, so none of us traipse around bare either."

"I know, Nora. I grew up with 'clothes only come off when the bedroom door is closed' and have twenty-plus more years of inculcation of the same attitude."

"I think I've been dodging this, but my sub-conscious has been working on it. We want the children to be 'our' children, but that's not what we're going to get unless we make some changes. I'm battling fifteen in one big bed is an 'orgy' too. It isn't for us. It's sharing the marriage bed with those to whom we are married. We're all positive we're 'just' heterosexual and that's not really helping the situation either. Boer and Jobe had to overcome it and Boer has been dealing with the idea of polygamy, or polygyny, since he realized the emperor needed him to become sector governor, but more than two in a bed is still an odd thought."

"It's time for each of us to decide if we want to be married to all of us or ask to be replaced, Barri."

"I hadn't gotten that far, Dona, but you're right."

"You all know I've already made up my mind."

"So have I, Nora. I'm ready to have a baby. I decided it ought to be Jobe's, but mainly because I think Eddy is right about us needing his too. Lou wants his because she thinks he's adorable, wants to play with him and totally agrees he ought to have a couple in the first batch of our children. Right, Lou?"

"I wouldn't have said it quite so bluntly, Cal, which I'm sure is why you said it for me, but yes. I will never ask to be replaced."

"Neither will I. I expected to spend my life alone. I wasn't lonely and I had more than one good friend I could call and say I wanted company for the night, but I'd have never been as happy and I know it and have since the selection committee asked me if I'd consider it. I told them I'd considered and I needed to pack. I hadn't expected to just plain fall in love too, and definitely not with two men and a whole bunch of women."

"I'd already realized my commander knew me a lot better than I knew myself, Mim, or I'd have thought he was crazy when he commed the selection board and said he had 'the' right person. It took me awhile to get to the 'married to everybody' feeling, but that's how I feel and I now know that's why I liked being in the fleet so much. I'd have ended up 'married' to it and it wouldn't have been as right for me."

"I was already 'married to my work,' Aura. It really surprised me when I realized I'd always known it wasn't enough. That happened when we were on Nunture and I looked for one of you for company because I missed Boer and Jobe. I won't stop working because I love it, but our family is much more important to me now."

"Our family is my work, Dona, but it's not all of it and that's important too. I plan on working at the hospital on Valer, not office hours. I won't desert a child who has been coming to see me, or suddenly tell one to see someone else if Boer needs my knowledge and skills somewhere, or if I'm just needed at home because Nora needs a break."

"I'm going where they go. I'm going to like it most when they go home, but me and my tools are going and will until I'm too old to carry them. When I decide I'm ready for a baby, I might stay home when I'm too pregnant to waddle, but that depends on where they're going and if I've got any ideas."

"I'm in the family, staying in the family and going along whenever one of the family is headed somewhere interesting, especially places I haven't seen, basically with Boer and Jobe, but it's going to feel real good to come home. I figure they'll want to play with kids pretty often so I don't expect to get homesick much."

"I... think I'll eventually want to be replaced. I've been thinking about asking to stay with Eddy on Boniface. I love you all, but I miss politics."

"Eddy, Via is with you on Boniface and I feel a great deal better about leaving you there knowing she will be. Via, I hope you meet someone special. Another couple in the family would be nice."

"What?"

"Anverd and Venida are part of the family, just not married to all of us. You always will be too. I'm sure if you fall in love with someone, he'll belong in it just as you do. You all rather ignored that when I said it before we went to Nunture. The whole thing was very new and we were amazed and awed that we just seemed to fit together as a family. We still do, but I've always expected some of you to want to be part of the family without being in the marriage. The only two I was sure wouldn't were Nora and Jobe. She wants the marriage because of the children. He intends to make me be a hero and can't do it if he's not in it. That sounds better than I'm absolutely sure he belongs beside me and would be sure something was wrong with him if he wasn't. Misty, I think you've been waiting for Ganthin Prost to grow up since he was about seven. Since he's my cousin, already in my family and I like him a whole lot, I think it would be great to have him in ours."

"Boer, I haven't even seen him since he was barely twelve and I was almost sixteen."

"I know. You certainly made an impression on him though. About a year ago, he said he's gotten a lot of practice kissing since you taught him how, but he's sure he must have missed something in the lesson because your kiss is still the one he dreams about."

"It is?! Oh, my. I think I just answered something I thought I needed to give a lot of thought to before I answered."

"Now you two. Dirda, we were both sure you shouldn't be my princess. You were sure you shouldn't be one and I knew why I shouldn't marry. Eddy, you knew why too. You weren't sure you'd be the choice, but you waited for me anyway. You're very sure Jobe belongs in our family and we want and need his children in it, but it doesn't penetrate below the conscious level. He's my bride and that would be 'unfaithful.' He wants to make love to Dirda, but he can't make love to anyone but me until you release him."

"What?"

"How psi-projective are you, little girl who's 'been making her family's company popular since she was six?' I already know how receptive Dirda is because she waited for me when I couldn't tell her I wanted her to or why. I know how receptive Jobe is. He understood too completely from the first instant I touched him. I know he's projective. I've known how receptive you are since he told me his name. You see, you came up with all of it. Venida said he wasn't actually sleeping, but in a semi-conscious state. You made the connection to the story you knew when you reached for it and he gave it to you. It's Jobim, called Jobe, Urtala. I know I wasn't supposed to tell, Jobe, but she needs to know. She can't choose not to use it to influence people if she doesn't realize she can, and we both know that's far more important to her than being able to use it when she does choose to do so. I expect you to teach her how to recognize when she's doing it. You know when you are and are very careful with it."

"I've known since some came to my place to take the fish I was given for fixing a net with five big holes. I knew they were coming and knew when I... called others to make them go away. I also knew great change was coming before some grabbed me and put things on me so I couldn't run or hit them. It's how they found me. I left my place and walked away from the sea to where the ground was hard from many feet walking on it, but I didn't like them so I fought them. You were still a surprise."

"So were you, my loved friend, but I don't think I should be the only one with whom you make love."

"I'm high-psi rated. Baslior fleet does tests for it along with a bunch of other stuff most don't."

"I imagine we all are, Aura. It's part of normal testing for people studying psychology on New Cander. It's not considered necessary, but as an asset in understanding, especially for those who intend to work with children."

"Can you be high-psi with tech?"

"I don't think so, Li, but you do make me wonder."

"Boer, Eddy's still reeling."

"I know, Dirda, but Li did help."

"I think we should go with Aura's suggestion."

"What suggestion, Nora?"

"Take Jobe's clothes off, then go after yours and ours. Maybe Via and Misty should run off and giggle, but that's up to them. They're in this marriage now, as far as I'm concerned, but I think the rest of us can run over Eddy's 'sub-conscious' without them and get her over it. That's what she really needs. She can work on how she does what and how not to do it after we show her we can stand up to it. Jobe could, but he won't. You could, but you won't either. You've been not running over people you could, unless they really deserved it, since you got bigger than most, probably when you were two. Barri, I'll argue on this one."

"You don't have to, Nora. My sub-conscious keeps shouting down every argument I come up with."

"I'm going to run off and giggle."

"I'll giggle with you, Misty. We've already decided we want to be in the family, but not the marriage. I think the rest of you need to do this without that occurring to Eddy somewhere in the middle too."

"Nicely put, Via. See you all later."

When Eddy asked if anyone else had found out where Boer was ticklish, he started backing up, towards the bed. She'd decided Nora was right and she was going to help them "run over" her sub-conscious. She wiggled her fingers and they went after him. If she thought he should be first, they'd go along with her. Boer yelped when Jobe came from behind and found his ticklish spot. Two minutes later, they all were finding spots on all of them and all getting excited. Of course, it was only obvious on Boer and Jobe.

### Chapter Eight

Ven looked up when Misty and Via dashed in the door to her quarters. She usually left it open in invitation when she was there and Anverd was on the bridge. Both were giggling.

"I think I have a tea that would go well with giggles."

"Please."

"Yes."

"Something went extremely well?"

"Going extremely, we hope."

"Uh-huh."

Ven fixed tea. She was sure they wanted to talk, but they hadn't quite figured out where to start. She thought about 'Via and Misty' and smiled. She had an idea why they wanted to talk, but was still very interested in giggles.

"Boer decided to remind you he expected some of you to bring others into the family?"

"Yes. I realized I miss politics and he thumped Misty with a memory of teaching his cousin to kiss."

"We left them to... make it a real marriage with all of them in it. Not just me, you, you, you married to Boer."

"About time. I don't know how the previous governors did it, but I know Boer and I know he needed it to be more than that."

"It was Jobe and Eddy. She was sure the family should have his children, but she wasn't paying attention to herself and he couldn't do anything about it while she was also sure he was just Boer's bride. Did that make sense?"

"Emotions only make sense as emotions, Misty. There are always reasons for them, but they aren't logical. Since we're talking about Jobe, Eddy and Boer, they all realize it."

"Boer found the reasons and Nora took over."

"Of course. She's the one who has the most complete understanding of marriage and family and how to build both. Now you're trying to figure out how to find two more who actually belong in it."

"Exactly. A world is a big place, but... even if I could talk to everyone on it, I'm not sure I'd find someone who does belong."

"I've been thinking about it since Boer said he was doing his best to remind you that he did expect some of you to ask to be replaced, Misty. I think I knew you two would some time ago. I'm sure it doesn't sound sensible to say you were too carefully chosen, but it's true. The others either chose themselves or... fate did it."

"I do know what you mean. Boer says he doesn't believe in destiny and he's sure it's laughing at him."

"I've heard him say that too, Via. I think it took a hand with you two as well."

"He's told me he's going to leave me on Boniface with Eddy. I imagine he's going to leave Misty there too, since that's where his cousin is."

"Ganthin?"

"Yes."

"He's the only other one on Boer's mother's side of the family who inherited her grandfather's size, though he's not as big as Boer. Do introduce Via to Larim Algordin, Misty. I've got a feeling they'll have a wonderful time arguing about everything they agree on."

"You're right! Via, he's Grainland's representative to the imperial court. He's held it for eleven years. He was appointed to it the first time and has been yelling find someone else every three years ever since. They send him a campaign schedule, he sighs, goes back to Grainland and campaigns for re-election and everyone else who he thinks should be elected."

"He's also refused to campaign for a couple people his party nominated. He didn't campaign for their opponents, but people did take note he thought they were more suited to the position, even if he didn't say it. He's going to end up president eventually, yelling he doesn't want the job and making everyone absolutely sure he's the right one for it because he does understand it."

"I think I like him already, but that doesn't help find the right person for... the central marriage in our family."

"That's good, Via. I'll borrow it. But it doesn't give me any ideas on how to go about it."

"I don't think you need to worry about it, Misty. Somewhere on O'Dona and Rinder, there are two people who will know they belong in it."

"Uh... "

"Misty?"

"Not women, Via, people."

"I don't think I was ready for that thought, Misty."

"I wasn't either, Ven, but something said, 'Good, you're on the right track,' as soon as she said it."

"Boer is going to accept the person who belongs in the family no matter who it is, but he's going to have some real problems if it's another man. The marriage has to be consummated."

"I think we could figure a way to do that without... really doing it, Ven."

"What?"

"We were giggling because they're all together in the bedroom playing. Does it have to be just Boer and the person added to the marriage in the bedroom? The answer is the treaty doesn't say that, just as it doesn't say the person selected for the governor's family must be of the opposite sex. I think it's intentional and carefully worded that way just for this reason. Boer may be the first governor who is actually determined to build a family of the assorted people from fourteen worlds. I'm trying to remember what I've read about the other governors, but I don't think they really built families. They accepted who was presented and consummated the marriage, but they were basically a working relationship called a family."

"Governor Chiss Tomad Handirmini had three children, Via. Lorind from Kime was the father of them all. She was the only woman governor, but I think that's the proof you're right about them in general, if not individually. I know the right person!"

"You do?!"

"Yes. Oh, dear, how do I convince him? Hmm, maybe the answer is I don't. I let Anverd do it."

"Anverd?"

"Boer doesn't really need someone in the marriage who understands palace intrigue, Via. He's got me in the family for that and I'll be on Boniface where it's needed. I think he needs a spy and I know the right one."

"A spy?"

"He's been one since he was about nine. The government just made it official when he was eighteen, just before I left O'Dona. Nine years ago, he was sure Tharmer Pharmaceutical Corporation was working on something illegal and Harkassi Osmon, his mother's uncle by very political marriage, was involved in it. He didn't like him. He built a device to break into Tharmer's research laboratory and found proof they were working on a drug that would make people trust what they were told. I really can't think of a better way to say that. It was more than a suggestibility drug, but based on one that was very illegal already. Then he built a device to monitor the comm net for calls Osmon made from anywhere. He handed the recording of him talking to the person doing the research on the drug, and his opinion of what they intended to do with it to his father's sister, a judge. She couldn't do anything with it because it was illegally obtained information, but she could state she had cause for suspicion and get people to work on obtaining proof legally. He's done about the same thing, including building what he needed to do it, four times. He's got an incredible education, but he refused to submit any more work for evaluation at the age of eleven. He was about to get an advanced degree and did not want it. I don't know what it would have been. I doubt anyone besides the judge does. She pulled his records and sealed them at his request. He doesn't really have any friends because he... can't talk to anyone and she may be the only person he trusts. I said 'may' because it's possible he doesn't, not that there is someone else. He's brilliant, beautiful, lonely and an unkempt, stringy-haired, mess."

"To hide he's beautiful and keep people, especially girls, at a distance."

"Yes, Ven. It's also a good disguise twice."

"Twice?"

"One; he certainly doesn't look like an aristocrat when he's a mess. Two; I don't know if I'd recognize him at first glance cleaned up with his hair brushed out of his face. He could also use something to... dim it a bit and I'm sure I wouldn't."

"Dim?"

"It's red, or maybe 'orange' is a better term. He's not as fair as most who have hair that color, but not as dark as most people in general. Sort of between Jobe and Boer with some freckles, but not like his mother, who stays out of the sun so hers don't run together in blotches between burn. He's also high-psi. That hadn't occurred to me before, but it's obvious to me now. He just suspects people no one else would."

"Well, that's one. I'm sure you're too sure not to be sure, if that makes sense."

"I think it's a reasonable statement, under the circumstances. Via, worrying about it now isn't. You still have quite some time before you can even ask for replacement."

"I know, Doctor."

"You are worried. Doctor?"

"Ven, maybe that's a clue from her sub-conscious, not worry."

"If it is, I need more, Misty. Or do I? I don't think she's too old to have children yet, but I can't remember how old she actually is."

"She who, Via?"

"Doctor Morrisid Toriallim, Venida."

"I know that name. The Evolution of Society and Development of Homogeneity; the Nodal Theory and Growth of Seed Cultures. It's the fundamental text and handbook for professionals in any branch of cultural anthropology in the empire. I'm sure I can find out more about... Yes, there she is. Age fifty-two, about to be fifty-three. That's not too old to be capable of having a child for most women, but I wouldn't recommend it. The bio info says born on Rinder and nothing about naturalization on Taslim or Boniface."

"She's Rinder's only real 'claim to fame' in intellectual circles in the empire, Ven. She may not have lived there since she was about twenty, but we still think of her as 'ours' and she knows it."

"I didn't realize she'd written that many books. They're fiction! She's Tori Morris!"

"What?! Let me see that! Ven, I didn't know that. I don't think anyone does. Well, you know what I mean."

"That's my husband, Via. I've run across several things 'no one' knows when I was looking something up I just wanted a bit more information about. Why does she keep it secret? Silly question. It's because she's the leading cultural anthropologist in the empire and Tori Morris writes absolutely torrid fantasies. However, the societies she creates have 'very strong internal logic.' I'm quoting a reviewer who at least came up with a phrase to describe it."

"I've heard them called 'trash,' Ven."

"So have I, Misty, but they're good 'trash.' Just plain fun to read and Tori Morris has stated her intent is to 'entertain, not win awards for literary achievement,' in the front of several. I had the feeling she has a rather low opinion of people who tout their qualifications to judge such things. I haven't read all of them, but I enjoyed the ones I did and rather agreed with her not-quite-stated opinion."

"Convincing her may be easier than I thought. Boer about fits the description of some of her heroes."

"In a lot of ways, Via."

"Oh, I want to read one."

"I don't have any of them, Misty, but Lieutenant Urber may have several. She's picky about her torrid, but she definitely likes it."

"Well, I've gone from wondering if I'd find the right person to wondering how to do it now and not in about a quarter-year. I'm sure that's progress, but patience is definitely not one of my strong points."

"Mine either, Via, but I'm just sure being patient isn't a lesson I should be learning in this case. Thomin Prave is... withdrawing into himself, pulling in tighter with every day that passes. Too many people on O'Dona think about everything they do and have done that they'd prefer no one know about, even if those things are just a bit embarrassing, as soon as they see him. Ven, pull up the treaty. Let's see if there's a way to do this without waiting to formally petition our governments after a half-year. I'd like to dodge the petition itself if possible. Sort of do 'another was chosen,' without much notice or really saying who the person was."

"I don't think that's possible, Misty. Boer is a hero and so is his family, especially now. You know how much attention you're all going to get even better than I do."

"Maybe we could use that to do just what we want, Ven. Misty and I did the job our worlds were sure needed doing and chose us as the best to help Boer do it. No one, including us, expected us to do it that fast, but it absolutely proved our worlds did make the best choice of aid for him at the time. This is sooner than expected, but still the time for our wise worlds to choose the best for the job of being part of his family. We both know that's not us. Misty loves someone else. I'm a 'campaigner' to the core, he does not belong in politics, and I would get involved in them and pull the rest of the family in with me, no matter how hard we all tried to avoid it. Basically, we yell, 'Help! Get us out before we mess up their marriage!' We tell everyone we know we're not the right people for the marriage, but solving the problem, freeing the Nunturi, was of primary importance at the time. Now it's time for those who belong in the marriage to help build it and our worlds do know who those people are. They've already been chosen. Eddy, Nora and Mim are beginning to be obviously pregnant. Misty is going to be obviously in love with Boer's cousin. I'm going to be campaigning for something or someone within hours if I have to invent an issue. The contrast between those in the marriage, obviously sure they're married and several 'in the family way,' and the two of us, obviously sure we finished the job and pleased with the way we did it, should emphasize the marriage is not political as far as any of us, especially Boer, are concerned. Our worlds are going to send the people whose important qualification is belonging in the marriage and nothing else. And, unless you'd really like to be told off by Nora with at least twenty worlds making sure you pay attention to what she says, you'll leave them alone to build it."

"We can do it! Look, Via! Read section six, sub-section four, paragraph twenty-six. Our worlds don't have a time limit on replacing us. It just says they can do it. It's in the section that says we can request replacement after a half-year, but it doesn't say only for that reason. They left a loop-hole. It had to be intentional. They left a way for worlds to say, 'Oops, obviously wrong person. Sorry, Governor.' The governor can't tell a world to replace a person, but he can tell them their advocate is definitely not making him want to do anything for them. Via, we have messages to send. I think the right place for Franner to send Thomin is Valer. The doctor is on Boniface."

"What about the presentation, Misty?"

"We'll tell them to send a recording of presenting them and Boer to send one of accepting them back. There's nothing that says it has to be done in person, just they have to be presented as the choices for his family by designated representatives of their governments, he has to accept them and a recording of both has to be sent to imperial court records. It doesn't even say it has to be in that order."

"You know, I had a political history professor who said the Treaty of Relatross may have been the most carefully worded treaty ever written and certainly the most carefully worded of all the empire treaties. I thought I understood what she meant. I'm beginning to see why I had to do a research project in addition to my course work, to get above an average evaluation for it. At the time, I was very aggravated. I was also about sixteen and not pleased I had to take the course. I was going to be a doctor and was quite sure it and several other required courses were irrelevant."

"I yelled I wasn't going to be a doctor when I had to take physiology, Ven. I remember being very surprised when I told Lady Forthier she wasn't going to convince anyone the allowable PPM of a chemical compound should be lowered if she kept saying it affected altosterone--"

"Aldosterone. Sorry, Misty. I realize that was the point, but I've got twenty years of correcting student pronunciation and habit supplied the correct one before thought processes identified it as intentional. If the compound affected hormone production in the adrenal glands, there shouldn't have been an allowable PPM. There shouldn't have been an allowable PPB."

"It was a special dispensation in the secondary waste-disposal from a laboratory and she was arguing it needed to be lower than that before it reached that point because it endangered the people monitoring the process. Thomin took care of it when he put the company out of business."

"The same pharmaceutical company?"

"No, an industrial coating company. He was sure they were falsifying the test results saying it was that low at that point. He ran the tests himself and his mother told mine the judge loosened his teeth with the slap she gave him for going in to get a sample without protective gear."

"I think I really like this judge, and Thomin. Who do you think should officially send the messages you two are going to send?"

"I don't know, Ven, just they shouldn't 'officially' come from us or Boer."

"Let's do what Boer does in situations like that."

"That is?"

"Comm bridge. Anverd, I need your help."

"There?"

"Here."

"Farner, I'm deserting you. I'll be in my quarters."

### Chapter Nine

Anverd said he was the one to send the messages to both worlds, but they should include notes from them. He told Misty she was right, he was the only one who could send one to Thomin that would keep him from flat refusal when Franner asked him. He said Venida was the one to talk to Morrisid, specifically because she had read her four professional books and several by Tori Morris.

He told her to tell her she was two steps from having her two identities 'merge' and she needed to retire before they did. Not because it would damage her reputation in either field, but because it would make her "too much celebrity to do anything but sign autographs" and she'd be getting a bunch of those awards she didn't like because of who she was, not what she wrote. Via nodded when he told her she was going to be "too much of a celebrity" for it not to be noticed she'd talked to her. Misty wasn't quite sure if she agreed with his next suggestion.

"I haven't even talked to him since we were kids."

"He'll understand, Misty. He grew up on Boniface and he can handle it. Boer, and the emperor, need some of the attention pulled away from the family. You won't be able to attract even most of it, but you can draw the society cams away and the news cams will focus on other stories much sooner than they will."

"I told her to introduce Via to Larim Algordin."

"Ooh, he might strangle me the next time he sees me if I even suggest he step in the cam focus, Ven. Step right into it if he thinks I'm right, but strangle me for not coming up with someone else. He's perfect and it's a match made in political Heaven, or Hell, which is basically the same place. He hates spotlights and attracts them, Via. He once told me he'd thought of getting fat but couldn't figure out how and he couldn't talk anyone into thinning his hair either."

"I can about hear him saying it, Anverd. It wouldn't be funny if I wasn't sure he'd actually considered it."

"I was, Ven. I told him barbers weren't stupid and I'd never met one who was suicidal either."

"Via, he's tall and slender. He's got incredible wavy, rich auburn, hair with silver threads, probably beginning to spread up from the temples at this point."

"Actually, Misty, that wave that falls down over his left eye, and he's always shoving back, is turning silver first. He's not really pleased the cam ops are delighted with the way it glints in the lights."

"I've seen him! On the ten-day empire news update about a year ago. I had no idea who he was, but completely understood why the cam op made sure he was in the picture. He's gorgeous."

"And principled, intelligent, conscientious, eloquent, has a beautiful speaking voice... He will end up president of Grainland one of these days."

"I love campaigning for a person who yells, 'I don't want it!' and goes to work, Ven. And arguing with people about things we totally agree on. How old is he?"

"Fifty-six. He was married, but he's been single about fourteen years. The split was quite friendly, Via. They just had less in common every year, including the world they wanted to live on. She's a professor of agronomy on Cartoplan now. Six years ago she married a farmer who'd been proving her theories on native crop domestication since he read her doctoral thesis in an agra journal, about twenty years before they met. It was news on Grainland because Larim attended their wedding. The cam ops got great pictures of him wearing the baby food he'd been trying to get in her new grandson at the reception. They didn't have any children, her idea, I think. He was obviously delighted she suddenly had four, and seven grandchildren."

"Oh, look at that smile, Ven. Go ahead, Anverd. I'll block long enough he decides Boer needs you too much to strangle you."

"You're all three sure about this, aren't you?"

"Aren't you, Anverd?"

"Comm Governor's quarters. Boer, Ven and Misty say introduce Via to Larim Algordin and I've got three very predatory smiles."

"Yes! Anverd, you know what I think about him. It's a commonly held opinion."

"I said it was a match made in political Heaven when I was just thinking of asking him to squire her around to spread the cam focus a bit, Boer. You know I trust your feelings on things like this more than my own. I've got absolute proof your match-making is top notch."

"I've got a feeling he's been waiting for her a long time and will probably even realize it after awhile, but... they're still married for awhile, Anverd."

"Boer, it's amazing how carefully worded the Treaty of Relatross is, especially the care taken in the choice of the words not in it. Out."

Boer was so obviously trying to 'reorient' that Jobe giggled. Of course, he'd been giggling before the comm call too. Most of them had.

"My, that was interesting."

"Yes, Eddy, very. I almost paid attention all the way through it. Somebody remember what he said and tell me again when I can think."

"I'm not sure I'll remember how to think."

"I do know what you mean, Jobe. Ow!"

"Boer, this calf is knotted. What did you do to it?"

"I have no idea, Aura, but I'm sure I enjoyed it."

Boer walked onto the bridge several hours later and blushed when the crew applauded. That didn't lessen the applause, just added laughter to it. Anverd motioned him over to his watch station and pointed. Boer read what he pointed out and looked at him.

"Read what it doesn't say in that paragraph, Boer."

"Care taken in the words left out. Left out!"

"Misty found it. They figured out who and how. Now read the words not in this one."

"I don't see them."

"Look for a number."

"A number?"

"Do you see two anywhere in there?"

"Two?"

"Or five, or fifteen?"

"I'm still lost."

"How about one plus one?"

"One plus... "

"It may be the most carefully worded treaty ever written, Boer. Think about what it didn't say."

"No numbers. Not specific. Just... must be."

"Exactly. Misty said you finally got around to doing what it actually says. They know who, Boer. They hunted this for a reason. These are the messages I sent."

"I'm glad you showed me the other first. Tell me?"

"You know what a snapping turtle is?"

"A what?"

"I didn't until I hit it in a description of a person in a very good old book. I think I've got it. Yes, I thought I'd seen a reference on Earth biota in the index. There it is. That's a dangerous thing. It can take off a finger fast. The protective shell gets bigger and stronger every year."

"Tell me about this one."

"Snapped the first time at nine. Builds nice jaws. What's trust?"

"Mutual or it doesn't exist."

"Misty is sure."

"I think I am too."

"Next."

"I'm confused. Twice. I thought we were trying to stay out of the focus."

"Ven's going. She's read more than four."

"Huh?!"

"I stuck in a bit of insulation when I discovered it, but the ends are close and the current is heavy. The spark is going to jump it soon and the connection can't be unmade once it does. The line can handle the current, but that's about all it could do after that. Silly to waste that capacity writing two words over and over, wouldn't you say?"

"Two words? Oh, those two. I've read five."

"What did you think of the fifth?"

"The most readable text I was ever assigned."

Anverd looked at him in surprise and Boer grinned. He burst into laughter and Boer patted him on the head. He sat down and thought about what he'd learned about his family and himself that day. He suddenly had a thought and the grin came back.

"Anverd, Jobe is ready to read something different. Classics wouldn't be classics if they weren't good, but they're also heavy reading. Find him something... trashy."

"Jast has all the Tori Morris books, Boer. Misty asked me if I had any of them. I told her no, but I'd made sure Jast brought them. She'd been told they were trash and never read one."

"That's why I read one, Urber. Read another one because it was good trash. Comm to Lieuten... I'm not breaking myself of that. I wouldn't have any difficulty remembering a rank change, but just not saying it... Computer, locate Adele Jastorim for comm."

"Lieuten... Jastorim."

"Boer. The laughter in the background is because I said, 'Lieuten,' too, then lamented I didn't seem to be getting out of the habit. Please put your Tori Morris collection in the library files. You loaned one and you know there's going to be a run on them. Most of the girls won't have read any of them."

"Boer, that's unethical even if it is my 'computer of regular use' and not illegal."

"I promise we'll pay for a library copy of every one of them when we get to Boniface."

"Do you know how many there are?"

"I'm sure I can afford it."

"That's true. All right. Tell Aura to read Far Corners of the Circle."

"I will. Recommend for Jobe."

"Jobe? Boer, you're brilliant. Night Knight."

"I haven't read that one, but I don't have any trouble reading over his shoulder. Thanks. Out."

"Oh, she may not recover. Probably have giggle relapses for days. I may have them with her."

"I was walking by a book store, Urber, and it was about packed with people. I noticed most of them were women."

"Which is why you went in."

"More or less. There wasn't a sign saying there was a signing or a sale and I got curious why they were all there."

"A new Tori Morris book was out and bookstores get datcubes two days before filetrans is available."

"That was the reason. I didn't have time to stand in line or I'd have probably gotten one then. The subject of recent books came up in conversation a few days later and I told someone about it. She said they were trash, grinned and told me the author agreed. I bought one that evening, Minstrel of the Crystal Plain."

"Oh, that's a good one. Of course, I'd have probably said that if you named any of the others."

"The Road to Reckless Value, The Total of Null, Yearn of Evermore."

"The fourth in that group came out just before we left Boniface. Jast has it."

"Title?"

"The Arrogant and the Blessed. It's set in Hominia."

"How did they end up there? Never mind. I'll read the book. Maybe I'll read it now. Anverd, did she load them yet?"

"She just got started, Boer, but she's running three readers. That one just came up in the index."

"Pass me the file number. Hominia is not an easy place to get to, especially for the living."

"Hmm. Which one was first in the group?"

"The Road to Reckless Value."

"Got it. Enjoy your watch."

"I will, Anverd, and I'll try to remember to watch once in awhile too. Good night."

"Probably. My wife likes to read in bed."

Boer laughed and pulled the file. He shook his head and decided Jobe was right. He didn't believe in destiny and it was probably laughing "with" him about it. It did seem to like him. How did they get to Hominia?

Thomin wasn't quite sure he wanted to take the interstellar message from the courier. He accepted it and sat down with it on the front step. It was hard-copy and the envelope was coded 'eyes only, no record.' A strange feeling of anticipation came over him as checked the confirmation codes, like the whole world, or maybe the universe, was waiting for him to open it. He was angry with himself for shaking a bit as he did. It began with a code that didn't make sense to him, until he read the message.

"You will be asked. Accept. You have the code to my files. It's your notification you've been drafted into empire service. Read what section six of the treaty doesn't say. Anverd."

He identified section six of the treaty of Relatross and started to shake. It angered him. He closed his eyes and 'read' the section in his mind. He was furious when he walked into the house, dropped the message in the disposal and pulled up the section on the house comp. He hadn't been able to remember it well enough to 'read' what section six didn't say. He sat down and began to look for it. About ten minutes later, he shut down the comp and went to pack. It took him eleven minutes to download his files to high-capacity datcubes and twenty-three to dismantle 'everything' in his room. It took less than two to pack his clothes. Franner arrived just as he finished dressing after his bath.

"Thomin, will you accept the position of O'Dona's advocate in the governor's family in accordance with the treaty of Relatross?"

"Yes. I'm ready."

"I had no doubt you would be. Your parents and Judge Rosh are waiting at the port to say farewell. The recording of the presentation will be made there. You will carry a copy with you to Valer and give it to the governor immediately on your, or his, arrival."

"Understood."

"It's amazing how carefully the Treaty of Relatross is worded, isn't it?"

Franner nearly sighed in relief when Thomin suddenly smiled and said he'd have been more interested in it if the ed comp had asked what it didn't say. Franner returned the smile and told him he would certainly have spent more time answering the questions. Nineteen minutes later, a fleet courier ship left O'Dona. Franner smiled at the three people who had been the official delegation. All three were old friends.

"I think it's going to surprise him a great deal to be happy."

"You just don't have any doubts at all, do you?"

"Lass, Misty chose him, then found what the treaty doesn't say because she loves him. He's going to be very surprised to learn she also knows him."

"I doubt he was given a choice, Franner. It's the only reason he'd have made this one. 'You're old enough now. Report to the general's headquarters for duty.' I quite agree with your opinion. It's going to surprise him. It was time something did. I think he's going to call me Aunt Lida the next time I talk to him, Lass."

"Relax, my love. The feeling the worry for him is over isn't just relief he bathed and brushed his hair. There is love and trust waiting for him."

"I'm just sure being this sure should be questioned, Berne. However, when I do it, I keep coming up with the answer I really am sure. It's not going to take much work to convince myself I believe me, but it will probably take awhile to get out of the habit of worrying about him."

"You're his mother. It's expected to take awhile."

### Chapter Ten

Venida left the ship before the governor's family did. The emperor knew they were waiting for her to 'get out of cam focus.' Once she gave the cab instructions to take her to the university, no one paid much attention. She smiled when the shuttle headed back up and added, "Professor Emeritus Morrisid Torriallim's residence." She stepped out of the cab about forty minutes later and smiled at the woman who was obviously leaving her home. She was coming down the walk toward her and checking the contents of the case she was carrying, not looking where she was going.

"Well, you look in good health."

"What? Do I know you?"

"Probably, but I'm sure you don't know me as well as my husband Anverd knows you. He knows you're about to retire and get married, Tori. Shall we go back inside and discuss it?"

"Yes, I think we should, Doctor."

"Ven. I like your books, all of them. Anverd said tell you the 'bit of insulation' he stuck in isn't going to 'keep the spark from jumping and making the connection' very much longer and he thinks you spending the rest of your life writing two words and accepting awards you don't think much of is a real waste of your time. Boer said tell you the way they got to Hominia was terrific."

"I'm fifty-three."

"In eleven days and still a citizen of Rinder. How much of what the Treaty of Relatross doesn't say have you read? It's very interesting reading."

"So is what the governor did on Nunture."

"He's read one of your texts too."

"I still don't know why me."

"Because Via chose you to be in the marriage when she made the choice to only be in the family and all of us know she's right."

"I think I want to read what section six of the treaty doesn't say again."

"Since we need to get you packed very fast, I'll point out the relevant wording that isn't there."

Boer gave Jobe a hug and he smiled. He was 'dressed like a prince' and barefoot. He was also a bit nervous. Most of them were, not about meeting the emperor, because of all the cams focused on the shuttle hatch. Boer wasn't worried. He'd seen Ganthin and Larim both in the newscam views of the crowd. Ganthin was beside Larim and he did attract them. He led his family out of the shuttle and grinned when Ganthin whooped and ran forward. Larim didn't whoop or run, but he was smiling and walking fast. The marine guard didn't stop them.

Misty grabbed Via's hand and tugged. Ganthin was 'rewriting' and she was sure he knew exactly what he was doing. Via looked at the man behind him and the two ran out of the group together. Boer grinned and changed direction a bit. He completely trusted the rewrite too. He was rather sure Tam had done it. The marine escort didn't 'get lost' either.

"Misty!"

"Ganthin!"

Boer got to them just as Ganthin set Misty back on her feet and kissed her. He cleared his throat and Ganthin looked up and blushed. Boer burst into laughter and gave him a hug. He'd really liked the 'ad-lib.' He watched Via stop in front of Larim, smile, then run into his arms. He looked extremely surprised, but he caught her, turned her face up and kissed her forehead. He noted Boer was a great deal bigger than he was and waiting for the process to be complete to do more was probably wise. She smiled up at him, nodded and they walked, side by side, to where the group had stopped. The cam-ops were delighted. The newscasters were trying to figure out what to say. Audio people focused pick-ups on the governor.

"Gant, it isn't official quite yet. I intend to introduce her to the emperor as part of the family before you change what part."

"I wish we didn't have to wait until official word comes from O'Dona, Boer. It gives my father and mother a great deal more time to think of people to whom to send wedding invitations. Misty, I don't want to wait for your family to come from O'Dona, but we will if you want."

"I don't want to wait for official word to come, Gant. However, it does give me time to find the right gown. You see, Via, I told you he'd be waiting for you."

"And feel as though I have been a very long time, Misty. Boer, tell Anverd I may strangle him the next time I see him. I'd have preferred this be a much more private meeting."

"He's expecting it, Larim, but I don't think he expected you to be... here."

"I decided arguing the point with your large and impetuous young cousin would probably result in my arriving over his shoulder. You've done that to me once and I remember it quite distinctly. I didn't think a second such experience, this time in front of several thousand spectators, was really needed as an anecdote, should I ever write my memoirs. I was very surprised I hadn't read the treaty as carefully as I'd thought."

"I needed them on Nunture, Larim. None of us were expecting what we learned when my bride was healed and could tell us. I don't consider Via no longer in the family, just no longer in the marriage. I really never expected to find a way to get you in the family and I'm delighted."

"So am I, Boer, and completely amazed."

"But still might strangle Anverd when you see him. I want to introduce you both to the others of my family with me, but the emperor is waiting for an introduction to them."

"You, of course, know who the selections are."

"Those O'Dona and Rinder wisely selected because they belong in our marriage, as they wisely selected Misty and Androvia because they were the ones needed to help free the Nunturi. It just... had to take less time than we expected. Yes, I know who."

"We'll go with you."

"I told you he was impetuous, Boer."

"Standard transport for fifteen is four vehicles, Larim. He knows there's room for two more and it will definitely be easier than getting there by private car."

"Oh, I planned on coming along. I just thought a complaint I'm not really prepared for this was in order. I may never be prepared for anything but a court session again. At least I'm sure what the schedule is for them."

"I know it's a surprise it happened this fast, Larim, but I don't plan on a big wedding, not more than about four hundred and not more than about a thousand at the reception on Grainland."

"Via, I think we should discuss our obviously differing view of the relative terms fast and big."

"You agree we did the job on Nunture fast?"

"Definitely."

"You agree this crowd is big?"

"Assuredly."

"It won't be a big wedding."

"I think I just lost an argument."

"I've always loved arguing with people I agree with, Larim."

"It's the only kind one can really have, Via. With those with whom one truly does not agree, one can only agree to disagree."

"Or stop."

"I don't consider oppression of a people as an opinion, or it's immediate halt a debatable point."

"I thoroughly agree."

"And did a superb job of demonstrating it. I read the constitution you constructed for them."

"Misty and I spent a lot of time working on the safeguards in it. Because of what happened there, the people needed them a great deal more clearly stated than in the constitutions of either Rinder or Grainland. Some of them were adapted from those of O'Dona and Dereva because they specifically delineate limitations on personal power. The previous constitution contained clauses which were intended to do that, but were too limited in their scope. The formation of the oligarchy within the bureaucracy wasn't something that just happened. It was carefully planned to take advantage of the limitations of those clauses. It was a real challenge to both give them very strong safeguards and still make it... a framework within which to build their own society, not an imposition of one."

"Yes, there must be 'room to breathe' within a constitution or the society begins to suffocate at the moment of its ratification."

Boer smiled, put an arm around Jobe's shoulders and pulled him in a little closer. He felt him relax a bit when he did. He'd been trying very hard not to 'lean on' him. It was very different than they'd originally expected. He was a hero, not an unknown Nunceon and an oddity, but it was still a very large crowd and a great deal of attention, even if Via and Larim were moving the focus of the cams a bit.

Misty and Ganthin were drawing some of the focus too. The young Imperial Lord and the Lady from O'Dona were hand in hand and not really paying attention to anything else. Imperial society casters were giving background on their families and their cam ops were dutifully recording the inattention to their surroundings. Boer, Jobe, Dirda and Eddy got in the first car waiting for them and three sighed in relief.

"We won't have to run that kind of gamut at the palace. The shuttle port is about as close as the news people can get with just documentation that's who they are. From here on news crews are by invitation only. How did they do, Eddy?"

"Incredible, especially Larim and Via. They made the point she and Misty had been chosen for the task on Nunture extremely well by delineating exactly what that task was. Who wrote the script?"

"My suspicion is Tam gave them an outline and said ad-lib. My favorite piece was the unplanned bit. The toss in the air probably was, but Gant's blush was 'Oops, I got a bit carried away.' The kiss he gave Misty was rather ardent for public, even if he had planned on one."

"They're both so happy and Larim is so surprised."

"Yes, Jobe, he is. They have a very large number of people trying to figure out when they met."

"She's already campaigning for him. Notice the constitution of Grainland was mentioned, Eddy?"

"Yes, Dirda, I did. I thought she managed to fit it in with great skill. Boer, your reputation as a matchmaker may be something you should have mentioned. He didn't really have any doubts."

"I've worked hard not to have a reputation for it, so when I did do it, people didn't, Eddy. I'm not sure that sounded like it made sense, but it's true. I've only played matchmaker twice before. He knows it. I've introduced several people to people I thought they'd like and been delighted when love blossomed, but there were only two couples I was just plain sure belonged together and worked to make sure they met. The other couple is my first captain and her husband of thirteen years. He's my mother's cousin and she let me change her hotel reservations when I told her she wanted to go to Froslea, not Martinsong, for ten days' leave."

"You made sure she was too curious not to."

"It worked. I don't really know what's coming next. Tam is doing re-writes for a reason. We could be rushing off to change into things prepared for us for a very formal presentation or he may head for us to get hugs all around, yell for someone to bring refreshments and lead us into his apartments. I expect something somewhere between, but have no idea how close to either 'end' it will be."

"Hmm, I think the introduction will be informal, but structured, then 'family' and some kind of social occasion to put us in a reception line later."

"Ordinarily I'd agree, Eddy, but he's moving fast to get us out of the cam focus for a reason. He's got something he thinks we're the ones to do. I'm sure of it. Show you why. Comm driver. Bosk, brief us."

"Anverd sent your too-normal selection program to Colonel Loesterreich, Governor. Buzzers went off and flags popped up. Flags don't look concentrated until planetary classification is added to the selection program. What do you want in a ship?"

"I want five of them. I added to Jobe's list and the difficulty. Fast and small here with a crew for Eddy. A nice family-size yacht with a rather large crew for a yacht on Valer. I want a ship with room for us all that doesn't say 'Governor.' It's going to be busy, have about six normally in family quarters and about one hundred forty-two as crew. I want a yacht that screams credits comfortable for about six in extremely luxurious surroundings with a few cabins for guests. I want small, fast and disguised as a reasonably successful luxury goods trader, silk and satin, not gems. The last two have to fit in the third, not dock with it. We'll take care of fast ourselves, but want very good to work from. The two small ships need to have on-planet transport in them."

"I think the fleet may be about to sell some 'surplus' ships. Who do you want to do them?"

"You have an idea?"

"Klosstergan should retire. Tierney Gravis Ship Construction would probably be able to talk her into it if they gave her 'free rein' on ships for you to be done at their Tooverty Station facility. It's not big enough for anyone who wouldn't be working on that project and they'd let her pick her construction crew. They'd also give you a good price because it's not a heavily booked facility and giving it the identity of the place to have a custom refit done will help change that. It's where we can slip in more help and more ships. I think you buy three yachts, but one quietly after she tells you how big it can't be. A charter with luxury and vacation cabins would refit for the one on Valer easily."

"Tell Klosstergan she's retiring. Where?"

"Yarrow and Forester sectors, call it along the border. There are some planets in both that have more 'trade' with each other than one would expect and a trader's association, which seems to be a bit more difficult to join than is usual, has a number of members who make some odd skips in routes. We're passing what we know to Anverd, but that's mainly a feeling you're right about something smelling too well-washed not to be dirty."

"You know who Thomin Prave is?"

"Hale said she couldn't decide whether to yelp or sigh in relief. She said she'd considered asking him to work for us, but wasn't sure we could reassemble Boniface after he hit it. He's scary and totally committed to what he believes, which is why he's scary. The commitment doesn't leave any room for go slowly and carefully. She's been watching him grow up."

"She finds people to be... secret hunters?"

"Basically, Jobe. Bosk works for the non-military intelligence service."

"I'm a spy, but my job is telling the right people what the other spies have learned. I drive a lot of cars."

"Do you know what the emperor plans?"

"Beaming proudly on you for the rest of the people of the empire. It's part of the job. Other than that, it's think on our feet and try to keep up."

"Shopping may take much less time than we had expected, Boer."

"Yes, Dirda, we may be doing it by comp."

"Not baby things, Boer. We will all go together to places where they sell them and buy many, but they will be the right many."

"Yes, Jobe. If you think that's important, I'm delighted to have it as an excuse."

"Eddy will be here, Mim and Nora will be home and we may not be either place. It's important they have your smiles when you held up tiny clothes to remember."

"Ow. Eddy, I want you home to have the baby."

"Ven may not be there either, Boer."

"Ow again, but I still want you there, and far enough in advance the ship crew isn't extremely nervous the whole trip. I'll try to get all of us there in time, but I can't get there for Nora's, here for yours and there for Mim's. If some of us can't be there... Ow. Make lots of recordings."

"Ow."

"Ow."

"I'll make it unanimous. Ow. I'll also make it home in time, unless baby decides otherwise. You know there will be someone on that ship who knows exactly what to do in the event he decides he's waited long enough to see the wide universe. I was like that. There was absolutely nothing wrong with mother or me, but I wasn't due for about eight days. My mother said her doctor told her that was the only possible reason for it and no amount of advance in medicine will ever change expecting ends when baby decides it's time to be born, even if that's sooner than you expected."

"Ven said about the only time you can be sure a baby won't be born is exactly when expected."

"That was probably in her course notes, Jobe, and I mean the ones she took when she was a student. You heard where we are, Bosk."

"Yes, Boer, the only thing that could take priority over the needs of your family right now is the needs of a couple million of them."

"Exactly. Close comm."

### Chapter Eleven

Tam was still rewriting. He was about to change things again and six people were sure of it. He was looking at a point in space about a third-meter from the end of his nose. They were out of ideas of how to move the focus of the cams 'sooner.' They prepared themselves to follow his lead. The various members of family and official guests in the grand hall were preparing as well. They were pretty good, but the six with him in his study were the pros. They were his personal staff.

"Get it done. We know it's coming. The doctor escorts the doctor. Get them here. She's news. She can handle it. Sweet young cousin to Valer isn't, but on the way and they need to get back. Five days and they spend three of them shopping. Terrace tea for family and friends in four. Ball where Lady Relatross-Thiratess shakes hands for them all in twelve. Misty and Via with escorts each side. Formal engagement reception for four. She hosts. Double ceremony in thirty-two days. Larim won't be ready, but he doesn't doubt Boer's right if he's sure, any more than I do. The key quote is: 'The most carefully chosen wording in the Treaty of Relatross is in what it doesn't say.' Credit Misty and O'Dona. They were sure they had the right person for the family, but it wasn't a woman. It says 'marriage must be.' It doesn't say the governor does the consummating, personally. Give Dirda's criteria to Osmandra a bit of careful play. It 'shows' they were obviously assembling a team for the job."

"They're arriving, Highness."

"It's nice I don't have to pretend I'm eager to get out there and meet them. Pay attention, boys and girls. We want this to look like we've known about it all for awhile and my 'romantic streak' has run out of patience."

Boer told his family to "hang on and try to keep up with him" when he saw Tam headed for them. He grabbed Jobe, 'tossed' him on his shoulder and ran. The toss was because Tam was jacketless and in slippers and the run so they'd meet him close to the middle of the sixty-meter-long reception hall.

His 'girls' giggled and ran after. Ganthin ran beside Misty. Larim laughed and ran with them. Via was pulling, and strolling when the emperor was trotting wasn't really appropriate anyway.

"About time I got to meet your family, Cousin!"

"We have been busy, Highness."

"Tam, Boer. I'll be 'Highness' after someone notices I forgot to change shoes. I didn't until I nearly slipped and landed on my ass. Good work, all of you. Let's see, the giggles on your shoulder are Jobe, Dirda, Eddy, Mim, Aura, Nora, Dona, Lou, Barri, Lola, Cal, Misty, Via and you are Li. We have a very large number of people on all the empire worlds who would like to thank you. It's my job when there are so many a person could drown in thanks. The reduction in cost for a patient is too personal to just give a total, but the true aid is in the number of patients who can be treated in the surgical units and heal so much faster than without them. Thank you."

"Well, um, it was pretty personal at the time, but so's a new kind of safety device for a car an engineer comes up with because he wants his kids safer."

"Very true. Hello, Jobe."

"Hello. Thank you for sending Boer to help my people, and for all the teachers and doctors you sent to help him do it, when he learned it was worse than you could have known. They're sure they have an emperor who cares about them and watches over them, and understand how what was happening was hidden from you for so long."

"Thank you. I've lain awake a lot of nights counting the years people suffered and I didn't know anything, but that I had a feeling there was something wrong with reports that said everything was all right."

"Via helped us see where things went wrong and how it got to the point we couldn't do anything about it before we learned we needed to, and we were there. If the empire didn't let worlds govern themselves and just step in when it was sure a people were being oppressed, there would be many worlds looking for ways to get out of it, not just one where people were being oppressed."

"That's just about what I say to myself, but I think remembering you said it will help me get back to sleep sooner. Want a toe ring?"

"What?"

"Among all the stuff that sort of comes with the job is a great deal of jewelry. I had to get an explanation of what some of it was. There are about a dozen toe rings. I guess they were popular at resorts in warm places for awhile, and of course, someone decided the emperor or empress at the time should have some. I know it's totally irrelevant and silly, but I just thought of this one that would look good on one of your toes."

Boer burst into laughter and so did several others. Jobe had wiggled his toes, smiled and nodded. Tam yelled for someone to bring the little toe ring with the sapphire. Boer knew they hadn't moved from the center of the hall for a reason and was rather sure it was all the cams and sound pick-ups pointed in the doors. When Tam turned to Misty and Ganthin and Via and Larim and smiled widely, he had a feeling he knew what was coming, but he still surprised him.

"I usually carefully avoid doing things just because I'm the emperor, but this time I'm not going to. Official notification of the replacement of Lady Misty Haskerty of O'Dona and Fem Androvia Thoradissin of Rinder as advocates for their worlds is in route. The two who have been selected are also in route. Basically, Larim is reasonably patient, but Ganthin is not and I'm going to use him as an excuse. Ladies, the work for which your worlds chose you to be in the governor's family has ended. Misty, your sweet young cousin is on his way to Valer. You and O'Dona are quite right. The treaty does not say the governor has to do the consummating personally, just the marriage must be. You are being replaced, in accordance with the Treaty of Relatross, by your cousin Thomin of O'Dona. Androvia, you are being replaced by Morrisid Torriallim of Rinder. She's on her way here. I declare you replaced and single ladies."

"Yes!"

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Via."

"I thank you as well."

"And I you, Larim. You've been rather patient with this whole thing."

"Thank you."

"You're most welcome, Misty."

"I expect Ganthin will remember to say it when he recovers from that kiss, Tam. If he ever does."

"I'm not sure he will either, Boer."

"Uh, thank you."

"I think I know how Cupid felt. I really like it. Ah, just in time. Boer, I'm going to meet the new member of your family when you do this time. Hello, Doctors. I decided to... move things along. Venida, you're stand-in for Callinsi of Rinder. You present her. Someone record this and get a copy off to them fast."

"Governor Thiretess Boer Hadlain, as stand-in for the delegate for the government of Rinder, I present Rinder's selection for your family, Morrisid Torriallim."

"I accept her. Welcome to the family and our marriage. Tam caught us all by surprise. I thought we were going to do this a bit less publicly."

"So did I, Boer. I'm glad I'm packed. However, I hadn't actually submitted my resignation until this morning. Someone should see if the chancellor of the university is recovering. He was blinking and stuttering when I said find someone to teach my classes. Now."

"He's probably not the only one. Tam, let's do the other acceptance too."

"Good idea, Boer."

"I accept Thomin as O'Dona's selection as their advocate within my family."

"Now, I know he's on his way to Valer and you need to get there before he does, but I think you can stay five days and still get there ahead of him."

"We should and have just enough time to get the furniture in the house before he arrives. We need ships too. I want one here for Eddy and the one we have is a bit big for general purposes. I think a couple yachts, but most aren't set up for our type of family, so we'll have to do some work on them. Morrisid, what do you want us to call you?"

"Tori."

"You decided to let everyone in on it?"

"I think they were about to find out anyway, Boer."

"I'm lost."

"The family all know Morrisid is Tori Morris, Tam."

"Really?! I have a copy of... Since I was about to ask for an autograph, I do understand why you kept it secret."

"You have a copy of one of my books?"

"I have several, including those not by Tori Morris, but The Arrogant and the Blessed is the only one I actually got for myself. Boer gave me his datcubes of the first three in the group."

"Which reminds me, I have to buy library copies. I promised Jast I would when I found out she had them all and asked her to put them in the ship library. She will not consider having you in the family as an excuse. She pointed out it wasn't illegal because it was her 'computer of common use,' but it was unethical, several times."

"She recommended Night Knight for me to read. It was very different from what I had been reading. I really liked it."

"Jobe was why I was hunting them. He learned to read amazingly fast, but everything he was reading was... literature or texts and I decided it was time he found out there are many books that are just plain fun and written for that purpose. Yours fulfill it very well."

"Thank you, Boer. Twice. I'm feeling incredibly smug you gave my books to the emperor."

"Good. That means you probably won't mind autographing one for me."

"For you, but just for you and just one."

"Ooh, I heard sighs of disappointment all over the hall. However, I'm sure they realize that's why you were so specific about just one."

Tam began strolling back toward 'his end' of the hall and the family strolled with him. They were done with what he wanted broadcast by those permitted to point cams and sound pick-ups in the door. Venida got a quick, quiet, brief from Lola as they walked. Morrisid got one from Barri. She told her she was rather pleased to discover she could still think that fast. Barri nodded and told her they'd all been sure she belonged in the marriage and she'd just proved it.

Eddy and Dirda began to lead the family, other than Boer and Jobe, a bit to the side of the center where the throne was located. Eddy had seen a finger crook that direction and they were headed for the person who had 'crooked' it and the room with the open door behind him. She knew he was the emperor's personal secretary. Anverd had made sure she'd recognize all of his personal staff and a large number of others. Boer smiled at Tam and he winked. Jobe noticed all of it.

"Thank your staff, please. Eddy, Nora and Mim say it doesn't bother them to walk far and stand long yet, but I've seen them rub their feet after they said it."

"That was probably more my sister than my staff, Jobe. She's a bit farther along, but has been rubbing her feet awhile. She may also be anticipating telling them everywhere to shop for furniture and clothes for babies. Her husband said they may need a nursery wing, instead of room, to hold everything by the time the baby comes. However, I notice he adds to the accumulation with great regularity. Boer, you're growling at me."

"Breakfast was before orbit, Tam."

"Lavir! They need lunch, not just refreshments! Their day started earlier than ours!"

"Thanks."

"Boer, when your stomach growls, everyone in your immediate vicinity begins thinking about feeding you. We know you won't bite, but we think, 'Oh, big and hungry. Food fast.' I'm sure it's a survival instinct. Besides, it gives us an excuse to run for it in a few minutes. Tori Morris, I'm still stunned."

"I went from 'Huh?!' to 'Who else?' without much stunned between. Like the way she got them to Hominia?"

"I laughed 'til tears ran. 'You may be sure I'm supposed to be dead, but you should realize I, personally, don't have any desire to fulfill that particular expectation.' It was one of the funniest scenes I've ever read."

"I haven't gotten to that one yet. I just started the second of the group. Boer said you can read them out of order, but you get more out of them if you start with how they ended up together."

"She calls them a group, rather than a series, Jobe, because it isn't necessary to read them in order to follow their adventures, but you understand the various cultures of the world and how they interact better if you do. You're right, Boer. One does get to 'Who else?' quickly."

"Which is the main reason she kept it secret, Tam. She applies her knowledge and theories when she builds the various worlds and cultures, but they're not 'exercises' or demonstrations. They're fun for her and intended as the same for others. I remember how surprised you were when I gave you the first one."

"He said, 'Here, have some fun,' and I blinked when I looked at the author's name, Jobe."

"He said the same thing to me. I like reading and I liked the books I had read, but they were pretty serious."

"To that point, fiction had been Melville, Althal, Koperin and Suden. I decided it was time for something very different."

"No doubt. Suden is not just serious, he's rather depressing. However, I do see the chronology and the relevance. Melville wrote at the time many people were still defined as property."

People 'wandered over' and were introduced to Jobe as the discussion of books and authors spread. Tam's court was as informal as he could 'get away with.' The subject told them it was time to relax and mingle. The words 'not in the treaty' were discussed, of course. The ones invited that day knew they were expected to pick up cues and spread information.

They'd all gotten most of what he considered important by the time Lavir told him lunch was ready for them in his apartments and would be ready for the people who were there that day "on business" in the dining room in about a half-hour. It was the cue for those who weren't to leave. There was a great deal of 'gossip' to be disseminated and all of them knew it needed to be done as fast as could be managed.

They spent the afternoon moving Eddy, Misty and Via into a suite in the palace, one that could be a one-to-six-bedroom suite, and adjoined another with four bedrooms that could be 'added' to make it a large apartment for times Eddy's family visited. A small shuttle, which could land in the pretty little courtyard that was shared by the suites, made two trips up to the ship for her things and luggage for the rest. Venida went back up to the ship on the second trip. She had quite a bit of information for Anverd, which hadn't been trusted even to a secure channel, on a datcube in her pocket. She handed it to him and dropped into a chair in their quarters.

"I feel like I've been at a dead run for hours."

"You have been, even if some of it has been mental, not physical. He's doing his best to point the cams away from Boer for good reason, Ven. There's something really odd going on."

"I got that. Show me where."

"Along the empire border, but one has to do this to see that. All nine of those worlds are classified as semi-tech agrarian social democracies. In other words, moving from primarily agra industry to technological. They're all fairly lightly populated as we define moderate. They're also all classified as independent colony worlds. Someone is working on taking a chunk out of the empire and starting with worlds that aren't heavily industrialized or populated and not individually tied to the empire by treaty."

"Social democracies?"

"A bit less 'the government knows what's good for you and will take care of it' than democratic socialisms. It's what most empire democracies really are. A truly egalitarian society is impossible over a certain complexity. Everyone can't know everything about every issue and have an equal say in deciding it. They work to maintain as much equal opportunity as possible, but it is work."

"Yes, it's much harder for the child of a store clerk to get into medical school than it is that of an attorney because parent can pay for supplementary courses or entrance exam tutors. I would have said, 'doctor,' but we lean a bit the other way on that because we do know they have an advantage, medical terminology as part of normal conversation at home if nothing else. I'd think worlds like that would be the least likely to be... pulled out."

"You're quite right and that's what makes me sure there's something disgusting going on. I keep thinking about that lab Thomin shut down when he was a child and the drug they were working on."

"Based on an illegal suggestibility drug. There are four classes of those. I'll get to work on expanding what they theoretically could do, which is why they're illegal. I don't think I'm going to like it."

"We'll read fun books together to keep our perspective."

"She saw what the emperor was trying to do and handed Boer a tool to help with 'We've all known it awhile.' It also reduces the necks craning to see who Thomin is."

"Yes, the fact Misty's 'sweet young cousin' is a fourth-cousin and not a Haskerty or Torassi will come up. After that, he's 'a' Thomin and it's a very common name on O'Dona. She's a much more interesting topic and will be for a long time. She also made it quite clear she's not available for autographs, interviews or anything else."

"I retired from teaching. I'm packed. I'm going home. If you want more books, leave me and my family alone and I might write some."

"We need to get her physical scan in the comp."

"Not yet. She had a tubal ligation twenty years ago. I can fix it in six hours start to scan, but I need her here to do it. She's going to come up here for the night. She has to unpack some things to pack for a few days down there."

"I take it pack was throw things in a box and stomp them down so it would close."

"Just about, but we got everything she really wanted. We started in her study and worked our way outward. I had to remind her she needed clothes. They were not on her 'important' list. Did they get the boxes up here yet?"

"Yes, Urber got them unloaded, on the shuttle and got lift permission before the robo-cab got back out the port gates. From now on, everything coming up gets thoroughly scanned. We've got two ships headed for refit already. One of the nice things about this big, old, slow empire is no one realizes how fast it can actually move."

"Except when the emperor yells the orders."

"Exactly. He's fairly young, but had enough experience with discussion of the fine points of fuel conservation versus haste to yell before the staff meeting when he wants the fleet to move fast, which the troops are making sure lots of people hear when they talk about the job the governor did on Nunture."

"The spies think we have spies."

"We always have had, but most of them were very friendly spies. She didn't really have any doubts once you told her, did she?"

"Very token argument, her age and she hadn't been on Rinder in a long time, even to visit. I said your name and Tori and she knew exactly who I was. She wants to talk to you. I think she's seen something and didn't realize it until she realized why she was the right choice. She is surprised she's excited and wants to be in the marriage, not just the family. She laughed at herself when she realized she'd said, 'when we get home to Valer.' She'd been watching what they were doing on Nunture very carefully. The scan I did do said she's not as 'old' as most women her age. I'm considering not recommending she not have a baby."

"That healthy?"

"Healthy is a relative term. She'd be considered very healthy for a woman a decade younger. She's past her prime child-bearing years, of course, but physically not far past. She's still in the first third of her lifespan."

"Very long life expectancy if you mean over one hundred fifty years."

"One hundred sixty-plus, maybe one-eighty. She accomplished an incredible amount in her first forty. She needed a new beginning, I think, and I'm rather sure she's very aware of it. I watched her get younger as we packed. I also watched her 'move in' on Boer. What the treaty doesn't say is not being considered when it comes to consummating in her case. She was eyeing Jobe speculatively too. I think her position has made her, kept her, celibate for years."

"It has. I didn't look for that, empire intelligence did. No ties and no attachments. I can't remember what famous person I'm quoting, but it goes, 'It's very hard to get to know someone who's telling you who you are.' She has friends, but none really close."

"She didn't. She does now. She and Barri hit mutual understanding in the first exchange of smiles. They're all close friends, but there's a bit of grouping. Dirda and Mim, with Eddy not quite as tightly in the group. She's actually about as close to Misty and Via, which won't hurt since they'll both be on Boniface. Lou and Cal; Aura, Lola and Li; and Nora, Dona and Barri. Add Tori to that one and pair them a bit more. Not best friends or favorites, buddies. I know you've seen it."

"Yes, I have. I worried a bit about Thomin, then decided it was silly. He's going to fit right in, or else."

"Or else?"

"Aura believes in direct methods and a clip to the jaw is a good way to assure someone is paying attention."

"Which she does tell people. After she does, she doesn't have to prove it. Boer can be 'direct' too."

"This is very true. I've only seen him slug one person. A young lieutenant almost got himself killed on a routine training flight. I don't know how. Boer never said and didn't report it. He climbed out of his flyer and he laid him out. When he woke up, he told him he'd had a 'vision' of his mother's face when he told her he was dead. The kid just nodded. He didn't report it either. There was a lot of not reporting of it, even I didn't, and no one talked about it at all. You're the first person I've ever told."

"I'm the first you ever talked to in the bedroom."

"True. I love you and I'm very happy."

"So am I."

### Chapter Twelve

Thomin felt his face and made a decision. As usual, he worked out what would do it and did it. It didn't take long. He was surprised the crew member who brought his dinner yelled for an aid kit. Of course, he hadn't looked in the mirror either. He'd expected a bit of blistering. The compound he used hadn't been carefully constructed to slowly kill the hair follicles over several treatments of several hours. He'd decided he'd never want a beard and gotten rid of it, period. He did admire the petty officer's vocabulary and appreciated the cream she spread on him. Ignoring the burning had been hard work.

She asked him why he hadn't asked for depilatory. He told her he'd had everything to make what he wanted and that wasn't temporary. She impressed him with her vocabulary again, sighed, handed him the container of cream, said, "Every four hours for three days and someone will remind you. That's the only thing we've got that will even probably keep you from scarring," then left.

He decided he'd underestimated the amount of blistering a bit and reworked the formula to see why. The answer he came up with was his skin was more delicate than he'd realized. The formula was correct.

He used the cream as instructed. Scars attracted attention and were more difficult to cover than red hair. It was the only consideration he gave it. He'd have been very surprised to learn the PO cried after she left his quarters and some of it was because she knew it.

Jobe had made the same decision Thomin had, but for a different reason. He didn't like the smell of the twenty-day depilatory, and after fifteen, he looked like he hadn't used it in twenty-one. His beard wasn't all over his face yet, but where he did have it was obvious and it was dark and stiff. When he 'sanded' Lou's face with his four days before he was supposed to use the depilatory, he asked for help.

"Boer, when we shop today, can we get the stuff to get rid of my beard for good?"

"Not really, but Ven can get it for you. She may not want to though, Jobe. You don't even have a full beard yet."

"And Lou doesn't have any skin on her face. I'm not supposed to use the stuff you gave me for four days yet, Boer. I know you can see where it is. Now feel."

"Four days, huh?"

"Yes. It's more obvious sooner every time. I went from, 'It's a whisker!' to 'I'm beginning to actually have a beard,' to 'Oh, Lou, I'm sorry,' before I ran out of the first tube of it."

"I don't have really noticeable in twenty. I have the comp remind me. I spend ten minutes, wipe, rinse and do it again when the comp reminds me. I never really considered perm because it's expensive and takes several treatments, usually by a doctor, though there are places with licensed professionals who aren't doctors where you can get it done."

"You don't even know anyone who had it done?"

"I probably do, but I don't know who, other than not several who have worn beards, mustaches or long sideburns at some time. Are you sure you won't want to?"

"I think it's a much smaller possibility than I'm going to spend about five days of twenty hiding and avoiding bumping soft skin. Lou actually needs something for hers."

"Comm emperor's apartments. Tam, it's Boer."

"You sound worried, Cousin."

"Not really, but I don't know what to do. Jobe looks like he should have used depilatory a couple days ago and has four to go. He's upset Lou's face needs treatment because his does. He wants perm removal and I know we haven't got it on the ship. He convinced me, so he can probably convince Ven. Meanwhile, I've got one who's thinking of hiding because his, still a bit splotchy, beard is obvious and one who's probably pretending her face isn't burning. Help?"

"Karr just put the name of a product in front of me and Lavir is headed your way with something he grabbed out of the med kit. Thank you, Karr. The info file on the product says not within fifteen days of temporary. It takes off the beard during the treatment series. It's a pretty long one, eight treatments, but that may be worth using this one rather than one of the ones that only take five. I've got a comparison. Yes, the others are wait twenty-two days after temporary removal. I can get it for him and a doctor to do the first treatment, but I think yours would be upset."

"Probably. Get enough for me too. I've grown a mustache and beard once. I won't do it again. Temp works fine for me, but I don't like the smell and I have the comp keep track so I don't have to. Since I can afford it, I might as well do it and be done with it. I'll talk to our doctor."

"I think I'll order for three. I don't like the smell either. This one doesn't have the disadvantage of having to put up with the beard while you get rid of the beard, which is basically why I never had it done before. It's been on the market about a half-year. I'm a bit surprised I hadn't heard about it."

"Three more treatments is three more clinic bills to pay for it, Tam. Men who have beards like Jobe's do it for the same reasons he gave, but looking like they're trying to grow a beard while they're getting rid of it is probably less disadvantage than the additional cost."

"I'm spoiled. I know it. Yipe! Karr just pointed out additional cost isn't just additional treatments. You're paying for enough for two."

"Tell Mim how much. By the way, Jobe really likes his toe ring, but it makes him giggle a lot. The girls like it too and his toes are ticklish. Out."

Ven was much easier to convince than Boer had expected. She knew about the product Karr had recommended and Cal had added, "Lou's cheeks look peeled." to Boer's request. Jobe's wince when she said it was a good argument as well. She took a shuttle down and did three treatments. Tam hadn't used depilatory for eighteen days and Boer for nineteen. She set up the rest of Tam's treatments with his regular physician and checked Lou's face and what Lavir had brought her while she was there, then she checked the rest of her.

"You're pregnant."

"I had a feeling I was, but I'm not late yet."

"Jobe's?"

"Yes. Boer knew I wanted his and sort of... helped."

"I don't think I'll ask for an explanation of that, but I think I will do a scan on everyone while I'm here. Besides, I want to see his and Boer's faces when you tell him."

"I haven't exactly figured out how to do that yet."

"Why?"

"They're going away. Adding another to the ones they're worrying about just... "

"I know, but it will also make both of them very happy, especially Boer."

"I'll tell them."

"Everyone in here! I want current scans on all! Boer, everyone!"

Boer wanted to know why everyone. Lou smiled and told him, so Ven could see their faces when she said she was going to have Jobe's baby. Then Dirda's scan showed pregnant and she said she was going to have "someone's." It was the perfect answer and a very happy group who went shopping that day. It was their last. The next day was the emperor's tea. They'd leave the day after. They had nothing left on their list but baby things. They'd even found the yachts they wanted. Three hours into the shopping trip, Boer looked at Dirda, not the little outfit she was holding.

"I feel strange."

Aura caught him, Jobe grabbed and lifted and fourteen ran. Dirda commandeered a flyer at the loading dock and yelled for help on the comm while Aura lifted it. They raced for the palace. The ship landed. There was just enough 'open space' on the palace grounds. There hadn't been at the port. Too many ships would have had to be moved. They got him to Ven in medical section seven minutes after he'd suddenly swayed. She put the diagnostic scanner on full search. She expected allergic reaction, but it wasn't there.

"He's been poisoned! Help me get him in the surgical unit!"

Aura, Nora, Dirda, Eddy and Li stripped Boer as Jobe lifted him. Ven set the controls while he put him in the unit. Seven-and-a-half minutes.

The emperor ran into the ship and Jast led him to medical. She kept up with him. When he got there, he just sat down on the floor with the others. There was nothing they could do but wait. Ven sat down beside him a few minutes later.

"It's a household poison, not an assassin's tool, but it's been concentrated. He's got a scratch on his hand. Dirda said he reached into a rack of baby clothes and jerked his hand back not long before he collapsed. Anverd has the store security recordings. He said there was a person on the other side of the rack, male, but facing away from the cam. He's going through all the rest of the recordings looking for a match, but has a suspicion the brown jacket came out of a bag and went down a disposal chute. He still has hopes he'll find something."

"How long before we know?"

"Hours before we're sure, but I think he's going to make it. Believe it or not, the treatment I gave him earlier today helped."

"Helped?"

"One of the compounds to reduce allergic reaction, if there was one. If he wasn't so big, it still would have killed him before they got him here, but it slowed it just enough to get him in there. Right now it's a contest of speed between the poison and the unit. I'm betting on Li and giving odds. She's got the best 'pit crew' ever assembled."

"It didn't occur to me he'd be in danger yet, Ven."

"Tam, it didn't occur to Anverd either. This was... shopping three days and an opportunity to get rid of a man who's already shown he could be dangerous. Anverd says the person doesn't know enough about Nunture to realize there just aren't any 'disgruntled former bureaucrats' or Turons running around. Jobe's the only person from that world not on that world, but some credits moved off of it into Yarrow sector."

"I trust his speculations more than most physical evidence. By the way, the ship is sinking, but I don't think I'll need a ladder to get off it in several hours. This is pretty solid ground beneath what used to be the Imperial Terrace Gardens. No one's going to complain, including the gardeners. However, the people at the terrace tea will not have the option of strolling through them or sitting on the lawn. Should I cancel it?"

"If he makes it seven hours, he'll make the tea. He'll sit through it, but he'll make it."

"Has Jobe moved?"

"No, on his knees beside it with both hands on it since we closed it, which was only a few minutes ago, but I expect he'll still be there when we get ready to open it."

"It's going to be a very long day, probably the longest I've ever experienced."

"Considering what some of yours must be like, that's saying a lot."

"He's my best friend. I always wished I could be his. An emperor can have a best friend, but he can't be one. I'm very glad he has one now."

"Tam, who are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"An emperor can have a best friend if he's married to her. Who are you waiting for?"

"I don't know. I do know I haven't met her yet. Met a lot of women I'd have liked to get to know better, at least in some ways, but not the right one."

"Tam, are you saying... "

"Yes. I've never shared a bed with anyone. Or a couch, or a corner... I'm a forty-six-year-old virgin. There are women who I know would never speak of it, but that's not really enough. I haven't given up hope yet. Boer hasn't met everyone yet."

"And he has a perfect record. Larim is a very surprised and happy man."

"Yes, he is. Fight, Cousin. The universe, the species, the empire, your emperor and your family need you."

Jobe stayed on his knees beside the unit with both hands on it. Ven just shook her head when Harmon brought food for them and nodded toward him. None of them ate much, but they moved around a bit. Then suddenly, more than an hour before Ven had expected it, the unit began to drain. She checked the scan, smiled and told Jobe he had to move. The chorus of cheers was very loud in the fairly small area, but she didn't mind that her 'eyes were crossed' at all.

"He's going to be very sticky. He's also going to be a bit weak. I didn't set it for full restoration, just get rid of it and fix damage. Jobe, I know you proved you can carry him, but I think a couple more to get him out and rinsed is reasonable. You're going to feel those muscles you used putting him in it. I still don't have a medical explanation for why they aren't strained."

"Because he needed it, Ven. He and Aura carried him to the flyer."

"I said medical explanation, Dirda. There isn't one for why there was a flyer big enough for you all at the loading dock either."

"I want to help."

"Warm water that way, Tam."

Boer woke while they were rinsing him off. They knew how weak he was when he started to raise up, then just laid his head back across Tam's arm.

"What happened?"

"Someone tried to get rid of you before you became a problem, Cousin. He underestimated your size, family, ship, doctor and how much fate likes you. Ven said the treatment we all had earlier slowed the poison just enough to get you here and in the unit. I'm sending an invitation to tea tomorrow to the young woman who leapt out of her employer's flyer, which was just about to leave the store loading dock, too. I thought of ordering a massage for the muscles Jobe used moving you from the diagnostic bed to the surgical unit, but I think there are several who intend to give him one. They're all here."

"I can feel Jobe's hands. I... felt him holding me."

"He did. His hands may have been on the outside of the unit, but we all knew he was holding you for all of us for about six hours, more than an hour less than it should have taken to clear the poison."

"Jobe?"

"I'm here, Boer."

"I knew you were. I knew all of you were. Did you... feel one who isn't here?"

"Yes. I felt many, but I know the one you mean. I think... Misty found him for us."

Thomin laid on the bed in his cabin and stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what had happened, but he had no doubt something had. He'd helped fight some kind of battle. He was sure of it. He was very tired. He fell asleep smiling. He knew they'd won.

Tam told Anverd to leave the ship where it was for the night. It had stopped sinking and he thought the family would be more comfortable in their quarters on it. He said he also had a feeling there wouldn't be many on it if they moved Boer back to the palace for the night, so it could lift. Anverd told him he'd tell the marines they wouldn't need their watch kits that night.

### Chapter Thirteen

Boer was still a bit weak the next morning, but obviously recovering fast. Ven explained that the unit had "cleaned everything that wasn't a living cell" out of him, and though it had replaced essential salts and minerals, he was in about the same condition as he would have been if he'd had an influenza that "emptied your stomach from both directions for about three days." He told her he'd never had one that did that, but he'd had one that lasted a day and the estimate felt right.

The young woman, who had just gotten out of their way when Dirda yelled they needed the flyer, asked permission to land it, on the mound of dirt that had been dumped in the depression where the ship had been, about two hours before the tea was scheduled to begin. Tam gave it. When she landed, she opened the bay doors and requested assistance. She'd brought a whole load of sod and flowering plants from the community where she lived. She worked for a nursery there and had been delivering blooming flowers in small pots for the tables of the cafe in the store the day before. She'd had the big flyer because the small one was in use to deliver cut flowers to a florist. Tam watched her working with a large number of very pleased gardeners through the terrace windows a few minutes, then turned to Boer. He'd decided they should watch.

"I have... an odd feeling I know her."

"Did you read the security report on her?"

"No, just told Lavir to make sure she was invited. I really didn't have any doubts she'd pass the security check."

"Do you know her name?"

"No."

"It's Denthi Mira Bosmore, though the family doesn't use Denthi on anything but birth records."

"She's a Lady!"

"From a branch of your great-grandfather's family who have meticulously, and successfully, avoided being stuck with any titles or positions for about two hundred years. Anverd brought me the report before we left the ship. She was eighteen and got her license to fly yesterday morning. He said a fault in the watering system in the store, which caused a yell for fresh plants fast from a nursery they didn't usually deal with, because the one they did was out of the right color flowers, a flyer right where we needed it, a young Lady from a discreet branch of the extended imperial family with a new license, and a few more coincidences, made him nervous, but he felt like giggling, not checking the charge on his weapons. Go get your knees dirty."

Tam's security guards yelped when he dashed out the doors, but Boer stopped them from following.

"Halt! Don't go out there, Captain."

"Yes, Governor. May I ask why?"

"It's damn difficult to get to know a woman with eight security guards watching to see she doesn't use a trowel as a weapon, or with three hundred people asking if her parents are important enough for the emperor to be talking to her. Give him some time to be himself with her. You know she's been thoroughly checked out or that flyer would not be out there. Comm Lady Relatross-Thiretess' quarters. Eddy, this is Boer. Is Dirda there?"

"We're all here, Boer."

"Dirda, Tam found his empress. He's getting his knees dirty and getting acquainted. We've got about a half-hour to find everything the applicable imperial statutes don't say before several hundred people start proposing more politically suitable candidates, now that he seems to be interested in having one. By then, he'll be sure she's the right one and so will she. Figure out some way to get them married before the tea."

"Boer, that may not be possible. The form of imperial marriage is about set in stone."

"Imperial marriage!"

"Boer, Tori has an idea. She just shoved Lola in front of the comp. Jobe's on his way to you. He said you might need feet. Out."

"Boer?!"

"Here, Jobe! Look out the doors."

"I knew it! It had to be her! She was out of the flyer and extending the dock... thing to the open flyer bay when Dirda yelled we needed it. I was sure she was doing it for us. She yelled the key code and started the dock thing back as soon as we got across it."

"The thing is called a 'loading ramp.' Anverd said he felt like giggling when he showed me the security report on her and how she happened to be there just when we needed her this morning. He told me Ven made a wish for Tam last night and he had a feeling something had gone to work on granting it before she made it. I was sure he was right when she showed up early to help fix the mess the ship made before the tea. That flyer was stuffed. She had to be at work on getting it stuffed before she got the invitation."

Jobe's feet were needed. Aura ran into the room, talked to Boer quiet and fast, then she ran one way and Jobe ran another. The answer was Boer could do it, but they had to get his authority on record fast and before 'anyone' found out about it. His double title of Imperial Prince and Relatross Sector Governor was enough to make it stick, if they worded it just right. He couldn't marry the emperor to someone, but he could marry "Imperial Prince Thiretess Tam Modentiss" to his Lady of choice and Tam still officially bore that title.

His bride would be his princess, not his Empress Conjugal, which was the official title. That required a coronation. That was what Tori had seen. Imperial marriage was very carefully defined as such and all but the marriage itself, which was a relatively short part at the beginning of it, was exactly the same coronation that took place when the emperor or empress was already married when coronated, and it was always after that one. The time an emperor was married to a princess, or an empress to a prince, before it took place could not exceed a quarter-standard-year, but there was nothing that said that quarter-year limit began when the emperor or empress was coronated.

Mira was very attracted to the older man who had come out of the palace to help lay sod and plant flowers. She knew he wasn't a gardener. His hands would have told her that if the narrow circlet around his head hadn't. She was sure she'd seen him before. He looked very familiar. Suddenly she realized who he was and nearly dropped the plant she was carrying. He stood, took it from her and set it on the ground.

"I want to kiss you. If you allow it, you'll know I've never kissed a woman before. A cousin taught me how when I was about thirteen, but I've never practiced."

"Neither have I, but you're a lot more overdue for it than I am."

"Do you believe in fate? Or destiny?"

"No, but I don't think they pay any attention to whether I believe in them or not."

"Will you marry me?"

"What?"

"Will you marry me? I've been waiting for you a very long time. Should I get on my muddy knees to ask?"

"Marriage is... quite a bit farther than I'd gotten. I was still working on you want to kiss me."

"Do you feel you should say no? Not think, feel. We don't have much time, Mira. The moment I kiss you, several thousand people will begin constructing their arguments for the woman they think is the appropriate choice as my wife. I've avoided having to listen to them before this by just not being interested in the subject. I don't want the appropriate woman for my position. I want the right one to share my life. I'm very sure that's you. I'm also sure you can feel you are. Stop thinking about it. Feel how sure you are. Will you marry me?"

"Yes."

Boer saw Tam kiss Mira and yelled, "Now!" across the comm. People ran into the solarium from all over the palace. A great many others watched them run and tried to figure out what was going on. Imperial Guards were suddenly quite thick in the direction the people had run. They were smiling, but they definitely didn't look like they were going to move out of the way or answer questions. Tam and Mira were both still dizzy from the kiss when Boer yelled out the terrace doors.

"Tam! Move fast!"

He grabbed Mira's hand and they ran for the doors. The head gardener grabbed people and told them to get in front of them and pretend they were Imperial Guards. There were people coming around the side of the palace. She made a "close the drapes" motion with her arms as she ran toward them. Lavir slapped the polarizing control and Karr ordered the chandeliers on. Dirda grabbed Mira's hand and pulled her one way and Jobe grabbed Tam's and pulled him the other. Instant changing booths of blankets appeared around them and people went to work getting them changed fast.

Dirda smiled as she dropped the dress her mother had chosen for her marriage over Mira's head. She'd found just the right occasion for it, after all. It took Eddy about a half-minute to apply very subtle shading to her eyes and lips and Tori finished brushing her long, light brown hair at the same time. Dirda's slippers didn't fit as well as the dress had, but Misty's did. The blankets on both sides of the room were dropped at almost the same instant. Larim escorted Mira and Via escorted Tam to the center of the room where Boer waited.

Tam looked a bit surprised when Boer asked him, "Prince," if Mira was his "Lady of Choice as spouse," but he smiled and said, "Yes." Boer asked Mira if Tam was her "Lord of Choice." She took a deep breath, then said, "Yes." Lady and Lord of Choice were only used when weddings were between branches of the imperial family. He had been asked first as the one who was 'nearest' the throne, but she had been asked as equal, not if she accepted his choice. She was very pleased she was marrying the man, not the emperor. She was also quite sure the people around her had chosen the specific ceremony for precisely that reason. She was trying to remember how it went when the governor told them to make their pledges to each other.

"Mira, I pledge my love to you. I pledge I will be faithful to the word and spirit of the marriage vows. You are my choice as spouse and companion for all my life."

"Tam, I pledge my love to you. I pledge I will be faithful to the word and spirit of the marriage vows. I pledge I will always listen when you need to share your burden and seek to lighten it with understanding, even when you cannot speak of it. I pledge I will bear your children, love them as I do you and share the joy of them with you. You are my choice of spouse and companion for life."

"By the authority of my rank and title of Imperial Prince by birth and the rank and title of Sector Governor bestowed by the emperor, I declare Imperial Prince Thiretess Tam Modentiss and Lady Denthi Mira Bosmore married under imperial statute. In keeping with that statute, I give the Lady her name and title, Imperial Princess Thiretess Mira Denthi-Bosmore, to be known as Imperial Princess Mira. In keeping with custom, seal your pledges with an embrace and kiss."

Mira started to giggle during the kiss and Tam 'caught' them. Their witnesses and guests cheered.

"Oh, Tam, it just occurred to me, I should tell my mother I'm not going to be home for dinner. I have a suspicion she won't believe me when I tell her it's because I got married, and I'm just sure she won't if I tell her to who."

"Comm connect Bosmore residence, Glendon Valley. Identify origin of call."

"Bosmore residence."

"Hello, Mira said she should tell you she won't be home for dinner. I called to invite your family to join us for it at twenty and ask permission to call you 'Mother.' I just married your daughter."

"What?!"

"I asked her and she said yes. Computer, add two-second visual of room, then full-length view of speaker and companion. I'm sure you understand why the engagement was extremely short. I'm not inviting you to the tea this afternoon because I hope to become friends and I'm sure you would not find it enjoyable. I'll have the flyer returned and send one for your family at nineteen-thirty, if you accept. It's just going to be family at dinner, very casual. Of course, my cousin's family is larger than is usual. I love Mira. I knew she was the one I've been waiting for my whole life the moment I saw her. If she hadn't known it as well, we would not be married."

"Well, she's certainly dressed for an imperial wedding. We'll be ready at nineteen-thirty, but I doubt my husband or her brother are going to believe me when I tell them where we're going. I don't think I'll tell them why until we're on the way. I'll let you call me Mother, Tam, but I'd prefer Mom."

"We'll see you a bit before twenty, Mom. Out. Come on, Mira. We've got about two hours before we have to face a great many people who are going to be just as surprised and much less pleased than your mother."

"Tam, be late. We'll deal with them for awhile first."

"Thank you, Boer!"

"Mira! We'll send another gown!"

"Thank you!"

"Boer, sit down."

"Thank you, Jobe. I needed someone to say that."

"You need a nap. Lay down on the couch."

"Yes, Nora."

"Jobe, you stay with him. We'll deal with the uproar for awhile."

"We'll help, Dirda."

"Thank you, Lavir. If you know of anyone else coming who will, tell Eddy."

"There are actually quite a few. We'll put together a list for her."

"He's asleep already. It tired him out, but it made him very happy."

The tea began as an argument with refreshments. Anverd and Ven had been invited and arrived shortly after it started. They were just in time to see a group 'move in' on Boer and begin to loudly tell him just what they thought of his "outrageous overstepping" and "dilatory influence" on the emperor. Anverd winced when Aura, Jobe and Lola headed for them from one direction and Barri, Nora and Tori from the other, but he grinned. Ven was 'steaming' their way too and she was going to get there first, and with this bunch, she wielded more weight as premier surgeon in the empire than they did as Boer's family.

"That's enough! Your 'careful consideration and appropriate choice' shit has assured your emperor stayed celibate since puberty! If Boer hadn't flat ignored you and your stupid and petty ancestor counting, he'd have stayed lonely as well! He knew if he even talked to a woman you'd all begin nattering about who he should marry because of this, that or the other political reason and he'd hear it day after day for years! They married for the only right reason there is and Boer wouldn't have married them for any other! I have absolutely had it! If you don't shut your fat mouths and leave him alone, I'll have you pitched out of the palace because you're badgering my patient with the intent of exhausting him physically and emotionally!"

"Yea, Doctor. My turn. If you give Tam or the wonderful young woman who's going to make him happy any trouble, I shall tell people exactly what I think of each of you. You're prime examples of one of the major difficulties of maintaining the ideal of a working aristocracy. You have no personal value to yourselves other than noble birth and, therefore, make judgment of the value of all others on that basis. Frankly, no one in the empire gives a damn who your ancestors were. If you haven't done something to prove you're as good at the job as they were, they don't remember your names now and certainly won't after you're dead."

"Just who do you think you are?"

Boer burst into laughter and a large number of others felt for chairs. One of the group grabbed the woman's elbow and steered her away fast. She'd just made anything they had to say laughable and ended any real argument. When Tam and Mira walked onto the terrace about a half-hour later, people applauded, then cheered when both blushed. Tam thanked them and they headed for Boer.

"What happened?"

"Ven and Tori and Lady Ganfory's absolute assurance if she wasn't in attendance it wasn't important. She asked Tori just who she thought she was and I wasn't the only one who cracked up by several dozen. I wish my mother had been here to see it."

"Your mother may not be pleased with me for sending you away before she and your father get back from Costain. They haven't seen you in awhile."

"I know, but I was on Boniface for several years and the only time I really saw them was here. Make sure they meet Eddy for me."

"I think making sure will consist of yelling a warning to her your father is out-distancing his escort to her quarters and your mother only looks like she's not moving as fast. It's absolutely painful to you to leave her here."

"I knew it would be, Tam, but I feel better about it than I did. She's going to have six very good friends here, not just you."

"There's no way we can keep her from missing the rest of you, Boer, but she will be busy."

"You look tired."

"I am, Mira. Admitting that keeps me from having to admit I'm just plain weak. Here comes Jobe with more food to stuff me. I think he checks with Ven to see what should be on every plate, Aura checks it after he fills it and adds a bit, then Nora adds some. I think they all watch to see I eat all of it. My only complaint is this is the third plate of good food and the toilet still seems like a long way away."

"Hello, Mira. We didn't actually meet. I'm Jobe."

"You're adorable. I've heard that said many times the past three days and several before that. You're also very strong. You were moving fast with a big load yesterday."

"And you're very much some of the reason I'm here to be a load again. Jobe, I'm sure I can make the toilet on my own, but I just plain want to lean on you a bit."

"I thought those three glasses of punch you had were going to start you thinking about how far it was."

"Jobe, he doesn't have to come back. How much is he not enjoying it?"

"I think he said hello to everyone he really wanted to, Tam."

"I'm not so weak I can't sit in a chair."

"I'm sure you're not, Boer, but you think of this as work, not fun, and you definitely did a full day's worth already. Tam, keep them company. Take his plate along. Find him a comfortable quiet spot, close to a toilet, where a few people you're sure he'd enjoy talking to can find him. I'll make a dash for the girls, Boer. I'll be fine until he gets back. I'd really prefer you build a bit of strength today and not be exhausted when I introduce you to my family at dinner this evening."

"Tam, I just ran out of argument."

"That's my princess. What are you doing?"

"Signaling Eddy I'm about to run for her. See you in a bit, my prince."

Tam headed in with Boer's plate and Mira headed for Eddy. Boer watched his girls assemble as 'back-up' for the two of them and Ven, Anverd, Via, Larim, Misty and Ganthin move their direction before he got all the way out of the chair. He smiled, shook his head and leaned a bit on Jobe as they walked through the doors.

"Jobe, I don't believe in destiny and I'm sure it's laughing with me about it."

### Chapter Fourteen

Leaving Eddy hurt. They shared their last night together and Boer stayed with her until it was time for them to leave. As soon as they reached safe distance, they initialized FTL drive and raced for Tooverty Station. They spent eleven days there changing drives and control systems on five ships. They left seventy-five marines. Five took the small yacht, which was first to be completed, to Eddy on Boniface a few hours after they left the station. Thirty-five would bring the larger one to Valer and would be about two days behind them. Forty would bring the 'big' ship, with the two smaller in it, when they were done, about three additional days.

The addition of a large number of skilled people for several days would make the job of refitting five ships, one of them a much greater task than they wanted anyone to know, seem to be a rather quickly done job on three. They would move the medical section 'assembly' from the official governor's ship when it reached Valer. They made orbit and began unloading five days before the ship from O'Dona bringing Thomin was due.

Boer leased a pad at the port for the yacht, then hired a company to build a shuttle pad on the estate. He chose another to build a 'cottage' for Ven and Anverd and convert a quarter of the barn to quarters for six marines. He thought about it awhile, then bought a small apartment complex nearing completion on the outskirts of Brossom for the marines. If they were all home, it would be pretty full, but he wanted them to have homes, not live on the ships. How they shared the forty-eight two bedroom apartments and duty rotations were up to them. He told them, if they got married and had children, he'd add condos and a playground to the complex because he was sure that would be less expensive than separate quarters allowance.

They started working on who would be 'roommates' and 'timeshare' as soon as he told them. He asked Mim how they were doing on credits and she giggled. He decided he didn't need to worry and ordered furniture for the apartments. The merchants of Brossom became a great deal less disappointed the family had shopped for the house on Boniface.

'Both' their ships arrived before the one bringing Thomin did. Valer traffic control directed it to where most of the family and all the marines were moving from huge ship to big one. When they contacted the ships, they got a yell of welcome from Urber.

"Boer, he's here! Pick a hatch on the monster, Captain. Boer arranged a pad at Brossom Port and ten days R and R for you and your crew at Crystal Lake Resort, but he's been anticipating Thomin's help with moving some things up here. He said, if you can't stay the full ten, he'll understand, but you need a minimum of five and the ten is paid for."

"We'll take the ten. It's been a long trip."

"Has for us too, but this ship isn't a courier and the one we're moving things to is designed for us. Of course, we also have a nice apartment complex being finished and furnished for us on Valer. I'm bragging we're spoiled."

"I can understand why. We'll take the center port hatch. It looks easy and we're suddenly in a hurry."

"Good choice. The members of the family up here are working in the area."

Jobe ran for the hatch. He was the one they could 'spare' at the moment. The rest were carefully disassembling the surgical unit and Boer had yelled, "Of course now! Jobe, get him here fast so he sees why we weren't there!"

He got there just as the hatch cycled and five marines grinned. They'd known how busy the family was and made sure it was 'covered,' but been rather sure one of them would get there. They were also there to move Thomin's gear to the other ship. It came off first, then the captain handed him the copy of the presentation. Jobe told her the acceptance had been done on Boniface and was on its way to O'Dona by imperial courier. The captain said she was now sure they had time for ten days at the resort. Her eyes told Jobe her hopes for their passenger and he smiled. When Thomin walked through the hatch, Jobe dashed for him and gave him a hug. He was very surprised, but didn't dodge it.

"That's from everyone. I'm the only one here because all the rest on the ship are about to their hips in circuits that can't even be jiggled a little. We're in the process of disassembling the medical section and moving it to the other ship. Captain, Boer said have a good time. Mim made arrangements with the resort so you can use your credit accounts before a bank transfer is complete in case you want to shop or something. Sorry for the rush, but Thomin is needed and Boer yells for my little body when his shoulders won't get in far enough his hands can reach."

"We're in a bit of a rush ourselves. Thank the governor for us."

"I will. Thomin, your things went to the other ship. I know there are probably tools you'll want in them, but your hands and skill are needed right now and someone will shove tools in them."

"Where's Anverd?"

"Up to his hips like everyone else in the family. Oh, family includes Misty, Via, their new husbands, Ven and Anverd and the marines. Marriage is the fifteen of us."

"He made sure I came."

"Drafted you. We all patted him on the back for it. Something really odd is happening in Yarrow and Forester sectors. Ven's working on a hunch Anverd had. He said he kept thinking about the drug research you stopped when you were nine when he looked at sector maps."

"What?"

"Nine of the least likely planets to want out of the empire are being targeted to be pulled out. The conclusion is someone is doing something to them. Anverd drafted you for your skills, but the reason is you belong in the marriage. They're part of that reason because they're part of you. You look like hell. The trip was damn long and the only time you really felt like you were coming home was when you helped us hang onto Boer when he was poisoned. We all felt you helping. I'm sure you know you did."

"Yes."

"Maybe another reason you belong is your idea of conversation is very short statements and one word answers. When the girls all get going, that's about all we get in anyway."

Jobe whooped and ran down the corridor. He'd surprised Thomin 'into' a smile. Thomin ran after him. It was either run or get left behind and probably lost. He nearly ran into a woman over two meters tall. He blinked twice before his mind identified her as Aura.

"Ooh, you are a pretty man, but you definitely need some muscle to keep from wearing out about halfway through the night. We'll take care of that though. Li is under that unit and anyone else who fits far enough under to help doesn't know what they're doing. She's got the tools you need."

"Tommy, hurry! This thing is about to drop on me! We need to get it disconnected and slow the fall or we'll be rebuilding it!"

He blinked and dove under the unit where the cute voice had come from. Aura grinned and winked at Jobe. He smiled widely and dashed for Boer when he yelled, "My damn shoulders don't fold far enough!" He grinned when Jobe slid 'under' him.

"Gently turn that to the right, but just loosen. I could get the wrench on it, but I couldn't turn it when I got it there. Tommy."

"I think it will help. He blinked when he almost ran into Aura's chest, then Li yelled for him and he stopped thinking about what he was doing here and went to work learning why. Loose."

"Now the one opposite it the same. We want all six loose before we take any out."

"He asked where Anverd was and I gave him a quick definition of family versus marriage and a ten-word brief on his ugly hunch. He was mad. He knew he helped, but not do what. It surprised him how mad it made him when I told him. Loose."

"One on the bottom next. Take your pick. The one opposite on top, then bottom, last one and go back to where you started to take them out. We were sure he did. Yes, Tommy, we're talking about you! Li, how you doing?!"

"Lots better, Boer! I think Tommy would really like to take the whole thing apart and see what every piece does! I do understand! I've got all the specs on it and I'd like to! He's cute and warm, girls! And he has nice hands! Oh, and turns a pretty pink!"

"Yell, 'Help,' Tommy! Jobe and I do!"

"Help!"

"Welcome to the family, marriage and home, kid!"

"Where is he, Aura?!"

"Under the unit with Li, Lola. Grab that end of this thing. We want to move it carefully over there. Lift slow and easy. Now left. Down easy and lean it up. Good. Boer, Garis and I need your muscle on the frame."

"Damn. Lola, Jobe is going to need another hand to keep the plate he's loosening from hitting him in the face when he gets the bolts out. Can you get far enough in to brace it without laying on him?"

"Without?"

"He has to be able to move around and he might forget what he was doing, too."

"Well, less fun than it sounded at first, but... Yes, Boer, I can get a hand on it."

"Somebody take this! Tommy's holding the bottom up and it's heavy and still connected!"

"Jast!"

"Got it, Aura!"

"I'm glad Ven's overseeing reassembly on the other ship. I've got a feeling she'd be yelping about every twenty seconds if she was here."

"Maybe ten, Boer. That's it for the top. Everything else is underneath."

"Garis, tell them we've got tiptoe that needs muscle to move."

"Yes, General. Sorry, Governor."

"Forgiven. We're still learning how strong the habit is. You and I have more years of it than most of the others. I'd say, 'just Boer,' but I think you and Issidi would stutter."

"Probably. Comm deck four. Tharn, get your squad here to move the panels and upper frame."

"Yes, Sergeant. Garis."

"Maybe we should just give up, Garis."

"Do an 'equivalent' chart and change the titles officially. The structure makes sense or liner crews wouldn't have titles. Adapt one of theirs. A sergeant is a tech chief and a squad is a tech crew or some such."

"Good idea, Tommy. We were trying to get away from the military titles specifically because they are military. I want to get rid of the feeling of rank and replace it with job too. We're doing pretty well on that with officers, but not troopers. Lola, grab who you need and see what you can come up with."

"Lola! That's not what he meant!"

"I know, Jobe, but it was just too good to pass up."

"Help!"

"Lola, he's not going to notice that plate is about to fall on his face if you keep that up."

"I've got a hand on it, Boer. I just had one empty."

"Had being the operative term."

"You gave her the job, Boer."

"Yes, Aura, and I do know the only time she doesn't get distracted is when she's doing a library search."

"That's it! Somebody get that thing off Tommy before it flattens him!"

"Hold the plate, Lola! I'm the only one here with more muscle than Li who'll fit! Yipe! Boer, we'll try to pass it out, but you may have to move the unit off us!"

"Aura! You're right! I need more muscle!"

"Got it. Holy... You two are going to be sore."

"I already hear the spa calling, Boer. That's one of the nicest things about the house, Tommy. It was so nice, Boer had one built in the other ship and hunted a yacht with one in it, but it's a small one."

"I hunted one big enough for six, Jobe. That one said it was."

"It will be, Boer. Jobe and I are small enough to squeeze in with you and Aura and two middle-size people."

"That's you and Lola, Tommy. The six of us are basically the forward party, with the three of us being the physical investigators."

"Now wait a minute, Boer."

"Aura, I'm outsize, but women don't trip over their feet and run into each other when they see me and men do when they see you."

"She's trying to come up with an argument for that, Boer, but she can't. I can, though."

"I had both small ships built to be comfortable for six, Lola. There are just times it's going to make more sense to go in with three and Jobe, Tommy and I make the most sense as a physical team, especially on the trader. There may be times when you three do, but you need to learn a lot of what only Tommy can teach us all first. Anverd is an intelligence agent, not a spy."

"Makes sense, I guess, but if any of you get hurt when we're not there... "

"I know, Aura. It would be real hard to forgive myself if one of you did and I wasn't there."

"Explain small ships and trader."

"I had the ship we're moving all this to constructed to hold two smaller ships, Tommy. One is pure luxury yacht with unseen extras, like more speed, weapons, sensors and a comp with a lot more capacity than usual and programs Anverd is very pleased with. The other is a small luxury-goods trader with the same. It's designed to look like we make a reasonably good living trading very expensive fabrics and such. Both of them have a flyer and scoots in them and the yacht has a car. The flyer in the yacht is a roomy six-passenger custom beauty. The one in the trader is a compact six-seater with a bit of room for cargo when seats are pulled out. The trader has to have some cargo space because just saying we're traders isn't enough. Li's anticipating playing with all of them. The big ship has a standard exterior configuration and looks as much like a large trader as we could manage. It also has a shuttle that looks like it's standard personnel/light cargo. There are two yachts and crews that are based on Boniface and Valer for the family, as well."

"I don't think I'd have come up with the luxury yacht. Putting them in the bigger ship is a nice idea too."

"Basically a team effort. Jobe started working on the idea of ships and I added. I was a general. It's a habit."

"I think the two ships give us another option. Three assorted-size boys meet three assorted-size girls. Credit balance difference doesn't really stand up to humor at the match-up and luxury goods traders have very good taste or they're out of business. The physical match up doesn't really matter after they get acquainted because common interest takes over. Basically, Li and Tommy are going to start talking in specs and I like you all so I'm not bothered by it a bit. We can run that either way. I'm heiress with friends or ops on a trader. Aura is captain either way because she can get the license and I'm a long way from it."

"Why you heiress, Lola?"

"Because you obviously don't need me along to watch over you, Aura."

"Point made."

"Makes one for us I hadn't thought of too, Aura. Maybe the little guy should be the one with the credits when we run the yacht and I'm captain and bodyguard."

"There's only one problem I see with this."

"What's that, Li?"

"If you go places as single boys, all the single girls are going to be working to attract your attention. You and Jobe can carry off being lovers, but I'm pretty sure Tommy's not ready for the idea, even as pretend."

"Uh... I'm not sure I was. I think maybe wedding rings are in order."

"That brings up what world are wives on, Boer. Li, there aren't any vows of fidelity."

"Maybe not, Lola, but I know I'm married and they know it too."

"We have loves on another ship. They don't play around and neither do we. Call it marriage if you want. No vows of fidelity, but it's hard enough to maintain the special feeling when you aren't together without distractions."

"I like it, Jobe."

"That'll work for traders, Boer. Rich takes care of itself. The answer is you all have money and rich women friends. Frankly, we intend to go with you most of the time. It makes sense on the trader too."

"Comm Anverd."

"Yes, Boer?"

"Get me Tori."

"Secure channel. Transmission scramble. You've got her."

"Tori, we're working on 'Uh, even if you're interesting, we're not interested.' We've come up with several ways to play it, but the truth is we'd all rather say married."

"Group marriage isn't as rare in Yarrow and Forester sectors as it is this end of the empire. In some of the large ones, it's considered quite normal for small, single-sex groups to operate a business venture, such as a small trader, to add to the total income of the family."

"Give me a few seconds to bring her up to current on the discussion, Boer. All she needs is an outline of key words. Anverd, I'm sure you're monitoring. Stuff this somewhere."

"Stuffing, Lola. Cal's stuffing it at home."

"Lola, I've been dreaming of you most of my teaching career. I was sure someone who understood both the terms brief and useful when applied to information was a dream. Get licenses on Silvern and wear tiny hoops in your left earlobes."

"Shadill?!"

"The clan marriage structure is viable, Lola, because they intend to bring people in every generation. It's basically a financial unit established by families for their children. They are married. There might be three all of the same sex looking for three more and six of the other to marry, but they are married. The normal marriage is sex-balanced and close to it to start with, but sex balance is not usually in the contract. The number of people to be in it is part of it, always more than it starts with and only single people can be brought into it. Shadill have the highest probability of all current human cultures of parenting a true ship-dwelling society."

"Boer, as Shadill, it makes no difference which one of you owns either ship. One of the main reasons people choose Shadill marriage is financial. It would make sense for an older wealthy person to join one, especially a small one of young persons who have reached the age of adult and are now seeking to add the persons required by the marriage contract. It would make even more sense for a young wealthy marriage to ask an experienced person to join. If Shadill marriage didn't include fidelity, there would be a lot of Shadill. Family-owned and operated business tax rates are lower everywhere I know of. Even co-ops are higher. It would make financial sense for us if we ran a business or six."

"I'm glad you said 'financial sense,' Mim. I may believe the culture viable, but I don't want to pledge to conclude constructing a marriage contract for our children by the age of five. The hoop says you're married. It does not say it's a Shadill marriage. They adopted it as a symbol from the service techs on Asnear Station about a hundred forty years ago."

"The story goes a hubby had absolutely had it with fellows who saw his wife's name on her covalls and commed looking for a date. She reminded him she wore a ring. He yelled that didn't really help because she also wore gloves and some men wouldn't notice unless she wore it in her nose anyway. She told him nose was going a bit far but she was fed up with men off ships who had seen her and were 'just interested in a cup of coffee' and spent four or five minutes explaining it after she said she was married. Telling liner passengers to 'just go away' is frowned upon. She put her wedding ring in her ear. It worked and the other married techs, women and men, started copying when, more than once, men off the liners said thank you because they really just wanted an interesting companion to show them around and they'd been embarrassed they didn't catch a hint a woman was married before."

"Thank you, Lola. I didn't know how the custom had originated there, just it had. Where did you find it?"

"It was an anecdote in a cluster travel-liner guide book from about a decade later, Tori. All right. We can get documents on Silvern Docking and point to little rings and say married and never have to say we're Shadill. People are going to think it, but we don't have to say it."

"Why don't we want people to think it, Lola?"

"I can answer that, Jobe. Because a lot of people don't like the idea of families deciding who their children are going to spend the rest of their lives with when they're babies, as part of normal financial planning."

"Most clan marriages begin with about six, Aura, and add four to six. Most often, within those marriages, are pairings, or sub-family units. They're becoming more accepted than they were, because there are more of them and people are beginning to see the group marriages function as financial co-ops, but the marriages themselves are structured as individually as the people in them. Sexual experimentation causes absolutely no problems in the society. It's not rushed, but it is expected. Chemical contraception is not available until a physician approves, but physical is basically in every bedroom and most young pockets, just in case. Frankly, a wealthy man Boer's age might choose to start a Shadill clan, especially if he has children by several women. It's a good protection for all his children and their mothers can bring in men they love. The society is growing, Aura. If it truly narrowed the possibility of falling in love and having a life companion, it wouldn't be. As practiced, the marriages begin with stable friendships of years' duration and add those companions to it when the young people are old enough to choose them."

"What happens if the one you fall in love with is in another marriage, Tori?"

"They leave their marriages, taking absolutely nothing but the clothes on their backs with them, Boer, including their clan names, and those still in the marriages look for people to join them. It's called, 'contract rejection' and legally defined as divorce by the courts of the sector. If they're unhappy enough to just leave, for any reason, no one is going to force them to stay or go after them. And you named the only common reason for something rather rare."

"I changed my mind, Tori. I think I like them."

"I do, Aura. Macleigh Shadill and her followers were looking for an answer to families that fell apart, most especially those that couldn't support their children also supporting two homes, no matter how much both parents wished to do so. Young marriages begin working at their businesses whenever the individuals in them decide they're ready. Major financial decisions require an adult signature. Any parent of anyone in the marriage may provide it and Shadill children know exactly who will listen and give good advice, or take a risk on a new idea. The probability of eight adults being able to provide for twelve children is much higher than the probability of one adult being able to provide for one child, even if the business of that marriage is a fruit drink stand at the curb open on holidays and the rest of the time the adults are first-level clerks in a data pool."

"'Followers' says religion to me, Tori."

"Hello, Tommy. Welcome home."

"Hi, Tommy. We're fixing a special dinner. Cal has her pink swimsuit laid out."

"Mim, you can't convince me you'd rather fit in it. Welcome home, Tommy."

"You can skip the sexy swimwear 'til tomorrow, girls. We'll play in the yard and run through the fountains then. Tommy and Jobe are going in the spa to soak. We don't need them there."

"Actually, I think she was planning on wearing it to dinner, Aura."

"Oh, what a great idea! Let's have it on the pool terrace. I haven't worn my new one yet. It's about this wide and silver, Tommy."

"Aura, if you wear that silver suit to dinner, Tommy, Boer and I are going to forget we're eating."

"Thank you, Jobe. Work on it, Cal."

"Lay out my black one, Cal. Oh, Tori, your red one."

"Consider me enlisted in the conspiracy, Lola. Refine your question for me, Tommy."

"Uh... question. I asked a question. I don't remember what it was, but I remember I asked one. I think I'm surprised I do. Religion! Were Shadill's followers social experimenters or zealots? I refined a bit more for myself too. I'm more interested in that than a religious association."

"She was a bank mortgage loan officer on Urmanda, which is outside the empire, and a lay minister of the Matintown Universalist Populist Church, which had no sect affiliation, but a fairly large and moderately affluent congregation. She was eighty-six and recently retired when twenty-seven people of the congregation asked her to help form the society she'd proposed in her second level economics thesis sixty-nine years before. All of those people had children, nineteen were single parents, three were traders and five were farmers. Silvern accepted them as ethnic immigrants under their agra homestead act and the marriage contracts as valid according to their laws. That was one hundred eighty-nine years ago. There are over one hundred sixty thousand of them now."

"That's a successful plan. I had no idea there were that many of them, Tori."

"They don't advertise it, Boer, but it's not a secret. Marriage contracts are filed and all you have to do is count them. The empire does. Over one hundred sixty thousand is a fraction of a percentage of the population figures of the sector and wouldn't be a real big percentage on Silvern if they were all there. It's only a surprising number when you know with how many and when they started. But I agree, around three hundred percent increase every generation is a successful plan. Is that it here?"

"Just move it there and put it back together, Lola."

"Ow. You're right. I'm going to be sore."

"The marriage must be consummated, Tommy. But when the girls give you a massage, you won't be thinking about the fact we're taking care of that little detail. You're married, Tommy. By tomorrow morning, you'll understand why we were hunting a way to just say so."

"And Dona, Barri and I aren't pregnant yet."

"I'm not either, Cal."

"You hadn't said if you wanted to be yet, Tori. We have and I'm getting frustrated."

"I'm not really sure if we want nine children born within a year, Cal."

"I'll tell Barri and Dona you think six are enough for now, Boer. You can explain your reasoning to Tori at the same time."

"I'll... ask Barri what she thinks, Cal."

"She thinks she's more frustrated than I am. See you at dinner. Out."

"Boer, we may have nine children born in less than a year."

"Yes, Jobe, we may."

"I'm... married."

"Thump! Hit me that way too, Tommy. It's the right marriage for you. That's why you're here, no other reason, and you're going to be very happy. Comm, Ven."

"Where's the rest of the unit, Boer?"

"Coming, Ven. We need little hoops in our left earlobes. Six of us. Find out how big and what of and make sure we have."

"Shiny silver in appearance, usually white gold or platinum, one millimeter thick, seven-point five in diameter, set approximately five above the point the lobe joins the cheek and guess a bit on that one because parents guess where it will be when children become adults, but usually get pretty close. Thank you, Anverd."

"You're welcome, Sweetheart."

"That's a little bitty tight thing, Anverd."

"It's intended to be, Boer. Visible, but very unlikely to get caught on anything. It stays right against the cheek."

"No kidding."

"We have it. I can do it. We'll discuss it when you get here with the rest of the unit. I'll be very nervous until it's reassembled and I check it. And I need to scan Tommy."

"It makes me a bit nervous too, Ven. The carts just got here. We'll be there after we very carefully load and transport it. Out."

"You all call me 'Tommy.'"

"We didn't until you got here. After that, it was obvious. This piece first, Boer. I'm headed that way. Tommy, come with the first cart."

"Yes, Li. She called me 'Tommy' first."

"She's the one who realized it was obvious first. Aura, make sure we have enough sunscreen for both of them on every ship and at the house."

"I think Ven put enough in the flyers, car and a couple scoot boots too, Boer. All the ships also have cream to treat it when they still get pink because something just happens and they end up in the sun without it."

"It really did just happen, Aura. We were talking to those people and... the shade just disappeared."

"It was only a few minutes, Boer. I was barely pink."

"It was close to an hour and you were fried, Jobe. I just yelped and smeared you with the burn ointment in the aid kit as soon as I noticed you were turning red very fast."

"It was still before it hurt."

"Sure it was."

"He's only a miasma of guilt because it happened the second day we were on Nunture, Tommy, and my skin was still new."

### Chapter Fifteen

Ven scanned Tommy and discovered exactly what he'd done to himself. He told her that her vocabulary was as impressive as the PO's had been, even if he had heard more of the words in it before. Boer burst into laughter, patted him on the back and told him if he ever did anything like that again he'd lay him out for it. Tommy told him, if it had required more than once, he'd have chosen another way to do it because he was sure once was all he'd want to do it before he did it. Boer said the threat wasn't "case specific."

Ven and Anverd stayed on the ship to move into their new quarters and none of the marines were at the house either. They had dinner by the pool and even the ones who had fixed it didn't mind that Tommy, Jobe and Boer wouldn't remember what it had been. The girls left the three of them sleeping in the huge 'bed' in Boer's room in the wee hours of the morning, one curled in on each side of him. Tommy had surprised everyone but Jobe. Boer hadn't really surprised any of them, except himself.

"Good morning, Boer."

"It might be good afternoon, Tommy."

"You may be right, Jobe, but I smell wonderful that way either way. Oh, and I am hungry. What's so funny?"

"It was your stomach growling that woke me, Boer. I imagine it's what woke Jobe too."

"It was. Boer, can you cook?"

"More or less. Why?"

"Someone always cooks for us. When there are just three of us, we must cook. I thought about them cooking because there are no marines here and then that they won't be with us some of the time."

"Anyone can cook, Jobe. It's just follow directions. A good cook is a person who doesn't need directions and a great cook is one who creates wonders that no directions can really explain."

"I like the definition, Boer."

"Thank you, Tommy. It's my father's. Jobe did remind me we need to stock ships with food though. Of course, Anthew probably already has a list for us and is just waiting for me to ask for it. He's... kitchen executive."

"Lola will have the chart made today, Boer."

"Yes, Jobe, she will.

"Sure you're married, Tommy?"

"I have no doubts at all. I like it. I could feel Eddy wasn't here."

"We all did. What's a great deal more surprising is we all felt it when you weren't. Oh, breakfast."

"Where did they put my clothes?"

"Probably in your room, but there would be some here if there was a reason to dress."

"Four are going to see that we stay busy until we leave and the others are all going to help."

"I got that real clear, too, Jobe. You and Tommy are probably going to be busier than I am. We know three of the children in the first group are mine, Tommy, and one is Jobe's. Dirda doesn't know whose hers is and that's the way they'd all like it, but they want each of us to father some. I think that would be less important if it wasn't probable it's going to be obvious who every baby's father is."

"They're hoping for babies with red curls."

"I don't know if they'll get any, Jobe. It's not a dominant characteristic. It may not be easy to tell who their fathers are. We're all outside the genetic norm and it wouldn't be the norm if it wasn't dominant. Most of them, though exceptionally beautiful, are within it."

"You're exceptionally beautiful, Tommy. I'm sure they are too, but I know better. They're very beautiful, but you and Jobe are the exceptionally beautiful people in the family. I'm using a term which I know is wrong to apply just as a physical description when talking about a person, but there isn't any other for exceptional visual harmony of features and skin, hair and eye color. I need to make a stop. Jobe!"

"He was evidently sure he needed to make it more than you did, Boer."

"Or would take less time. Well, there are more on the way. I'll use Dirda's. Tommy!"

Boer was still laughing when he walked into the toilet in the hall by the kitchen. Jobe and Tommy were both in the kitchen, and both grinning, when he walked out. Both were also in swim briefs. Nora tossed him one.

"There's suncreen right by the door. Make sure you use it too, Boer. We're all taking the day off. About an hour ago, the contractor called to say the apartment complex is done. Dirda commed the ship and yacht and told them everyone was taking the day off and remember to take sunscreen when they moved into their apartments because they wouldn't be able to resist basking in the sun by the pool when they got done. Mallin Faith is going to till a bit of land for us. The Faiths are our closest neighbors. We've decided our back fence should be flowers and the growing season is long enough to still put in a garden. Mim's been busy rewriting leases all morning. The couple who own the big farm south of us decided to retire. They're selling farm equipment and some land, but they're going to lease most of it. They decided this was the right time because we were going to be changing leases because we want a bit more land. She's not writing groundskeeping into them. It will give the people quartered in the barn something to do."

"They'll appreciate it. Just sitting around is only enjoyable when you've been too busy to sit for awhile. We need to buy equipment."

"We already did, Boer. Three of us went to see what our neighbor was selling. We didn't buy any of the farm equipment for sale there, but we bought everything we need from people who did. Mallin is tilling for us on the way home with a near-new small field tractor. We bought his near-new garden tractor. We bought a big lawn mower from the woman who bought a field mower. We bought a hedge trimmer from the man who bought a multi-purpose orchard maintenance unit. I ordered hand tools and garden gloves by comp, so we have everything we need. Our neighbors are very happy. Those who want more land, not less, are getting it and those who want the same they've had aren't losing any."

"We helped offset the cost of buying new equipment for some of them by buying equipment they needed mainly to fulfill their leases with us."

"That's what we went there to do. Nora threw clothes at Mim and me and said we needed to get there before the sale started. We were on our way before we were awake enough to ask what sale. Good morning."

"Thanks, Dirda. I wasn't sure if it still was morning."

"Ten til eleven, Boer."

"How did you find out about the sale, Nora?"

"I had my window open and heard a harvester going by, Jobe. I looked out and saw a tractor behind it towing a plow and grain seeder. The tractor had a sign on it. Our neighbor, who is not moving, just retiring from farming, invited others with equipment they wanted to sell to bring it. You get a lot bigger bunch from a lot wider area that way and are more likely to get what you want for what you're selling, but I wasn't sure I was going to get a cab in time to get there before it started."

"Hint taken, Nora. Car shopping sounds like an enjoyable way to spend part of a day off. I think we need a couple flyers too. I don't want to take up the space for one big enough for all of us though."

"How close is the flyer port, Boer?"

"The nearest is about ten k, Tommy, just outside the area of shops, taverns and cafes called U-town that cater to the university students. Maybe we should lease storage for one that size."

"Maybe we should build more garages. Nora wants horses and other animals."

"I've been thinking about that, Jobe. I think I'd rather do it the other way. That's really an equipment barn, not a stock barn. Nora, are you ahead of me?"

"Told Mim we wanted the land around the northwest corner for pasture, Boer."

"I thought so. Do you have a design in mind?"

"She's got a greenhouse with a lovely walk through it, a place for the children to play in the middle of it, a stock barn with a riding ring in it at the end of it and a riding trail beyond it in mind, Boer."

"I like it. Do you have someone in mind to build it, Nora? It's a lot different than houses and apartments."

"I got a name this morning. Since I got the same one from three people, I decided it was the only one we needed."

"I agree, but that probably means they're busy."

"Might be, but less likely this time of year than after harvest, when everyone knows how much they've got to spend. The climate's mild enough winter isn't a bad time to build, even if it's too wet some days. That sale was now because most of the equipment will be useful before and during harvest. Before spring planting is most common. I'd say the lease contracts with our neighbors include harvesting the fields they planted this year."

"Even I can see that makes sense, Nora."

"Farmers are very sensible people, Jobe. If they aren't, they don't last long. Farming itself is risky. Long-range weather predictions don't tell you average rainfall for a season is going to come as too much at both ends with not much between."

"Good morning!"

"Come in, Mallin! I'm just setting breakfast in front of the last to get up. Muffin and coffee?"

"Mm, yes please."

"Boer, Jobe and Tommy, Mallin Faith."

"Good morning, gens."

"Good morning."

"Welcome."

"Mmph."

"I agree, Boer. The muffin is delicious, Nora. I brought you some suggestions for your flower beds from my aunt. This is a list of native wildflowers that don't require a great deal of care, give you the size range you want, are very nice for cut flower bouquets and drying, won't take over the yard and you only have to buy seed once. She said tell you blue-tuft grass grows to about two meters and doesn't die back in winter in this climate. It needs dead stems pulled from it, but they're easy to spot, easy to pull, and they don't look bad scattered among the dark blue-green if you don't want to do it more than once a year. She thinks it's what you have in mind as your 'fence.' She does about the same in her yard. That's why Glonda called her for the list."

"Tell her thank you for us. Someone who's been doing about the same knows things a reference doesn't tell you about it. I'd seen blue-tuft grass in one, but didn't know if it would be a good choice because it said stems die after about a year."

"Gets thick and tall in a season and stays that way, Nora, unless you cut all the tops off and uproot it too, but it doesn't like to be mowed regularly and cutting the tufts off before the seeds fall will keep it from spreading to the rest of the flower bed. The tufts are pretty in flower arrangements, both fresh blue and blue-black with a load of near ripe seeds. Sticking them in water with a bit sugar in it for a few days will finish ripening them. Hanging them by the stem will dry the tufts with the seeds still on them. The reason it's not used more is most people don't want something tall and thick in the yard. Bright-top gives the same height, but it's a cluster of tall stems growing out of a plant with long slender leaves. You have several of those, but they aren't in bloom yet. When they do bloom, about ten days, you'll have a large number of small insects with big beautiful wings visiting them."

"Which is another reason people like them."

"Very much so. Brossom Garden Market will probably still have everything on that list, but they may not. It's close to being too late to plant most this year."

"We're going to try to get the flower beds and garden done in the next three days."

"Then I'd best get them tilled for you. Nice meeting you, gens."

"And you."

"Thank you."

"Mmph."

"He was really hungry, Mallin. He usually contributes more to a conversation than a lifted fork as hello and good-bye."

"Caught me with my mouth full both times, Dirda. Of course, if I hadn't been so hungry it would have at least been empty for a few seconds. Thank you, Mallin. Stop by often. Nora would be very disappointed if family were the only ones who used the kitchen door."

"Yes, Boer, I would."

"Glonda would be as well, Nora. I know she made sure you know exactly where we live."

"She did, and after today, I expect to have some way to get there."

"Dirda, tell everyone we're going car shopping and try to get us something here to take us reasonably soon."

"I'll call my daughter and have her bring the park department transport for you. They won't mind us loaning it at all. They feel a bit guilty we store it for them in exchange for its use when we need it and don't need it."

"Thanks, Mallin. We'd like a flyer big enough for all of us but don't want to store it here. What's the probability of keeping it at the flyer port near the university?"

"Small. We need another flyer port in the area. The Harvens have a piece of land at the south end of the farm, next to the road, they didn't lease out. I've got a suspicion Merne thinks it would be a good spot for one and is figuring out who'd be willing to invest in building it, other than the city. Most in Brossom want one the other side and closer, if they're going to pay for it."

"Who would be using it if one was built there?"

"Primarily farmers who'd like to put equipment in their equipment barns, Tommy. The one near the university is taking advantage of the fact there's a shortage of hanger space, which is part of the reason barns are being used and no one is offering to sell them space to expand. It's owned by a big investment group in Callor City. They pay university students to maintain it and they do a good job, but they don't pay them enough to tell them why no one's offering."

"Doesn't sound like they'd listen anyway. Expanding would reduce the per-square-meter profit they're making and they expect it to keep going up without having to increase the investment. They probably know exactly where Brossom is considering building one too."

"I don't think I like them, Boer."

"The investors are probably nice people, Jobe. The investment group is a business entity and the business is making a profit. The flyer port on another continent is just one of a great many investments and all they know about it is it's listed in the annual report and profitable."

"The business entity knows the prospect of that profitability going up is good. The job of the people who work for that business entity is make as much for the investors as they legally can. What they're missing is the nature of the community where the investment exists. It's not in a business district with tenants who expect to pay more as space becomes more in demand and will make more profit from being in that space as it does. People are also willing to pay more for personal convenience in areas like that. They see the demand and follow the formula."

"I think it's time they learned to look at a larger scale map, Dirda."

"So do I, Tommy, and I like the way you put it. Mallin, if the Harvens are interested, we are. I wouldn't be if it was going to be a high-traffic port, but that close to their house says they're sure it won't be and I'm rather impressed with their understanding of the needs of the community and their business sense."

"It's been a profitable farm and they've been good neighbors for nearly fifty years, Boer. Tell Merne you're calling on my suspicion and he'll get right down to what he thinks we need, instead of what would make sense as an investment over the long-term. They'll be the same, but he'll bottom-line a lot faster."

"Good."

"Tommy thinks they deserve a thump, not just a lesson in map reading, Boer."

"Doesn't make sense to buy a flyer before we have a place to put it, Dirda, at least not more than a few days before. We do know a contractor with the right equipment who's going to finish a project today and she wouldn't have to move it far. It would be another profitable little job. She won't be starting the Tasallia Space Port expansion for about another ten days and helping us deliver a thump would appeal to her."

"I thought they were going to have that shuttle pad finished before the day is. If I don't get moving, your flower beds won't be. I'll call my daughter from my new tractor. It's got a comm and I haven't used it yet. Don't take off before we at least have a pot-luck picnic, Boer. Yell at Glonda if it needs to be now or not, Nora. They're just at the talking stage and that can last a half-season, or move to the kitchen stage in time for supper, then go back to the talking stage before the food's gone because it's so much fun. I'll stop by tomorrow and leave some channies by the back door if it's not open. We've got more than we can use ripe and not enough to market yet. We'll all be sharing around early-ripened vegetables for about the next fifteen days and we're sure there are enough of you that you won't think we're burying you in them. Have fun shopping."

"He knows we're going to be leaving, Boer."

"And told us our neighbors will be watching over our family, too, Tommy. They know there are quarters being built in the barn. Dirda, I'm going to talk to a contractor. Tell Mim to talk to a retiring farmer. He'll know she's the one who knows what piece of land and what's a reasonable price for it, lease or buy. Nora, tell Glonda the picnic needs to be within seven days and we'd like to have it here."

"Ow."

"For us too, Dirda. Comm ships, Anverd."

"Good morning, Boer."

"The number is eight, Anverd."

"Understood. Cal says you're going car shopping. Take B-four east to Lily Way, north to Flora and east until you see vehicles you want to stop to look at. If you see something gorgeous and sporty for Ven, park it at the shuttle port with a big bow on it for me. We're borrowing an apartment for a couple days of sun by the pool."

"Great idea. Both of them. We'll look."

"Thanks. Out."

"I wish their house was going to be done before we leave, but it won't. Let's go look at the work on the shuttle pad and give Tommy a fast tour before Mallin's daughter gets here, Jobe. I doubt it will be very long."

"Sunscreen. You'll need it on your faces for car shopping anyway."

"Yes, Nora."

The contractor loved the idea. She grinned and told him she could do it in two-and-a-half days, including put up the hangers, if he figured out where they'd want sinks and toilets, and they could start using it in three.

"That fast?!"

"The ground is near level and there won't be heavy cargo flyers landing there. A quarter-meter poly pour on flex web and Gancorp plex panel construction is all that's needed for what you want, and probably the best materials to use for it in this climate. They're also inexpensive, very easy to work with and plentiful. We put the pipes where you want them before we pour and they'll never need work or replacement in that quarter-meter. Even if the pipes fell apart, they'd just be blockage to be pushed through. Think of it as floating on the ground. You wouldn't use it for a commercial port because, if sections are over a certain size, they expand and contract too much. If you made them that size, a real big, heavily-loaded flyer could tip a section a bit unless it landed right in the middle. If you wanted a flyer field for shipping grain and produce, I'd tell you who to call to build you one over about the next twelve days. This is two-and-a-half days at full pay for my crew, instead of half pay for idle time. We won't have to wait for materials and they'll like the idea too. You figure out what and how big you want and we'll build it for two percent over cost, if we can start within three days and leave the equipment here until we do."

"Done! I hope. Mim!"

The contractor watched the three run off, laughed and went back to work on the sealer. She passed word on the job to her crew. She didn't have any doubt the governor and his family would get it put together in two days. She did have doubts she'd stop reminding herself all three of the men were married within that time. She grinned at her sister and gave two long blinks as she passed her. She laughed and nodded. She'd definitely noticed how small the swim briefs and nice the scenery was too.

She was looking forward to constructing a lot of small flyer ports between big contracts, and taking her nephew and niece to an amusement park. His construction block and panel set, her toy flyers and a surprisingly patient teaching of little sister, that she wouldn't tip the landing field if she didn't land so hard, had come together into an idea that would solve a problem a lot of semi-rural communities had at a price they could afford. There was absolutely no reason not to use flex web and poly pour on anything but big interior floors. Weather was not going to hurt them and light curdled brown didn't seem an inappropriate color for a flyer field to her. She'd always thought the floors were rather pretty before the carpet was hurriedly laid.

Mim agreed it was a good deal and so did Merne Harven, who was on comm. He told her they had a handshake, that was enough to grab a bargain and he'd have someone mow the field the next morning. He said he was quite sure he'd make up the cost of the seed he'd planted and the nose thumb at the investment group would be worth it even if he wasn't.

"The transport is coming up the drive, Boer!"

"Thanks, Aura!"

"I don't know where my clothes are!"

"Laid out on your bed, Tommy!"

"Thanks, Dona! Uh... "

"This way, Tommy."

"Thanks, Jobe. I remember the room, but not exactly where it was and I don't think the girls really want to wait for me to look in doors until I find it."

"Considering your tour guide was wearing a tiny bit of silver across... it's a wonder you remember the room."

"That one?"

"Amazing. That one's mine. Pants on and shirt in hand is probably advisable."

"Jobe, shoes! Let's go!"

"Shirt and shoes in hand. Ten seconds, Boer!"

Tommy blinked at the clothes on his bed, but put the pants on and grabbed the shirt and sandals. He had no idea where they'd come from, but it wasn't out of his luggage. He suddenly grinned. His wives had done some clothes shopping for him. He burst into laughter when he found a wad of cred notes in the shirt pocket. He was sure it was enough to buy each of them a flower. He suddenly found himself wishing he already had a little ring in his ear. He didn't realize he'd been rubbing it until Jobe caught up with him in the hall.

"Thinking about the ring?"

"Sort of wishing I already had it. Yesterday I wasn't sure I liked the idea of it at all, even just while we were investigating in Yarrow and Forester sectors."

"I wish Eddy was here. I don't really understand why we had to leave her there. I read it a dozen times and it just says fourteenth is representative to the emperor's court, not what she's supposed to do, just she is. Dirda said it's to explain the governor's policies. What policies? Everybody knows what he did on Nunture and he's done doing it. He's not going to do anything else in the sector and anything he does somewhere else isn't as governor."

"You have a point, Jobe. But even if she left there today, she wouldn't get here before we leave."

"Boer, Anverd's on comm! Eddy is coming home!"

"What?! Speakers, Cal! Anverd, what happened?"

"The message is from the prince and princess, Boer. It's what Via and Misty asked them for as wedding presents. The emperor agreed there wasn't really any reason she had to stay there. The treaty doesn't say that, just she's the representative. He's moving her out of the cam focus too. They were very interesting, but they all went home."

"How soon?"

"My guess is he told her at the reception and put her on the yacht as soon as it got there."

"She might get here before... "

"It's a scrambled channel, Jobe. Tommy, you look strange."

"He wished Eddy was here just before you yelled she was coming, Cal. I said she couldn't get here before we left if she left today. I have no idea when the yacht got there, but I'm sure she'll be here within seven days. Whatever granted his wish just wouldn't slip up on a detail like that."

"It's possible. Close, but possible if they ran full speed. Why am I saying, 'if?'"

"I don't know, Aura. I just noted expected time of arrival in seven days when Tommy said he was sure."

"So did I, Cal. Have fun shopping. Out."

"If she's not here in seven days, we won't leave until she gets here, Tommy. However, I have no expectation of a change in the schedule. We're all here. Let's go buy cars."

"Boer, Tommy wished he had a little ring in his ear. You just rubbed yours just like he did and so did Mim."

"Tell me about ring."

"In the transport, Nora. Who's driving?"

"Jobe."

"What?!"

"You haven't practiced since Boer taught you, Jobe. You won't be going fast and you won't be on busy roads for awhile and those won't be bad."

"But this is... big, Dirda."

"And you'll be less nervous test-driving a car after you've driven it."

"Drive, Jobe."

"Yes, Boer. Sit close?"

"No, I'm going to sit in the middle. There, Tommy."

"Yes, Boer. Relax, Jobe. A vehicle like this won't let you do anything dumb. It won't let you do anything fun either, at least not while you're driving. Opaque the windows one way. That switch. The other way is one way."

"I can't find it in the dark, Tommy. Oops! Oh!"

"Told you it wouldn't let you do anything dumb. When you hit lift, it made sure you could see out. Now push the window switch the other way."

Tommy was the only one not 'rolling' with laughter. He held Cal and Dona in their seats and pointed out they were going to Brossom, not the university. Jobe stopped, backed up into the drive and turned the right direction out of it. He winked at Tommy just before he did. Tommy burst into laughter. Jobe grinned and watched for the road sign. Eddy was coming home. They were all going to be together before they had to leave.

### Chapter Sixteen

Tommy and Jobe ran for the barn. Jobe yelled his car and Tommy veered. Jobe's car held three, as long as they didn't mind being very close. He completely trusted his judgment that it was the right one to take. Boer rode in it with them with one arm on the seat behind each of them. It was the only way the three of them actually fit. He liked it, for short trips. Jobe vaulted over the door and landed in the driver's seat and hit lift and thrust as soon as Tommy hit the seat beside him. He hadn't opened the door to the open car to get in either.

Eddy was about to land a "whole, impossible, half-day early." She'd been waiting on the orbital docking station when the yacht contacted traffic control. It had taken thirty Imperial Marines seven minutes to load her things onto it and stock the galley after the hatch cycled open.

She'd been homesick and working not to show how bad it was from the time the others had left Boniface. She'd been so good at hiding it, even Via and Misty hadn't seen it. When she'd hugged her farewell, Misty had whispered they understood she hadn't wanted them to hurt for her while they were so happily anticipating their marriages. Via had given her a letter from Tam.

It had been Boer's father, Bernnis, who had seen the terrible longing in her eyes when she laughed at a baby story about Boer. He'd told him to "Damn it. Do something." Mira had commed Via and Misty, told them what they were asking for as a wedding present and to come up with a way they could give it to them.

She'd come up with a way to get them out of the cam focus completely because she was looking for a way to send her home to Valer for the right reason, and he'd just been looking for an imperial one. He noted Bernnis had told him he really liked his new cousin.

Boer's mother Fainlee had understood they wouldn't be going to Valer to see babies born. Boer wouldn't be there and they'd take the cam focus with them. Eddy had understood the letter was to make sure they all knew that was the only reason they wouldn't be there, and that Tam and Mira both wished they could be as well.

The shuttle pad was used for the first time before Jobe and Tommy got to the port. Nora yelled they were planting and Ven and Anverd ran for the greenhouse. The barn at the end of it was barely started, but the greenhouse had been finished that morning. It had been "simple assembly" and the builder had started with it because it would be useful while the barn was being built. The end where it would be had a temporary covering, but they didn't mind, at all. Boer ducked the rolled up cover and pushed another cart of plants into the middle of them. It was a shorter push with every cart load.

"Gloves and trowels over there. Find a plant sitting on the ground and put it in it the same place."

"It's beautiful, Nora."

"Not yet, Ven. That'll take growing, but it gets closer all the time. We were planning on having this done by the picnic, but Boer said by the time Jobe and Tommy get back with Eddy. I'm sure you brought them, but I'm going to ask anyway."

"I brought them. What am I digging a hole for?"

"A pettibell bush. It has pretty bell-shaped blue berries, four to a stem. Rather small, but a bush has a lot of them and they're very tasty. In here, it'll have berries most of the year. See the lights?"

"Every day is sunny."

"The climate here is mild, but there are still a lot of cold wet days in winter and a lot more it's just cloudy. Boer! It's all planted to here! Lay the sod! A bright place to run and play for a whole batch of little kids will cheer up a gloomy day even for those who don't come into it. When they get older, the barn and riding ring will do the same."

"Hello! We're early and it looks like just in time."

"Welcome, Glonda. Jobe and Tommy went after Eddy at the port. We're trying to get done before they get back."

"I don't blame you, Boer. Chelse! Mirim! Put the food in the kitchen! Mallin, bring our gloves from the car! Toss a pair in every car. Around here, you never know when you might need them. Of course, I stop and uproot non-native plants when I see them places they don't belong. Some of the plants we like too well not to take with us to worlds are very hardy and would move right into the wild, taking some other plant's place in it. Strawberries do not belong on roadsides."

"Birds?"

"More like too ripe tossed out of a car on the way home from the farm market. The people who do it think 'bio-degradable' not 'seeds.' Thank you, Mallin."

"Welcome. This sod is going?"

"To the other end and work this way until we catch up with them. Glonda told me to watch for strawberries."

"She digs up five or six a year along this stretch of road, Boer, and she's not the only one who does it. If it wasn't a terrific place to grow them, there wouldn't be big fields of them here. You're in a hurry for a reason."

"Eddy will be here in a few minutes. It will be the first time we've all been together. You're invited to the ring ceremony. We're copying a custom that originated among married techs, who wore gloves, on a busy space station and got tired of explaining they were married to thousands of people off ships looking for a pleasant guide for a day or two. Ven's here to put little wedding rings in our left earlobes. We just want something that states we're married, even if it's only to us. Lola read about the custom in an old liner travel guide she found in who knows what library. Tori said we wouldn't be the first to adopt it by more than a century. When she said an ethnic group who practiced multiple marriage used it, Anverd looked up the description of the rings."

"It was hard to imagine as more than a political arrangement until you moved in, Boer, maybe until I came by and you were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. Never had a doubt it was a marriage since."

"I suppose that's why we need a symbol of it, to tell people it's more than a compromise in a treaty to us, that each and every one of us knows we're married and we're very happy to be."

"I don't wear it working on the farm, but I always put my wedding ring on when I go places. What ethnic group?"

"The Shadill, nice people if you read past 'They do what?!' and get to why they do it, how well it works and anyone can get a divorce by just walking out and not taking anything. Tori said it happens very seldom and nearly always because two people who are in different marriages fall in love. She said they're more often groups of pairs than a marriage like ours, but we decided the rings said married and that's what we wanted."

"My family will be proud to witness. Some things just go right. You may not always be able to tell if you're doing the best thing by whether or not they do, but you can always tell if you're doing the wrong one. That's not a contradiction. Most decisions aren't between right or wrong. They're just decisions. Those... people running that world were due for real big to go wrong and it did. The other worlds were working hard to do the right thing, help build the team to help people. When a whole world wants to find the right person for a job for the right reason, it's not all that surprising the right one is found. The most interesting thing is two knew they had the right ones for the job, but two others were right for the family."

"That was actually Via and Misty. They knew they were the right ones for the team I was building, but not the marriage. I consider them still in the family. Misty has been in love with my cousin since she was about twelve. I knew it when O'Dona presented her. Via has been in love with politics since she toddled and a politician was the man of her dreams. Misty was sure Tommy was the right one, but I wasn't really ready for the idea either until she told me to read what the treaty didn't say, just like she had them."

"Seeing it that way is a good statement they did pick the right one for the job at hand."

"True. What Nunture's constitution doesn't say was very carefully chosen. Rinder's choice for our marriage wasn't on Rinder, but she's sure she couldn't have built it as well as Via. Tommy is sure he couldn't have done as well as Misty. When you think about it, that's the most important piece of the whole thing. It's the one that will prevent what happened from ever happening again and has an effect on the life of every person who is, and will be born, on Nunture. In other words, I completely agree. I told Jobe I didn't believe in destiny and I was rather sure it was laughing at me. He said with me because it likes me. I've decided he's right. I'm sure something likes me."

"Most happily married people are. Here. This knife will cut through the sod fairly easily and I can fit that piece in over here with just a bit more."

"I like it. I like it better than the sonic cutter I left on the sod cart."

"Been carrying that in my pocket close to twenty-five years. Give it a few strokes across a whet stone after I use it heavy and it's good and sharp the next time I need it. Loosen soil around a stubborn weed, scrape out a clogged harvester blower, cut a flower for my wife. A folding knife with a steel blade is just plain handy in a way a laser knife or a sonic cutter isn't. You about desperately needed Eddy home before you left to go where people will know the rings mean married without being told."

"Uh... "

"Destiny doesn't put together a team like this one for a one-season job, Boer. All of us around here know it. Anybody who actually knows you does. We don't need to talk about it. Like that knife, you're a honed blade the emperor has in his pocket, a very versatile tool that's going to get used on his farm. I keep the whet stone beside my favorite chair. That's where yours is too. You need to come home and get a few strokes to be sharp for the next job."

Boer burst into laughter and nodded. The Harvens were a 'bit' early and so were the N'gangto family. Boer watched Mallin speak quietly to one member of each as they worked to help them get ready and smiled. He'd spread the story of the rings exactly as he'd told it to him. So would they. Lola had found the custom, Tori had added what she knew and Anverd had found the description for them, always in that order and very obviously for the stated reason.

The only single farmers in the community arrived and decided to work in the kitchen, not the greenhouse. Glonda told the two brothers why they were hurrying to get it done. They looked around and said it had about as many in it as it would hold and they'd set out therms of beverages and snacks for other somewhat early arrivals to keep it from getting packed. Holman said they'd worked too long to earn their reputation of not being interested in marriage to admit they were disappointed there was already a crowd. Glonda told them Chelse had them on her someday invitation list and Miram thought they were good examples, but she had a feeling she'd grow out of it.

Jobe ran for Eddy and she didn't wait for him to get to her. Tommy dove for the case she just let go when she threw both arms around him. Jobe caught it when he let go when she threw them around him. The two marines watching from the hatch 'saved' the story for Boer, but they'd share it with a lot of others who would be very happy Eddy was home.

Eddy began to cry on the way to the house and Tommy kissed her and told her he'd needed her home and Jobe had wished it for him. Jobe noted he'd wished it for himself and everyone else, too. She laughed when he told her about the expression on Tommy's face when they found out it had been granted right after he made it. She gave him another kiss.

"I missed you too, Tommy. I knew when you got home. Six days ago."

"Six. It's hard to pack all that's happened into that short a time, let alone the love."

"Boer's moving fast. How soon are you leaving?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Ow. Oh, there it is. I've dreamed of that house, of turning into that drive. That very full drive."

"We saved tomorrow for the family, but today we planned for neighbors. We're having a pot luck picnic."

"I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or pleased, Jobe. It says a lot about our neighbors and how they feel about us."

"You'll like them all. Nora is about bubbling with pleasure that there will be children running all over the yard this evening. They've all been working very hard to finish what she designed for ours before we got here. Well, the part we can get done. The stock barn with indoor riding ring for horses will take awhile."

"It's a greenhouse!"

"With a lot of grass between the plants. Hello, Holman!"

"We left you space to get into the barn to park! They're all in the greenhouse! We've got it out here until they're ready to give tours!"

"Thanks! Holman and Gerro are brothers and our only single neighbors. They've both been divorced over thirty years, and both still sure marriage isn't right for them."

"Faiths, Harvens and N'gangtos, Jobe."

"I didn't recognize the blue car, Tommy, but I think I'd have guessed. The Faiths and N'gantos both have teenage children who I think are anticipating baby-sitting jobs. The Harvens just retired from farming, but aren't moving. They don't have any children and are anticipating making sure ours are spoiled properly, even though their grandparents aren't close. With the Borscham brothers, our four nearest neighbors, in more than just proximity."

"They all know we're leaving, Eddy. No one had to tell them. Mallin Faith basically told us they'd be watching over you a few minutes after we met him."

"Tommy was a bit worried he wasn't worried. Welcome home. The one with the bow on it is yours."

"It's beautiful! And a nice size."

"It's one of three five-passenger cars. There are two six, that transport for thirty and this one. Boer dropped Jobe in it and said we'd take it. There's room for a couple more if someone falls in love with one or decides another is needed. Basically, because Mallin Faith told Boer that Merne Harven had saved a piece of land for a much-needed community flyer port. The contractor who did the shuttle pad built it in two-and-a-half days, using a material no one else had thought to use for one before."

"Which she didn't tell him until he landed our big flyer on it a half-day later. She'd seen it as a solution to the same problem for a lot of communities like this, at a price they could afford."

"Eddy!"

Jobe and Tommy grinned and followed Boer. He had Eddy in his arms and was carrying her to the greenhouse. There was a 'crowd' at the side door at the place where it widened to a grassy place to play. Nora had planned places for bigger kids and adults in places sheltered from the cold winter rains too. The cover on the end, where the stable and riding ring would be, was down. They'd gotten it done with the help of their neighbors.

Boer grinned and carried Eddy right through the rest of the excited family to the middle of the area of fresh-laid sod. Ven and Anverd were waiting there and their neighbors were behind them. He set her on her feet and she collected hugs, then looked at him.

"We found a way to say our marriage is more than just a compromise in a treaty to us. Our friends are here to witness it, except Ven. She's going to give us our rings. Our friends, good neighbors, I accepted each of the members of my family when they were presented by their worlds, but there were no vows and no symbol it was true marriage. The Treaty of Relatross was written with great wisdom. Those who wrote it knew a document could create 'a political arrangement,' as Mallin called it, but not a marriage. Only the people within it could do that. Each one of us is very sure we're married and it's right for us. This is how we've chosen to say it. I choose to be married in the true definition of the word. I pledge fidelity and lifelong love. I ask for the symbol of my choice and my vow."

"Lean down, Boer. This is supposed to go in a certain place. Your choice of metal for it was white gold, not platinum, which is also used. Why?"

"Because I think of gold when I think of wedding rings, Ven. The fact it's supposed to be silver in color was a bit disappointing at first, but I realized I didn't want to change it because people could find what the little silvery ring meant if they saw it and got curious."

"It's 'silvery,' but it's obviously not silver. Anyone who looks closely will know it's white gold. Hand me the fusing unit, Anverd. He designed this specifically for this purpose. It pulls the ends together in the correct arc and welds them seamlessly. The heat sinks are built in."

"Thank you, Anverd."

"You're welcome, Boer. I'd feel smug, but design was tell Kargerri what I wanted it to do, hold my hand out for it when she was done and smile widely when I handed it to my wife. I was well-rewarded for having the idea."

"Boer introduced us almost twelve years ago. He grabbed Anverd from behind his desk on Boniface and brought him to meet me on Grainland. He finally found a way to get us together so marriage made sense and brought him to ask me. He also brought a magistrate to perform the marriage. The rest will be faster, Boer. I'm learning how to do it as I do it. We're doing this in the order you accepted them. I decided."

"Yes, Ven. Thank you."

"Had to be some kind of order. You turning around and saying, 'Uh... ' after each would definitely slow things down. Done."

"Jobe, by custom, the first accepted is the governor's bride. I shall always think of you as mine, Prince Jobim Thiretess-Relatross."

"I love you. I choose to be married in the true definition of the word. I pledge fidelity and lifelong love. I ask for the symbol of my choice and my vow. I remembered it!"

"Yes, Jobe, you did. Hand me the unit."

"A lot faster."

"I've been a surgeon over twenty years. I only need to go slow on a simple technique the first time. Done."

"Dirda, First Lady Relatross, the one I hoped was waiting for me."

"There just wasn't anyone else, Boer. When you found a way for us to get married without me ending up a princess, I remembered to pack after I put on the gown you'd liked so much. I choose to be married in the true definition of the word. I pledge fidelity and lifelong love. I ask for the symbol of my choice and my vow."

Mim, Lou, Aura, Barri, Dona, Lola, Cal, Li and Nora made their vows and got their rings. Boer gave Eddy's title before she made hers. She smiled through happy tears while Ven put in her ring. Tori 'bumped' her into Boer's arms with her hip and gave her vows. Ven told her it was a good thing her hands didn't get giggles and shake like the rest of her did. Then it was Tommy's turn. He looked at all of them and began to cry.

"I was so alone. I was sure I always would be. I couldn't imagine being happy. It hurt and I... pulled myself in tighter and tighter. I might have said no if Misty hadn't had Anverd send me a message before I was asked. I didn't know anyone knew me that well. I still didn't expect to be happy, but I began to be able to imagine it. The love waiting for me could not be imagined. I love you and it shall always amaze me that I have no doubt you love and understand me. I choose to be married in the true definition of the word. I pledge fidelity and lifelong love. I ask for the symbol of my choice and my vow."

"Tommy, I watched this marriage be built, grow, person by person. I never had any doubt Misty chose you for it. She loves you and knew you were the right one for it because she knew you had the capacity for the kind of love within it and nothing less would ever be enough. The others in this marriage never doubted she was right. I watched them wait for you. They were all busy, but every so often one, then another, would turn and gaze the direction from which you were coming for a few seconds. I checked. No matter what direction we were traveling, they turned toward you. I could have plotted the course of the ship you were on by it and exactly where it was along it. You completed this marriage and it's very fitting that this completes the placement of the symbols of it you chose. Done. Go get your hugs."

"Millan, let's go out and see how the picnic set-up is going. Chelse, Miram, door."

"We're coming too, Glonda. I've been anticipating them all being together awhile, but I don't think standing here with a silly grin on my face is really necessary as a statement of it."

"Tow me, Anverd, it's a wonderful temptation."

"I like the way you put that, Sweetheart."

"I wish my car wasn't at the apartments."

"You want to go somewhere?"

"No, I just want to sit in it and admire it."

"We'll get a ride to it and go for a long drive. We'll find a pretty inn and spend the night, or not stop until the sun comes up and then drive all the way back to the apartments."

"I've heard Boer wish your house was finished a half-dozen times, Anverd, and I've got an alternative suggestion for you."

"I'm listening, Mallin."

"Pick up the car and come back to your house. We'll put you together a supper and a pad and bundle of blankets. Park your car where the drive will be, have supper in your kitchen and spend the night in your bedroom. Leave your car here and let them put it in your garage for you when it's done."

"Ven?"

"Mallin, you can advise me any time. It's perfect, Anverd. Let's borrow a reader and a copy of the book we've been sharing."

"Merne, we're going to get tired early this evening."

"I'm already thinking about yawning, Barb."

"I have a date. To do something with someone. I'll come up with what and who before sunset."

"How about you and Miram with me and Garid to hit the midnight madness sale at Gurnsy's, Chelse? Garid needs shoes and we might talk our moms out of a bit more than usual to shop with."

"Oh, what a good idea, Dali. They'll start putting the sale prices up about twenty-thirty. Waiting for official start at twenty-three only makes sense if you're more interested in the free food than a good selection of bargains and I'd like to have the car home by then."

"I think they've got us, Glonda."

"I think they have too, Ardith."

"I want Thorass Stalkers, Mom."

"Are those the orange and purple things, Garid?"

"All the guys are wearing them. They've got great traction and... a good insole."

"Mom, they are good shoes and they will be on sale. They won't be marked down as much as some others, but everything in the store is everything in the store."

"Dali, they're orange and purple."

"Look at it this way, Mom. Nothing goes with them so he won't be hunting things to go with them, like he did those yellow-green things he's wearing."

"I think you're being overly optimistic, Dali, but he definitely needs shoes and might as well have the ones he wants."

"Thanks, Mom! Massy! Mom said I can have a pair of Stalkers! My sister convinced her!"

"Anverd, remind me to send a message to Marver. I want to tell him the word 'about' was unnecessary in his statement the neighbors were the nicest that could be found anywhere."

"Have you heard how he's doing, Ven?"

"I got a message from Bertille Scholarship House, Glonda. That's a co-op housing unit for med tech students, with excellent marks, across the street from the condo I leased him. They said they'd adopted him. He's now unpacked, there are socks several places at the hospital and the laundry checks to see which need a restock before they call them to take the rest of his clothes home and bring a fresh load."

"He's happy. He's too busy to ask himself if he is."

"He was the one I was sure belonged in the position and I was ready to leave it. I wasn't excited about an eager new group of students to teach any longer. Didn't dread it, at all, but wasn't looking forward to it and eager to get started before the ten-day break between classes was over, but I'd probably still be there if I hadn't been sure."

"He was very surprised when the largest medical school in the empire begged him, and that's the word they used, to take the position of... "

"Chief surgery instructor, Mallin. The title says the same, but seven words looks more impressive on a fund-raising banquet program. Oh, my, look at all those cars."

"They'll pull past the drive and park on the side of the road, Ven. That's about everybody coming. Closest usually come early to help put together. The rest come right close to when told and there's a reason if any lag by more than about ten minutes. These things don't have an end time, but they always have a start."

"Look at the kids!"

"Most have three or four, Anverd. Right along here was a bit low on average for the area."

"It definitely won't be in a year, Merne. All but three of the girls want a baby now. Boer keeps hitting the number nine and blinking, but he'll be disappointed if any of them are. I expect to have four ask me if I have my scanner with me today so I didn't bring it. I'm scheduling full scans for them all early morning day-after-tomorrow."

The family joined the picnic, or some of them did. Boer was among them. Jobe and Tommy were not. Neither were Cal and Barri. It wasn't long before they joined the others though. Jobe and Tommy had 'gotten' rather excited about them all being home.

### Chapter Seventeen

The picnic was great fun. Several of their neighbors noted they hadn't really understood how "the bunch" had done the job on Nunture as fast as they did until a flyer port had "appeared" in a very nice spot for it. They all grinned widely and didn't notice Tommy and Jobe disappeared for awhile again and this time Tori and Dona were missing too.

About nineteen-thirty, people began to leave. At twenty, Chelse offered a ride to Ven and Anverd and the Faiths' car boot was stuffed with bedding, supper and a book reader. The car itself was rather stuffed too, but Ven and Anverd didn't mind riding to Brossom with five kids who had shopping as a destination. Boer noted Mallin got several pats on the back not long after they left and grinned. It had obviously been his idea. By twenty-fifty, Mallin, Glonda, Merne and Barb were the only ones still at the house. They were just finishing polishing up the kitchen when Ven and Anverd commed.

"It's done! The house is done! The whole inside is finished!"

"What?!"

"We noticed the windows were in when we drove by on the way to get the car, Boer, and talked about how fast the builder was doing it. The outside isn't, but the inside is finished. The plumbing, power, walls... The appliances are in, the carpet is laid and the comm is on."

"Someone hung drapes. That had to be done after we went by. Is Mallin still there?"

"He is and he's wearing a very wide grin, Anverd. So are Glonda, Barb and Merne."

"We all wanted to say thank you, Boer. We didn't have any trouble figuring out how to say it. I just figured out how to get them there tonight. The builder did it. He just had a bit bigger crew than usual a couple days and rearranged the order in which it's usually done a little. Welcome to the neighborhood. It's a bit more spread out than most, but that's how we think about it."

"Thank you. Thank you all very much. You did pick the right way and it was more than a couple days, or a very big crew. He just started it ten days ago. Ven, Anverd, we'll help you move in tomorrow."

"We won't need any help until mid-afternoon, Boer. We have shopping to do and that's probably about when we'll get furniture delivery. I'd say you didn't need to, but I know you want to."

"Oh, I want to come back an hour ago and tell everyone thank you. Girls, please do it for us."

"We will, Ven, and for ourselves as well."

"We'll tell them all it's real nice to be home, Dirda."

"Yes, Nora, it certainly is."

"Have a good night, you two."

"We definitely will, Glonda. Goodnight. Out."

"Finished their house."

"Just the inside, Boer. The builder said it's still about ten days from being done, but he will get started in the barn sooner than he expected."

"He said we were supposed to have good weather long enough for them to get the walls up and a roof on the house, Merne. I almost told him do the quarters in the barn first and I'd pay for idle time if he had to wait for good weather to start on the cottage, but I realized that could still cost him, because it might make it too late to start a project at the end of his season. I stopped worrying about how soon the quarters would be done the day you had your sale and Mallin stopped by. Was that only six days ago?"

"Yes, Boer, it was, but we feel like you've been part of the neighborhood for awhile too. Feel like this house has been waiting for you to come home for about thirty years, like Marver was borrowing a piece of it until you did. This is done and it took just long enough for us to tell everyone how excited Ven was and how surprised you were, and we didn't even have to stall. Girls, these things usually last until sleepy kids are being carried to cars and Merne falls asleep in a chair if they start after eleven. We'll never forget being neighborly and showing up a bit early to help put together got us invited to your wedding. This isn't the only marriage that got started before the wedding took place by a stretch, but that really doesn't make any difference. It's time to leave the reception so the honeymoon can start. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Barb. We won't forget you pitched in to get our 'chapel' ready in time either."

When they heard the car go down the drive, they suddenly realized they were finally alone and all together. Boer whooped, 'tossed' Jobe over his shoulder and ran for the spa. He towed Tommy. He was laughing so hard he just hung onto Boer's hand and worked to stay on his feet. He hadn't seen the toss before and was rather sure he'd yelp and giggle just like Jobe had. He didn't have any doubts Boer would decide he belonged over his shoulder, someday. The girls giggled and ran after them. They were all home and all together and they had one more night than they'd hoped for.

Tommy burst into laughter and Jobe giggled when Boer's stomach growled and woke them. They were the last to make it down to breakfast, but the kitchen was full. They all wanted to spend as much time together as they could. Dirda told them the people building the barn were taking a day off and would be starting a bit late the next. Boer grinned and said they should probably still wear something to play in the fountains and the yard.

They played until Ven called and said there was a furniture delivery hauler in front of the house and the two people in it looked very surprised. Boer laughed and said they were on their way.

They ran for the barn and cars. Anverd noted the delivery people didn't look less surprised when fifteen in swimwear showed up to help unload and arrange the furniture. Ven giggled and told him surprise didn't really describe it and she was thinking of offering Aura a shirt, so the two men remembered where they were supposed to go next. Anverd sank onto the couch they'd just 'positioned' and Ven dropped beside him.

Boer grinned widely as he went by on the way to get another load. Cal was on the comm in their kitchen making arrangements for a shuttle delivery of the things they'd packed to move to the house when it was done. They'd come in cars and not the big transport for specifically that reason. Jast and Urber arrived with a loaded transport just as the hauler pulled away.

"This one says kitchen. Point me."

"That way, Jast. Ven, Nora says one of you have to figure out what goes where in there. The other is on drawers and closets."

"I'll take closets and drawers, Ven. I've done a lot of them. I've used a kitchen, but I've never arranged one."

"Well, I'm not sure once makes me experienced, but I do know I want cups close to the brewer. Nora! I need you available for consultation!"

"Anverd, what don't you have?"

"Nothing but food that we could think of, Boer. We've got linens and some toiletries out in the car. Well, we have dinner for tonight too. It's the cook-in-the-container type. We got disposable plates and utensils for it. The bath had paper."

"You have pans and dishes?"

"Ven had sets of both she really liked in her condo. She left the odd stuff there, but packed those and the utensils she picked to go with them. We bought a set of nice kitchen knives this morning. They're in the kitchen. We brought them and cleaning things in. We got here just ahead of the delivery."

"Do you want any of the paintings you hung in your quarters on the ship?"

"No. They're home too, Boer. Like a home in the country and a condo in the city. You expect to be in the city condo most of the time because that's where you work, but the country home is... peace you know is waiting for you. I know they belong here this time, but I still want to take them all with us. If I wasn't sure you weren't going to be on the ship most of the time, I think I'd have argued we should."

"I'd have listened and been pleased to say you thought so. I think Tori is debating a last minute change."

"Ven said she's the one she most hopes has a positive scan in the morning. She isn't worried about her age, yet, because it's younger for her than most, but she is running out of time. If it's not positive, she has two good reasons to pack fast. Meanwhile, she's had Cal and Lola both busy adding to the library and dictated a lot of briefs on cultures outside the empire in that area. One is a great deal longer than the rest, but she prefaced it with she had a feeling the society was important, not responsible. I worked on it and came up with wait and see."

"I knew they'd been working hard on it."

"You were working hard on everything else. Those aren't the only three who were working on prep for you, Boer, just the ones who organized it. There's a very understandable method of looking for 'niches' and what it means if you don't find what you'd expect in them. I'd say Dona, Tori and Barri teamed on that one since some of the niches are societal. There's a settlement chronology with anecdotes and a brief on interstellar money markets and exchange outside the empire. There's also a description of some vegetables and grains I'd never heard of before and where and why they're important. There's one of recreational sports and one of tech. Since it's everything I can think of you might need, Dirda has been busy too."

"I've... been sleeping late."

"And needed it. If you need a measure of how much you've accomplished over the last few days, look around you. Your neighbors gave you one and they expressed it very well."

"I feel guilty."

"Because?"

"I just needed a place to park a flyer."

Boer left Anverd laughing and went to get a load. He took Jobe's and he took Li's. She took Eddy's. Eddy went back to the transport and asked Urber if there was something small enough she might get all the way to the house with it. Urber told her Mim, Nora, Lou and Dirda had about cleaned her out of small. Eddy took a medium and sighed when Tommy took it before she got three meters. She gave up and went in to see how kitchen arranging was going. She sat down and giggled when Aura lifted the box of 'silver' out of her hands.

"What's so funny, Eddy?"

"I never got farther than four meters from the transport carrying anything, Nora. I got in the house with one reading lamp from the furniture truck. You saw Aura take the utensils."

"Sorry, Eddy."

"If I was complaining, I wouldn't be giggling, Aura. I know I'm not the only one. Urber said the other pregnant girls had already gotten everything that qualified as small."

"I asked for small because Li grabbed a load I was carrying and I was afraid she was going to strain something, Eddy. Tommy took it over before she got very far or I'd have probably taken it back."

"I thought about it when she took one from me, Nora. I know she's stronger than she looks, but she looks so little."

"She's probably stronger than you are, Eddy. I've seen her grab a piece of tech that I know weighs near what she does and just move it out of the way. Of all of you, she's in the best condition. Nora's next."

"Thank you, Aura. I basically get my exercise the same way she does. Hunted for things to do that used some muscle when we were on the ship. Mine changes to fat fast. I know that's not what really happens, but you know what I mean by it."

"I've been thinking about this a bit. I think I want to give you all an exercise program designed specifically for pregnant women."

"I was thinking about it too, Ven, but they'll probably prefer your idea of exercise to mine."

"Oh, I don't doubt that a bit, Aura. I've been tired after watching you do a light workout."

"Yes, Eddy, I do a great deal more than most even in a light one, but that's why I'm the one to go with Boer, Jobe and Tommy. Lola knows it. She told me to put her together a program that will get her to the point she can do a full workout with me by the time we get where we're going. I told her we could just make it, but she wouldn't be sure it was worth it for about fifteen days. I've got schedules for Li, Boer, Jobe and Tommy too. They all know it."

"Boer?"

"He hasn't been working out regularly, Eddy. He started at about the age of fourteen. By then he knew he was going to be ready for the academy at sixteen. I know he had a program he did at least three days out of ten, until the emperor appointed him governor."

"He said he's been working out in sporadic bursts of guilt as opposed to regularly, Ven. He also said he can feel it and we'll all be spending a great deal of time in the company of Chief Larkenscho. My unarmed combat training is in about the same style, but not very advanced. Li, Lola and I know he's not going to let us do more than put together info for him until it is. Basically, not land on a planet except with them and not go anywhere or do anything that he thinks could get dangerous."

"Dangerous. I've been avoiding thinking the word, Aura. It brings back the terror I felt when he was poisoned."

"That wasn't danger, Eddy. It was attempted murder. You're aware and paying close attention when you're doing something dangerous. There are things that have to be done on a farm that are dangerous. My father nearly lost an arm clearing a jam on a drik-fiber harvester, but he knew it was dangerous and my brother was right behind him with a pole to shove in if the blades started to spin when he got the fiber loose. It was the closest we ever came to having a really bad injury, but not the only close call, even that year. They'll be aware, paying attention and prepared. But I think they need to change their names, or at least what they call each other."

"You think they'll be recognized."

"Not if that name association isn't there too, Aura. The physical resemblance might be noted, but there are a lot of people and a lot of them look a lot alike. There are enough of them even the size of the two together and their coloring isn't more than coincidence. Working out like you plan will change Jobe's body shape some and reduce that. But if you add the names, many people will make the connection, even if they're in an unexpected place, especially the ones we don't want to recognize them. You're about the same. Lola and Li aren't. Even Li isn't extremely unusual in size and the names are common."

"Hi, I've been listening. Nora's right. I've been thinking about it too, when I was thinking."

"I figured you had been, Tommy. If I can see it, it's more than obvious to you. I don't have any suggestions though. I hit resistance to the idea when I even think of calling Jobe something else. Yours doesn't need changing."

"It already was and Tommy is even more common than Thomin. It's the nickname for several others as well."

"Let's all work on it. Let's all come up with a name, put the ideas on slips of paper and draw one for each of them, including Aura. They're going to need some form of identification to get identification on Silvern."

"I could make us all a full set of documents, Eddy. I'm sure Anverd can."

"Yes, and what he makes will be legal. He's got an Imperial document embosser that he was specifically told to take with him when he left marine intelligence. He was told his resignation didn't cancel his authority to use it as far as they were concerned. I'm sure you've all noticed Boer hadn't put on his coronet since we left Boniface."

"Yes, we noticed he put it on just for the wedding too, Ven."

"Our marriage is a legal union because he's Relatross sector governor, Aura. The records of his appointment, the presentations, his acceptance and the bio monitor of consummation in imperial court records are the only documentation of it. Group marriage is not illegal on empire worlds, but it also isn't performed on most of them. Tori!"

"Yes, Eddy?!"

"Kitchen!"

"Oh, my, you've obviously been having serious discussion."

"Is Silvern going to need a marriage contract on file to cross-check identification?"

"No. At one time all contracts were filed with them. However, all Shadill are not citizens of Silvern any longer. Silvern requested they be allowed to keep their own records of them and file them with the empire. They did it nineteen years ago to reduce their cost of documentation checks and such, but it effectively made Shadill marriage Shadill business. Silvern is still the primary choice for issuance of licenses, but those are fee-based and more a way the Shadill say thank you for giving them a chance to build the culture than anything else. Since it actually makes, not costs, Silvern credits, they make it as simple as possible for them. Because they have, a large number of people who aren't Shadill take their proof of empire citizenship and the logs saying they have the required hours, to Silvern Docking to take standard tests to get ship operation licenses. Proof of purchase or construction of a ship makes it simple to get it registered. It's quite expensive to substitute testing for logged training hours, but there are facilities for it on Silvern Docking. The tests are extremely rigorous and some are simulation and hands-on. There are other places that do it, but the reputation of being the most difficult is a form of credential in itself. Sometimes people choose to do it even though they have the logged hours. The little silver star on their licenses can improve their chances of getting a job."

"You've been busy."

"So have you, Tommy. Since I was one of those keeping you busy, I thought it appropriate I help find answers to some of the questions you haven't had time to think about asking."

Tori was told how the discussion began and thought the idea of drawing names was interesting. Barri was consulted and agreed it was a good way to overcome their resistance to changing Jobe's. Lou joined it when she came to the kitchen hunting the cleaning supplies Anverd had said belonged in the bathroom cabinet. She surprised them with her statement they already had one name in common they didn't use. Tori smiled and said she hadn't thought of it, but it did solve the problem of clan name.

"What name?"

"Hadlain, Nora. The form of imperial names places that of the highest family first and it is given to their children. If Boer was not in an imperial family, his parents would have chosen which of their surnames to give him or given both in the order they chose. On Valer, common practice is a couple uses the surname of one of them and it's given to all their children. Most often the choice is the simplest, not the man's or woman's, but the choice is theirs to make for whatever reason."

"Being the Hadlains would be an asset here too, Tori. They're the Harvens, Faiths and so on. We're the governor's family. It puts us a bit off from them. They work at just thinking of us as neighbors and treating us as such, but it is work and that doesn't make it simpler."

"It would help our children fit in too, Nora."

"I thought you'd see it, Barri. It hadn't occurred to me before this, probably because we hadn't exchanged vows and stated we were more than a family created by a treaty."

"Anverd!"

"Yes, Ven?!"

"How deep are you in closets?!"

"Done with them. A meeting?"

"They exchanged marriage vows yesterday. In this community, people who do choose one surname for the family. They've chosen Hadlain. It gives them a 'clan' name to start with as well. They're all going to put a suggestion for each one on slips of paper and draw personal names for Boer, Jobe and Aura."

"It's good. We can just add a name. I need my embosser. We also need two containers."

"The two in our closet in our quarters. We didn't tell anyone about them after we packed them."

"I didn't even think about them until Boer asked if we had anything to go in essentials drawers yet."

"You packed clothes to leave here?"

"Quite a few, Nora. We went shopping both days we stayed at the apartments. We sorted what we wanted here out of what we had and what we bought and stored them in the closet."

"I'll go up and come back. I've a little work I need to do before morning, about three hours' worth. I don't think you really want to come along."

"Actually, I'd like to do a little more shopping. This time in U-town. There's no reason not to buy some non-perishable food and the market there isn't expensive. I might look around at the student art sales gallery too."

"You've obviously been to U-town. None of us have yet. Seemed like most of what we wanted was more likely to be the other way."

"In general, it is, Nora, but I like the type of small business area that serves a university campus, especially one deliberately out in the country. It was a nice drive in my new car. We were close to the road on the east side of the city and had about four hours before the tailoring was done on an outfit I bought, so we went down to look around."

"Had a great lunch at a nice price. Had a terrific ale to go with it."

"I'll see if I can find some for after dinner for you."

"You take hints so well. Dinner is going to be a bit late. Have a snack."

"Mmm."

"I still don't know what they were, but they were good. They're ready to head up. I'll be back in about three-and-a-half hours."

"So will I."

"I'm interested in good."

"They call them 'U pups,' Nora. They're fried something, stuffed with something, dipped in something. I don't know what any of it is, but I'd have gone back and asked if we weren't on the way back to Brossom when I popped the first one in my mouth. If I thought they'd be good warmed, I'd get some to bring home for Anverd. We got some from a little kiosk close to where we'd parked because they were obviously quite popular and they smelled good. That's not the only place we saw selling them, but it was the only one where we smelled them."

"We have a lot of cars here."

"We're not dressed, Nora."

"Jobe! Grab a couple people and run get shirts, shorts and sandals for all! Not Cal!"

"Tommy!"

"Coming!"

"Nora!"

"We want them quick, Cal! Sending you with them to visit fifteen bedrooms just didn't seem to fit the idea of doing it fast!"

"Oh, as long as you had a good reason. So what is the reason?"

"A treat called U pups that had Ven licking her lips."

"And a visit to U-town to go with it. Let's have dinner there."

"Dirda, you may not be interested in getting back home, but I am."

"Cal, Tori and I both know how you feel, but we're all getting a little silly about it. Frankly, if we aren't pregnant when they leave, they may feel guilty for leaving before we are. Dinner somewhere and at least part of an evening without one after the other of us dragging them off to a bed will at least help some."

"Ow. Thump and I deserved it, Barri."

"So did I, Cal."

"I didn't think about it until I had about the same response to Dirda's suggestion as Cal did, Tori."

"It was about time you all thought about it, Barri. There's no reason any of you aren't pregnant yet, except you just aren't. It's not really surprising. Nine out of nine, even over a period of one hundred twenty days, would be. I rather hope Tori is, just because of her age. She wouldn't be too old in two years, but it would bother her, and Boer because he knew it did. It bothers him to leave you and hurts them all they probably won't be here when Nora, Mim and Eddy give birth. Adding four more pregnant to the general worry load is a weight I don't think you want him to have to carry, and I think you know it. You two and Dona are sure you want to become pregnant, but I don't think you're really sure you want to be now. You're all rather protective. Look at your chosen careers. Cal, I'm not excluding you in that. Anverd says you usually get a lock and scramble on before he can. I think, subconsciously, you intend to watch over the five who are pregnant and that may be why you're not. I've noticed Tori usually chooses Tommy when she grabs a hand and disappears for awhile. I think most of you do. You're trying to assure he has a child in this first... bunch, though you're keeping Jobe rather busy too. I think the main reason you are is because it would make Boer very happy, and Jobe as well. None of you really have a preference. That's what you said you wanted. Well, you've got it. If Tommy doesn't sire one of your children for several years, it won't make them any less his children. I could tell Dirda who sired the child she's carrying, but it's not important to her. It's not that she doesn't want to not know, it's just irrelevant. Tomorrow morning I'll scan you all. If one of you is pregnant, I'll check to see if Tommy is the father, for Boer. If he's not, I won't say who is and it's the last time I'll tell any of you because it's the last time any of you will find it of any importance. Hello, Dona."

"I didn't miss the lecture, Ven. I was standing outside the kitchen wincing and nodding. Tori, I hope you're pregnant more than I hope I am. It would be a nice bonus if Tommy was the father. The scan tomorrow morning won't tell us if one of us gets pregnant tonight, just if one of us was by... yesterday, Ven?"

"Approximately, Dona. I could find out within minutes if I took you up to the ship and did a search for cell multiplication, but you might get pregnant tonight tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning, we'll find out if one of you did some time in about five of the last seven days, or the three before."

"I just realized I really want one to be Tommy's more than I want one to be mine, too, and primarily because it would please Boer and Jobe."

"That's what I needed to hear, Tori. They're all going to be all your children. I doubt Nora plans on one calling her 'Mommy' and the rest calling her 'Nora. She may plan on all of them calling her 'Mommy,' but not just those she gives birth to."

"Hadn't given it any thought, but you're right, Ven. I suppose I'll have to put up with Nora. Twelve answers when any of them yell, 'Mommy' would probably be confusing and I don't think we want Mommy Nora, Mommy Barri, Mommy Aura."

"Thank you, Nora."

"You, Lola and Li may be the ones who are most sure all the children are all of ours, Aura. You know, I've been married over a quarter-year and never gotten to go dancing. I don't want to go out fancy, just the bunch of us some place fun."

"Nora, you're going to like U-town. I think it's a great idea and a memory they need. Boer loved shopping with you all. He's careful not to mention it because it ended so abruptly and terribly, but there was still one who wasn't with you. You had great fun shopping for cars, but one wasn't there. Hit U-town as the Hadlains and just have a good time."

"Comm Faith residence. Oh, I put a bunch of codes in your comm directory."

"Hello?"

"Mallin, Cal. We did Faiths, Harvens, N'gangtos, Bullocks, Mandermans and hit 'the governor's family' with a thump. We had our wedding yesterday. We're the Hadlains. It's Boer's father's surname and a lot easier to spell and say than Thiretesses."

"True. I like it. So will everyone else. Don't think I heard Ven and Anverd's surname."

"Johnson. Mallin, you should have seen the expressions on the furniture delivery people when they pulled up in front of the house. Then, about two minutes later, the Hadlains, all in swimwear, pulled up in five cars and jumped out to help. Two men and they were still blinking when they left. "

"Oh, I can't imagine why. Great story, Ven. Hope you don't mind I spread it around."

"Not at all. Anverd and I spent most of the time the Hadlains carried in furniture giggling on the couch Boer and Aura brought in first. I'm headed to do grocery shopping in U-town and I told them about U pups. Tommy did think about getting something over swimwear before they went hunting for them."

"U-town was closer, I'd be addicted. The kiosk on the corner of Stadium and Aggie has the best."

"That's where Anverd and I got them. Dinner suggestion for them. Good not fancy."

"Pards. Buffet style and they expect big bunches with big appetites."

"Thanks. Out."

"I heard 'U pups' and dinner suggestion."

"Boer, I think you'd hear talk about food if you were at the house."

"I might if I was hungry, Nora, and I'm getting that way fast. I like Hadlains too."

"They're back!"

"Coming, Li!"

### Chapter Eighteen

Tommy held up a wad of cash and a shirt and Boer headed for him. Lola and Jobe were dropping stacks of clothes in cars. The yard was plowed former field, dampened to keep dust down. Tommy handed him shorts and sandals out of the car when he got to him.

"I didn't know what was going on or I'd have yelled grab cash, Tommy. Glad you thought of it."

"If I hadn't been in the kitchen when Anverd and Ven both smacked their lips about U pups, I wouldn't have thought of it. I don't know how much it is. I just grabbed it off my dresser. It miraculously appeared there after I spent some of what I found in my shirt pocket the other day. I've got what I didn't spend in my shorts pocket. I think Jobe has some too."

"Good. I was working hard not to eavesdrop because Li and Mim did a theatrical block on the bedroom door, but I think the evening is planned as an unplanned exploration of U-town by the Hadlains. Which, by the way, would delight both my parents. I do know dinner is included in the unplanned plan."

"A block, huh?"

"In the cars you came in! This is a conference?"

"Just a speculation, Jobe, but I feel a little guilty. Let's go. Let's find those treats and have bunches ready to hand over when they catch up. Roll!"

"Explain guilty."

"I think the girls got a lecture from their doctor and I'm the real reason they got it."

"They're keeping Tommy so busy because both of us would be pleased if one of them was carrying his baby."

"Jobe, the only problem with being married to you is every time I pick up a nice load of guilt you insist on carrying some of it."

"It's just not important to me, except... Uh... "

"That it would please us."

"Not just you and Jobe, Boer. They don't care whose, or how many of whose, as long as we all father some of them. Right now, they all want Tori to get pregnant and they want me to father a baby. If she had a preference, it would be for yours."

"Why?"

"Because you're a spectacular mature male, Boer. She doesn't think of Tommy and I as boys, but most of her students were about our age, or older. You have years of adult experience in common with her that we don't. It's important to me she have a child so she doesn't feel... grandmother-ish about our children. It may be why it's important to her."

"I don't think of any of you as children, but I do think of all of you but Mim, Dona and Tori as kids sometimes."

"That's because we are. Li isn't really, but she looks like she is. All the rest of us are between eighteen and twenty-two."

"She's only twenty-four, Tommy. Ooh."

"And Dona is 'only' twenty-eight, but I think there's a mental step at 'over twenty-five.' There are some worlds six of us couldn't go in places with adult entertainment, including serving alcohol. We're under twenty-one. There are worlds eight of us couldn't go in those places because we're under twenty-two. Legal age in the empire is eighteen and most worlds and nearly all space stations are the same, but local laws have precedence in everything but voting."

"No restrictions on voting except citizenship and legally adult under imperial law. That right may be suspended for persons remanded to rehabilitation facilities for sociopathic acts on a case by case judgment by superior court. All such decisions will be subject to review by the office of the Imperial Rights Commissioner. It's fresh because I didn't know how many I might have to try for what they did on Nunture and I definitely didn't want them running for office. It's nice they saved me the trouble of asking for imperial dispensation to issue executive orders for executions under martial law."

"Yipe!"

"I was the only one with the authority to judge them, Tommy, and there was no place to put them and no one to conduct a rehabilitation program under imperial guidelines. I caught 'kiosk on the corner of Stadium and Aggie.' This just became Stadium."

"Oops! And the speed limit dropped abruptly. Twice. Is that a kiosk?"

"Yes, Jobe, and that's Aggie. It's also five minute parking in front of it. Drop us off. I hope you don't have a long walk from the closest place to park that doesn't have a short time limit."

"I see a sign that says park and shop two blocks."

"It's probably a fee lot."

"That doesn't bother me, Boer. That there may not be room for five cars in it does. See you in a few, I hope."

There was room for three in the lot. Jobe waited for the other cars, motioned three in and led Aura down the street. They'd dropped off their passengers too. He saw someone pull out of a parking place that didn't have a short time limit and motioned her into it. Eventually, he gave up and went back toward the kiosk. He'd take anything he could find and move the car when the time was up. He pulled into one with a half-hour limit someone pulled out of a half-block down the street from it. The car was quickly surrounded, but not by his family.

"It's gorgeous!"

"It's a Gasmandy custom. I'd know their work anywhere."

"Hello."

"Uh... hello. It's a Gasmandy."

"Have you raced it?"

"No. I just got it. My husband bought it for me."

"Your what?"

"'Scuse, coming through with hot U pups! Jobe, we were beginning to think you got lost. Boer ordered fresh as soon as he saw you."

"Thanks, Aura. This is the only parking place I saw after you found one. They like my car. I said my husband got it for me."

Aura burst into laughter and opened the car door for him. The rest of the family doubled the size of the crowd around the car and Boer came through it. Jobe nearly dove for him. When Tommy suddenly came through them and got on his other side fast, Aura just put her arm on the top of the windscreen and laid her head on it. The university girls were very interested in them and they'd both run for Boer. He knew exactly what was going on.

"Hi, I'm Boer. The rest of this bunch is my family. Sorry, girls and boys, we're all married. That's what the little rings in our ears mean."

"You're the governor!"

"Yes, but that's in another sector. Here, we're just the Hadlain family who live up the road. This is our first trip to U-town. We already like everything about it, except hunting parking places."

"He told them his husband bought it for him."

"Well, he did, Aura. He knew what it is, Boer. He asked me if I'd raced it."

"Do you want to?"

"Not yet. I haven't been driving roads long enough to be ready for racetracks, to even think about racetracks."

"It won't be long, Boer. He says, 'Oops!' and slows down to just a bit above the limit often."

"I say, 'oops,' fairly often too, Tommy, and I did teach him to drive."

"Any place around here got a good band tonight? We're starved for something besides the inside of a ship and oh-so-polite, lovely teas on the terrace. I want some thump and bounce before all I can do is waddle."

"You're bragging, Eddy, but I definitely agree on the thump and bounce."

"That's unanimous, Cal. Oh, please, not another fine performance by a symphony. I like them, but they're real hard to dance to."

"I nearly always went straight from the palace to a place you could hear the music when you pulled in the parking lot, Lola. I usually had a driver so I took clothes with me and changed in the car."

"None of you are deprived. I am. I couldn't go in any place that sounded like fun for the last twenty years. They were full of my students. I escaped into fantasy. It was lucrative."

"I forgot! You're Tori Morris!"

"No, I'm Tori Hadlain and tonight I intend to move it and shake it in celebration."

"This is home, kids. You probably won't see all of us together often, but you'll see some of us often. I've got to go take care of some stuff soon, but I'm not going to make them all go with me. A nice thing about being this close to U-town is a bunch can come down for an evening. They're all married, but my father isn't the only person my mother dances with. Considering the way my father dances, he hunts for partners for her. She's been telling people the only place he has rhythm is the bedroom, for forty-five years."

"She told me that, Boer. She warned me he was going to be polite and ask me to dance and recommended a good hot soak for my feet after he stepped all over them. He told me you'd inherited all your dancing ability from her because he didn't have any for you to inherit. I told him he was right."

"That's my dad. Tam got him an instructor about ten years ago, Eddy. She told him he wasn't a bad dancer he was hopeless. He agreed and explained to Tam it wasn't her fault. Tam gave up and Mom warns women. You've never been dancing."

"No, and I'm wondering if I'm like your father."

"Nobody else is like my father, Jobe. It's a mental block. It has to be. I told you anyone can cook, but I do know someone who can't. Stir to mush or burn to a crisp. She'd push the wrong button when she was heating a prepped dinner. She bought a one-bedroom condo in a building with a restaurant in it, got a standing reservation for three meals a day and remodeled the condo into a two-bedroom without a kitchen. Her friends relaxed a great deal when she did. We were all sure there should be someone standing very close by with an extinguisher when she walked into one."

Boer winked at Jobe and led the large crowd down the street. It was nice to have Eddy home. She was very good at her job. The 'kids' were laughing and talking with his family about people they'd known with "mental blocks," usually someone in their families. Then someone said his sister never remembered where she parked her car.

"I forgot to check the time! I have to move in a half-hour, Boer. The sign says they'll impound it."

"Who's got the time?"

"Fifteen fifty-two."

"Thanks. Do any of us have the time? That's what I thought. Tommy, in there. Find something useful."

"Like what, Boer?"

"A wrist chron would be good."

"Oh. There are chrons in the window."

"He was looking at the russet shirt, Boer."

"Ooh, it would be pretty with his hair, Dirda."

"It certainly would, Cal."

"Oh, look at those turquoise pants. Barri, they'd be incredible on you."

"I like the color, Dona."

"Girls, we didn't bring a lot of cash."

"That's all right, Boer. We all know the account number."

"I was just sure you did, Lola."

"Boer, we just lost them."

"It was inevitable, Jobe, but I did expect to get a little farther down the street."

"Did you get one already, Tommy?"

"No, Jobe, I ran when they decided to see how some things fit me. I had this mental image of Aura picking me up and them trying three or four pair of pants on me in the middle of the store. I know I have swim briefs on, but I'd rather take the chance what they pick doesn't fit."

"I'd have run. There's a tech shop with good chrons and a lot better selection about a half-block down on the other side of the street."

"You're the one who knew what kind of car it is."

"Kever Eiseman. Gasmandy builds nice cars."

"I'll take your advice on tech, Kever. We should probably all get chrons. There's just one problem."

"What's that, Boer?"

"I don't remember the account number, Tommy. You two?"

"Huh, uh."

"I've never used it."

"Oh, well, I'm sure they'll find us by the time we're ready to buy something. We're not going to get out of a store with just what we went after."

"You guys really are married."

"Yes, Kever, we are. The treaty says where from, how many and it's marriage. Every other male governor was presented fourteen women. There was only one woman and she was presented fourteen men. Remember, I'm only the sixth governor. When Jobe was presented to me, I was furious, but it was because of... why and what they were doing to him. He was cuffed and hobbled and they were about dragging him. He couldn't see or hear, but he was fighting. I was so mad I decided I would, damn it, do it. I was sure he understood what I was telling him, but I couldn't explain why except put his hand on my coronet. He gave me his trust. When O'Dona, probably Misty, chose Tommy, they'd read what the treaty doesn't say. This time the important word that is in it, to all those worlds, was 'marriage.' I suspect it had always been 'advocate' before. Maybe one man and fourteen women can build a marriage, or the other way around. I intended to try, but it wouldn't have been... as richly textured, as well-woven, as it is with three men in it. We're outnumbered and spoiled rotten and very sure we're married, happily married."

"Each of us loves each and all of us. I was a real lonely kid. Sort of too much everything, if you know what I mean, including being from the 'right' family. I was sure nobody really knew me or understood me. I was wrong. My fourth-cousin did, better than I did by quite a bit. I was so surprised that it was right for me and I knew it from the moment I got here. I'm sure I'm married, happily married."

"Oh! They want to go dancing. Eddy never got an answer to her question. Is there a place with a good band tonight, Kever?"

"There are three. See the red sign up on the left? That's the Top Floor, medium-size, mostly stand and lean tables. They leave more room for dance floor. The Silver Lining is about a block-and-a-half down on the next street over. The cover charge is higher, because it's smaller, but it's nice with comfortable chairs and big booths. The dance floor is about half of it. Two blocks down that way, across from the parking lot, is Bear's Den. It's most of the basement of the block. It is a dance floor. There are little tables and chairs, but they're auxiliary dance floor if you can't find a place to put both feet anyplace else. No table service. Big bars down both sides. If you want something, you go get it. Beer and soft drinks and the selection isn't wide, but they'll have the best band because they pay the best money. A lot of the bands that play the Den go from there to concert tours. It's mind-numbing loud, but it's great. It's also for two-and-a-half hours, starting at twenty-two. They play recorded for three hours before and a half-hour after. The Top Floor is twenty-one to one. Cover is half after midnight. The Silver Lining is twenty to midnight. They serve breakfast midnight til two-thirty. All of them let you leave and come back. You just ask for a hand stamp on the way out."

"We are going to have fun tonight. That's a Kesi-Mac! You're right, Kever. Nice chrons. Thanks much. Twice. You going to be out wandering tonight?"

"No. I'm headed for a text now. I just came down for a munch and to let my brain cool down a few. I've got an exam in two days. It's going to be fairly light down here tonight because most do. The ones who are out will be screaming crazy for an hour or two and headed back for the books when they get it out of their systems. Most of them will be in the Den. A light crowd there means you can probably get back to a table with a drink. Heavy is you drink it at the bar, then dance your way back. Oh, they check identification. No exceptions period. Have fun."

"May your idea of what's important to study be the same as your instructor's idea of what's important to know. In other words, good luck on the exam."

"Thanks. I like the definition."

"Boer, I don't have identification."

"Anverd said he'd be back in about three-and-a-half hours, Jobe, and home is not far. In here, we will find truly useful chrons. Hello, you have a Kesi-Mac chron in the window. Do you have their Quadrana?"

"No, but I've got a chron made by Omtura Tech with all the functions plus a couple."

"I don't know the company."

"Where are you from?! Sorry."

"The answer is about ten k up the road, but it's recent. Tell me about Omtura."

"One of the best tech companies on-planet. They don't so much invent new as put the best ideas together better than anybody else, and I don't mean just on Valer. Let me show you their Trade Gem comm/chron as example. Now, it's a little bigger than you'll be used to seeing, but it does a lot more. Not two more functions than the Quadrana, five, and four-and-a-half are in the comm. They designed it for a gem trader who wanted a secure link to her ship comp. They couldn't come up with a way to do that in a wrist comm/chron, but they came up with a sensor that would tell her if the link was being listened and also if the connect was being locator-traced either direction. The comm can be operated as a primary receiver, secondary, and as a link to specific comms, up to six. That basically means you can link it to the comm net, just comm through the ship, or direct link to others without going through either the net or the ship. That function can be used whether you're using it as a primary or secondary. She decided they'd found a way to reduce the probability of being robbed, as much as a secure connect, by telling her if someone was looking for her and giving her a way to yell for more escort without using the link that was being traced. Other than that, it has all the chron functions of the Quadrana plus you can add worlds to the data bank either through a comp link or block mapping and it's as sturdy as any chron made."

"How many do you have?"

"Two, but I could get another in a couple hours."

"Could you get four more before you close today?"

"Are you be willing to pay courier cost?"

"Yes."

"Let me check. The continental distributor can send four, but they'll be assorted styles."

"I'd actually prefer that. Let's start with the two you have and a lesson for them on the chron functions and all of us on the comm. We may have enough cash if you need it first, but our wives will catch up soon and they remember the shopping account number because they're the ones who have been doing a lot of shopping."

"I remember ours. My wife calls for it with great regularity. She's never sure if the one she remembers is the right one or two mixed together. Since she's been doing it for nine years, I doubt she ever will be."

Boer noted there might not be enough left in the shopping account by the time the girls got there when the lesson was through and they hadn't found them. Tommy said he didn't mind spending some time looking around the store and was sure Li would find it because it was her kind of place to shop too.

They didn't see the girls glance in and go by, because they were behind a rack of sound equipment and all squatting down to look at the one on the bottom shelf. Then Jobe looked at the chron on his wrist, yelped and ran for the door. Boer yelled "No!" and alarms went off. Tommy tossed the store owner his chron and ran after Boer. He was chasing Jobe down the street, but so were the police. The shoplifting imprint hadn't been cleared from the chron he was wearing because the sale hadn't been entered in the comp. The store owner was straightening it out fast, but the police caught up with Jobe at his car first. He said he was moving it, but they grabbed him.

"Officers! He didn't steal the chron! He suddenly realized he'd been parked over the time limit and forgot he had it on!"

"That's a very audible alarm."

"Was that what that was?"

"Officers, I'm Governor Thiretess Boer Hadlain. He's Prince Jobim Thiretess-Relatross. He doesn't know about shoplifting prevention methods and alarms. This is his new car and he was afraid it would be impounded. We're buying several of the chrons. I'm sure the store owner is clearing the alarm. Tommy! The alarm?!"

"He's working on it, Boer!"

"Boer!"

"Aura, I'm very glad to see you! Where have you been?!"

"Looking for you! Where have you been?"

"Waiting for you to find us in the tech store with the alarm sounding. "

"We looked in when we went by it. I was doing a check back this way because we about ran out of town."

"We were there. We've been there the whole time."

"The sound system on the bottom of the rack, Boer."

"You're right, Tommy. We didn't really mind waiting Aura. There's some nice stuff in the store."

"Why were you waiting?"

"None of us know the account code. We haven't used it."

"Sir, we've got a clear on the alarm, but I suggest you get the chron back and thoroughly explain security systems to the prince."

"Definitely. Thank you, Officers. Let's go back and pay for that, Jobe."

"Can we take my car? I have to move it."

"I don't see any parking places, but I see the girls. They're about a block-and-a-half down. People are getting out of the way fast."

"I see them, Tommy. Give Aura the chron, Jobe. Aura, head the bunch off and get this, the other he has and the four coming by courier paid for. Find a nice bar and we'll find you. And get the account number."

"The Pigeon Coop. Slow down, girls! It's fixed!"

"Tommy, get us some U pups. Just pull up into the that empty five minute spot, Jobe. Then we'll find a place to park it. You all right?"

"I'm getting over scared and just feeling dumb. I heard it, but I was thinking about it was more than forty minutes and it just didn't register that I was the cause of it."

"You did good. You stood real still when the officers grabbed you."

"They were in uniforms. I thought they were there to take the car. That wasn't nice! He could see I was about to pull into it. I had my signal on."

"I think he's about to get a lesson in manners, Jobe. Tommy noticed. Just sit here. I'd rather pay a fine than miss this."

Tommy looked at the person and informed him he might as well leave because he wasn't ordering anything. The man told him to get out of the way. Tommy turned to the girl in the kiosk and told her to call the owners and tell them they had an offer for the business at five percent over their investment and the estimated profit for three years if they sold it immediately. He noted Nora really wanted their recipe for U pups and it was obviously a good investment over a ten-year period. The girl giggled and asked for a comm connect.

The man made a mistake. He told Tommy to get out of his way and the girl he'd have her fired if she didn't "drop the act and get to work." Tommy looked at him coolly and he shoved him. Boer grabbed the back of seat and the car door, 'folded' and went over the side in one fast move. Jobe went over the same side right behind him. Tommy dove in front of him.

"Boer, no! Jobe! Boer?"

"Looks like a good investment, Tommy. Pay cash if they want to sell."

The man left fast. Boer looked at the bag of U pups Tommy was holding out to him a second before he took it. Tommy raised an eyebrow and got a smile.

"Governor, they don't want to sell, but that person's business is not welcome and he won't be served. They know who he is. Most of us do."

"Thank you, young lady, and your employers."

"Oh, my car!"

"Find out who he is, Tommy. Our neighbors don't like him. I want to know if bad manners is the only reason."

"So do I. I'll catch up with the girls and meet you at the bar."

"Do catch up."

"Boer, I'd have slugged him myself if it hadn't occurred to me getting assault charges dismissed would occupy most of the evening, probably wouldn't teach him manners and might delay our departure."

"If he hadn't run, I might have decided it was worth it and I'd enjoy paying the hospital bill for his education."

"I'll catch up."

"Good."

Tommy caught up, grabbed the chron out of Aura's hand, set it to go through the house fast and commed Jobe's car. They were still in it and still hunting a parking place.

"Boer, he's been buying mortgage notes on properties in the area. He's not doing it personally, but no one seems to know who's backing and he's really throwing his weight around. The kiosk is one of three debt-free properties on that block and he's trying to get them zoned out. The block is currently zoned multi-dwelling residential/commercial. The kiosk and the convenience store beside it are the only commercial and that's the word he's trying to get removed. The buildings north of them and east side of the block are primarily four to six-apartment units owned by individuals or small groups of investors and about fifty years old. He also bought the notes on two farms beyond it along the gravway. Guess is someone thinks a big apartment complex would be profitable if it was close enough to town. Their choice of representative and method makes me doubt we want them as neighbors."

"Shit! If someone is making that kind of investment, it's likely they're using borrowed money. If not... "

"Yes, I've got a feeling it's dirty too."

"All we can do is hand it to the girls, Tommy. They can take care of dirty on this one. We have nine."

"I've got a trace!"

"What?!"

"Damn, Cal! It was Cal testing them, Boer, with Anverd's help. She says they're both impressed and he suggests a reduction in number of vehicles and three stop by his house at about nineteen-thirty with the results of the drawing. They're going to test the rest of the functions. See you at the bar."

"If we ever find a parking place. Out. There!"

"It says, 'restaurant parking only,' Boer."

"It's the one we're going to for dinner, Jobe. We'll go through, tell them we've got fifteen coming in about an hour-and-a-half and their lot was the only place we could park one car for more than a third of it. They won't mind because they're not busy this time of day. Most of these cars probably belong to people who had lunch here, plan on dinner or just plain ignored the sign, mostly those."

"It says cars will be impounded."

"They will be if they're still here when the restaurant starts really needing the parking. Up until then, there's no point in aggravating potential customers. That cam tells them who didn't go in the restaurant after they parked. People who do plan on being customers will check in if they're going to be late ones, because they know there's a point when the threat will kept. In a place like this, probably between seventeen-thirty and eighteen. If they don't like it, they'll thank us for being polite, tell us and we'll hunt some more, or give up and move it again in a half-hour. Mmm, smells good in here. Hello! We have fifteen coming for dinner, but not til about eighteen. Your lot was the only place we could find to park for more than a half-hour, just one car though and we will move it after dinner. The hot little white one with red interior."

"Nice car. Nice of you to ask. Come about a quarter-til if you can. Tonight, we'll bring out the fresh seafood for the salad bar at ten til and it can go in ten. We change the schedule of when we bring it out every night so the place won't be packed, but I recommend you have plates in hand by then. We restock twice, but not as soon as it runs out or we'd have people sitting here three hours eating just shellfish for the price of two plates of vegetables. We're looking forward to serving the Hadlain family dinner."

"You obviously know who we are."

"Margy's friend Chelse said we'd been recommended and make sure we take real good care of you."

"You've already started. Thank you. See you about a quarter til. Oh, which way is the Pigeon Coop?"

"A half-block left."

"Thanks."

Boer smiled when they walked in the door and Jobe grabbed him. It had been bright outside and was rather dim in the bar. He felt him relax when his eyes began to adjust. He understood why it had frightened him. The day was proving very valuable as a learning experience.

Tommy held up two bottles of ale. Boer grinned and headed for the three tables shoved together in the corner. Anverd had mentioned the brand, twice. He noticed Cal had a remote comp board in front of her with a wrist chron laying on top of it. He raised an eyebrow.

"Li said, 'Nice, tech. Got an idea.' She went in, chose a board and a couple of parts, bought them and borrowed a couple tools. The store owner is probably still giggling. The chron is built to accept comp input. She just 'reconfigured things a little' to operate the house comp through it with a remote board. She's got a scramble connect to Anverd through it. They ordered nine more chrons, three more boards, six data pads she said would reconfigure the same way, the sound system we liked and parts. Li likes the tracer. We'll pick up all but the nine chrons when we get ours. Mim has an idea too."

"Let's hear it, Mim."

"I think Tommy is right about apartments, but not on that block. That man is supposed to make everyone dislike him. I think the re-zoning push is to make the owners of the store and kiosk fight and enlist the business community to help. They need more space, not less. 'Residential' is the word they want out. They buy suddenly rezoned property cheap because they already hold the notes, level about ninety dwellings and put a fee parking lot there. They offer to clear the mortgage debt on the farms for the land along the gravway. They get that zoned multi-dwelling residential and build a bunch of cheap ugly stacks of apartments. They'll rent fast for higher than they're worth because of the housing shortage they created."

"I don't like them."

"This time I thoroughly agree, Jobe. This is good."

"I do like it."

"Slowly, Jobe, or we'll be carrying you to dinner. That has a higher alcohol content than most you've had. You evidently had problems finding a parking place again, which is what gave Mim the idea."

"We did, Dirda. Boer said park in the reserved lot behind Pards and tell them we were coming for dinner or we'd have still been driving around."

"They knew just who we were, the Hadlain family. They're expecting us. Evidently Chelse has a friend who works there. Deciding to ask if it would be all right to park got us a recommendation for a time for dinner based on the short duration of the stock of seafood on the salad bar. Basically get in the door five minutes ahead of stocking time, which is changed daily, get our plates and get close. A quarter til."

"Boer, I've got weird."

"What kind of weird, Cal."

"I've got a connection that goes... too far. What? Why those areas? Rural university towns with big ports within about fifty k. Uh-oh. That did it. I'm out. Anverd just yelled he needed all the comp and brain capacity he had and he hoped it was enough. Boer, we hit Yarrow sector."

"Say what?"

"Our ugly is just an ugly like a bunch of other uglies. Somebody is handing them the idea, the technique and providing the financing. There are several doing about the same thing on several worlds in the same kind of area, all working on creating a housing shortage and filling it. Their only connection is someone is backing them. We tracked sector debt purchases. They have to be registered. Anverd guesses someone has plans for a big market expansion, drugs from the university and port proximity, distribution from apartment complexes whose owners owe them and have to cover the drug dealing or admit what they did. The fact they took money from them makes them guilty by association, even if they didn't do anything actually illegal in creating the housing shortages. He's hunting a connection to nine worlds that are too average. He thinks the plan is too long-term to have originated with the people who want to expand the market and someone is using them. He won't be able to get much farther. He's about to hit lag time."

"Create a market and change the product, or add something to it, corrupt a generation. In ten years, they'll be the middle managers or supervisory techs and have the attitude you just ignore drugs. Yes, they're illegal, but everybody goes a little over the speed limit too. It's socially acceptable."

"Boer, Tommy presents a very possible scenario, even without something added to the drugs. 'Everybody does it' is more powerful than the law. We're social animals. If something becomes socially acceptable, people will do it because they want to be socially accepted."

"True, Barri. Respect for the law and authority are taught as social ideals by the culture, not in classrooms. One of the main difficulties in enforcing drug laws is making the ethical connection. They aren't hurting anyone else when they do them; therefore, the laws they're breaking are 'legislated morality.' Even speed limits can be seen as reducing the probability of doing injury to others."

"I came up with a section heading in your text as support for that, Tori. It was very interesting. If my stomach wasn't churning, I'd have probably found it humorous. They're not trying to take a chunk out of the empire, they're trying to destroy it. Why?"

"The Imperial fleet. 'We want to be a sector. We want to sign a treaty. Let us join. We need protection. Send the fleet.' It's how the empire ended up with two hundred fifty-five worlds."

"Yes, Lola, it is, and I'm beginning to wonder if the ones who originated the plan are human. If they're not, our species, not just the empire, is under attack and this is war."

"You personally won the greatest battle so far, Boer."

"What battle, Tori?"

"You decided you would do what was necessary and accepted Jobe. The first world expected to pull out of the empire didn't set the precedent."

"Credits were moved to Yarrow sector. The plan to take over Nunture and enslave the population may not have originated on it."

"I agree, Eddy. I wasn't all that impressed with the people being groomed for advancement."

"Neither was I, Aura, and the building program to cover the population reduction in orbital surveys was extremely sophisticated."

"So was the comp program, Dona. I think they blew it when they presented Jobe. It was an opportunity to put the planet in their personal control, not that of the next group of bureau directors and senior deputies."

"It just goes to prove my mother was right, Cal."

"About what, Nora."

"That working hard to please a healthy appetite is one of the most important things a person can do for the species. If those people hadn't worked so hard to do it, Boer wouldn't have wanted more U pups and we wouldn't have learned someone is attacking us."

Boer nearly choked on his ale. He managed to get the mouthful down and joined in the laughter. Nora had decided they couldn't do anything else about what they'd learned that evening but worry and she had other plans for it. Building the memory of all being together and having a good time was productive. Worrying was not.

### Chapter Nineteen

They shopped a bit more and picked up their purchases at the tech store. Boer noted they were going to need room for five extra people around the table for the packages. He suddenly found himself nearly under a load. It wasn't heavy, but it was big. Aura had added hers to his and was running down the street. Jobe said her car was close and she was probably going to get it closer. Eddy steered him through the restaurant doors. They were about five minutes ahead of five minutes early.

Boer had just gotten unloaded when Cal said, "There she is." Several of them reloaded him fast and then everyone rushed for the back door. He followed a bit more slowly. He had to watch where he was going around the load. He didn't get all the way to the door with it. Several dashed back in, grabbed things 'off' him and ran back out. He shook his head, turned around and headed back for the big table the staff of the restaurant had set up for them. Suddenly he had packages again. He turned around and watched Cal and Lola run back out the door. He wasn't really worried his family wouldn't get back in time to get in line for the seafood. The staff were all laughing too hard to carry anything out and the customers were, basically, laying on the tables giggling. He'd almost gotten to the table when Tommy ran in the front door, tossed a package up on the stack he was carrying and ran back out.

He'd just set the packages down, sat down, leaned over and started to look to see what was in them when his family came through the doors from both directions. Packages were grabbed from under his hands and went with various of them to their chairs. He began to laugh and people applauded. Then Li asked him what he'd done. He looked at her a few seconds and said, "Got married." The girl headed for them with a stack of salad plates just sat down on the floor. No one in the restaurant complained when the Hadlain family were led to the salad bar and the seafood was brought out and put on it for them.

Boer took a little of the seafood. Three of the staff rushed out and heaped his plate. He grinned and started for the table with it. Two came around the salad bar fast, one took the plate and the other put an empty one in his hands. Boer began to laugh and leaned against the salad bar. Jobe yelped and hands grabbed it. It was moving. The people in the restaurant cheered and applauded.

Boer finally got the story of what they'd been doing. The restaurant lot was full, but the fee lot no longer was. They'd filled the car Aura was driving with packages they didn't want things out of and Jobe's with what they didn't want out of packages that had things they did want. Then they'd noticed they were a package short.

Lou had stood in his parking place while Jobe drove to the fee lot with more people than his car held and several had gone through the packages there. Several others had headed for the places they'd been. Tommy had found the package in the dim corner of the bar, saw Boer was the only one in the restaurant and run back out to find the others looking for it. He'd commed Jobe and he'd driven slowly back with more than his car held and parked.

Those running from the lot and the ones Tommy had gathered had just happened to all get back to the restaurant at the same time. The packages held new 'dancing' clothes for those who weren't making the run home. Theirs were in the cars they'd be taking.

Jobe jumped when his wrist beeped. Boer told him to answer it and the whole family giggled at his expression, then "Oh!" It was Anverd. Did the girls want maiden names in, hyphenated or dropped. He heard the chorus of "Dropped." Jobe told him it was unanimous. He asked if they had the other three yet. Jobe told him no, but there were napkins being torn and some styluses had appeared on the table. He told him he'd get started and to call back. He'd decided to do it on the ship and just "bring a stack." Jobe looked at Boer.

"He checked and has good enough images and identification scans in comp records, Jobe. That thing is big, heavy and a very large number of people would find it extremely useful. I'm abstaining. I have no ideas."

"I only have one."

"Some of us don't have three either, Jobe. The idea is make a suggestion, not just put down something."

"I'm not sure it's really a name, Dirda."

"Put it in. If it's drawn, it's a name."

"Aura is a thing, Jobe, but it's the word my mother picked as my name. Misty is an adjective. People have been using both as names a long time, but someone decided to use the word first. Whatever you pick, someone has probably used it before. It's just not one a whole bunch of people copied. If it's a long word, you use a piece of it anyway."

"Since Boer is abstaining, he draws. We have three small bags."

"U pup bags!"

"I asked for three clean ones while I was asking questions. I noticed you didn't have any trouble getting your fingers all the way to the bottom of one and figured that was a good indication they were big enough. They seem even more appropriate now than when I got them. I've got mine. Who needs a stylus?"

"Label the bags with it first, Tommy. We'll pass all three at once. Put your suggestions in them below the table. We don't need to know who had one for which one."

The bags went around and then to Boer. He had Li "stir" the suggestions in them. He suddenly realized he was nervous and hunted for why. When he found the reason, nervous disappeared. None of them would suggest something inappropriate for any of them. They all knew them very well. He told everyone he would not tell anyone if he recognized the writing and the suggestion would go back in the bag after he read it. He didn't look at the labels, just picked a bag to start with. When he pulled out the suggestion, he looked at the bag and smiled.

"Aura, the suggestion is Mandala, Mandy."

"I like it."

"So do I. Next. Uh... "

"Read it, Boer."

"Shelter, Dirda. It's for me."

"It's very appropriate, Shel."

"Oh, it does have a short way to say it. I liked it. I just hadn't thought of that. I'd sort of come up with someone yelling, 'Shelter' and everyone running for some place with a roof."

"Silly. Now for Jobe. Oh, my, look at that smile. Tell us."

"Talisman, Tal."

"I got goosebumps."

"So did I, Li. I think we have an epidemic of them. The names are extremely appropriate for the association with the Shadill you wish, as well. I didn't mention it before because I didn't want to influence anyone's suggestions."

"Don't say if they were yours, Tori, or if they weren't. Boer probably knows who, but he'll work at forgetting it, won't you, Boer?"

"No, Dirda, but I won't tell anyone else. Shel. Shelter Hadlain. I really like it. Do I need more, Tori?"

"That's up to you, Boer. Shel. The situation is the identification is a legal document. The choice and addition of a call name and exclusion of one which has been previously used are neither uncommon. One does it on a form and files a small processing fee for court approval and changes on most worlds and in imperial records."

"You think we should just have Anverd do one set for each of us and file them 'sometime,' or just with Imperial Records, not two."

"Boer, it's actually less likely the connection will be made if it's done that way."

"Why, Tommy?"

"The documents check out, no matter how good the person doing the checking is. Boer isn't real common, but it's not terribly uncommon. It's more common as a surname than as a first. If you joined a Shadill marriage, you'd probably keep your original surname as middle and add the clan name."

"If you were the one who decided to start a clan, you might have picked a Shadill name to go with both your parent's surnames. The Shadill don't say who was in, joined, or started a marriage, just refile the contract with more names. People make guesses, but they don't ask because the Shadill don't answer. They're all Shadill period. Parents constructing a large marriage contract, especially one with exceptional assets, may decide their children should become the start of a new clan. Shadill marriage contracts are very secure documents because they're financial in nature. You can find out how many of them there are, but you can't read them. Opening one requires an Imperial Court order. Anverd might be able to do so, but he'd have to give an authorization code and a reason. The Shadill requested it because they had people looking to see what marriages had both wealth and unfilled places. Silvern had a bit of trouble keeping people out of them. The imperium does not. Your marriage is complete. Three men and twelve women is unusual, but the Shadill choose people right for the marriage, not because they're the right sex. You will not be expected to volunteer the information, but there is no reason you need keep it secret if someone asks. If they do, a cool stare and curt answer, either with a number or the statement it's none of their business, is appropriate."

"I thought most were sex balanced."

"Lola discovered there were more marriages with odd numbers than I had realized, those usually being the larger ones. She found a monograph done seven years ago by a rather good anthropology student, who is Shadill. The intent, of course, was to increase understanding of the culture among others. I forwarded the reference to the Anthropology Department of the Imperial University on Boniface. I told them, if a university on Valer had it, they should, and not including it in the reference library because it had been done by a student was academic bigotry. It was included with four others of like nature. I'm rather impressed with the university here in general."

"Tori, I think Tommy's giggles are probably the best comment on what a good job you and Lola did. Jobe, my Talisman, contact Anverd."

"Why don't you do it, Boer?"

"Because you jumped when your wrist beeped."

"Oh. Um... through the house. Comm ship, Anverd."

"Hello, Jobe. Got three?"

"Yes, but I'm going to stick my wrist in front of Boer to give them to you. He's decided how."

"You probably got a more thorough version of the brief we got from Tori. One each and file them when and how you think appropriate. Mandala Aura, Talisman Jobim, and Shelter Boer. Mandy, Tal and Shel."

"I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Shelter surprised me. Dirda gave me Shel. I'd had this image of people running for it and looking for hail."

"She said you were silly."

"Quote. They made me draw because I said I had no ideas. The number of slips in each bag said no one made one for anyone for whom they didn't have a real suggestion, which is what they'd decided was the right way to do it. If I did recognize writing, I'm not telling anyone. That's how they want it. All right, you've had time to think."

"File. No association. As long as it's in Tam's head, it doesn't need to be anywhere else. You can file it there next time you see him. You can't file on Valer. They all have to remain citizens of their birth worlds."

"It keeps us out of their politics. We could swing too much opinion with who we are. Our neighbors will know what we think about issues, but we won't be quoted as authorities. We have no opinions on candidates unless we're sure something is wrong with them and that's a matter of proof, not opinion. This is our home of choice, but we aren't citizens. I don't want that seen as precedent by you or the marines. I'd love stories of Harschen or Bermesson yelling playgrounds were more important than statues in city council meetings. Ven said you're the Johnsons."

"She told me. I said she was a stinker. She liked it. About a half-hour. Recommendation on vehicle reduction stands. That area gets full of people who need vehicles to get there again at night. Also rec one not be Jobe's, just because he'd be very nervous about having anything to drink and wondering if all those who weren't were walking. You've got five who shouldn't anyway."

"Uh... "

"Boer?"

"I'm going to say this without scramble. Not human; Nunture the first plan; the fleet the reason."

"I... see. Out."

"Put your chron back on, Jobe."

"My arm got tired."

"You thought I had more to say than just names and I might not say it. You were right. Thank you. Now, transportation. We have one six, three fives and Jobe's with us. I go with Anverd's suggestion on Jobe's. Do we want to take them all home and bring the transport back?"

"You want to drive it?"

"No, Dirda, I want Nora to drive it home with fourteen of us making a racket and her with a big smile thinking about noisy babies in it too."

"Too much noise and I'll threaten a spanking. Thank you, Boer. I love you too."

"Five home, one back. Who's driving?"

"You, Jobe, Tommy, Lola and Li."

"Thanks, Dirda."

"You haven't driven any since we did test drives!"

"Drive wasn't really what I wanted to do with them, Boer, and I was pretty sure driving wouldn't decrease the temptation, but I do want to drive one home. Lola's only driven one once and so have Tommy and you."

"I've driven a lot."

"Jobe, we all smile every time we see you in that car. Drive it home, put the top up and the cover we got for it on it, so it doesn't get dusty when they begin building in the barn. It'll still be your new car and still make us smile when you come home."

"You sure you don't want to drive it, Lou?"

"I have plans to drive it, Jobe. I intend to drive it when you're not sure I'm going to fit behind the controls and sure you're going to have to pry me out."

"He obviously likes the plan, Lou. I like it too."

"Thank you, Cal. It sort of formed itself when Boer dropped him in it."

"Anverd said a half-hour, but I think I want another helping of whatever that was, several whatever that was. Lola, call Ven and tell her we're telling her instead of him, so he doesn't come up with several things he could get done since he's there anyway."

"I kept expecting to run into her somewhere today, or at least see her."

"Jobe, the student sales gallery is on campus, the market is basically out of town and she probably hit the kiosk for U pups while we were in the bar."

"I guess I was just wishing we'd run into someone we knew, Dirda."

Several began to laugh and Tommy told Jobe to turn around. The Borscham brothers had just walked in the door and were headed for them. Since they looked surprised and pleased to see them, it was a coincidence.

"All right, what's funny?"

"Jobe wished we'd run into someone we know today and Tommy told him to turn around, Holman. You'd just walked in the door."

"I'm beginning to wonder if there's a fairy who's sure he's one of them, Boer, and keeps him sprinkled with fairy dust just in case."

"Tori, that's great!"

"Thank you, Cal. I'm about to start a book. You're proofreading."

"Yes! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I'm jealous."

"Eddy, about the third time she reads the same chapter and finds things she's missed twice before, you'll probably all be enlisted in the effort. No computer program can actually do it. Only a person can see a sentence is correct, but not clear. I usually catch all my own logic errors by about the fifth proofread, but those sometimes escape me. I'm looking forward to only reading chapters four or five times not eight or nine, Holman. I realize that's a somewhat unusual reason for being pleased one is married, but it definitely is one."

"Tried it. We both hated it. She didn't hate it the second time, so I was the reason we both did."

"You look about done."

"Actually, I was just about to go get more of whatever, Gerro. I warn you. If you two sit close, you'll probably be asked to identify."

"I think we can fit a couple more chairs in here."

"We'd like the chairs, Nora, but we're not big on 'identify.' We can tell if the green is panleaf or spinach, but that's about it and I'm sure you can do that. We eat out a lot and here a lot."

"Holman, weren't they selling a recipe book about a year ago?"

"Closer to two, Gerro, but they were selling one. We'll check when we pay, Nora. If they've still got a copy laying around, we'd be real pleased to get it for you. Don't offer, Boer."

"I'm closing my mouth, Holman. Thanks, even if they don't."

"We'd enjoy it. Enjoy flirting with your wives too. Married women are the only ones it's safe to flirt with on a regular basis. They're the only ones sure we don't have intentions."

"Flirt with a few who know we do too, but we're real careful they have only the same ones. See you in a few."

"They're... happily single, but I don't think they'd be as happy if they were single single. I mean... "

"We know exactly what you mean, Jobe. I've known several people who were very happily single. Issiddi, Anthew and Garis all are, but they're... married to the marines, I guess, even if no longer the Imperial Marines. I've also known some happily single people who weren't, but they all had one or more really close, usually very long-time, friends, often a roommate, close neighbor or relative, like the brothers. I've known a lot of people who were single and happy who didn't, but none I'd call 'happily single' like those were."

"I wasn't, Boer. I wasn't unhappy, but I also wasn't absolutely sure marriage was not for me. In some ways, being Tori Morris kept me from ever becoming sure. I'm extremely glad it did now. Your subconscious almost corrected Anverd when he said five. I'm sure of it because mine did. I'll get a scan tomorrow morning, but I don't need it to tell me I'm pregnant and Tommy is the father. Neither do any of the rest of you. We all know Jobe made a wish, and as always, it was for all of us. No, Jobe, I do not wish Boer was the father in the slightest. If I did, I think he would be. Your wishes are extremely perspicacious."

"Um... "

"Insightful, Jobe, with a feeling of very precise."

"Thanks, Dirda. Tori uses words because they say exactly what she wants to say and most people just use ones that say close, so I look up a lot of them."

"Thank you, Jobe. I think."

"I... guess I know the number both of you thought of was six. I guess I know my subconscious said, 'not yet.'"

"Cal, you're eighteen. My subconscious may have said, 'not yet.' I know Nora just turned twenty, but... "

"I know what you mean, Boer, especially about Nora. She's like twenty going on thirty-eight. She's sort of 'Mom' and probably has been since she was two. I think she works at just being 'big sis' to the rest of us, including Tori. I'm just disappointed because I love you so very much and it was... such a surprise. I was picked for the job. I said I could deal with the rest of it to work with Anverd."

"Cal, it's not time yet because you want Boer's baby. You love us all, but you need... to tell him special. You kept saying mine, but that was for him too. I understand. It's not a preference for him, definitely not that you love him more. It's... a very personal statement to him that the job is just nice because it helps the ones you love and it wasn't what made you the right choice. You and I weren't picked by the people who picked us. I mean, we were just picked for what we were. Something else picked us for who we are. Something more put us the right place at the right time. It was just more obvious with me. When it's time, you won't have tried to make it that way, but Boer will be the father of your first baby. You won't need to have it checked. You'll know and so will he. We all will. We all know he's the father of Dirda's."

"I had successfully avoided realizing it, Jobe."

"Dirda, if he wasn't, I'd be real disappointed. You and he wouldn't, but the rest of us would be. You loved him and he loved you and you couldn't say it. We may not know who's the father of any babies after this, because it won't make any difference to any of us, but Nora, Mim's and Eddy's couldn't be anyone else's and Eddy's, yours and Cal's shouldn't be, so yours isn't and hers won't be."

"Fairy dust. Tommy, why is it you and I are the only ones who don't looked stunned?"

"You write fantasy and I had a long time on a ship to be stunned, but most of them are already recovering. Let's go hit the desert bar, so I can stuff you with gooey treats before Ven hands you a healthy diet and they all start watching you stay on it."

"Mmm, if you help, I'll take both that tall chocolate thing and the one with the strawberries all through it."

"Yum twice."

"Jobe, steer Boer for thirds. Lola and me will blow in Cal's ears and clear the fog."

"Li! Lola! Fog clear! Or at least blown back far enough I notice the Borschams are coming and we haven't made room."

"Chairs. Table service."

"You know, Gerro, I may be getting old."

"What makes you say so, Holman?"

"I watched Aura lean across and get those things from the next table and my first thought was it sure would have been handy to have her today when we were trying to get that chaff blower clean."

"Holman, you may be getting old."

"Sit down, boys. We're glad to have you as an excuse to just sit awhile longer. Five are going to take cars home and come back with the transport after Boer has a bit more whatever. Since five of us can't drink anything they don't have here, we don't see much point in going to a bar until music starts. They had one. Thank you."

"Thea grinned and said they didn't have any, but she'd seen one in the office someplace, Nora, and she thought she remembered where. She came back with that one. It was in the desk drawer where they toss things that don't go anywhere else. She'd been looking for a nail file in it a few days ago. Gerro, I'm not getting old. I'm feeling real smug about sitting here with all these beautiful women."

"You had me worried. Course you had me worried cleaning that chaff blower too."

"Nasty job and hard to reach, but not too bad if you do it right after harvest."

"True, Nora, but it wouldn't have been a real bargain if it hadn't needed a real cleaning. I'll tell you the story of why it was dirty and how we got it one of these days. It's on the long side. Boer, she's got the recipe for that meat pie covering most of that plate."

"Thanks. When I got there, I realized it was what I really wanted more of and I wanted lots more, Holman. Nora, they said the crust is made with cuppy flour."

"I don't know that one."

"Vellum-cup-seed flour, Nora. Cuppy is a brand name of a mixture with wheat flour. It's also a guarantee of quality. I suggest Merne as a reference on any like that you run across in those recipes. He'll know why they're there by brand name."

"Thank you, Gerro. Now you boys eat. There's enough of us we can let you refuel after that chore today. Oh, look at that thing."

"I'll get you one, Nora. There are still a couple on the desert bar."

"No, Jobe, but thank you. She'll give me a taste and that's all I really want and all I should really have."

The five didn't hurry. Ven had been pleased to pick Anverd up and they were sure she had a reason, so they 'dawdled' a bit. When there was suddenly a line at the restaurant door, they moved one of the tables and five chairs and headed for the house. They took packages of shorts and shirts with them. The others had gone to the rest room and changed into their dancing clothes so they didn't have to worry about any packages that evening.

It didn't take them long to unload cars, but it took awhile to put Jobe's away. They washed it, polished it, moved all the cars out, put it in the back corner and covered it, put cars back in, then went in and changed their clothes. Boer commed and told Aura what they'd been doing, then Anverd and said they were on their way. Aura said Pards had gotten busy, but the Silver Lining had been understanding about identification coming. Anverd answered the door in a silver satin dressing gown, smiled and invited them in.

Ven had 'finished' the house. Tables had figurines and vases with dried flower arrangements and walls had paintings. There was a lovely patterned rug under the coffee table and little pillows on the couch. There were coasters in a pretty rack and one of the ales Anverd liked on one of them on the table. Across the room was an entertainment screen. They'd just finished dinner and Ven said she couldn't really remember ever having enjoyed filling a dish cycler and running it before. Boer smiled widely. It was very much a lovely little home and just what he'd wanted for them.

Anverd handed him fifteen packets of documents, then fifteen identification plaques. He told them they'd left a place for Ven's car and they'd see them too early in the morning. Ven sighed and said it would actually be easier to leave knowing it was waiting for them when they came back. He told her what Tori had said and she smiled and nodded. She didn't have any doubts she was right either.

They had a wonderful time that evening. They went from The Silver Lining to the Top Floor, then to Bear's Den. They danced in a big group, several small groups, as couples and with a number of 'kids' who knew who they were. They went home a little before midnight. They wanted to share the big spa and the rest of the night in Boer's room. There were some tears, but they'd all expected them. None of them had any doubts they'd all be together again, but they also knew it was going to be too long before they were.

### Chapter Twenty

Six told nine farewell. Three promised to take care of six and three promised to take care of three. Then each individually promised to take care of all the others who would be with them and Ven and Anverd promised to take care of everyone on the ship. Before they left orbit, Boer sent a long personal letter to his cousin and his parents. Even Anverd didn't know the code in it. He and Tam had made it when they were boys.

Fourteen days after the ship left Valer, Tam sat down with the letter, read it and smiled. Then he read just a few 'words' in it again and found what Boer had told him. He'd given him their names and what they had surmised. He read it a third time to bring back the smile, then shared it with his wife and Boer's parents.

Several spies dismissed it as containing anything of importance. They didn't know who they were really working for, because those who'd hired them didn't know who they were working for. Three days after that, six records of empire citizenship were filed 'automatically' in Yarrow sector and two days later in Imperial Records. The code that assured they 'had been there' was not filed or recorded.

Silvern Docking was a busy place, but ship registry was a simple task and didn't require the ship dock. A computer checked the documents filed and issued three registry numbers over a five-day period. A day later, a shuttle from a registered ship docked for a short period of time and six passengers disembarked. They had paid the fees for ship license testing and were on the schedule. They'd been on the schedule for awhile. The exam clerk looked up when they walked in and smiled. She liked the Shadill. They were always prepared and always polite. This group was also very interesting-looking.

"Good morning."

"We think so, but we're a little nervous. Hadlain."

"Six on the schedule to begin testing at nine station time. Just a document check. Shelter Boer Hadlain for captain."

"That's me."

"Mandala Aura Hadlain for captain."

"Me."

"Talisman Jobim Hadlain for operations officer. Linlola Merschel Hadlain for operations officer."

"Lola, that's you."

"Oh. Maybe 'a little nervous' is an understatement in my case, Shel."

"You'll do fine. I have a feeling about these things. Thomin Alman Hadlain for chief engineer. Angeli Narinda Hadlain for chief engineer. Do you have on-station reservations for the three nights?"

"Yes, we were warned we wouldn't want to call for a shuttle and wait for docking, but we weren't sure we were going to find a hotel. We've got a two-room suite at the Rollimer."

"It's usually worth the price, Shelter, but you won't have time to use the facilities. You've got just enough to drop off your ship bags and get to testing locations. I hope you already had a good breakfast."

"We did and we got nutri-bars to munch on the way to the hotel and testing to add to it."

"Sounds like you're well prepared, but I'll wish you luck anyway. All documents in order. Make sure you take your identification plaques to testing, but you won't need your full packets."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"This way, Lola."

"Help."

"Why are you so nervous?"

"I don't think it really is nervousness, Mandy. I think it's anticipation and she's doing review in her mind, not really paying attention to where she is."

"That makes more sense, Li. Shel's about steering Tal and Tommy too."

"About is an understatement. Tal?"

"Log entry... Uh... "

"Reviewing, Mandy. There's the hotel. It's as close as they said it was. Munch. I know none of us are hungry, but stuff anyway. We're all going to need the fuel."

"This is a nice place, Shel. I sort of wish we'd booked an extra night."

"The hotel is expensive enough without a day to shop here too. Hello. Hadlain and we're short on time."

"Just four digit code the pad, Gen Hadlain. I know it's not many digits, but the suite comp will scan you when you walk through the door the first time and no one who isn't with you will go through it after that. Only the suite comp will have the scan and there's no access to it. You said no housekeeping."

"We're all testing for licenses. We're going to sonic shower, drop for seven hours and run out the door in the morning. We won't have time to make a mess and we wouldn't notice someone made the beds except we had to turn them down to get in, which might be more than we want to do. Point us."

"Lift to six, right, two down on the right. Come back some time when telling you to enjoy your stay makes sense."

"Thanks."

"Code?"

"Number in the family and soon to be, Mandy."

"I like it."

A man looked for information on the Shadill marriage group. It was a routine check and ended with a routine report of 'had been there.' Even their account with Instel had been there awhile. That was the only information he could get on it, of course. The fact it had been opened shortly after Nunture was freed wasn't significant to him. They checked out. They weren't reported.

They started the tests and stopped thinking about anything else. They didn't have time. They ran for nearby toilets when necessary and grabbed water from a dispenser when needed. They had a ten-minute 'break' for the lunch brought to them in their testing areas and went back to work. They had a five-minute break to eat nutri-bars brought two hours later and went back to work. They had fifteen minutes for 'dinner.' At twenty-two, they walked out and headed for food. They'd already made reservations and the 'special' was served to them as soon as they sat down in the hotel restaurant. At six thirty, they had a huge breakfast and at seven were back in their testing areas. The fourth day, they took their ship bags with them and checked them at the front of the testing facility. At thirteen-twelve, Li was told she was done. She blinked at the woman of about fifty who was smiling at her.

"I am?"

"You work incredibly fast. The others are all ahead of schedule too, especially the man testing for captain. He'll be done in about a half-hour."

"Can I wait here?"

"You can if you want, but I recommend Ballin's Hole, a bar with very good food. It's ten steps to the right and a lot more pleasant place. We'll send the others there as they come out and the results as they come in."

"Sounds like you recommend it a lot."

"I do. Ballin takes real good care of people who are nervously waiting for results. It's where I'd recommend you wait for them if you were all stopped at twenty. Results take about two hours. That's why we say finish at twenty-two all four days. Don't worry. No one will bother you. They might try to strike up a friendly conversation, but that's all."

"I'm not as young as I look. Tommy and Tal are."

"They're both doing well. May I ask a personal question? You don't have to answer."

"I guess."

"Why does all your identification just say adult?"

"Some birthdates could tell people more about our finances than is any of their business, so all of us are just adult. It may get more common."

"They're still trying to find out what marriages have money and places open. Never even heard of anyone who was successful in getting into one that did, but they look anyway."

"We're not looking for anybody else, but a lot of people want to use other people's credits to make them money and hunt for people who have them, too. A lot of Shadill are real successful. Sometimes the best thing parents can do to protect their children from people like that is start a new clan. Sometimes the best thing people who are very successful can do to protect their children is start a Shadill clan. Providing financial stability for children is the whole reason for the Shadill. If Macleigh Shadill's plan didn't work very well to do that, there wouldn't be so many. But identification with just adult on it may become a lot more common."

"Thank you. I was sure there was a sensible reason and suspected it was financial. You did real well not saying exactly why you, personally, don't have birthdates on your identification."

"I was pretty well coached. The question was expected. Shadill all know, the better people understand why they do things, the less nervous they make them. Some people are seeing how well the group marriages function to provide for children and want to adopt that part of the Shadill culture, though they don't want to actually become Shadill and construct marriage contracts for their children. The big problem they have is group marriages are legal, but they can't find anyone to perform them. The best a lot of them can do is form financial co-ops and those don't provide the financial stability for all their children like a marriage would. They're still this one's child and that one's child legally, and if something happens to that parent, the child is legally orphaned and only due the percentage of the co-op assets left after a court determines who gets custody and taxes them. The co-op might have to sell everything to pay someone the court appoints to manage the child's inheritance. They also pay higher taxes in general."

"I see what you mean about 'big problem.' I can't think of anyone who performs group marriages besides the Shadill, at least not in this sector and I'm pretty familiar with it. I don't know if Silvern could. It would take some changes in our laws. However, if they were willing to pledge fidelity, the Toscan church might and could."

"My brain is sludge. All it's providing me with is a spelling of the word."

"Sludge is normal, but the Toscan sect isn't very big and primarily in Forester sector. They do have a chapel on Gerridy Station and it's basically supported by fees for performing marriages. The only requirement they have is a vow of fidelity. It's where a lot of homosexual couples go to get married because a fundamental tenet of the Toscan sect is love doesn't make mistakes. People do, but love doesn't. They want to make a vow of fidelity and none of the secular agencies in the area ask for it."

"I understand that very well. My vow is very important to me. They're discriminated against in that way, aren't they?"

"Yes, but you have to hear a magistrate ask a heterosexual couple if they wish to vow to each other, then not ask a homosexual couple the same question to know it. I have friends who thought I deserved an explanation of why they were going somewhere I couldn't attend their wedding. They knew I was disappointed."

"I like you. You're a very nice person. I'll take your recommendation. Can I leave my bag here?"

"No. Sorry. We've had too many people get excited when they got their licenses and forget they had. Ballin will stick it behind the counter for you and make sure you don't dash out without it."

"Thanks."

Li was sitting at the bar talking to Ballin when he grinned and nodded toward the door. She giggled and told him Shel would probably have found her without being told where she was. He was 'following his nose.'

"It smells wonderful in here. I'm starving."

"I had a feeling you'd notice how small the lunch was as soon as tests weren't occupying your full attention, Shel. This is Ballin. He's got a supplement to it ready for you."

"Sit down, soon-to-be-Captain Shel. I'll stick your bag back here. I've got a shelf just for the purpose. Did they tell you Li finished the chief engineer test faster than anyone ever had before?"

"I did?!"

"Yes, but they obviously didn't tell her. Mm, looks wonderful too."

"You're close to the record for captain, but a lot more get close. It's more answer questions than chief engineer. They've been talking about her for three days. Kept saying, 'and she just picked it up and moved it.' Didn't understand until she came in."

"What's most interesting is she knows exactly what she can't lift in engineering and about anywhere else. I yell for help when I feel I need it. She yells before she strains something."

"He obviously doesn't need to yell near as often as I do, or he'd know when he was probably going to have to. I've been playing with tech since I was a little kid. I know about what something weighs in standard grav because I know about what's in it. Because I'm so little, I had to get pretty strong for my size, or spend a lot of time just waiting for someone bigger to help. Tal's not much taller than I am, but he's stronger just because he's a boy. He's a lot stronger because he's got shoulders like this. Did they give you an estimate on the others, Shel?"

"Mandy within an hour. I don't think they can say more than fairly soon on the others. The last section of the test for captain is command decisions, basically read the situation and say why standard procedure isn't the best choice, if you don't think it is. It is on about three-fourths of the questions, so they make an estimate on how fast you answer the ones it isn't. Since you're told to explain why if it isn't, you know there will be some like that."

"That's considered about the most important part of the test for captain and it's about the same to get a license with logged hours."

"I think 'about' is an unnecessary qualifier, Ballin. Everything else is a test of knowledge and that's not what qualifies a person for any position of command. That section isn't the only place there are questions like that either. It's just the only place they tell you they'll be there by asking you to state your reasons. I hit 'none of the above' on quite a few, when standard procedure was one of the selections given... many times in nearly every section."

"I did that a bunch of times too, Shel."

"Chief engineer is a command position too, Li. The area of command is smaller, but there are times when standard procedure just doesn't apply. Operations is much more procedure than either, but it still requires the ability to judge when procedure should be dumped and think fast take over. I'm not worried about that part of the exam for any of them. I'm a bit worried Lola will rewrite all the procedures so they make more sense, but not that she won't recognize when sticking to them is going to aggravate the problem, not solve it."

"You didn't tell Tal there would be things like that and you wouldn't let any of us talk about the tests the last three nights."

"Making the decision procedure doesn't apply is the point of the questions, Li. Everyone who comes here to take the tests doesn't have someone to compare notes with, or even turn to for general reassurance. I know how nervous he's been. He knows I expected him to be nervous and have complete confidence in him. Since that was what was making him nervous, my expectation of it and confidence were all the reassurance he needed that he was right about there being times when following procedure was not the correct thing to do."

"He's a captain all right, maybe an admiral."

"Once in awhile someone in the family calls him 'General.' He sort of winces, but he knows they'd just flat tell him if he was being overbearing."

"Very true, especially Nora."

"Ow. I saw that pang."

"Home is when we're all together, Ballin. I'm homesick."

"It just didn't make sense for the pregnant girls to come with us, Shel, or to leave just them there."

"Uh... "

"I told him we had a big house on a farm, but all of us aren't farmers. He wasn't near as surprised as I expected when I told him there were twelve women and three men in the family. His sister is Shadill."

"Eighteen in the marriage, eleven and seven and nineteen kids. Two had children when they joined it. That's actually more unusual these days than one like yours."

"I told him I thought Macleigh would be a bit disappointed by that. He said his sister says the same thing, but the right people for a marriage are the right people and people who flat say they won't write marriage contracts for their children aren't right for a Shadill marriage."

"I think we all understand both parts of that, Li. It's not an easy choice to make, but that's some of why Shadill marriages are so... sturdy. The people who join them have given it a lot of thought."

"I want you to talk to the people at the Toscan church on Gerridy Station."

"Have I heard that word before?"

"Your brain is sludge too, but they're pretty small and mostly in Forester sector. According to the nice person who sent me here, they could, and probably would, perform group marriages as long as people were willing to vow fidelity. From what she said, they might even be able to marry marriages."

"Uh... My brain is sludge."

"Well, it just kind of seems silly to me for three married couples with five kids between them to have to get divorced, so they and maybe a couple other people can form a group marriage for the financial stability it provides for all their children."

"Captain-to-be Shel, she said her brain was sludge. Do you keep up with her when it's not?"

"No, Ballin, but she's more successful at keeping me from noticing."

"Lola!"

"Hi. I'm done. I was waiting for another section to come up. It slowly dawned on me the words on the screen meant there wouldn't be one."

"Test complete?"

"Those were the words, Shel."

"It's a good thing there wasn't another section. Your brain is more sludge than his."

"Uh-huh. They said they hoped our shuttle wasn't scheduled til after twenty-two. What did you two do?"

"Li?"

"Not that I know of. I didn't even change anything. You know Tommy remembered not to."

"Our ship has some of Li's ideas in it, Ballin. It also has Li and Tommy in it."

"It's safe. It's just different. You get the same speed at a little less cost. It's not much less, but it made sense to do it when we were working on it anyway. If I had an idea that would save enough to be worth a refit for most ships, I'd patent it. It might be if I get another idea, Shel, but it's not yet. I'm sure I didn't change anything."

"Relax. The whole bunch of you are getting done early. She set a record. They may want to know how you studied, what you thought of the test or just want to buy you dinner. You don't have any doubts you passed."

"No, I don't."

"Shel, our study guide didn't come from this sector."

"It's from Empire sector."

"It's available from the Imperial Library, but probably not everywhere yet. It's a pretty recent edition."

"It's also published by the Imperial Fleet."

"The fleet?! Why?"

"Everyone who's in the fleet doesn't stay in it long enough to become a captain, Ballin. A lot of people leave it with at least two hundred times enough logged hours for any ship operation license, but they still have to take the test. The fleet publishes it to help those people put those hundreds of hours to use in civilian careers."

"Between the fleet and the marines, there's probably one for every career which requires a license on every world, Shel. There are thousands of them. There's one for the driver's license exam on every planet in the empire, one guide with all, not one each. When those things change, the updates are filed and guides are updated. Most people in the fleet and marines come from Empire sector, but they do their best to give everyone the same benefits from their experience, no matter what sector they come from."

"Of course they do, Lola. We're all empire citizens."

"She's a bit of an idealist, Shel."

"The whole family's like that, Ballin, but we aren't all under thirty. However, in this case, she's totally correct. The fleet and marines don't maintain bases in sectors that don't state they want them, but the fleet patrols in all of them and the fleet and the marines are sworn to protect them. Every sector forms a somewhat insular attitude, but the empire is not Empire Sector and it is only one sector in it. As far as the imperium is concerned, that's the location of the palace and military headquarters. The truth is, it pays a lot more attention to Yarrow sector than Yarrow sector pays to it and that's the way it should be. This station has security people. If they're doing the job right, the only time you pay attention to them is when one waves a friendly hello in passing, but that security person noticed you didn't look tense, no one was hassling you and several other things. That's what the treaty says the imperium's job is. I read them all after I read one to see if I could find what it didn't say. This sector treaty doesn't say some things too and the things it doesn't say are not said in most."

"Tommy!"

"That word sounds familiar. Feed me."

"Probably literally."

"He'll manage, Lola. I'll share what I have left while Ballin fixes more if you get over here fast, Tommy."

"Shel, you say such nice things. What the hell did you do?"

"Why me?"

"You're the captain."

"That's reasonable. Eat those first or you'll wait for the next batch. I like them. Ballin, late big lunch for ten please. I know there are only six of us and you've already fixed for Li and I, but we will want. I'm sure because I want two more and what Tommy's eating. Lola knows he's been working harder physically or she'd be helping him clean my plate. It would be nice not to be desperate for food in two hours, three would be wonderful and I'm trying to remember only being hungry in four. Mandy is a few cens shorter than I am and she's the one who spends the most time in the gym."

"We're only there when she makes sure we are. Are there lots of these on a plate, Shel?"

"No, that's about half, but everything else is just as good."

"We'll eat ten and maybe a couple side orders."

"I can fix everything else and drop the tupsy fritters in when they walk in the door. They only take about two minutes and just aren't as good kept warm."

"Two minutes?"

"I have to make them up, Lola, but I can do that in advance."

"Oh."

"I'll share what Shel shared."

"It'll only take about ten minutes for all of it."

"Thank you, Ballin, I needed to hear that."

"You've got an interesting view of the empire, Shel."

"I know an interesting Imperial Marine, ex-marine. He says it's very interesting people don't look to see the tax they pay is going for exactly what they're taxed to pay for."

"It ought to be real obvious to the people of Silvern. It might cost the imperium a little less to keep various Shadill records, but it costs. Did the imperium say after a cost study and tax assessment? No. Silvern said paying for doing it for Shadill, who didn't live on Silvern, was hurting them and they were having trouble protecting the privacy of Shadill financial records. The imperium took on the job because protecting is the job of the imperium."

"Li's right. Add the fact that tax is a flat rate, never raised and is not inflation adjusted. The budget is primarily covered by interest on the money the imperium put away when the empire was formed. That goes up a little every year, but tax payment goes down in real value every year. That's about the most obvious proof the imperium operates as a non-profit contracted service and not a government. All the money goes back into providing the service. The emperor lives nice, but he doesn't get paid. People give him things, but they don't get favors, just a smile and thank you. He can't grant any favors. He might get you an invitation to somewhere someone you want to meet is in a reception line, but that's about the limit, unless the people need help. Imperial laws are you don't oppress your people and you educate your children. They're just very precisely defined so there's no misunderstanding. When those laws are broken, he yells orders for the fleet and the marines. The service does not expand. The fleet doesn't get bigger. More laws aren't passed. The imperium keeps more records because there are more records to keep to protect the citizens of the empire, but it doesn't raise the price of the service. That price is in the contract."

"I like that, Lola. Where did you get it?"

"Collected Essays on Governmental Function, Mathias University Press; Morrisid Torrialim; The Principle of the Non-Governing Supervisory State, How Successful Is It? Heavily paraphrased. I only quote when I'm reading off a screen. It's considered one of the better basic political science texts published in Opal sector. A lot of secondary schools use it."

"Operations officer."

"I can see that, Shel."

"I smell food."

"Mandy!"

"Hi, uh, Lola, uh, Li, uh... "

"We know just what you mean, sludge brain."

"Good description, Li. Somebody tell me what somebody did. They're blinking over there."

"Well, Li did set a record. Beyond that, blinking is new information. Lots of food ready in about five."

"I needed to hear that, Shel."

"Hello."

"Hello, Tal. I was sure you'd be done pretty soon."

"Am I, Lola? They said don't leave."

"Did the words 'test complete' come up on the screen?"

"Yes. I couldn't remember the answer. I'd been working on it awhile before I realized it wasn't a question. It's not even fourteen yet."

"We all finished within the last forty-five minutes, Tal. We studied real hard. We just got a little ahead every day. If other people didn't do the same, three of us would have set records, not just me."

"Uh-huh. Shelter?"

"Come here, Talisman."

"Can I sit on your lap? There's a plate in front of you and I'd be closer to it than Tommy."

"Tommy has it about empty, but there's a lot more coming. Let's move to a booth. You look like you need more than just a chair arm for support on each side, like someone to hold you up."

"I don't know how I did, Shel. I think I did good, but I don't even remember studying some of the stuff and some of the stuff I studied real hard was a few questions here and there. I remember reading it, I think, but not studying it. I felt like I was taking the wrong test."

"Uh, Shel?"

"I'm working my way through it, Mandy. Did you say anything about it to anyone, Tal?"

"I wanted to ask Lola if she remembered some of the stuff the first night, but you said no talk about the test period."

"They gave him the wrong test, Shel. I hit nothing we hadn't studied together."

"I had him ask me the questions on a couple of the sample tests and check my answers the day after we left home, so I could figure out where I was weak and concentrate on studying it."

"I asked myself what you would do a lot, especially on the last section."

"Ballin!"

"Yes, Shel?"

"Comm them and tell them we want the credential our Talisman earned. They gave him the wrong test."

"What?!"

"My guess is, they told us wait because they'd just learned they had and were probably trying to figure out how to grade what he'd done, so he only had to take part of it, not a full day at minimum. They're blinking because he finished six hours ahead of schedule and they're pretty sure he passed. I said don't talk about it at all, so he didn't even ask Lola if she thought it was a bit strange. He passed it based on checking my answers on about three sample tests before I started studying."

"Ops and captain have a lot in common, Shel. Ops more procedural detail and captain more command. That's why he said a few questions on what he studied hard. Captain has more tech, but he got that working on ships and at the dinner table when Li answered Mandy's questions."

"Yes, Lola, but... Tal why you didn't yell when you hit the hands-on part the second morning? A captain has to know how to replace a fuel cell tap, but an operations officer doesn't."

"I didn't do that, Shel. I took apart and fixed an operations control console."

"I rebuilt a fried sensor array."

"Shel! I commed. I think the giggle I got was an affirmative. Your dinner's done. If you're interested in a drink or juice, that's on me."

"Got an ale you recommend?"

"A couple. Got a real interesting fruit brandy, too."

"Three ales with character and three interesting brandy. The captains are all having ale."

"I'd have brought it over."

"I don't think waiting for delivery occurred to any of us, Ballin."

### Chapter Twenty-one

They were finishing the very good and large meal when the person from the testing office walked in, She looked like she was about to laugh.

"Oh, hello! This is the nice woman I told you about, Shel, the one who pointed me here."

"I came to... Ballin, a drink."

"I think you may actually need one, Geery."

"No, but I want one. What can I say? We found out what happened. We switched two tests. The woman testing for captain caught it about ten minutes in. Why didn't you?"

"Well, I thought it was a little strange, but I'd studied part of it."

"Geery?"

"Yes."

"Shelter, Shel. We went through this. Some of it's my fault. I said not a word about the tests, so he didn't ask Lola if she noticed they didn't seem to have studied the right things. I knew he was nervous, but I'd expected it, so I... 'radiated' expectation and confidence. Before I really started studying, I had Tal read me several sample tests and check my answers. I was looking for where I was weak. So he had covered the material, slightly. We talked about what we were studying over dinner, and we rebuilt the drives and control systems of our ships, though not alone. When he hit the hands-on part the second day, he would have realized it, except it was fix an operations control console. What can I tell you more than his name? He's our Talisman."

"I asked myself what Shelter would do a lot."

"You interested in starting a school for captains, Shelter? We're grading fast. We're sure he'll pass, but it has to be confirmed. We've been checking his answers to command decision questions against yours and Mandala's. They're all very much alike and very good, exceptional in fact. We don't think he's going to do quite as well as you two did, but it will be a lot better than average. Average don't finish the test. Li set a new record by almost forty minutes. Tommy tied the old one. You didn't set a record on time, but we haven't found an incorrect answer yet. We've only found two on Mandala's and we think she may have confused Diller and Dalmon. Lola came within fourteen minutes of the record for ops and made notes places she answered correctly, of how the procedures could be made more efficient without compromising any of the reason they are the correct procedures."

"None of us are surprised."

"Why deal with lag time three times when you could change the order and only have to deal with it once, Shel?"

"We're looking at the suggestions and thinking about submitting them. We want to know what you studied."

"The study guides published by the Imperial Fleet available through the Imperial Library. They were the most recent edition we found."

"I knew they put them out, but I think I should look at them. I don't think they really account for what you did though. In all, we have six phenomenal test results. I'm including Talisman's for the obvious reason. We'd like to tell everyone, but realize you probably don't wish us to. Everyone else thinks it's because you're Shadill."

"I see. Something odd is happening here. My cousin wants to know exactly what and why. We're sure it's not coming from here. We have a suspicion someone finds the organized crime humans have been trying to get rid of for millennia very gullible and useful."

"Well, I wanted to know. Something odd is happening here. The Brennemer Union wants to know what and why. If anyone else did, I wouldn't be looking."

"Raving idealists. I like them. Got a most probable for me?"

"No, I don't know enough about them, but I'm nervous."

"I gave Ballin an analogy. The Imperial Fleet is like the security people on the station. He doesn't notice them except when one walks by and waves a friendly hello, but that person notices everyone in here and if he looks tense or frazzled. The fleet is here. It's in every sector in the empire and there's always a wing in every sector. As one ends its patrol in the sector, one begins it. Maybe it should wave a friendly hello, twelve hours R and R for twenty on Silvern Docking with a trip down for a bit of sun for those who wish. Eight hours R and R on Asnear Station for some, the same on Gerridy. It would lengthen the patrols a bit, but not a great deal and the ranks and officers wouldn't mind because they'd get that little break to do a bit of shopping and wave a friendly hello."

"Do you want to tell people you think they're under threat?"

"People from other than Empire sector just aren't enlisting in either the fleet or marines. The fleet, the marines and the emperor have noticed. The ones who don't have good intentions are quite aware of its presence, but it's so discreet the ones who are being protected aren't. The empire isn't Empire Sector, but even Ballin was sure that's how the imperium thought of it. I think the attitude is being encouraged. No one even thinks about the fact it lifted the burden and expense of handling the Shadill records from Silvern and didn't raise taxes or charge a fee to do it. The treaty doesn't provide for tax increases. The imperium is a contracted service and no one notices it's doing the job it's paid to do. The empire is in Empire Sector and all it does here is require some records be sent so it can count people."

"I think you're right. Why the empire?"

"The Brennemer Union wouldn't yell they wanted to join, copy a treaty, inserting world and sector name, and sigh in relief when the empire signed and sent the fleet to watch over them, but a lot would if they're frightened. They do notice the fleet watches over all of it. The Union might sign a treaty of friendship and mutual aid. The empire has never made an effort to grow larger. People have asked to become part of it and always for that reason. It's very obvious to all those worlds out there that the imperium isn't going to tell them how to run their worlds. You get the protection of the fleet and the rules are you don't oppress your people and you educate your children, in carefully defined terms. The price isn't bad, at all and it doesn't go up even if the value of the credit goes down, hasn't in eight hundred years, not a bad deal at all."

"No, it's not and the attitude is the gov sends money so the nobles can have lovely balls."

"The society newscasters don't consider who paid for the ball good copy. The only ones the imperium pays for are the ones hosted by the emperor and they are rare. They may be at the palace, but unless he's host, someone else is paying for the orchestra. In Empire Sector, 'hosted by' means 'paid for by.' Ninety-three percent of all the adult nobility work for a living and the other seven percent inherited money from those who did. Some of them do work for the imperium, but they get paid about the same as they would working at the same type of job for someone else and those who aren't nobility, who work for it, get paid the same they do. The empire pays for the staff, sixty-three people, lunch for those there on business if they're there more than a half-day, not often, utilities in the palace and maintaining the offices of planetary representatives to the court. If those reps have staffs, they pay them. No one looks to see how their tax money is being spent. Can you imagine that happening here?"

"No. The budget watchers are extremely numerous and all very vocal."

"Do you know Silvern doesn't send a planetary rep and hasn't for three hundred-odd years because there was no reason to pay one? Very few worlds outside Empire Sector do. They didn't ask for fleet bases, so sending a rep to pitch for their world as the place to build a base, because a city needs the place a very old base is beginning to fall down faster than maintenance can shore it up, just seems silly. Imperial Records employs a lot of people and requires space. Pitch for your people and your space if Silvern asks them to keep more. That's the imperium. Security guards and records kept for worlds, who don't think about the fact they'd have to keep all those records themselves and pay for the facilities and people to do it, and it's almost all paid for by the interest on the taxes deposited in the first three hundred years of the empire. If the fleet, marines and Imperial Records didn't need the money, it was banked for the time they would. Money value would go down. Taxes would never go up. Worlds outside the empire are astounded that the imperium does just what it said it would and doesn't expand every time there's a slight excess over the required budget. Worlds inside it don't notice the fleet is exactly as big as it needs to be to patrol the empire and the marines are exactly as many as the fleet would need to defend two sectors. There's no one out there who could mount an attack on more than that, so that's how many there are. If someone said they wanted to be a sector, their taxes would go to expand the fleet enough to patrol their sector and keep their records. Any left over would be banked for the time the value of money went down because taxes would never go up. They weren't raised when a large amount was spent on the effort to rebuild Nunture. That's in the contract for services. The service is paid for. That, by the way, was a superb plan to set an example of withdrawal from the empire that was messed up by greedy men who thought they saw an opportunity to get the power and money now, instead of in about twenty years, when they would no longer be the ones at the top. The plan didn't come from Nunture. They were running for Yarrow sector, where they'd already moved a great deal of credit, when I shot down their lifting ship with an avalanche prevention shell. It was the only weapon we had big enough to knock down a door."

"There's a new plan just being put into practice. Find greedy speculators to create housing shortages near rural university campuses with spaceports within fifty k. Deal drugs out of cheap overpriced apartment complexes and speculators won't dare say anything because they used the money offered to pay for creating the shortage. The ones financing think they're working for themselves to expand their markets. In ten years, the attitude will be drugs don't hurt anyone else and everybody does them. The ones who built another plan with a high probability of success add a bit to the drug and make suggestions that people can't resist. We're sure the drug exists, because nine worlds in Yarrow and Forester sectors are far too average, just as Nunture was, and do more trade with each other than the worlds near them. They're also all of one classification, independent colonial, agrarian semi-tech, moderately-populated social democracies. I know the drug can exist because I broke into a research lab and took proof it was being developed and who intended to use it how to a judge, when I was nine. The who was a relative by marriage and made my skin crawl from the time he married into the family, when I was two. By the time I was fourteen, I'd handed the judge four very well-kept dirty secrets. Needless to say, I made people nervous and I was a very lonely kid. Now I'm a very happily married man. My family loves, wants and needs all I am."

"We're going to see what we can do about your suggestion of a way others could form a group marriage, for the financial stability it provides their children. Shel's going to talk to the Toscan church and see if they could marry marriages too, so several couples could join together to do the same. There's nothing wrong with homosexuals. It's just the way they are. A group marriage with people who aren't would give them a way to share the love and joy of raising children, without the stupidity of massive investigation and probable rejection if they apply to adopt. I know women can go to clinics, but they pay a huge amount for private and heterosexual women pay a third on average and answer a tenth the questions on income, family background, health history and so on. This sector is one of the worst. There's discrimination here that was considered ignorant and ridiculous three thousand years ago. I looked some things up while Ballin fixed my first helping of lunch. Silvern is the least bigoted planet in the sector. I think the reason is probably the Shadill, but as they move off Silvern, record by record, the bigotry is moving in. I think you all feel threatened and anything and anyone who's different might be the source of it. Someone is using that to make the imperium 'them' very effectively."

"That's good, Li, and it's recent or Tori would have known about it."

"There are some very ugly city ordinances that have been passed in the last twenty years several places, Shel. Because they're not planetary laws, merely local ordinances, they aren't sent to Imperial Records. This sector is under attack. I think the drug Tommy was talking about is being very carefully and selectively used on people who sway opinion. An attitude of 'ick, homosexual' doesn't have to be stated. It can be seen. So-and-so is sure there's something wrong with them. I've watched so-and-so's career for twenty years. I trust their judgment. I don't want them close to my kids. There's something wrong with them. The empire collects taxes so nobles can have parties. I could hear it in so-and-so's voice. Some of the most idealistic young people elected to office the first time ten to fifteen years ago are passing those ordinances and the district reps to the planetary governments don't notice the trend because it's 'ick homosexuals,' or several others, and they completely understand."

"I'm feeling blind."

"It's hard to see the whole picture when you're standing in the middle of it. Nice work, Li."

"I used your cross-reference keyword method, Lola. The number of local ordinances with the word 'homosexual' in them, just on Silvern, was disgusting because none of them were to protect their rights, but I wouldn't have looked if she hadn't told me her friends went to the Toscan chapel on Gerridy to get married, because none of the secular agencies asked them if they wished to give vows to each other and they did heterosexual couples. She's probably considered a bit odd because she has homosexual friends and they're probably careful about comm calls and visits so they don't damage her by the association. The Shadill are working very hard to promote understanding because they are different, but I think the trend toward acceptance is slowing, and at this rate, they could be a ship-dwelling race, not culture, because they are forced to be, and people who join their marriages miscegenists, within fifty years in this sector."

"I wasn't ready for that time frame, Li."

"It's the estimate Tori gave us, Mandy, as the beginning of a true ship-dwelling culture if the Shadill spawned one."

"Miscegeny, Turons who married Nunceons were guilty of it. There just weren't any laws against it. It was a very dangerous thing to do."

"And you'd be in gov housing very soon, if you weren't to start with. No Turon would employ or do business with you. That was enforced. If you did, the gov discovered you owed back taxes and the interest on them."

"Yes, Lola. Having sex with one was all right as long as you were male and used a sheathe, so there weren't any crossbreeds and you didn't catch anything you might give to nice Turon girls. The prostitutes thought it was funny. The way to get medical treatment for any disease was state you were a prostitute with Turon clients. There were a lot of Nunceon prostitutes. Most of them had never sold sex. But that was before they put up the fences and made us one people, the oppressed, the Nunturi."

"I'd give odds no one in this sector paid much attention to what happened there. It was a thirty-second bit on the empire news update for five days total, max. It was enough to associate the names of the three of us because we're physically unusual, the names aren't real common and we're all together. You said everyone else thought it was because we're Shadill."

"You'd win your bet on the news, Mandy. I've used my excuse to talk to you. More would attract attention to you or me and you have a big job to do. Mine is watch and wish you very well. Find an excuse to go to the union. Buy a pair of shoes from a man with a shop on Frescetti Station. It's a handy refueling stop and they accept all credit at current exchange rates. He has big ears, literally. Ask him if he's ever heard of Jugs, a clown. Those big ears converted nicely to credit enough to buy that shop and use them where his union needed him most. He'll know the resemblance is not coincidence when you ask. Everyone knows he's always looking for anyone who might be interested in listening to him talk about being a clown. People on the station are delighted someone else is listening and they're not hearing the same stories, again. They remind each other the stories are very funny the first several times and don't lean in close. Make sure he tells you the one about the costume change that was a bit too quick. Now, I'm going to call the captain's lounge here on the station and giggle we owe you a party. They'll love it. We'll deliver your credentials there. Ballin will hear me arrange it. He'll think it's a great idea. The person we were giving the wrong test, who caught it, will be done soon enough we'll send her there to laugh with us for not checking why she had an ops test in front of her. A switch was pretty obvious to not have occurred to us. I plan on telling her all about it. She's about my age. The cruise liner company she works for likes that little silver star on the credential of the operations and executive officers they're sure should be promoted to captain. They pay for it."

"I didn't think about being able to go in."

"You haven't been to Gerridy Station yet, Captain Shelter Hadlain. It's a cruise ship maintenance and shopping stop and they treat the captains very well. That captain's lounge has a ballroom. Several cruise companies include attendance for thirty as the captain's guest in their ultra-deluxe packages. Several have drawings for it. People pay the ultra-deluxe price to make sure they get to attend that one and not the one at the hotel. Gerridy is the place one buys formal wear and they make nice money on it. Any captain, by the way, can attend, but more than one guest requires a reservation. The rest of the lounge is standard, no more than six guests and no more than two each without prior notice. I'm a captain. Getting into the lounge is about the only time I use my credential, but I use it often and everywhere. Never been to one that didn't have good food at a terrific price. See you there. Ballin! I need the comm. We're going to foot the bill for a bit of a party for them in the captain's lounge. I'd like people to know they're laughing with us. I'll get them in and deliver credentials there. Doesn't look like you'll be upset with me for taking your customers elsewhere."

"I have definitely profited by them being here already, Geery. I think it's a great idea and you're right about 'with' instead of 'at.' Sure is handy being close when starving people stumble out of the testing center."

"If the food wasn't terrific, the prices good and you nice, we'd steer them elsewhere instead of point them here. Comm captain's lounge. Keniddy if available."

"Keniddy."

"Hi, Ken. The joke's on us and we're giggling and paying for snacks and a champagne toast for the kid we gave the wrong test, the whole four-day bank. He thought it looked a bit odd, but the senior member of the married group present said no talk about period. So you understand how fate conspired in this, the second morning hands-on was rebuilding an ops console. Talisman is going to be a captain in about an hour and we're sure you can help relieve the disappointment he's not getting his ops license. I'm sending the Hadlains; Talisman, Shelter and Mandala, all soon to be captains; Linlola, soon to be ops officer, and Thomin and Angeli, about to become chief engineers. Angeli set a new time record, thirteen-twelve."

"What?!"

"Wait'll you see her. She's under one hundred fifty cens and just moved things out of her way to work. We got the name of the study guides they used. They all did very well. The kid had read questions and checked answers on sample tests for the one who knew most and was figuring out what to study. They said they also talked about what they studied over dinner. I'll be up to hand them their credentials in less than an hour, I think. We're grading them in a bit less time than is usual because we're all working on them. Not a great deal less though because we keep stopping to giggle."

"He got done six hours under and passed it?"

"He said he asked himself what Shelter would do a lot. He's not going to do as well as the other two, but he's definitely going to pass. We'll send up the Harmony Lines exec, about to be captain, who noticed we gave her the wrong one ten minutes after she started."

"You didn't check to see if you'd switched two?"

"No."

"You deserve the teasing you're going to get."

"We do know it. We expect giggle relapses for days. Let them in?"

"When I tell this one, the caps will be hunting them to bring them up, some of them."

"Fomeerty is there."

"Yes."

"Tell him I said he's a bigot and I'll announce my opinion if he's still there when I get there."

"That's going a bit far, Geery."

"No, Ken, it's not. Carrying on a hate campaign against anyone is more than 'a bit too far.' It's all he does. Who's paying for it? His retirement isn't enough for a shuttle up and down three days out of five, or lunch and dinner in the captain's lounge, certainly not enough to spend about thirty credits every time he comes up, buying people drinks. I checked. I'll announce that, too. Out."

"Thank you, Geery. I've been wanting to deny him service awhile. Telling a customer I'll be glad to fix a drink but he's not buying it appeals to me. Telling the customer it's because my other customers are disgusted with the way he uses it to get people to listen to the bigoted filth someone pays him to spread appeals even more. I'll know exactly how much his retirement is when I do. Joskimmer considers their retirement plan public information and I know how long he worked for them at what. He's said it often enough."

"That's how I found out. Must only spend it up here or the tax service would have noticed. Send their ship bags with them. The caps will see they all have them when they leave. We will be teased. It'll be much friendlier if we blush, giggle and admit we deserve it."

"Very true."

### Chapter Twenty-two

Four grinning people, three of them in resplendent uniforms, came into the bar. One winked at Ballin and they headed straight for the booth.

"Got to be them. Took that test fifteen years ago and still remember how hungry I was when I finished, but I don't think I was that hungry."

"You also weren't that young, Myrlee. We're a self-appointed escort group. Who's Talisman?"

"The one they're holding up between them. His brain is sludge and his body is numb."

"Shelter Hadlain, Shel. Members of my family, Tal, Tommy, Mandy, Lola and Li."

"Lasser Thimichi, Joremba Noomin, Myrlee Harthicor and I'm Parkin Moschvy, captains all. You told them they couldn't talk about it, huh?"

"Everyone doesn't have someone to compare notes with. I told them no talk and worked at radiating confidence in them, in lieu of mutual reassurance."

"I feel kind of dumb for not being sure there was something wrong. I was just sort of upset that I hadn't studied the right stuff well enough. I knew what the right answer was most of the time, but I knew I hadn't really studied it. Shel, I can still be your operations officer if I'm a captain, but I'll take the test if you think I should."

"You don't have to take the test, Tal. Captain covers it just fine, as far as I'm concerned. We were working to be two three-person crews. We evidently team studied a bit more than we realized."

"I asked myself what Shel would do, a lot."

"I remember asking myself what my captain, at the time, would do several times. Joremba bought a one person ship and a study guide. We think of that as doing it the real hard way."

"Knew what I wanted to do with my life and had saved up the down payment."

"What study guides did you use?"

"The most recent edition we could find. The Imperial Fleet put out new ones about a half-year ago. They're available from the Imperial Library."

"Not you too? Why is everyone so surprised an organization that has been operating more ships than any other for about eight hundred years, and recruits with the promise of useful training for civilian careers, puts out good study guides for ship position licenses? There was stuff in the hands-on part of that test that wouldn't have been in a two-year-old study guide because it wasn't patented then, which is, of course, why Lola looked for the most recent edition for us. Hospinny Corp flow regulators became the industry standard the day they produced the first one using their newly patented sensor. It was very interesting rebuilding one, considering that none of them have failed in use and probably won't without external cause for about twenty years yet."

"I believe she set a new record."

"So do I, Jo, but I'm still working on she just moved things out of the way."

"Captain Harthicor, she may weigh more than you do. She's a little thing, but packed with muscle. She weighed about what Lola did before I started dragging her to the gym for workouts. Now Lola weighs more and looks sleeker. The reason I did it is obvious. Captain Noomin is very muscular. He probably works on his ship himself and moves his cargo himself. In space, he takes care of himself. That muscle translates as stamina when he needs it. A three-person ship is less dangerous because there are three, but we won't have cargo handlers and crews on rotation in engineering. He keeps him and his ship in shape and he stays alive and makes a living."

"You're right. You're also about to be a captain, Mandy. First names. I'm Jo."

"I'm only Captain when I'm on the ship, run into passengers other places or looking down my nose at someone. You look done."

"I suppose ten empty plates does make that obvious, Myrlee. We need to pay Ballin for what was on them and get our ship bags."

The captain's lounge was a very pleasant place with a beautiful view of Silvern out large observation ports. They'd been there about an hour when a woman who had just come in walked up to the table and smiled, somewhat maternally, at Tal.

"Hello. I was told the person who got my test was in here. I'm complaining. An operations console would have been easier for me than a gravity generator with a faulty regulator. I wouldn't have been holding my stomach down with one hand. Aster Lee, about to be captain, I hope."

"Talisman Hadlain, about to be captain, they tell me. I'm still a little confused about how I feel in general about it, but I am sure I'd have rather worked on the console than the gravity regulator too. If I was supposed to work on one, which I'd have known I wasn't, if I had. I don't think I can make that make sense."

"Under the circumstances, that's reasonable."

"Aster, if you're like we were, you'd like polite short and food fast. I'm Mandy. Sit down. I'd be delighted to get you a plate of snacks to get you to the point where not moving too fast to catch becomes prefer from the menu."

"Excellent description. Please. They are, literally, giggling down there. I walked out of the testing area, two people started to talk, started to giggle and motioned me on. Geery did get all the way through the explanation, but I wasn't sure she was going to make it. She said she didn't think she'd be far behind me with your credentials, but wasn't sure. The young fellow who operates the plaque printer is giggling so hard she may have to do it. She also said tell you she found a copy of one in the library, it's organized much better and they're changing their study guide recommendations."

"Lola may have, probably, checked organized. I wanted most recent because Li rattled off three things in engineering making the companies that came out with them in the last two years a great deal of credit."

"I'm sort of tech crazy. My mother said it was my first word and I had something apart when I said it."

"I know the man who set the old record nine years ago and he's like that. I'm going to console him with the fact you're at least ten years younger than he was when he took it and point to his son, now twenty. I get out of breath listening to him talk."

Tommy and Lola laughed and Tal and Shel grinned. Li smiled and said they obviously knew exactly what she meant. Tommy told Aster that Li wasn't 'talkative' and he'd decided it was like knowing what she could and couldn't lift in engineering. She knew how long it would take to catch your breath and process what she'd said and waited until you were done to give you the next burst, about four days. Geery walked in, held up plaques and the captains cheered. She brought them to the table.

"Linlola Hadlain, Operations Officer. We're submitting all your recommendations for procedural changes to the Imperial Space Safety Commission. Thomin Hadlain, Chief Engineer. You beat the old record too, by about six seconds. Angeli Hadlain, Chief Engineer. The whole station is saying 'Thirteen twelve?!' Expect to be swamped by chief engineers. They're looking for you and captains will probably be getting comm calls to get them in when they figure out where you have to be. They asked how you scored and got a giggle for an answer. Mandala Hadlain, Captain. You did very well. One of the best scores we've had in a long time. Shelter Hadlain, Captain. You got the best score period. I won't say what or by how much because policy is pass or come back and try again. Your answers to the command decision questions were... perfect. I will say you didn't miss any of those. Now this one. It feels strange to be handing someone a very much earned captain's license, a much better than average score, and feeling like we owe that person an apology. Since that's the highest credential there is, and we do owe the apology, we're resolving the conflict with a champagne toast. I saw you drinking an ale and you're not about to take a ship or shuttle out of dock, so I won't check if you'd prefer non-alcoholic. Aster, we don't have much doubt you're going to pass, so do celebrate with them with either type."

"I'm not driving."

"Keniddy, a bottle of the best, please! Captains, this is on the bunch giggling downdeck because the joke is! We know we're going to be teased! We beg mercy! It's hard to get any work done when we're all blushing and giggling!"

"Non-alcohol on the left, Captains! It's more expensive than the strong stuff, so drink lots of it! They deserve the bill!"

"Oh, thank you, Ken. Talisman, would you open the bottle, please? Is it cold enough to pop safely, Ken?"

"Too cold for champagne. Point the cork up at an angle so it doesn't hit anything til it starts dropping. Of course, if you want to hit Geery with it, as long as it's not in the head, she can handle it."

"Oh, thank you again, Ken."

"I'll be ready to catch champagne. When cork pops, it follows. Push it up with your thumbs, Tal, about a forty degree angle that way."

"Move a little, Shel. I've never shot one of these before and you may be sure I'm not going to hit you, but I'm not. Just push."

"Yes, Captain Talisman, just push."

The cork popped, captains cheered and Shel caught overflow. There wasn't a great deal. The champagne was too cold for champagne. Tal poured for them all, then Shel handed him the first 'overflow' glass and raised his. Geery smiled. She thought it appropriate he give the toast. His deep resonant voice was very nice for it too.

"Captains! Our family is very proud of each member of it. One of those not here said she suspects there's a fairy who's not sure Tal isn't one of them and keeps him sprinkled with fairy dust just in case. I'm beginning to wonder if 'sprinkled' is an understatement. I think he's coated in it and it rubs off on everyone around him in smiles and giggles. Captains, our Talisman. Captain!"

"CAPTAIN!!"

The shouted chorus was a challenge to the sound dampers and they surrendered. Geery was sipping champagne when she suddenly realized Shel had dodged giving their surname when everyone was paying attention. She nodded to Mandy and she tipped her head down to hear quiet words.

"Perfect. We'll say there is one and the captain finished more than six under, but not who. We'll also say it wasn't a kid. I'll steer the bunch to 'lucky charm on the bridge and Angel in engineering.' Most who hear it won't remember it's Angeli. It will decrease recognition on Talisman a bit too. We'll talk about the sweet kid who still looked a bit bewildered when I handed him the champagne bottle. He'd studied very hard and he didn't get what he had worked for, but the celebration did seem appropriate."

"Thanks. People who want to congratulate others are very nice, but they can slow down the cargo loading."

"I'll tell them you said that. Shadill?"

"Time to ask Tommy. Hey you, with the pretty red hair, lean in. She has good ideas, but neither of us know whether to push, muffle or not worry about Shadill."

"Shadill is an assumption. You've heard the Toscan chapel on Gerridy may be performing non-Shadill group marriages because people want them. The Shadill proved they provide well for children. If not already, soon. A wedding ring is a wedding ring and the Shadill borrowed putting it in the ear from a bunch of service techs on Asnear Station. Many groups of three or four stable relationships ready for kids, or singles who have kids and can handle vowing fidelity with six or seven good friends, may be saving for passage. The tax break they'll get if they run any kind of family-owned business will pay for it in a few years if they're coming from Empire Sector. Rumor is the church is looking at the idea of marrying several married couples together, to give their kids the same stability and get the tax breaks. If there are individual vows of fidelity within the group marriage, they certainly aren't worried about being able to keep the one for that one. Remind people we didn't actually say we were Shadill and catch yourself making the assumption a couple times. The others will make the effort and spread the word so people know the chapel may be doing it and 'everyone' who wears a group marriage ring isn't immediately assumed to be Shadill. I'm too happy in my big marriage not to be sure there are others out there who would be. In this case, if we can't do something about it, the imperium will. Those people want to protect their children financially and 'protect' is a word that gets action. Clue Ballin the idea is spread the word there is, or will be, a place if they're looking. Whether they want fifteen or three doesn't matter, group is over two. Tell him we'll talk, but Li is sure somebody should and we may be paying for a personal letter to the emperor if they say no. Considering recent events, we're rather sure he'd end up reading it if we addressed it 'the guy at the palace.' He'll help. The assumption will still be made, but it will be known to be one and might help someone. It may also slow the push to discriminate against the Shadill a bit, at least here."

"Very nice, Tommy. The Shadill want all kids protected, not just theirs. They obviously agree with the Toscan church that marriage means fidelity. Both think it's a good way to prevent people, who just want the tax break, from advertising for others with small businesses with mutual tax reduction as goal. I hope the church does say yes, for specifically that reason. They can require it. A secular agent can only ask if they want to give it. I think you're all going to be surprised how many group marriages already exist in spirit and want to make it legal. Most of those will be small, three to five people. You probably know of one."

"Yes, Mandy, I do, but I think of group marriage as Shadill and they don't do three. I know a woman and two men who deserve to be able to state their stable relationship of sixteen years is a marriage, with a little ring in their ears."

"We'll take the church a tool just for the purpose that includes welder and heat sinks and a doctor to teach how to use it if she thinks it necessary. We don't need it anymore. We'll supply a small stock of rings, but people should bring their own. Size and placement are fixed, but material is their choice. The Shadill picked how big and where for safety reasons. A big hoop with a big stone might be an attractive idea, but a tiny one of each is safe and that's more important in the long run."

"I have three tiny rubies. I've had them for years and never decided how I wanted to use them. I guess I was waiting for the right suggestion."

"A millimeter thick, seven-point five in diameter. They'll probably hang at, or near, the bottom so design not to scratch cheek. Shouldn't be hard."

"I know just the jeweler to do it. She'll probably have a case full of designs on display in ten days. She can do tiny, no scratch, elegant in more than one way. I'll tell her make sure she has some of the simple elegant without the cost of stones too."

"Remind people 'silvery' is for Silvern, not Shadill, because Silvern gave the idea a chance. Ours are white gold because wedding rings and gold go together in Shel's mind."

"You had no trouble with that, did you?"

"With... Oh. We amazed ourselves, but it's so much the feel of him. It's not just us. People who'd been battling a half-year to at least remember the right title if they couldn't remember to say the name suddenly had no trouble. All of them just fit. Mine was a real surprise. It's like it was what my mother really intended, but she didn't find the exact word. They're legal changes. We just filed them a bit more directly than most do the day after their wedding. Ow. Suddenly missed the others."

"I'll tell a friend you get the only copy of the security record to take home. Log entry: 'Geery was telling me about it and I was giggling. Must have hit move, not copy. A bit aggravating I can't give it to her at her retirement party in about fifteen. Would have been great.' She understands 'can slow down cargo loading' too. I'll tell her she does."

"Mandy, more? You got your captain's license too."

"Definitely, Tal. Shel, the bottle is about empty."

"Keniddy! I want to celebrate officially belonging here by buying two more bottles! Give me a receipt please! I may have it framed!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The captains present laughed and Aster asked him where they were going after they left Silvern. He grinned and told her to buy formal wear. She didn't have any difficulty identifying the reference.

"Actually, it's about the most sensible place for us to go first. They'll tell us all about where the silks, satins and brocades came from and who made them into what where. Trade figures don't tell you if the satin from a particular textile maker shimmers and the brocade makes it difficult to pull your gaze away. The artist in cloth who uses it does and no words are needed to know if it will be profitable at any... reasonable price."

"You'll make a good luxury goods trader, Shel. You understand both parts of it."

"I've lived on a budget and operated on one before, too. The family has enough for good equipment and time for us to learn. Like any family of any size, each of us bring what we have to it. If that's nothing but a willingness to work, you bring equal value, all you are and all you have. It's more difficult for a person with much greater assets. That person knows the value of what the others bring and large assets swamp the small savings account proudly and carefully built. I knew a wealthy woman. Not many knew she was. She fell in love and married a working man. She told me she spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to 'sneak it in' before they got married. She finally just handed him the account record about twenty days before the ceremony. He said he wanted a new car, a new set of tools and a very, very nice ten-day honeymoon before he took them to show them off at work. He'd already scheduled the vacation time, but he was sure they had time to find some place very-very, before it started. With a large marriage, it's a bit easier to sneak things in. I'm still sure I know who brought it, but I'll probably never learn if I'm right. One day an account with a surprising amount of credit just appeared in the budget workup. No one who helped is talking either. The result is we're looking for the right cargo to start with in a ship that we know is good because we refitted it and did most of the tech work ourselves."

"If you decide you want a liner berth, let me know. I have the feeling they really wanted to stick little silver stars all over that plaque."

"I studied very hard. It's been a very long time since I've taken a test. Since I did, they did."

"No study guide can teach command. It's something that can be learned if one has a wide responsible streak and true respect for the opinions and abilities of others. You command. You command your marriage. That didn't make you wince because you completely understand the difference between giving orders and command."

"Shh. I was once a military officer. I won't say in what service. I had good commanders who taught me that by very good example."

"You're not Shadill."

"Uh... "

"I won't say that to anyone else, but I'm sure of it because I'm sure your marriage formed around you."

"It just... happened. Finding someone to perform a group marriage isn't easy, an extreme understatement. We could function as a family, but that isn't enough. We wanted to make vows of love and fidelity as well as give our children the protection of legal marriage. The Shadill have thoroughly demonstrated the value of both. We bought a farm with a big house on a semi-agra world and there, one who saw it was true marriage, a neighbor, heard our vows and gave us our little rings. Several more of our neighbors witnessed. Her husband said he'd find a way to get it filed. He managed to do it, pulled years of experience doing record searches into play and found a way. Group marriage isn't illegal. It's just damn difficult to find someone to perform it. Li has decided that will be corrected. The Toscan church has no requirements, but a vow of fidelity. We're going to talk to them about how much love there is in our marriage and how important that recognition we are a family is to us. There will seldom be a big marriage like ours, but there are hundreds of functional families of three or four on every world, who have been together for years. They should have the legal recognition and protection of marriage for their children. They should be allowed to state they are married in the true definition of the word; lifelong love, fidelity and legal, damn it, recognition. She thinks they might be able to marry marriages, so couples who have been friends and worked to build futures for their children together for years can take advantage of the lower tax on family businesses, because that's the purpose of it."

"Good."

"You know someone too. I think most people do. You're going to be a liner captain. Would you perform a group marriage?"

"No, because I couldn't back it up. The word 'couples' appears too many places. One being in the explanation of my authority to marry them and how I file marriages I perform that the company gave me. However, some liners stop at Gerridy and I'd certainly be delighted to order the same treatment for a group as I would a couple who chose a special place to be married on the cruise."

"Would you do that for homosexuals?"

"It aggravates me that question caused me to hesitate before answering. I would if I didn't think it would cause them difficulty."

"It's a command decision. They can only be made when the situation is known. Would it have required a command decision a hundred, even fifty, years ago?"

"Well, I remember fifty. No. No, it would not have."

"Someone is paying for the spread of bigotry. I overheard two people discuss the fact a person can't possibly afford the shuttle trips from the planet and all the drinks bought, as a way of getting people to listen to what one called a 'hate campaign,' today. How many times have you heard the word 'unnatural' said by someone buying people drinks? Someone is paying for it."

"Agreed. I didn't see it, but I have seen it. I'll point it out to some others who haven't and have."

"Hopefully, enough will see it that the imperium is not forced to step in."

"What?"

"Read the treaty. I did. Empire citizens are being attacked and their rights infringed upon. The treaty this sector signed with the imperium requires it to stop that. There's too much money paying for hate for any hate group to be doing it. The goal is make the imperium step in and Yarrow sector, or at least planets in it, refute the treaty in anger for the interference. Someone is preparing for a campaign of conquest and the empire fleet is in the way. There's no other explanation that fits too many things being paid for. Believe me, I looked for one. If any world says no person whose authority to perform marriages comes from the government will marry homosexuals, the imperium will be forced to take action. The world won't like it. They aren't 'normal' people. Everyone knows you don't want them around children. If the imperium was truly protecting people, they'd do something to prevent that, not tell you the things you were doing to assure it must be stopped. We're being manipulated by someone who has made a very thorough study of history and human psychology."

"I had an odd thought."

"Yes, it was odd when I had it too. I don't know enough for it to be more. I don't think any current empire sector is under threat of military attack. I think the goal is keep worlds that are from yelling they have a treaty ready to sign and send the fleet as an escort for the signer. So, reduce the size of the fleet by reducing the size of the empire. No war for more than six hundred years has definitely laid a very thick layer of dust on the memory of the reason the empire has two hundred fifty-five worlds and the fleet watches over them all."

"Yes, it has, but I think people feel a threat."

"Of course, that's why the plan to make them suspicious of anyone different is working so well."

"A very thorough study of human psychology."

"We've been assembling the reference materials since the beginning of recorded history and I can't find a damn thing on the psychology of the other three species we've met. That's deliberate. Human 'ologists' collect everything about every culture that's discovered or develops. They have the same amount of information as they did four hundred years ago and that was the official reply to requests for information that would help us understand them. We gave them our libraries and they gave us a pamphlet."

"You're telling me this for a reason. Have you defined it for yourself yet?"

"I've seen it. You see it. It would be odd if the people whose job is watching for threat haven't. The fleet is always here. I think we may start seeing it is a bit more. Not a base or presence, the smile and wave of a station security officer in passing, the stop in for a friendly cup of tea after a shift. The smile and wave in return from a liner captain will teach many who are surprised by it the right response. They're friendly people doing a good job watching for threats to us. It's nice to know they're there if needed and especially nice to know they'll probably see the need before we need to yell for them, just like the friendly and competent station security people."

"The analogy is very good and it would never have occurred to me."

"You've never been a security officer. You don't realize how much training there is behind that friendly wave. 'Relax. We're here if you need us. We're watching to see you don't. We'll notice if someone makes you hover over the cash drawer, probably before you do.' This whole sector is hovering. The security people will have noticed."

"A rather checkered career before you got married and decided to be a trader?"

"No, just two jobs, but they were both basically the same one the fleet does. Watch over people. Be ready to move fast if they need you. Moving up to a desk did not appeal to me."

"I can see that. The one I'm getting wouldn't appeal to me if there wasn't a great deal more than a desk to it."

"Shel, I've got to get back. Mandy said people who want to congratulate one are very nice but can slow down loading cargo. We'll do what we can to keep from pointing out who to congratulate."

"She's right. Thank you."

"I plan on quoting her. Most of us down there wouldn't have our jobs if we hadn't loaded cargo, or at least watched to see it was going to be done in time for scheduled departure. TC gets real aggravated if you call at the last minute and ask for a reschedule in twenty."

"I'll quote around a bit up here for them, Geery. You know we all understand it. I've been waiting for a large number of chief engineers to start comming and informing captains they're meeting them at the door and bringing them in as guests."

"I think maybe I'll ask for an early shuttle pickup. Tal is edging a bit closer with every congratulation. He's tired and an ale and two glasses of champagne may have several wishing for a pillow and a flat place. I don't yet, but twenty-two-plus sounds like a long time to wait to find one. The very nice people who brought us won't mind at all. Four days to register a ship is a bit more than it really requires."

"Very nice people. TC may not be able to get them in before the scheduled time, Shel."

"Then I may pay a night in a hotel for a few hours."

"Try the Gossamer if you decide to. They'll probably understand few hours and flat place and not charge for six for a night."

"Thanks."

"Welcome. Say hello when you come this way, and good-by before you leave."

"We will."

"I'm going to head that way and spread a quote while I shovel in a great deal more food. It was nice meeting you. I'll remember our chat, even if the rest of the last four days is a bit blurred."

"Thanks, Aster."

"Shel, we should go shopping."

"For what, Lola?"

"For about five-and-a-half hours."

"I was thinking of an attempt at a shuttle reschedule or a hotel for approximately the same time period."

"Shopping. Tommy said."

"Then we shop."

"You looked at your plaque yet?"

"No middle name and renewal is eight years, not ten. Let's obviously sneak out."

They picked up their ship bags and 'tiptoed' toward the door. The captains laughed and applauded. Aster told two Shel thought Tal really wanted a pillow and a flat place, not more champagne, and she thought he deserved a nap if that's what he wanted. They agreed. Five minutes later the comm got busy and a number of captains told disappointed people "Angel Engineer" was probably tucking a very young new captain in for a nap.

### Chapter Twenty-three

Tommy surprised Mandy and Lola when they sat down to have whatever was responsible for the aroma wafting out of an 'open front' bar. He left the table and walked over to two men at the bar.

"I'm not Shadill, but I like them. Shadill marriages aren't the only group marriages and people in group marriages aren't the only ones who don't like taking their wedding rings off when they work. Gen, many people get caught between embarrassment at being in the company of someone spouting bigotry and the socially accepted courtesy of sitting with a person who bought them a drink. It's a well-planned technique. Tender, I wish a complaint form. Your employers need to give their support to your obvious desire to tell this paid hate-monger to leave and not come back. He's disgusting, one of thousands and people are beginning to notice it's the highest budget advertising campaign in the sector. It's been going on about fifty years and the budget has gone up every year. It's a real growth industry and it's been making people very nervous because they can't figure out how the multi-billion credit investment is supposed to pay off. Then someone said the words 'divide and conquer.' You're finished. You all are. You may be too stupid to ask who you're working for. Most of us aren't."

"Leave, Captain Fomeerty. Don't come back on my shift. I have a customer complaint. I would like, but don't need, my employer's support to refuse someone service on my shift. Thank you. You just made sense of how five like him can afford to travel in nice accommodations often. They all pass through here on their way to and from cruise ships at least twice a year."

"You're welcome. The official word is the imperium doesn't think the empire is the actual target, but the fleet would respond to a call for help before the treaty was signed, if someone yelled they wanted to be part of it. It's believed people like him are supposed to cause a government somewhere in the sector to 'bow to public demand' and pass a law that infringes on rights guaranteed under Imperial Law, as stated in the sector treaty, most probably those of homosexuals. They're the main target of the hate campaign. The imperium would be forced to 'interfere'. Even those who thought the infringement was wrong would be angry. The fleet is always exactly the size needed to watch over every sector and it's always present in all of them. Reduce the number of sectors, reduce the size of the fleet, gobble up worlds while people on independent planets yell they want to be sectors again, and are reminded the fleet is never larger than required to protect the empire and it takes awhile to build ships and train crews."

"Divide and conquer. Who?"

"Good question, gen, and I'm sure good people are working on it, but none of this is 'military intelligence.' It's being passed as official word is spread the word. People are nervous and need to see the security people are on the job. The imperium wants us all to know why the fleet is going to stop being invisible. Time for a friendly wave hello and a bit more obvious quick look around in passing. The bigots don't know who's paying the bills. Big crime doesn't know who's providing some nice plans for expansion of the drug trade in several sectors. Finding out who obviously isn't considered of primary importance. The people are under threat. Defense first."

"Where did you hear this?"

"Heard most of it in a bar the last time the girls decided we were going shopping for a half-day. Heard some of it in the same here. Worked real hard figuring out what was official and what personal speculation. You got everything I'm sure is official. It was a lot more than I expected too. Three orders of whatever smells wonderful and three of what you consider your most tasty fruit juice."

Mandy sealed and checked a shopping bag at the shuttle dock. They didn't handle luggage. The merchants provided the service for shoppers. It was a rather full bag. It held the contents of six ship bags, two purchases and the recording Geery had tossed her when she 'stuck her head in the door' of the testing center. Lola was carrying one with six empty ship bags and one purchase. She'd check it when she'd found at least one more thing she wanted. The check was for large items or two or more purchases. Tommy had said. Shel had bought sealable shopping bags. Mandy saw him coming out of a fabric shop.

"Looking over retail prices?"

"Yes, and what they stock. Tommy was right. You can almost see the relief in the air."

"I've heard 'I knew there was something going on,' more than once. Opinion seems to be about fifty years is a bit long for the imperium to catch on, but telling people what it thinks is the reason is a step in the right direction."

"The empire is a very separate entity in their minds, but so is the planetary government. In Empire Sector, people would ask why the emperor hadn't done something sooner. Here they ask why the empire hasn't. I rather wish I could ask Tori and Barri if they think it's a problem."

"There are Tal and Li."

"Yes, and I'm tired of playing we're not together. Let's... I think that person is following them."

"So do I, but it doesn't make me nervous. I think we're looking at someone trying to figure out how to ask if she's the one he really wants to talk to."

"Since I don't feel like growling, I think I agree, but let's get a bit closer anyway."

The two just lengthened their strides a bit. They were close enough to hear when the young man asked if Li was the one who'd set the record. She thoroughly surprised them when she answered.

"Yes, but that's not what you want to talk about. The person you want to talk to is behind you."

"Tell Shelter why you're scared. He'll find a way to help. Come on, Mandy."

"Yes, Tal. See you later, Shelter."

"Let's walk. What's wrong?"

"I've been... spying for someone for two years. I think I've been working for the enemy."

"Probably, but you didn't know there was one, so you couldn't have known you were. Who did you think you were working for?"

"A world outside the empire. I wasn't gathering information on the government or the military, just people. How many and who came from outside the sector and what they were doing here. I thought someone was hunting real information instead of official counts, maybe to see if there was enough real trade going with the rest of the empire to make Silvern a good candidate for middleman. I made a lot of assumptions. My family needed the money. I work for a trade association. I tell people I gather information on where from and what traded. I just don't tell them how many files I open and how far I send what I find."

"Let's go back to your family needed money. I have a family too. I wouldn't have done what you did, but I understand the motivation. Why?"

"I was... We were both Shadill. It hurt both our families when we left, but they loved us and wanted us to be happy and that meant together. We couldn't find jobs that paid more than enough to stay out of subsidized housing, then I got a fairly good one and we moved to an apartment big enough for us and a baby. Our twin girls were four days old when I was informed the company was closing the office on Silvern in ten days, but they'd help look for jobs for four of us. They gave me three referrals. I wasn't what two were looking for at all, but the trade association wanted someone to do exactly what I had been doing and paid good. I took the job. It was a quarter-year before I was handed a bunch of file codes and told I'd get a raise if I did what was asked and be looking for a job that day if I didn't."

"Not a bad method of recruitment. Find some under-employed young people, run branch offices you want to lose enough credit that closing them seems reasonable in about a year, use them to train them, send them where you really want them, and just when they begin to feel secure, hit them with 'Do the real job or apply for subsidy, so your children don't starve, and pack to move out of the nice home you made for them.' You were who they wanted. The rest were just window dressing. Did you report my family?"

"No, you were... ordinary."

"And worked hard at it. Want to switch sides?"

"Not if it puts my family in more danger than just stopping working for the enemy. Now that I know I was."

"Now that you know there is one. Connect Tommy."

"Yes?"

"Skillfully manipulated, good at finding who came from elsewhere for what, remorseful, worried about family when he walks off the job, but walking. More worry is unacceptable."

"He knows who you are. You have a 'lucky charm on the bridge and an angel in engineering.' You're going to sit in a very plush lounge and he's going to tell you all about the trade association he works for. He's paying. It's not his usual job, but he's the only one in the right place to make a pitch for his employer. If he didn't, it would be odd. He files routine and boring once and stops. He got a better job. His new employer knows why he left his old one and he doesn't know anything, but that he should have asked a lot more questions. They won't bother him or his family. I have an understanding employer to find. Out."

"So, what's the nicest place in the place where you can buy me a couple very nice ales? Need to call your wife and tell her you'll be late?"

"Uh... The Glass Wall and I already did. He didn't even ask my name."

"He doesn't need it, yet."

Tommy took a deep breath and walked into the station security office. He asked to see the highest person currently on the station, immediately. The young woman told him they'd borrow her boss's office to talk.

"I'm here. I say go where. That makes me as senior as we've got on station right now."

"Is this room secure?"

"Yes."

"Can you do a secure scramble and lock on comm?"

"Yes."

"I'm the emperor's spy. I've been a spy since I was two. I just didn't tell anyone until I was nine and had a lot of proof I needed to hand someone. I married into his family when I was eighteen. You're going to help me protect the family of the young man, who thought he was just collecting a bit more information about people than was quite legal. They had been working quite awhile to make sure he had no doubt saying no would hurt his family. He needs a job. He's good. He's sorry. He's always worked hard. He's telling everything he knows and it will come down to he should have asked more questions. The employer will know it and that's all he knows."

"Candor. It can't be anyone else. He's just plain nice. So's his wife. They have adorable twin girls."

"They're very, very good. They probably spent several years and a lot of credit on the recruitment. I'm who he's been watching for. He quit because he found out why, before he found out I'm here. He wanted to talk to someone, to confess. He didn't expect help."

"No, he wouldn't. One name, we all know what it means, divorced Shadill. The bigots were busy. It's twice something wrong with them. They were 'failures' as Shadill and we all know they make sure Shadill have all the advantages. They didn't want them because they were parasites on the rest of the marriage, or so promiscuous they couldn't keep a vow of fidelity."

"We have about an hour to find him a job that will support his family and he can be proud of."

"An hour. Comm connect Daddy. Scramble and lock on. Check."

"Scramble and lock. What's wrong?"

"We've got an hour to find a job for Candor. I have the emperor's personal spy in Shemir's office. I didn't ask for identification. He doesn't need it. Candor just found out who he worked for and stopped working, but he doesn't know anything but he should have asked more questions. The spy says an employer who knows that is the help protecting his family he didn't expect to get."

"Damn. Not up there. Doesn't he live in Waterside?"

"Let me check. Yes."

"I may have an idea. Let me look it over to see if I'm right. I doubt he wants to stay there while I do. I'm sure he'll tell you how to contact him. Out."

"Daddy is?"

"My daddy, mayor of Silverlight City."

"Fairy dust in the air. I'm sure of it. Let's see how close the ship is. Call the Nightband."

"Comm connect Nightband, Kirsy. Once I have it. I'm scrambling."

"Nightband."

"Silvern Docking Security. Scramble and lock."

"Scramble check. Lock established."

"Hello, Anverd. Contact the fleet. A few for a few hours R and R every place they get close enough. Wave hello as they go by those they don't. Visible presence starting immediately. We just cracked apart a nasty plan with a multi-billion budget by telling everything 'the empire' knows and adding what we learned today. They need to see 'the empire' is here."

"The empire?"

"Yes, very much. It's an entity that lives over there and collects money so nobles can have big parties, a piece of a fifty-year campaign of bigotry against homosexuals and the Shadill. In as little as five years, a planet could pass a law infringing on the rights of 'those people you don't want close to your kids.' The imperium would be 'interfering' and on the wrong side of protecting the children. We're getting everything the local spy knows, because he just found out he was working for the 'enemy' and hunted someone to tell he'd quit. Of course he picked one of us. Oh. Li broke the previous time record by about forty minutes. Shel got best ever score. We all finished more than six hours under. They gave Tal the wrong test. He's a captain. Out."

### Chapter Twenty-four

Tam read the message from Admiral Amburny and smiled. It was a report of the effectiveness of the new policy and a very good brief of what it was that didn't look like it was. She'd ended it with a note that the new orders had been a surprise, but the wisdom of them wasn't and crews were delighted. She did think a fleet payroll draw account in each sector was a good idea. They were going to run out of cash for shopping fast. Tam yelled for a staff meeting and the new policy and credits were on their way to every sector within minutes. He held a press conference. As usual, his was a bit unusual.

"Sit down and let's get this out. We've got evidence all over the empire that someone is spending billions of credits to break up the empire. Quiet! The object seems to be, reduce the size of the fleet by reducing the size of the empire, to prevent whoever that someone plans on physically attacking yelling they want to become an empire sector, and need the fleet while they write the treaty. They've been running a too-successful hate campaign against any group of persons different enough to single out, with the object of getting some world to pass a law infringing on their rights and forcing the empire to take action. At that point, the empire would have been interfering and on the side of the people who they were trying keep away from their children because everyone knew you should. We have thousands of local ordinances against homosexuals and the Shadill as evidence of how close it was to being a success. Part of that campaign is the empire is in Empire Sector and the rest of them pay taxes, so nobles can have lovely balls. From now on, I want every social newscaster to note who paid for the lovely ball they report. I want a lot more notice paid to the fact we are a working aristocracy. Fleet personnel and marines stationed on fleet ships will be granted leave, a few at a time, for a few hours or a day of R and R on any station or world which a ship passes closely enough to do so. Fleet wings will 'wave hello' in passing to those to which they are not close enough. The most effective method in dealing with this is tell people exactly what has been going on for about fifty years. Thousands of people were financed to spread bigotry. Pay isn't necessary if that financing includes shuttle trips to docking stations three days out of five, very nice lunch and dinner, and lots of cash to buy drinks for people who don't know they're going to pay for them by listening to a diatribe of hate. A large number of people have been taking very nice luxury cruises about twice a year with the same job, spread bigotry. The heaviest concentration of this attack on the ethical foundation of the empire was, of course, in the border sectors. However, organized crime seems to have a too well-laid plan for expanding the market for drugs on university campuses in the interior sectors. It begins with an effective technique to create a housing shortage. The persons given the technique don't know that's who's financing and wouldn't until drugs began to be dealt out of apartment complexes they built and they were told cover it or confess and spend years in rehab. The probability of success of these plans was so high we're sending warning to all worlds and unions within sixty days' journey of our borders, along with a statement a yell they need help is enough and they don't have to join the empire to get it. If they're interested in a trade treaty or an alliance, they can figure out how they want to word it and we'll look it over. We have no plans for expansion and never did. It just sort of happened. I'm not saying we won't allow worlds to join the empire, just it's not necessary to get the help of our fleet, if it's needed. We don't have time for questions. Get it out. This time, you're the defense force that needs to move fast."

A private yacht requested a nice berth for a day or two of shopping on Gerridy Station. The TC duty controller looked at the image of the yacht bridge on the screen, gave the captain a nice berth and shuffled berth assignments for scheduled ships. Shuffle was in the job description. He smiled a bit wryly. The ring in the ear of the big, beautiful woman was a bit of a disappointment and it had nothing to do with the wealth obvious in the tasteful bridge.

Mandy docked the yacht and Lola checked the hatch connection, then both went to change clothes. The others were waiting in the 'living room' and already dressed "well, but not wealthy." They hadn't gone straight to Gerridy from Silvern Docking. They'd waited a day for the fleet wing to respond to Anverd's message, nine to give the fleet wing's message to the palace time to travel and then loafed a bit, as well. No one on the Nightband had really been surprised the fleet wing had been at the closest point to Silvern on its patrol when Anverd sent new orders. It just seemed reasonable it would be. He, of course, had known exactly when it would be where.

"We're ready. What's the plan?"

"The Toscan chapel first, Lola. Considering what we learned on Silvern Docking, they may have been battling to maintain their policy of marrying any couple who proved they were adult empire citizens and were willing to vow fidelity. I don't really know anything about them other than that, but I'm sure I like them."

"We all are, Shel. We may not agree with all the tenets of their faith, but we definitely agree with their principles. I've got eighty white-gold rings, the unit that does the whole thing, an extra power cell and two demo 'ears' for the minister to practice using it."

"We may be after the fact, Li. There has been time for people to get here and ask them to do it, but I rather doubt any moved quite that fast because it would not be an inexpensive trip and travel arrangements do take a bit of time. Time for word to spread is not a consideration because I think trans-space comm is slower than word of mouth and becoming more sure of it all the time. However, I do expect some people to have been working very hard to convince others the 'official word' is a fiction created by 'those' people."

"I'm a bit worried they may have been too successful, Shel. A very large number of the people who come through here are both wealthy and influential."

"You think we may find evidence of the drug we suspect they have here, Tommy?"

"Yes, Lola, I do. This is very close to two planets where we suspect it's being used, one in Yarrow and one in Forester sector. I think Shel may have understated the difficulty the Toscan chapel has maintaining its policy. The Toscan church may be the target of choice for Forester sector, as the Shadill were in Yarrow. They're in sympathy with 'those' people. Be very careful eating, drinking or letting people get close enough to use an inject. Try not to hurt them if they attempt it. They may be sure they're doing you a favor, or not even realize they're doing it."

"True. When Ven showed us what she came up with as possible, I wanted to yell it wasn't, then for the fleet and marines, when I saw it was. We all know she needs a sample to even learn if a counter is possible, but she doesn't want to hunt it as residue in our bodies. Chief Larkenscho would be very aggravated if that happened after telling us we'd learned to pay attention well enough it should not. I didn't learn that meant our unarmed combat instruction was complete until we were about ready to leave Nightband."

"You didn't tell us that, Shel."

"I was told not to mention it until we'd worked together enough to realize that didn't mean we wouldn't get better with every practice of every technique as long as we practiced correctly, Mandy. I think three days was enough to prove it to us."

"It was for me. My body finally quit arguing those two moves didn't go together and I didn't have to think about overcoming the disagreement yesterday."

"We noticed, Lola. You suddenly didn't have to catch up a tiny bit in the middle of that routine. That and the bit of confidence the news gives us is why I decided it was time to tell you. Let's go find a chapel."

Gerridy station was a glittering shoppers' paradise filled with temptations from more than twenty worlds in two sectors. They noticed a slight oddity in the selections available in various places, but decided shops specializing in goods from one sector or the other made sense considering the clientele would be most interested in showing off things from the other sector. It took them awhile to find the chapel. It wasn't listed in the station directory. When they found it, they went to work helping the elderly man clean the doors of something ugly yellow-green and smelly.

"What is it?"

"Rotten grivy eggs. Thank you. Who are you?"

"Governor Thiretess Boer Hadlain."

"What?!"

"Shh. Captain Shelter Hadlain. We're here to ask the aid of your church for a large number of empire citizens. We're already working on stopping this kind of thing. Have you heard the information the imperium is disseminating on the funding of the campaign of bigotry at the base of it?"

"My statement I believed it was from the empire is probably why I'm cleaning doors."

"We had a suspicion people would be working very hard to make sure no one believed it. There's a strong possibility they're assuring it with a chemical compound that doesn't allow people to doubt what they tell them. There's also a strong possibility they don't know they're using it to assure it."

"Dear God, grant us aid. They are and they don't. I've seen it. I've seen people who staunchly defended the rights of all persons one day espousing bigotry the next and those totally shocked by the reversal espousing the same two hours later. Only the most vocal though, so I have a suspicion the substance is expensive and not in great supply on the station."

"Expense doesn't even slow them down. Supply is probably much larger than you think, but ordinary people aren't who it's to be used on, unless they become a problem. We suspect it's in major production on nine worlds and may have reached population saturation on all of them. We don't know where they get the money, but are beginning to suspect they have the planetary income of those nine worlds to fund their plots."

"Tommy has a tendency to state common opinions we hold before we learn we hold them, but he's always right about them."

"I'd invite you in to talk about why you came, but conversation is less likely to be overheard out here. Station security is sure the church is guilty of sedition and always listening for proof. I'll ask forgiveness for being pleased to realize they don't have any choice but believe it. What do you wish to ask of the church, Captain?"

"That it perform group marriages for people who want to vow fidelity within them. Most will be of three or four who have been families and marriages in all but legal terms for years. We have a supply of rings like ours and a device for putting them in and welding them that requires only positioning it correctly and pushing a pad, but most will probably bring their own. We told one, who knows some who wish it, size and placement were not optional, but material and design were. She noted she had three tiny rubies which would be a nice wedding present. We also brought practice 'ears' and a spare power cell for the unit, which you shouldn't need for at least a year, even if you get very, very busy. We'd like the church to examine the idea of marrying two or three married couples, who have worked together to provide common security for all their children and deserve the legal and financial benefits a marriage would give those children. There is no imperial law against it, as there is none against group marriage. People just can't find anyone to perform it. We ask the church examine the second idea because Li thinks it's silly for couples to have to go through the expense of divorces to be able to get married as a group. Considering the benefits to the children and the tax advantage given family-owned businesses, it would be worth it to do it. Vows of fidelity within the group marriage shouldn't be a problem. They aren't among the Shadill."

"Among the Shadill?"

"They're personal vows between two and witnessed by the rest of the family. Most large Shadill marriages have two or three vowed couples in them. That's from a monograph written by a Shadill anthropologist on her own culture. It's evidently much more widely read in other sectors than this one. In fact, university libraries in other sectors seem to be the only ones who had it."

"Lola was very disgusted by that and a number of university libraries, city libraries, planetary libraries and, of course, the Imperial Library now have copies of it. She didn't ask them if they wanted it. She said she was too mad to risk a no answer and deciding that was the only thing they should have in their anthropology catalogs. We said, 'Oh,' and agreed it was probably wise."

"I think I would have as well, Captain. I can't speak for the church. I can perform marriages for those who come to me on the assumption the church will approve, while the idea is under consideration and the church will not... revoke them, even if I get reprimanded for making the assumption."

"The imperium will move to do it, if necessary. We're just asking you first because it can't require a vow of fidelity and we believe that's important."

"I think we will, and I'm not worried about a reprimand even if we don't. I'm an old man and most ministers are enjoying retirement at many fewer years than I have, but the church asked me to accept one more task because I'm a very stubborn old man and this place needed one. I've been here seven years, two years longer than is usual for assignment to it."

"You're the only representative of the church here?"

"Yes, and if I wasn't so old, egg on the doors probably wouldn't be the limit of expressions of displeasure at my presence."

"Comm remote Nightdancer to Nightband, scramble and lock on send. Land Imperial Drug Enforcement agents, at least a hundred. Security is enforcing bigotry and have no choice. The drug is here and they can't notice how many who visit leave with opinions they can't doubt, thousands, maybe millions, of them. Out. Made it. No trace."

"A... hundred drug enforcement agents?"

"Would you rather have a wing of the fleet and a couple thousand marines? This station has been taken by the enemy. You're a member of the independent resistance. If you'd tried to organize one, there wouldn't be any. The doors are clean. Let's go inside and invite security to interrupt us. I'd like to see how the influence of the drug stands up against the influence of a credit rating."

The security monitor duty officer was nearly gleeful when the Shadill group showed up in the Toscan chapel. They were finally going to get the proof they needed the two were in collusion and guilty of sedition. It didn't occur to him there had to be a government against which that crime was being committed for it to exist. It never had, to any of them who were sure the Toscan church and Shadill were guilty of it.

He checked on the Shadill and blinked at the screen. He couldn't make sense of what it said. He decided to ignore the statement they were members of a group marriage, but not Shadill. It had to be wrong. They had Shadill rings in their ears. Everyone knew no one would take the chance anyone would mistake them for members of that disgusting culture and traitorous race. He queried Instel Bank and got another answer that didn't make sense. A few extremely successful corporations and planets had alpha alpha ratings. People didn't. He checked the ship registry and it was from Silvern. That made sense. Then he hit the value of the yacht and got confused again.

He started over, then ran the diagnostic program to find out why the comp was giving him 'crazy' answers. It couldn't find anything so he called a tech to see what was wrong with it. She ran in the door and went to work immediately, of course. She called his supervisor when he yelled she was "party to the plot," when she told him there was nothing wrong with it. When the supervisor stated she had better cooperate and name the members of her "rebel cell," she ran out of security and for the Toscan chapel. She'd listened to what they'd been saying while the sec officer raved about "breaking the code and finding out what they're really plotting."

"Help me! I told security there was nothing wrong with their comp and they said... I'd better confess and name the other rebels. They'll know I came here. They're watching you. You were talking about people who love each other and they were looking for a way to 'break the code.' I'm sorry, but you... at least sounded sane."

"We are. No one has had a chance to give us the drug that makes it impossible to doubt something one is told, no matter how insane it is. Reverend Tassherty, we've gotten you into a lot more difficulty than we intended."

"Captain, they can't really hurt me. I wouldn't find incarceration particularly arduous. I'm too old for pain to last very long. I know I've done my best to lead a good life and have total faith that's rewarded because my life has been filled with the rewards of it. This young woman, however, is a different story."

"He's right, Shel. She's a total innocent, but no reason or proof can change their absolute surety she's guilty of something once they've decided it."

"Tommy's right. I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything to apologize for but dock. What the hell is going on?"

"Well, you heard the description of the drug that has probably been in use for about the same fifty years as the hate campaign the imperium is spreading word about has been funded. Gerridy Station is evidently the place it's most useful to assure the influential influence exactly as desired when they leave. Station security can't notice it and people hired by security probably can't by the time they get here. Do people know they're giving people a drug? Probably not. If we can see it, the imperium does. Will it do something about it? Undoubtedly. Can we do anything but wait for it? Not really."

"Hands in the air! You're under arrest for treason! Any resistance will be dealt with... What are you doing?"

"Surrendering. You said we were under arrest."

"Yes. Any resistance will be dealt with by forcible restraint. All weapons are set on... maximum."

"I didn't doubt they were, Officer. It's illegal unless we're armed and in the act of perpetrating a crime of violence, but I didn't doubt they were."

"What treasonous act against the empire or the emperor are we charged with?"

"What?"

"The definition of treason is aiding the enemy of one's government or sovereign. That's the empire and the emperor. What in our discussion of the need of people who love each other and their children was aid to the enemies of the empire?"

"We'll find that out when we break the code."

"Give it up, Lola. The only thing that confuses them is our surrender. Our obvious unarmed state makes setting weapons on lethal excessive preparation, but that's all. Be prepared for them to suddenly become completely convinced surrender is resistance. The probability is persons arrested for treason are all to be killed resisting arrest, before someone overhears them asking what enemy they're accused of aiding, or what authority a private, contracted, space station security force has to arrest persons for a crime that imperial law says even a planetary law enforcement agency cannot, merely hold persons and evidence in custody, until imperial law enforcement agents arrive to determine if arrest is required, and that's in time of war. Of course, we know the empire is under attack and a drug has been used to--"

A few seconds later, Shel gave Tommy a rather disgusted look and got a grin in return. He said he was sure there was a 'trigger' word or phrase and it seemed wisest to warn them and try to find it inside the chapel. Reverend Tassherty smiled and said he hadn't had pleasant company for awhile and asked them if they'd join him for dinner. Shel sighed and shook his head. He suddenly had Tal in his arms. He was shaking.

"We didn't hurt any of them badly, my Talisman. Hopefully, Ven will find a way to help them all. Meanwhile, I have no idea what to do with them or how many more will be coming."

"No more. That's all of them on duty, including the one who's supposed to be watching the monitors. When he moves, will you hang onto me til I stop shaking too?"

"If you need it. I'm Shel."

"Kiri. What they're saying isn't from the empire is from the empire, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, but this is the empire."

"What?"

"Lola, you made the distinction. You explain it."

"What they're saying is from the imperium, the entity which does what treaties that created sectors of the empire require. It's not a government or an administration. It's the emperor, the fleet, the marines, Imperial Records and the Imperial Library. That's the imperium. This is the empire. The imperium can't really stay out of politics in Empire Sector because it spends so much money on worlds there, but it doesn't have any governmental functions at all. It never did. The empire started as a group of traders who got fed up with piracy, appointed the best commander among them king, because it made him groan and they liked him, and kicked the pirates out of the cluster where they did business. The worlds yelled they didn't want them to go away. The king said he wasn't going to rule anything period, but he was willing to do what he had been doing, send ships and people to defend them, as long as they didn't oppress their people and they educated their children. His nobles, the other traders, said they'd help, if they didn't have to quit their regular jobs. A genius wrote a contract. She said a kingdom was one nation, but an empire had several in it so it should be called that. That's the Empire Sector treaty and Imperial Records and the Imperial Library were part of it. The imperium needed to know how many people needed protecting and the worlds were following the rules, and a library would help assure knowledge was available to all. The library is noted as being the probable reason the first emperor signed it and let them call him Emperor Vasmon the First. His wife knew him very well. The empire is all the sectors, worlds and people within its borders. The imperium is basically a contracted security force that requires those it works for not oppress people and educate all children. The only people directly supported by imperial taxes are the imperial family, currently the emperor and his new wife, because he doesn't get paid. Everyone else supported by those taxes is an employee getting a set wage and a few people who fall through the cracks in planetary social services, because they come under protecting all citizens of the empire."

"That's not what my history text said."

"Yes, it is. It's just been stuffed with dates, the names of every person present, every skirmish they fought, which were all named and called battles, and everything else the people who wrote the texts could find to make it sound important. How many semi-drunk traders sitting in a spaceport bar yelled yes when his best friend suggested they call Vas king and what his wife came up with to get him to let them call him emperor, just aren't the type of questions history teachers like to ask. So they ask the names of the persons present when Vasmon the First was titled king by acclamation and the titles bestowed upon those who would follow him to defend the worlds. Sounds better than, 'I'll get you for that Gerben. You're a duke. Honsko, since you think it's so funny, you're a baron.' Since their crews were laughing uproariously at the tables around them and they did need some kind of 'I tell those two, they tell you six, you tell those nine what to do,' and they really didn't like military titles, they all got stuck with them."

"Excellent, Lola. That's exactly how it happened."

"Eddy told me, Shel. She said the one thing the historians won't use as a reference is the logs that are the start of the imperial family's personally-kept history, but they avoid the history pretty carefully too. She said it's hilarious in places it's acutely dry in history texts and others it's pure mad and move fast and the texts are 'carefully considered plan of action was put into effect.' I do intend to beg to read it someday."

"You... know someone who... knows the emperor well enough to ask?"

"Yes, Kiri, I do, or I wouldn't already know they're funny in places."

"Oh, that's right. Are they going to wake up soon?"

"The ones I put out about a half-hour. Anyone sooner?"

"Those two women. About fifteen. I just couldn't hit them harder than that, Shel."

"I understand perfectly, Tal. I had to remind myself we needed time to figure out what to do with them before I hit anyone hard enough to put them out. The man?"

"About an hour. I was in a hurry. He was behind the others and aiming at you."

"I love you too. Suggestion, Tommy."

"Let's find a luggage cart. We'll lock them up in their holding cell, change the lock code and erase the security log from the time we walked in here."

"I can help. I know the comp codes."

"I can fix dinner for eight. I'm a rather good cook."

"Thank you, Reverend Tassherty, but we ate very well just before we docked. I'm sure you understand why."

"Yes, I do."

"I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Excellent. I'll get started on it, Kiri. Just knock on that door. I'll be listening for you."

"He's lonely."

"Yes, Kiri, he is. It rather hurt to tell him no, but I have a suspicion dinner for the six of us would severely deplete the contents of his pantry. One guest won't and I think you'll enjoy his company, as much as he will yours. Give Lola the codes and go keep him company while he fixes it. We'll try to take you completely out of this and we'll stop any monitoring of his quarters from there."

"I suppose feeling a bit guilty because I'm supposed to be in the office if they call is sort of silly under the circumstances."

"It's a confusing situation, but we saw a ship out there that we're pretty sure is help coming, or we'd be running for ours and yelling for it."

### Chapter Twenty-five

Anverd told the TC duty controller he'd chosen where they would be docking and he could complain to the emperor that he had to rearrange scheduled berths. The duty controller looked at the posture of the man in black and said he'd shuffle. He contacted security. He didn't know who he was, but he'd seen 'military bearing' before. He was surprised by the answer he got. He didn't recognize the voice, but that wasn't surprising. That he didn't get visual and what the voice said was.

"They're expected. So is cooperation, but they know a large number of people won't have the choice to do so. Hopefully, their medical personnel will find a counter to the drug that has taken that choice from them. This station is in a state of isolation. No ships are to leave. All arriving ships are to be given stand-off positions and instructed to remain in them. Any ship which departs from this station or stand-off positions will be reported to Imperial Fleet Command. All Imperial Drug Enforcement agents' response to resistance will be logged and logs forwarded to the imperium. Organized resistance will prompt an immediate call for fleet blockade and occupation by Imperial Marines. Sorry, kid, but the enemy has this place and they took it with a drug that doesn't allow people not to believe what they're told. They used it on people to make them use it on influential people, who have come through here for about fifty years. When they leave, they all believe the bigoted filth poured into their minds while under the influence of the drug. Agent of the emperor, code cousin, out."

The TC duty controller had been there three days. He realized he was hearing the truth, as it was spoken, and the many proffered drinks people had seemed very angry he'd refused were why he had. He didn't drink alcohol and didn't know if the fruit juices he'd been offered had enough of a particular chemical compound to give him a headache, a slight sensitivity he'd inherited from his mother. Three days was long enough to know there was something wrong with some of the people he worked with.

He took a deep breath and contacted three ships scheduled to leave within the next three hours. He told them all ships had been ordered held in dock by Imperial Drug Enforcement. He said none were suspected of drug trafficking, but there was a high probability persons on them had been drugged and medical personnel would be attempting to find a counter for the mental tampering it allowed.

A trader captain screamed it was "a plot by the filthy Shadill." His two crew members subdued him and one said he'd liked them six hours before and they wouldn't be going anywhere until he did again. The duty controller played the recording of the incident for a luxury cruise ship captain who called back yelling about schedules and the importance of her passengers. She paled and nodded. The captain of the passenger liner commed back and asked to be notified as soon as the medical personnel learned something. He told him he'd had to reprimand his chief steward twice for discrimination since the last time they'd been there. The 'medical personnel' was with Anverd when he walked into the station security office.

"Have any of you even taken a sip of water?"

"No, nor eaten anything. You're sure it's in liquid?"

"I'm sure Jast was furious she didn't get over a bar fast enough to keep the tender from dumping a pitcher of something."

"Was she as mad as you are?"

"Ven said medical section first, Shel. Everyone in it assured us there was no drug capable of doing anything like that to anyone and the Shadill weren't capable of developing it if there was. Ven asked them when the Shadill had become another species. She told them the 'enemy' was non-human and the doctor explained the Shadill were still a human race, no matter how much we'd all like to disclaim them. A med tech said the Toscans might be drugging people, but no one let the 'dirty old homo lover' on the station close enough for him to hit them with an inject."

"Comm Anverd!"

"Here, Farner."

"We found something. Looks like a couple hundred liters. We stunned about twenty people trying to keep us out of this storeroom and a dozen more before we got the door open. They come running down the corridor screaming epithets, brandishing kitchen knives, metal rods, bottles... It's pinkish. There's a siphon in one of the two liter bottles behind a bunch of others. There's a mark just above the clamp on it, less than a quarter cc. There are about... forty empty bottles sitting around. I've got five with me. With twenty more, I might make the ship with a bottle of it for Ven to analyze. It's on the end of the corridor numbered eight six two, but it's not on the station map and there's no number on the door. If those people hadn't been here, we'd have probably looked at the labels that say pink pepper cocktail mix and gone on."

"Understood. Shel?"

"Send fifty and cargo carts. We want it all out of there fast. Once it is, look for more while Ven works on it. I've got a feeling that's either not all or not it."

"You heard, Farner."

"They're going to have to move a lot of people to get down the corridor, more all the time. I agree. Too easy."

They located the seven security guards who were not on duty when they fired on four who were searching. A woman yelled a warning or they'd have done more than just fired. Garis thanked her. She said the thanks she wanted was help for her husband. He was one who had run into a corridor brandishing a bottle. She hadn't been able to stop him. Garis commed for a medic. She had a nasty bruise on her arm where he'd hit her with it.

Space around the station began to be dotted with ships, not a great many, but it was a busy station. One started to leave. Nightband put shots on three sides of it from her aft guns. A shaking woman commed the station and said the bridge crew had been stunned and they were working on getting the ship stopped and turned around. She was connected to Nightband and Harschen helped the cabin steward and three passengers who had 'taken the bridge' do it. They'd gotten the stunners they used from two stewards, auxiliary security, who had yelled "Homos!" and shot two men in the lounge, father and son. The steward had been leading a delegation to the bridge to find out what was going on because the captain had yelled at her to search for "Toscan traitors" when she'd attempted to report it.

The pink liquid wasn't the drug. The TC duty controller yelled for help when people began to batter at his barricade on the door. They added six more to the very full security cells and hunted somewhere else to put people. They had over sixty stuffed in four small cells. They'd had to stun several again to keep them from damaging themselves battering against the doors. Ven began sedating people. They couldn't calm them and stunning them every time they awakened was harder on those who had to do it than those stunned.

Reverend Tassherty opened the chapel doors and frightened people began to find the place where the soothing music was coming from. Kiri watched the door with the stunner one of the 'agents' gave her and added eleven to the number in the cells over a three-hour period. Each time she stunned someone, Reverend Tassherty invited those who wished to join him in a prayer aid for them would be found.

It took them thirteen hours, but they finally identified the drug. They found it in a tiny breath spray bottle. Once they had, it took them seven more before they were reasonably sure they had all of it. It was all over the station and in several forms, but it began as a fast dissolving powder. Once identified, they could scan for it. They'd sedated three hundred sixty-seven people by then and they knew they were far from all of them. There were just a great many who hadn't been pushed to become violent, well over two thousand of them, more than half the people who lived and worked on the station. They held onto patience and acceptance of authority and had people around them who helped them do it. Shop owners and store clerks were the primary helpers and all knew they'd been on the schedule. Most of those who had been drugged had shops or worked on the top deck and one section of the one below it.

Ven worked feverishly to find a counter. She had help. Tommy supervised a lab crew preparing samples. Lola ran comp simulations. Nightband had been at the station twenty-seven hours when she yelled, "We've got it!" on ship-wide comm and across the station public address system. Exhausted people cheered and Tommy's crew began making the counter as fast as they could. The first to get it were the station medical staff. They learned how to use it with the doctor. Ven countered the sedative and placed a restraining hand on him when he began to sit up.

"You've been under the influence of a suggestibility drug too powerful for the word to fit. You totally believed anything you were told while the drug itself was in your system. The one I just gave you doesn't cure the belief, but it allows you to use your reason to overcome it."

"Such a drug is impossible and the Shadill... "

"Didn't have anything to do with it. Here's the formula. I know you're positive it can't exist, but you can see it does. Work your way through it. Replace the false opinion with knowledge. The Shadill are just people who looked for a way to assure their children had a good future. The way they chose is unusual, but it works or there wouldn't be about a three hundred percent increase in their numbers every generation. Every marriage begins as a group of young friends looking for people to share life, love and children with them. They can't be a race because at least half of them weren't Shadill before they joined a marriage. There's nothing wrong with homosexuals. If there was, we'd have found a treatment for it hundreds of years ago. It's a physical and emotional preference, not a disease or a disorder. There may be individual causes for the preference, but there are causes for some women preferring tall men, young men preferring older women and so on. Toscans are people who believe love is wonderful and fidelity strengthens the bonds between people. They believe in something greater than they are and call that something God."

"I'm sure you're wrong and I know you're right. I can see exactly what the drug does and I'm sure it can't exist. I can see you're exhausted."

"I have over three hundred fifty people sedated, have been testing substances to see if they were the drug since yesterday and working for fourteen hours since we found it to come up with a counter. I was sure using it again to lay down new neural paths that couldn't be deviated from was not the only way to counter it, but I was beginning to have doubts."

"Doubt. I have doubts. I couldn't doubt anything. I could have... suspicions, but no doubts. No healthy person is always sure of everything and we all know it. Anyone who is needs treatment. It's a psychiatric disorder and one doesn't need medical training to know it. It's very common knowledge. Tell the patients to look for doubt, even if that doubt was there was anything wrong with them. Once they find it, they'll know they hadn't been able to doubt."

"Thank you, Doctor. Your injector. Get to work."

"Yes, Doctor. I seem to be very well rested. Let's start with my staff and then check the medical personnel on ships in dock."

"I did. None of them have doubts."

"Let's give them back to them."

Reverend Tassherty surprised a great many people when he sang a hymn of thanks. Not that he sang it, but that his voice brought goosebumps to nearly all who heard it. Kiri put it across the station PA as fast as she could and she was fast. All she missed was the first "Oh... "

Shel smiled and opened cell doors, gave Urber the code to give the security people and he, Tal, Mandy and Li left to become just four more people, who had waited and hoped. Tommy and Lola met them at the captains' lounge a few minutes later. They didn't try to hide what they'd been doing. They'd volunteered to help. The two trader captains who had been in it when Shel had led them in asked for a bit more information.

"We don't know where it comes from. I think they may have a few suspicions, but that wasn't of primary importance to them and it was obvious, especially in their medical section. I'm a pretty good hand on a sample prep unit and there were several of us working and there were never more than two samples sitting in the prep tray. That doctor is... incredible and you could feel her determination to find a counter. Lola is very fast on anything with a keypad and she got a bit behind a couple times."

"I didn't, Tommy. The computer did and it was very fast and had a lot of capacity. I'm awed. The emperor sent the best he could. I have no doubt of that. A lot of other things, but not that."

"I docked less than an hour before this whole thing started. Four people offered to buy me a drink the first time I sat down somewhere. By the time the third one did, I was sure I didn't want one, even after I finished taking care of business."

"I docked just before the drug enforcement ship came in. I told my crew of three to stay put and headed back for the ship fast when people started to go crazy. This is my first trip here. Always planned to come, but it was the first time I had a cargo I thought would sell well enough to be worth the trip. Carter said this is his first trip here too."

"I want my cargo checked. It's a delivery job, but it paid well enough to be worth taking to see the place and let my daughter shop a bit."

"They've probably thought of that, but... Comm Officer Farner."

"Farner."

"This is Lola Hadlain. I helped in the lab. We're in the captains' lounge and there's a captain here who wants his cargo checked."

"We're about to get to work on that, Lola. I've got fifteen, who aren't too fogged to see what a scanner says, who are going to start at the top and work their way down. We're currently most concerned with finding passengers and crew who need the counter, but we're getting a lot of help on that now that the doctor got the medical personnel treated and they figured out how people can help once the counter is given. It's amazing. They start fighting the effect of the drug as soon as someone points out they didn't have any doubts at all about anything they believed. The Toscan minister said tell them complete faith wasn't having no doubts. It was being sure there was an answer to them. I'm sorry. I'm rambling. We've got people who have had three hours sleep coming on to relieve some who need it almost as badly as they did. Estimate is six hours including all those ships out there. Do spread that around. We've got a kid up in TC who has a plan to get ships out and in before he takes down the barricade on the door and folds. He said he'd napped, even if he hadn't planned on it. He deserves a medal. I can't give him one, but I think I know someone who can. I'm rambling again. Out."

"She's right. He deserves a medal. He's kept every ship informed and done his best to keep people calm. I slept on the bridge with the comm open and didn't mind being awakened by his calm voice giving an update every so often."

"He's been here three days, Carter. It's his first job. He was trained at the school on Panemer Docking and they recommended him. He got it because he was willing to pay his passage himself. The doctor was checking on him and I listened. He doesn't drink alcohol and explained some fruit juices give him a mild headache and he hadn't had time to find out which ones wouldn't, so had turned down offers to buy him anything to drink long enough to begin to wonder about how many offered and how angry they seemed when he said no thanks. The doctor named three juices that wouldn't bother him and told him he'd probably get even more offers to buy, but they'd be for the right reason. She knew exactly what he was sensitive to in the juices and had analyzed every one of them by then."

"Fruit juices?"

"They're all used as mixes for drinks and offered immediately if alcohol is refused. I'm Tommy. I don't know your name."

"Oh, sorry. Angela."

"I'm Angeli. They're both pretty old names. My mother said I told her to call me Li before I was making sentences."

"I told mine I wouldn't answer to Angie any longer when I was about six. I'm confessing we broke in here."

"What?"

"I thought this would be a good place to find a cup of coffee and keep up with things when it began to get sane and was walking away when Carter showed up with the same idea."

"I told her that wasn't the only door and we hunted others. It gave us something to do. Eventually, we found the service lift to the ballroom and it and the door through were both unlocked. This place is not supposed to ever be closed. None are. They may not be serving food and staff may be a sign that tells how to make more coffee if the big pot runs out, but not closed. We figured out how to make coffee and unlocked the doors."

"Hang on. Comm Officer Farner."

"Farner."

"Lola again. Two captains in the captains' lounge got in by the ballroom service lift."

"We left it unlocked. We figured someone would find it. Captains are a rather resourceful bunch. We locked the other doors when we took eleven people out of there. The place itself was clean. Four pockets were not. That's where we found the drug first. I just wish we'd stuck those little sprays at the front of the sample queue, but we hadn't found them anywhere else and they were labeled. I've just been told I'm being relieved, or else. If you need more, Jast is your girl."

"Hi, just yell 'Jast.' She's wobbling. I got a brief on who you are. I'll call Captain Shelter with updates. The doctor says you and Tommy flat somewhere. Since she was sleepwalking when she said it, she's sure you should be. Checking. Comm connect Captain Shelter."

"I've got you, Jast. I'll order them down and threaten to sit on them if they don't stay flat, but I think they'd prefer to stay here rather than head for the ship. Would saying we'd docked about fifteen before you arrived, didn't have anything to eat or drink here, aren't carrying any cargo and no one has been on it, including us, be enough to cross it off the scan list?"

"Nightdancer crossed off. Thanks. Out."

"Couches."

"You give such nice orders, Captain. You haven't slept either."

"I know, but I just sat and waited. It was tiring, but it wasn't hard work. Tommy, don't argue. In fact, I want all of you down. Yes, Mandy, you too."

"I napped."

"So did I."

"I'll wake Tal to relieve me and you to keep him company in awhile, Li. This place is going to get busy before too long. You want to stay here instead of going to the ship, flat now."

"He sure kills an argument fast, doesn't he, Tal?"

"I don't know, Li. I never come up with one before he answers any I could come up with."

Shel woke Tal when the head of station security asked to speak with him "somewhat privately" about an hour later. Shel surprised him when he led him out of the lounge, sat down and leaned back against the wall in the corridor.

"Who are you?"

"An ex-military officer with a big family with a lot of money. Found another ex-military person to train us all so we can watch over each other."

"You erased part of the security logs."

"Yes, we did. You did a very thorough search on us, then yelled the comp tech, who told you there was nothing wrong with your computer, was a rebel. We didn't know if just taking us out of the log would help her, but it was the best we could think of to do for her. I explained what we'd done and why to the drug enforcement agents, some that I didn't think you deserved to have to watch it. I have a feeling they're just going to take the logs of the last... day-and-a-half with them."

"They told me they would be. They said they needed them to show what action they'd taken and why and we didn't need a copy. I'm rather glad you erased that part. I know it wasn't me, but... "

"That may be the real reason they're not just copying. Don't try to remember what someone forced you to do. You know how completely you were forced. No persons living under an occupation by an enemy military were ever so completely forced to work for them, because they could at least think of resistance. You were all victims of a terrible crime. The job now is help the other victims. Help those who drugged others to forgive themselves by showing them you forgive yourselves for being victims. You didn't 'let someone' make you victims. Tell them how often you have to remind yourself you know the victim is in no way responsible for the crime because it was you. You would never say a person was carrying so much cash he or she deserved to be robbed. You did nothing to deserve what was done to you. You were shot in the back when you started the job of watching over the playground, because you would have noticed a stranger talking to the kids. This stranger wanted you incapable of seeing the kids were given drugs and told to give them to their friends."

"I tried to kill you. I'm still sure you were traitors resisting arrest. I still have no doubt of it. That's why I'm sure it can't be my belief."

"The only person I know who is without doubt fairly often is a mathematician and she checks several times to make sure she didn't change a sign, reverse two numbers, enter one wrong or use the wrong function before she accepts the proof."

"Belief is overcoming doubt, not being free of it."

"Sounds like Reverend Tassherty."

"It was. He walked in and said he'd forgive us if he ever thought of anything we needed to be forgiven for, but he was having a great deal of difficulty forgiving whoever had made him work so hard to forgive us for things we weren't doing. I'm still sure he's a traitor, but I'm sure glad he's here. He's going to be a lot of help."

"There. That smile is the beginning of healing of the injury the doctor treated. This isn't exactly the shopping trip and treat for my family I planned, but I still plan to do the shopping and take them to a ball in the captains' ballroom. Do help the merchants get their doors open so we can hand them lots of credits, so we have just the right thing to wear to a celebration. The occupation is over. The liberating force managed to do it without a single injury to them or the civilian population, an amazing feat."

"Yes, it was and I can't find out the doctor's name."

"Or probably anyone else's. I noted they used each other's first names, nicknames and a couple common surnames. It makes sense."

"Yes, it does. I asked where they came from and so did a couple others. We all got the same answer."

"The emperor sent them."

"That's the one. I think I believe it because it's so hard to believe. Jarim, the TC duty operator, said there was an agent in security, when he called to check on the ship."

"We didn't see anyone else there, until I told their commander what we'd done and the new lock code for the cells. I was asked if I'd had even a sip of water since we arrived. I didn't expect a no answer to get me twenty-plus hours of sitting in the security office while they hunted drug, but I realized I'd already volunteered. A lot of people did. A great many sat down and held the hands of people who couldn't believe the bigoted opinions they held weren't their own, but fought to accept they'd been drugged and worked to wait for the agents to find what had been used on them. If they'd all been as thoroughly... programmed as you were, they couldn't have."

"Programmed. A very good word for it and I wonder if that's exactly how... the enemy thinks of it."

"Probably, and they're going to find out it makes us very, very angry. Almost makes me sorry I'm an ex-military officer, but I was still present for the first real battle."

"Yes, Sir, you were. Company coming. If captains are coming off ships, it's time for me to help people prepare for passengers who will be soon."

"Remind them all it's a victory celebration. The occupation has ended."

"And we have some terrible memories, but no one to mourn. Your fellow husband knew."

"That's Tommy. He said that's why research on suggestibility drugs is illegal."

"Very true. Enjoy the rest of your visit, and get some sleep."

"Oh, I will. There will come a point when one of them orders me flat, probably Tal."

"Comm Shel."

"Yes, Tal?"

"Where are you?"

"Just about to walk in the door."

"Good. You need to occupy one of these couches. I commed and switched info coming to me. Now, Shel."

"Yes, Tal, now. Out. He surprised me. I thought I'd get back through the door first."

The security officer was laughing when Shel walked through the door. Carter and Angela did when Tal pointed at a long couch a bit away from the bar area and he headed for it. Shel knew he was right. He was beginning to feel shaky inside. He knew he could get past it and keep going a great deal longer, but it wasn't necessary. Tal was more rested. He'd napped about two hours during the long night, on his lap. It had been how he'd finally gotten him to sleep. He'd found it restful too.

Li didn't sleep long. She was a fairly light sleeper, not exhausted and it had begun to get busy in the lounge. It didn't surprise either of them when Mandy joined them at the table about a half-hour later. She'd 'catnapped' for ten or fifteen minutes several times during the night and they worked for her about the same as a single rest period of their total time. She pointed Tal back toward a couch. He noted it was getting busy. She told him to share Shel's and he noted he occupied a bit more space than there was on it already. She beckoned him to follow, moved a big chair over beside it and told him the back of it to block noise and light and his feet to cuddle would keep Shel asleep awhile longer. He smiled and took off his sandals. Mandy was smiling widely when she got back to the table.

"Funny?"

"Tal put his feet up on the couch and Shel rolled over, pulled them in and sighed in contentment, Li. He'll probably giggle himself to sleep in a few seconds. How you doing?"

"I've had about five hours sleep total, about the same as you have. Tal's had about three and Tommy and Lola are getting close to the same. Change comm before they call Tal."

"True. Who's on?"

"Still Jast. She told Tal she'd been ordered to bed when they finished the scan for the drug, so Farner wouldn't keep waking to check how she was doing when she relieved her. Someone said it was a pretty military bunch and Tal asked when a swat on the rear started being used as a salute. He said it wouldn't be surprising if most had been in the military, but they were definitely not 'officers and troopers.' They were 'tell her it's done and she'll tell you what's next on the list' and friends."

"Agreed. More incident or task force command than military structure. Comm connect Jast."

"Jast."

"This is Captain Mandala, Mandy, Hadlain. I just stuck Tal in a big chair beside Shel with a piece of his couch as footstool. I've had a not too-short night total and he was still running on naps. Update?"

"We have found some on ships. That nervous captain was right to be nervous, two kilos. We got where he picked it up, but it was a transshipment and is going to take some more tracking. We've got five of the eight past due out and all the out in. Fellow passengers are pointing out people who hold unshakable opinions they've espoused too often on the way here. Nearly all have been here before. Crews are some and some not on nearly all of them. They've all been here before. We think we caught it just before a major expansion and it's been coming in as station supplies, just as the two kilos did, to go out on ships twenty-five grams at a time. You don't want to know how many doses that is. I don't want to know how many we found."

"Too damn many."

"Since six would have been, needing approximately five for analysis, that may be a record understatement. It's a good thing we're leaving in a couple hours. I can't afford the gowns I've been drooling over. One maybe, but I want them all and doubt I could narrow that to two or three."

"I noticed. I also noticed they'll all fit Lola. If I find one my size, I'll be ecstatic, but I imagine I'll be looking at fabric and hunting through pattern catalogs."

"I saw fabric and pattern catalogs here. They're not like other places. I had trouble remembering to look at the scanner when I was looking around the fabric and difficulty walking by the image on the catalog screen. Since I did, the people who turn them into gowns are probably incredible too. Hang on. I've got a yell. Here's your update, estimate is well under two hours. We've got all the people treated and are starting on the scans with four more scanners. We have a couple people who built specific for the purpose. The idea was see if they could and they got done in time to hand them over."

"Shel will probably want to talk to someone before you leave."

"Considering we drafted the six of you as soon as you volunteered, he'll probably get a call. Probably to watch us give a medal to that kid in TC. Farner found the right one and the gang in the tech lab are making it up, just in case. None of us are really worried it's a wasted effort."

Shel opened his eyes, saw Anverd was squatting down beside him, got a wink and was handed a medal and a rolled and ribbon-tied paper. He raised an eyebrow.

"We're asking you to do it for us when he's not staggering and there are a lot of people to cheer. 'By order of' will be official, but he's a bit far away to sign it and there and back is a bit long for Jarim to wait for it. He'll get a signed one of those one of these days because fleet ships will stop by, but it will be awhile before one gets here from there, about a hundred days unless he sends a courier, which he might. We heard the same from every ship crew. His calm voice with updates and personal reassurance when they needed it was listened for and never failed to ease the worry for the people for whom they were responsible. Take him to a victory celebration and give it to him in the middle of it for us, please."

"Yes, definitely. He will send a courier, for all of them. He sent you."

"We got here just in time. There was enough here to take every station in Yarrow sector and it was ready to move out. We found some on every ship headed for another station. We didn't tell people how much we found in their luggage, cabins, quarters, stock rooms and holds, except Carter. He pointed and said, 'That one makes me nervous. It just says station supply.' Two kilos, about a half-million doses. Hope you weren't hungry."

"How much did you find total?"

"Do you really want to know, my friend? I'll tell you how much I shoved in the elemental reclamation unit as fast as it was brought to me if you truly wish it, though I told no other and allowed no record to be made of even the increase in elemental stores."

"Shelter, don't ask him to tell you. It would hurt him. Tell Tommy."

"It'll hurt him less to tell Tommy?"

"It won't weigh as heavily on him. It's the kind of load he's built to carry. He knows it because he's built the same way."

"Yes, Tal, I am. I'll tell him."

"You'd carry all the load for all of us, for everyone, if you could, Shel. Since you can't, you have us to help. Together, we can."

Shel looked at Tal's smug smile, grinned and got up. When Tal did, he grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder. He yelped and giggled. Anverd and Tommy were smiling when Lola went by them, picked up Tal's shoes and followed them to the table. She was giggling.

"Fairy dust and Shel helps spread it around."

"Yes, Tommy, he does. My load suddenly feels a great deal lighter too."

### Chapter Twenty-six

They watched the station pull itself together. Reverend Tassherty was a busy man, so was the head of station security. Both were reminding people "the empire forces won." They all smiled widely when Reverend Tassherty stopped by the 'sidewalk' cafe table where they were sitting, to say hello, and suddenly rushed off. He had a security comm and had just been called because one of the officers thought he could help someone who was still struggling. Kiri stopped by a few moments later.

"I'm joining the Toscan church."

"You are?"

"Yes, Shel. I read the tenets and was very surprised not to find anything I disagreed with, at all. They're exactly what I believe. You do your best to be a friend and love is the reward and visible proof in your life that it's the right thing to do. That's a little simplified, but not much. It's a very simple faith. The definition of God is it all works and the proof there's a purpose for sentient life is love exists. When I read the tenets of the faith, I suddenly understood why the Toscans had been included in the campaign of bigotry. The faith is very dangerous to it. There can't be anything wrong with love. Any society that... promotes love is healthy. So is any person who does love."

"Yes, very dangerous and probably growing rather fast. I didn't hear anything I disagreed with either."

"It was growing fast. Now they're in trouble. The church no longer exists on the world where it began, Lakeland. Reverend Tassherty asked me to tell you. I think he's rather sure you got a comm number."

"Not exactly, but I think I got something."

"Can you recommend a person to talk to about a gown for me? Lola is struggling to choose between dozens and Li is trying to narrow the choice from several, but even 'tall' waistlines hit seven cens above mine."

"Yes, but he doesn't have a shop, just a great deal of talent that's a bit of a disappointment to his parents because it doesn't have anything to do with tech. They love him and try not to show it, but they worry about him making a living because they can't afford to send him to a world to get the kind of credential that would earn him good money at what he's good at. He's not quite fifteen."

"I didn't see any kids here at all yesterday."

"There are only a few and no small ones, Shel. Quarters are two bedrooms max and there's no place for them to play. People who want to start families hunt for jobs other places, but having worked here is a very nice line on a resume, even if the job was store clerk. His parents are both ship maintenance techs. They've been here a little over two years and their little sub-contracting company is doing pretty well, but without the kind of ship traffic Gerridy has, it wouldn't be. The two of them can polish a thrust tube to gleam in the length of time a big ship is in a construction bay for a scheduled maintenance check. They don't like to do it in enviro suits and charge quite a bit more for it, but they will do it and most won't."

"That's because it's damn dangerous."

"They designed their suits themselves, Li. They're pretty bulky, but they've proved they work. They got a patent, but that's about the only job for which they're needed and big ships on tight schedules about the only ones that can't wait for a bay to open to have it done. They don't average more than three a year even here. Harjin says they do it because a dirty tube is a danger to everyone on the ship and no amount of money alone would be enough."

"And you think their son could make Mandy a gown?"

"I think he'd design, choose fabric, make it as fast as anyone else could do it from a pattern, it would be specifically for her, and men would run into things and women would beg for the name of the designer, Shel. I'm working on getting him a scholarship to the Farridi-Gomat School of Fashion Design on Merrilin. A credential from there is the best in the sector. You're the first ones I'm sure will look at the design and not for a name they can brag about. I know there are others, but I don't really have much chance to look for them."

"Want to go to a ball? I can take a guest and fabric and pay for two gowns to help get a scholarship is a great reason to spend money, and it'll probably still be less than buying one out of a store. I know I'm not your dream date for a ball, but Jarim will be there as guest of the captains and he'd probably like a dance partner who isn't married part of the time."

"Yes, Mandy, if Jon has time to do two without rushing. I'm not sure he will."

"If he doesn't, we'll find someone else to sew what he designs. If he chooses the fabric and cuts it, it's about the same as making one from a pattern in a catalog and it's that he designs that's important, not that he can sew."

"Yes, Tal, it is. Lola, Li, have you seen gowns you really want?"

"Lots of them, Shel, but they're just lovely gowns in my size, not gowns for me."

"I start with my size, then decide which one is most me. If there was one that was really me, I wouldn't still be deciding."

"Call Jon, Kiri. Tell him to meet us at Two Sector Fine Fabrics. They have the nicest selection and a size scanner. If he has fabric he's seen somewhere else in mind, no problem."

"If he feels like designing for men too, we really haven't been impressed with what we've seen so far and getting Jarim to step into a scanner field would probably be a great deal easier than getting him to let us take him shopping. If we put several people to work making Jon's designs, they'll see how good he is and add to a scholarship recommendation."

"Good idea, Tal, but gowns come first. They do get more notice."

"That's because the men's formal wear designs are boring, Shel."

"Tommy's right. What we looked at was basically variations on about two designs in three sizes and those sizes aren't really your sizes. They could make two more out of what would have to be taken out of the middle. I was thinking of looking at patterns for you guys, anyway. It would probably be easier to make you outfits than tailor those so they don't look silly. When Lola lapped over the waistline of that blue one you tried on to see how much needed to come out of the pants, the side seams nearly met in the back. That's why she was giggling."

"That and that all three of them were holding the pants up, Li. Smaller pants would have been too tight in the thighs and the outfit Tal tried on only fit in the shoulders."

"He looked like he had on a tent over a laundry bag, Lola. I felt like that was what I had on. Shel is used to having everything rebuilt for his build. I didn't think about it because my clothes got tailored or replaced while my shape was changing. I started trying things on and realized how spoiled I was by it, and they were boring besides."

"Tell Jon this is a yell for help, Kiri. If he doesn't have time to design for us all, we could still use his help to find patterns and pick material. We'll get Jarim and be there in a few."

Jarim attempted to protest. Shel put him over his shoulder and Tal walked along behind him and explained that's what happened every time he did, and he'd have warned him if he'd realized he was going to try it. Lola said they should probably have looked for his shoes and Mandy said he probably needed socks and dancing shoes to go with a formal outfit, anyway. Tommy told Jarim it was a good thing he'd answered the door in shirt and pants or they'd probably have been picking some up on the way. Li bent down and looked up at his face and told them he was smiling and looked cute pink. He was giggling when Shel carried him into the fabric store and stood him in the size scanner field.

Kiri walked into the shop with a gangly boy, who looked his age. He looked at the group and his mouth dropped open.

"Shel, Mandy, Tommy, Jarim, Lola, Li and Tal, my friend Jon. Told you they needed help because nothing was really designed for them."

"Yes, but you understated it. You're... magnificent."

"Thanks, kid. We're also desperate and going to be in the spotlight. Jarim is as well and Tommy has pointed out the men's formal designs are boring more than once. He got no disagreement. We'll get people to make up what you design, or patterns you pick, because you obviously won't have time to do it all. We're here because I noticed this scanner and wide selection of nice, but I'm sure you've looked more than I have."

"Here for most, but there's a burnt orange and russet satin brocade at Joslini that would just be incredible with his hair and a red gold silk here that I've dreamed of putting it with, but... men's formal wear is pretty boring. Get a printout of the size scans for me, please. I've designed a lot of gowns for Kiri and I know which one I really want to see her in, but I need to walk around and do some sketching. I don't think it will take long. I've been dreaming of people like you, but I was sure they were just dreams. You sure you want... Never mind. I know I'm the only one on the station who can do it. Feels odd stating it, but I do know it. Kiri, they need to get hold of Wilimic, Losmarita, Jomask, Harfern, Mobinette and Carin and Julin Oensderkraeddin and say they're coming with three day's work they need done in a bit more than half. If we're lucky, they all won't give other names because they've got full tailoring schedules. Tell Carin and Julin I'm designing and they won't explain how old they aren't and they'll be at my door with their shears when I get there. Was that gold here or at Ganns?"

"Well, I do know who Carin and Julin are, two more of the very few kids on the station. Their father is the fabric buyer for this place."

"I remember the rest of the names, but I don't think I'd attempt to spell that one."

"Get scanned and on the comm, Lola. You next and get hold of the girls for us, Kiri. They'll be paid too. I'll figure out how much won't get me a great deal of argument they aren't professionals. Shoes for Tal and I are probably going to be limited to black matte or shiny."

"I'll be right back!"

Shel began to laugh and told Kiri she'd probably see why he'd dashed for Jon. Lola told her Tal did not like shoes in which he could not wiggle his toes and Shel yelled "Shoes!" when he went to get dressed before they went anywhere, or he'd forget to wear them. None of them realized Tal's dislike for shoes, Tommy's opinion men's formal wear was boring and Jon's 'naivete' had begun a fashion revolution.

Jon sketched, tore pages out and sketched, sighed, tore pages out and sketched. Then he saw bolts of cloth being carried in and ran for them. Kiri had told him "They could buy every piece of cloth in the station, including that made into clothes, and it wouldn't change a significant digit in their credit balance." He didn't even ask the price of what was being carried in. He just pulled Barim over and told her of which he wanted half, quarter and eighth bolts, then dashed for the materials he wanted to go with them and scribbled how many meters of each on his sketch pad. He ran to the cutting counter, ripped off the page and then began carrying spools of thread to it. Shel walked over and grinned at the woman watching the pile grow.

"Anything he says. Comm Nightdancer computer. Two Sector Fine Fabrics purchase approved. Payment in full when totaled. Where did the fabric that has him so excited come from?"

"I have no idea. I don't even have a price on it yet. I'm not sure we've paid for it yet. Danlin said we wanted it or it wouldn't have been brought in, but that's all I'm sure of so far."

"I'm Captain Shelter Hadlain and he's short on time. We've got seven people standing over garment fabricators waiting for him to send material to make what he designs for eight of us for tonight. We've looked. Three could just buy something, but the rest of us couldn't and even patterns would have to be tailored. We won't leave before the total is in if it's day after tomorrow, but he needs the fabric now."

"He's choosing a lot."

"He doesn't know how much of what he'll need and he does know he needs to work fast. It won't bother me if he gets a bolt and decides he only needs a few cens, but I don't really expect it. What's that?"

"Kadincor. It's usually used in furniture, under a fabric cover. He said two meters of it."

"Then give him two meters. Jon! Where do you want it delivered?!"

"My parents' quarters in twenty! There. Let me think. Yes, that's everything here, when you fill the list I gave you, Barim."

"I'll get to work on it, Jon. It's still a lot."

"I know, but I got almost everything here. There are just a few more pieces at Joslini's and Ganns, Shel. Black shiny shoes for Jarim, a loafer style if possible. I'll grab socks when I know what kind and color. I think you'll need jewelry, but I don't know what for sure yet. I don't want to... overwhelm your wedding rings, but I do want to accent them. Kadiri can make what I come up with fast, but gem stones aren't fabric."

"Kadiri the store name?"

"Fire and Ice."

"I saw that one. I liked what I saw. Comm Fire and Ice, Kadiri."

"Fire and Ice, Kadiri speaking."

"Kadiri, this is Captain Shelter Hadlain. Our young friend Jon is moving fast to get us clothed appropriately for the ball tonight, eight of us. Most of us don't find things on even the nicest racks that don't need to be taken apart and started over and one doesn't find period. Call me for credit transfer when he dashes in with what he needs made for us, if it takes every bit of precious metal and gem in the place. We haven't got a budget and neither does he. I know he'll try to get the designs there as soon as possible and do expect to pay for custom and rush-rush-rush."

"Tell him not a great deal, simple, and probably about an hour."

"Did you hear?"

"Yes, and just realized who Jon is. All right. I'll be waiting for him."

"Thanks. Next?"

"Joslini's for the brocade. I really hope they have enough of it left for what I have in mind. If not, I'll come up with something there is enough for. There's just nothing else that's going to be as right with his skin and hair, maybe anywhere, certainly not here."

"Do find out where that gorgeous fabric came from for me. I may be as impressed with it as you are."

"Did you really look at it? That's not static electricity that makes it seem to spark. It's the fiber reflecting light. I don't know what it is. It's something new and I have no idea where it came from, either, but I will find out, for both of us."

"It felt like a silk to me, but it might be a synthetic one. It's like holding pure water, rather a sensual experience. I recognized everything else you chose, but I have never seen, or heard of, that before."

"I'm not sure if realizing you know that much about fabric made me more excited or nervous. My sketch pad!"

"I've got it and the size-scan printout, Jon."

"Thank you, Li. At some point what's in my head needs to go on paper and I just realized I didn't have it. Those shoes!"

"Tommy, with Jarim. Get shoes and send him back to bed. He still looks short sleep. Will you need him for a fitting, Jon?"

"No, he has very good posture. A scan gives size and shape. It doesn't tell you how a person usually stands. What may be a smooth fit according to a scan might be rumples and bunches the second the person relaxes. You have to be careful fitting a person like that too. People have a tendency to stand very straight and still while you're sticking pins in what they have on."

"I've stood very still a lot. I can buy some casual things off of a rack, primarily shirts and pants that aren't meant to be tight anyway. Mandy is the same, but the selection of pants is narrower. In things like that, Tal has more trouble than we do. Shirts that fit his shoulders are too long and pants that aren't too tight in the rear are too big in the waist. He is not built like a slightly pudgy boy."

"Someone has done a very good job tailoring the clothes all of you are wearing now, Lola and Li too. They fit perfectly, not just well."

"There are fifteen in our marriage, nine more women. Our closets always have clothes that fit perfectly in them and there's probably more than one tailor who smiles widely every time we go shopping, but I'm so spoiled I don't know for sure."

"We're going to have six babies in the big nursery in our house not long after the end of the year."

"We'll get home in time for Lou to drive your little car when you're not sure if she'll fit behind the controls, Tal. That's a plan we all intend to see her carry out. The yacht is on her maiden voyage, Jon. We did some work on the drive, control systems and comp. She's performing beautifully, but we're all going to be pretty homesick before we finish checking everything out."

"Are... the others all as beautiful as Mandy, Lola and Li, Shel?"

"Very spoiled, Jon."

"Uh, huh. I believe it. I can't imagine it, but I do believe it."

Shel grinned when Jon said not to worry about shoes because he had an idea, then told him at least not yet. He now had an idea what the kadincor was for. They got to Joslini's and Jon got more excited. There was nearly a half-bolt of the brocade. He said all, chose some thread and they went to Ganns. Shel carried the remainder of the bolt. He said it was silly to try to figure out when to have them deliver it.

Tommy caught up with them there and raised an eyebrow. Shel said he didn't have any idea what the satin ribbon Jon was choosing was for, but was sure it would be interesting. Then he began choosing lace and Kiri reminded him she wasn't getting married and Jarim was the only other one who already wasn't. He grinned and told her the lace wasn't for gowns. He glanced at the time, yelped, tossed three more rolls of wide lace on the counter, said six meters each, grabbed the sketch pad and printout Li was holding out and ran out the door.

When Kiri led them into the living quarters area, Shel said he understood why it wasn't recommended for families. The doors to the crew quarters on the ship were farther apart.

They had begun to become a bit more widely spaced when they turned down a cross-corridor. Kiri told him most of what they'd passed were efficiency, basically one room with a kitchen counter, chairs and bed, and they were now passing one-bedroom. At the end of the corridor, were four two-bedroom units. Tommy mentioned Jarim's quarters had been close to the front and looked "standard apartment" size. She explained he was station personnel, as was she, and their quarters hadn't been "subdivided" due to need to house more people, as the ones around them built for those who worked for businesses had.

"Why didn't they add to the station?"

"They did. They added two decks of shops and three docking arms. Then they added another deck of shops and two more docking arms with additional maintenance facilities. They took out the family areas, made all the quarters smaller and told people go somewhere else if they wanted to have children. Some of these quarters are very nice inside, but the nice has nothing to do with size. A two-bedroom is three rather small rooms and one has a kitchen on the end of it. There are only twelve, they're expensive and all of them have families in them. None of the children are under the age of twelve."

"Why?"

"Because there's no place for them to play, Tal."

"That's not what I meant. Why didn't they build more places for people to live?"

"It was so profitable to do business here, no one was going to leave. If they did, people would be delighted to take their places. Servers make great tips. Shops pay well. Shop owners find people to run their shops or sell them after they've paid them off. Ship maintenance companies pay very well too."

"Who owns the station?"

"Gerridy Station Investment, which is owned by a corporation, which is owned by stockholders. It's run by a board of directors, primarily made up of bankers, who meet by comm for two hours, over a half-year period due to lag time, once every four years. It's managed by a contracted management company. They do a pretty good job. They fought real hard to keep station employee quarters from being chopped into tiny units, but a lot of us don't get paid as much as some of the store clerks. We certainly don't make as much as some of the servers. We earn about the same as people who do what we do on other stations and our quarters are about the same size. It's a nice line on a resume for anyone because it's a very busy place. It's also a good place to work a couple years, put a good-size chunk away and have a nice down payment on a home or business when you leave. Average length of employment for station employees is about five years. Some stay less. A few stay many more. Average for businesses is about two. Not many stay less. Very few stay more. The businesses tell prospective employees what quarters are like and how much they cost, at the same time they tell them how much they'll be paid and approximately what they'll make in tips if they do a good job. These quarters aren't maintained by station personnel. They're maintained by a maintenance company whose employees know what the quarters are like and how much they'll be paid when they take the job. The stockholders are making a lot of money, but so is everyone who works here and the quarters aren't outrageously priced, but a two-bedroom is very expensive. Oh, Carin and Jolin are thirteen and twelve. Hello, Jolin. How's it going?"

"I don't know, Kiri, but I think good. Jon said where to stack it and ran for his room with his sketch pad. We've heard him whoop a couple times. He wasn't exaggerating at all about you people. He said you'd have ribbon, lace and the brocade from Joslini's. We both knew which one he meant. Our dad said he'd have bought the whole cargo of the ship to get it, but Joslini's already had. That's a joke because their buyer is on Open Sky and they get a shipment six times a year. Come on in. Put the brocade over with the others please. We're trying to keep it sort of stacked so we have some room to work and his parents can still get in the door. We haven't found out what the new stuff is yet, but we want to know too and we're about to call Daddy to ask. Do you want to talk to him?"

"I'd like that. I'm Shelter, Shel. This is Talisman, Tal; Mandala, Mandy; Thomin, Tommy; Linlola, Lola; and Angeli, Li."

"You told us all your names because Jon's doing special for each of you and they tell who you are. Does he know them?"

"Yes twice, Jolin. He also knows three of us are captains, two are chief engineers and one is an ops officer."

"Why aren't two?"

"They gave Talisman the wrong test. Since he passed it, they asked if he'd mind being a captain instead."

"That's funny."

"They were giggling when they asked. If you didn't have everything here already, I'd offer our ship as a bigger place to work."

"We can only cut one thing at a time anyway, but thanks for the offer. Comm connect Two Sector Fine Fabrics remote Danlin."

"Danlin."

"Daddy, Jon got a design job for beautiful people who need special and can afford it. We're at his place with our shears and the people just brought the brocade from Joslini's. We all want to know what the fabric that got delivered just as he was looking for right for them is. This is Captain Shelter. He said Shel. Our daddy, Danlin."

"Hello, Danlin. What is it besides beautiful?"

"I don't know. A trader on a one-person ship picked it up on Shimmery at a district fair. They called it Shimmery silk. He said he didn't see it anywhere else and the booth at the fair was being run by two boys less than my girls' age. He got there at open and really surprised them when he said he'd take it all. He helped them work out what the price for all of it at the per meter price was. He said he'd never asked anyone if they were sure that was enough before and they showed him the price list their aunt had made for them. He's been here five hours and sold his entire cargo, all from that fair and a lot from that booth. He thinks everything in it was made by one big family because he was shown cousin's carvings, sister's gift boxes and so on. I asked him if he was sure he was charging enough and he said he'd feel guilty if he made any more profit off it. All I've got, all he had, was the district name, Rosepond."

"I have a suspicion, when Jon gets through with it, a large number of people will be aggravated with me."

"I've got a suspicion Rosepond district may have a large number of traders going from door to door. I don't think it's a synthetic because of where he got it, but I may take it to med section and ask to use a scope to find out if it's a silk."

"If it is, it's only the eighth we've found and that district will be... invaded by a lot more than traders. One of my wives, group marriage, is currently on her wrist comm to our ship computer. What have we got, Lola?"

"He must have landed on a flat piece of ground or made a lot of flyer runs. There's no port anywhere near that district. It's on the southeast tip of the smallest continent, northern hemisphere, about two hundred k north of the equator. The district is primarily lowland lake country and got its name from a flowering water plant. Major industry in the area, none listed; major crops tankin rice, native flowers and aromatic woods."

"That's more than I learned. I couldn't find a listing on the district."

"Lola never met a library she didn't like and she takes a piece of every one she likes with her."

"This came from the Imperial Library Planetary Guide for Forester sector. It's the only reference we've got."

"Danlin, we're very wealthy. I want to buy the rest of the fabric. Let us check it. If they have found a silk, let us get in there and... set them up some defenses."

"You're named right. Will you tell me?"

"Yes, but I ask you not tell anyone else, until we look a little deeper. If it's a synthetic or a process, we'll check to see if they've got a patent and move fast to help them get one if the answer is no. If it's a plant fiber, which neither of us think it is... "

"I think it's... a wool."

"A wool? A fleece? Why, Tal?"

"It has a smell. I want to get a little of it wet."

"The trader brought some things made of aromatic woods."

"It's not a plant smell. It's a nice smell, but it's an animal smell. Like wool, but softer and sweeter."

"Danlin, Tal has a very good sense of smell. He may be smelling something in or on the fabric and not the fiber, but it's very unlikely he's mistaken about there being an animal smell."

"I've got no references to native fleece animals which might be domesticable on Shimmery at all, Shel. But I did just get an odd cross-reference. I need to do this on the ship."

"Understood, Lola. I still want the rest of the fabric, Danlin. If it's from a fleece animal, they won't be the same people, but there will be almost as many headed for Rosepond district."

"True, but please tell me. I won't tell anyone else, but... Jon. He won't tell anyone, but I have a mental image of him with dark circles around his eyes from laying awake wondering about it, just like I would."

"So do I. I'll tell him. I have to explain why I took the rest of the fabric to him, anyway. We'll get a cart and pick it up on the way to the ship. Do give Barim a price on it, please. It bothered her to sell it to me before she could tell me how much I was spending. Don't discount it, Danlin. The store should get its piece."

"Oh, I won't, but standard markup still makes it about the price of a nice cotton."

"Uh... I see why you asked him the same question he'd asked."

"I was sure you would. I need to call the store. Out."

"You're here! Wonderful! Turn around, Tal. I need to see your back. Yes, I was right. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Jon."

"I've got two about done for Carin and Jolin to start on, but I need to finish them all before I go to Fire and Ice, so I've got to get back to work. See you later."

"See you later."

"He sits in the middle of his bed with his sketch pad on his lap. He says he sketches what he sees on the empty wall in front of him. He told his mom she didn't need to find something for it because it never got boring. His parents got him a stack of sketch pads and pastels instead of a holo-screen for his birthday last year."

"He wouldn't have enjoyed it as much, Jolin."

"I know, Kiri. His dad said he felt odd getting him the same thing this year, but it's what he asked for. You got him what he wanted most and would never have thought to ask for, just dream about someday. People to let him design for them."

They told Kiri they'd see her later, picked up the rest of the "Shimmery silk" and took it to the ship. Shel cut a small strip from one bolt and they all went to the lab with him. He gave a piece of the strip to Tal and he wet it, sniffed it and handed it to Tommy. Shel had a bit ready to scan when it was handed to him. He handed a bit to Tommy to put through the analyzer. The wet piece of cloth smelled 'wool' to all of them. Lola turned from the comp as Shel turned from the scope and Tommy got the results of the analysis.

"It's from an animal."

"That's what I got, Tommy. Lola?"

"The cross-reference was botanical. It was on the pond rose. It usually reproduces by breaking into several plants with complete root structures when it gets extremely large. However, it produces a seed pod at long intervals, ten to twelve years, which is the length of time a bloom lasts if not destroyed in some fashion. The large silvery green seeds are called Shimmery peas. Attempts to grow them failed until they tried in soil instead of water. When they did, they got what seemed to be a different plant and a rather common one. It was a creeper called 'pesky pink' because of the 'iridescent' pinkish color of new growth, which tells you how common it was and how difficult it was to get rid of, since it rooted at the base of every branching. An experiment on its tolerance for water produced an iridescent pink flowering plant, basically growing in mud, which produced a large number of seeds then died. The seeds from it only grew in water and they grew pond roses. It was the explanation of how the pond rose spread. Shimmery peas float on the surface of the water. Spring rains raise the water level. If the rains are exceptionally heavy, some seeds are deposited on what is usually dry ground, producing pesky pinks until a creeper reaches a place its quite damp year round. It's seeds are washed into water by autumn rains and pond roses spread."

"Most plants like that spread by being washed down streams and such. Why doesn't the pond rose?"

"An animal, Shel. That animal is why pond roses grow in the middle of lakes and not around the edges. Any pond rose that gets close to a place shallow enough for it to stand is eaten with great relish, and the fairly large animal wades out to its favorite spot every time it rains, just in case one floats by. It has an extremely fine silky coat. It was considered for attempts at domestication because it's rather docile, but it doesn't taste particularly good, doesn't produce milk in quantity, doesn't reproduce fast and silky coat rapidly deteriorates if removed from the animal. It didn't like our food crops and is easily kept out of fields, so it was just left alone. I think pond roses are responsible for the fine and silky and someone decided to feed them to one of our fleece animals and, after awhile, got Shimmery silk."

"Dye analysis is complete. It's from a plant."

"We've got a family who don't realize what they've done. Who don't trade anything but what they always have out of their district, because no one wants anything else."

"Shimmery is one of the nine worlds, Shel."

"I know, Tommy. Let's see if we can find out where that trader landed. I've got a suspicion he was supposed to be 'recruited', got excited about what he'd found and didn't stop for a drink somewhere."

Shel's suspicion was correct. The trader had told the representative of the trade association, who'd invited him to dinner, he'd definitely be back but he was on his way to Gerridy Station with "crafts" he'd gotten at the district fair. He said he hadn't mentioned the fabric because he'd wanted to find out what people, who really knew fabric thought it was worth, so he could tell them how much they should be asking for it. Shel asked him if the trade association rep had seemed angry, at least until he said Gerridy Station. The trader slowly nodded. Shel told him they'd try to find the people, find out how difficult the fabric was to produce and help them figure out what it was worth, but he didn't think he should go back until they found out why it was just a craft at a district fair. The trader told him to be careful. He told him he intended to be and commed Anverd.

"Shimmery is first. We have an excuse to go there."

"So do we. That's where the transshipped cargo came from. I think it's time to call for the fleet."

"Agreed. Full two sector defense force ordered into action at the request of Imperial Drug Enforcement agents, nine worlds. Let's show them how fast we can really move. When it's done, offer every one of those worlds a separate treaty or separation. After the fleet reaches them, tell everyone the offer will be made when drug production and export is ended and the populace is freed from oppression of the most evil sort, mind control. By then, they'll all know it exists, except those who are controlled and it's a good way to find them. Their neighbors will ask for help for them."

### Chapter Twenty-seven

On Boniface, a man walked into fleet headquarters, confessed he was a spy and named others. He hadn't known he was working for an enemy. A woman walked in, said she worked for the Brennemer Union and told them everything she'd learned. The Union had been looking for where the addictive drug produced in a very large facility in their space was intended to be sold and had suspected it was the empire. They'd found the facility by following the trail of chemicals used in the production of the drug. She'd learned what they wanted to know when the plan to create housing shortages near university campuses was revealed. She was thanked as an agent of a friendly power.

The person who had attempted to kill the governor of Relatross sector was arrested on suspicion of criminal conspiracy. He began talking as soon as the planetary police arrived at his condo door, in hopes they'd protect him from an organization that removed anyone who might consider an offer of leniency in exchange for information. He confessed before they had a chance to tell him the charge. The attempt had been because the governor had bought a home on Valer close to a planned market expansion. He had a great deal to say.

The financial connection to nine worlds was made and the full defense fleet was moving eleven hours later. A message, of course, was sent to the wings of the fleet currently in the sectors, but it would be awhile before it reached them. This time, no spies sent messages it was moving and the press carefully didn't mention it either. No one did. The empire was at war with 'someone out there.'

Jon nervously delivered eight formal "outfits" to Nightdancer and Tommy whooped, yelled for comm connect and told Jarim to get there. Lola commed Kiri and said she had an incredible gown waiting, but she wasn't at all jealous. Jon smiled widely. It was the only gown and Jarim's was the only other outfit that was somewhat traditional in styling, though the materials weren't. The soft draping of the pale green Shimmery silk jacket, over forest green pants and lace 'ruffles' on the front and cuffs of the snowy silk shirt made it a great deal less "boring" than most.

Mandy's outfit was deep blue Shimmery silk over a fitted pale blue Shimmery silk and white lace jumpsuit. The bolero jacket sleeves weren't sewn from shoulder to cuff. They were held together with four delicate white-gold chains and 'cuff linked' with large emerald-cut 'blue topaz.' The softly draped pants were open from the top of the thigh to loosely linked cuffs just below the knee and held together with eight chains. Her shoes were sandals made of deep blue satin ribbon and wrapped around her calves, over lace, to where they tied just below the pant cuffs. Her necklace was a white gold oval just a bit thicker than her wedding ring, with four smaller blue topaz set five cens apart on a chain, the bottom one laying between her breasts on the lace inset in the light blue bodice of the jumpsuit. She carefully 'dusted' her eyelids with the light iridescent blue powder Jon had brought and deepened the color of her lips with the rose gel. She brushed her very short light brown curls to gleaming and smiled at her reflection. She'd never felt as beautiful in anything she'd worn before.

Lola fastened the mid-calf-length skirt of overlapping panels of delicate aqua lace and turquoise Shimmery silk around her hips, over the long-sleeve, deeply draped, teal Shimmery silk body suit, with lace cuffs edged with turquoise silk. She put on the teal slippers, added the waist-length, flared, sleeveless vest of wide bands of lace between narrow strips of silk, spun around and smiled when the vest 'floated' and the skirt panels lifted to reveal her legs. She put on the narrow, white gold, serpentine chain necklace with three little emeralds on it, dusted her eyelids with aqua, put on the coral lip gel and brushed her long chestnut hair.

Li set the ruby in her navel and giggled. She tied the ruby ribbon-sandals around her ankles and put the deep rose and ivory lace hip-length, long-sleeve jacket over the pale rose bandeau and wide-leg pants, which draped from a wide, fitted, lace-covered band around her hips. She fastened the long narrow chain with ruby pendant around her neck, used the pale 'rosed' violet dust on her eyelids and the deep rose gel on her lips. She brushed her collar-length, wavy, medium brown hair and admired the way the legs of the pants wrapped around her legs when she spun around. She was very pleased. Nothing she'd ever worn before had accented her very womanly proportions as well as what Jon had designed for her. She looked at the ruby in her navel again and giggled.

Tommy fastened the loose, two-cen wide, white-gold serpentine belt around the long, softly-draped, ivory silk shirt with lace at the throat and cuffs and put on the hip-length, long-sleeve, burnt orange and russet brocade jacket with red-gold satin lapels. His pants were fitted leggings of the red-gold and his shoes were sandals of russet satin ribbon. He added the very large topaz pendant that fit just below the lace, adjusted the sleeves with three topaz buttons, so the lace draped nicely over his hands, brushed his softly curling hair, so it laid on his shoulders and headed for the living room. He felt very ready for a ball and the outfit was not boring.

Shel smiled at his reflection. Jon had chosen the pale golden-yellow Shimmery silk for his tightly-fitted shirt and citron as buttons for it. The pants were fitted midnight-blue Shimmery silk with a gold stripe up the side and topped by a cummerbund of deep gold satin with white-gold brocade. The lapels of the fitted waist-length jacket were the same. Two larger citron buttons, obviously set in white-gold, closed it neatly below his ribs. His cufflinks matched the buttons. It was a rather military style, though not for several millennia, and he liked it immensely. He hung the wide chain made of thin white-gold links around his neck and centered the citron over the others just below the high, but soft, collar of the shirt, then put on the braided-gold-ribbon shoes. He was ready.

Tal's outfit was of many colors, but all were shades of silver, from the iridescent white of the shirt with little sapphire buttons, to the deep charcoal Shimmery silk, mid-calf-length pants, with pearl gray cuffs linked with small sapphires. The back of the waist-length jacket was a vee the color of the pants from his shoulders to a point at the bottom with soft medium-gray on each side. It was double-breasted and buttoned with four sapphires below his ribs. The front was wide dark lapels on pearly pale gray and the cummerbund that showed just a bit beneath it was the medium gray. He adjusted the points of the soft, open shirt collar on the lapels, put on the narrow white-gold 'headband' with the sapphire Jon had said went just below his hairline in front, then fluffed his satiny black curls over it. He tied the dark charcoal ribbons of his sandals at the top of his calves and shook the pants down. He looked down at his toe ring and smiled. The outfit showed off his masculine physique and the headband did accent his wedding ring.

They all came into the living room about the same time and grinned at each other. Their guests were announced at the hatch and the six went out to join them. Kiri looked at the group and stood with her mouth open, until Jarim nudged her.

"I... knew he had talent, but... "

"I don't think he needs a credential either, Kiri. Your gown and Jarim's outfit prove he can do traditional as well as anyone whose designs are in the finest shops here. Ours prove he can do a great deal more."

"You look like who you are, Shel. I mean... "

"We know what you mean, Kiri. People could find us by being told our names, especially Talisman and Mandala."

"And you, but Tommy and Lola and Li too, whether or not all their names were given."

"That's because our short names sort of say more who we are than the whole thing, but I feel more like Angeli tonight than usual. But I have to not look down, because every time I see the ruby I giggle."

"I like it."

"So do I, Tommy, or it wouldn't make me giggle."

The greeter at the door blinked when they walked in. She didn't ask who they were. She asked where they'd gotten their clothes. Kiri laughed and she recognized her and remembered what she was supposed to be doing. She apologized and Shel grinned.

"Here. Jon designed them for us today, all of us, and knew just who could get them made by tonight. Kiri, I don't even know his surname."

"Benkirsk."

"The kid?!"

"That's the one. I'm Captain Shelter Hadlain. These are Captains Mandala and Talisman Hadlain. We have reservations for eight."

"Welcome, Captains Hadlain, guests, and guest of the captains, Jarim Harmodis. Your table is right in front of the dance floor, Captain. The orchestra conductor has the things you left with the club manager and knows when to give them to you."

"Good. When I learned there wasn't a host, I wasn't sure I should have left them."

"The orchestra is always from one of the ships. The conductors are quite used to filling the roll of master of ceremonies, as well as directing an orchestra. The banquet feature this evening is Kilkerrin redfish with blueweed sauce. That's a very tasty fresh-water fish about the size of a cow, with a sauce made from a tangy plant that grows around Kilkerrin lake on Bluemoons. It's a special treat provided by the captain of the Vanity Blue, flagship of Carlington Cruise Lines. He sent it and his head chef, and we whooped and put out a sturdier table. Many of the marvelous things which will be served tonight were provided by various captains. We put menus on the tables so people would know who had decided it was a special night and sent something special to share."

"We could have sent something."

"Not enough of any one thing to serve about three hundred, Tal. Unless their cargoes were special treats, trader captains didn't either."

"Quite true and I'll remember to say that so no one else feels like they've been remiss. You're fairly early arrivals. The captains with large groups of guests bring them just as the orchestra starts, after the hors d'oeuvres are on the tables. Basically, you're about five minutes ahead of the rush to get in ahead of them."

"Thanks. Kiri said she'd timed 'the mob' so she doesn't try to walk past here until they clear."

"We've tried to space them out a bit, but we understand exactly why the captains with large parties bring them when they do. If they get here early, the servers spend the time they should be putting out the hor d'oeuvres telling people they're coming. If they aren't taking their seats or standing in a bunch outside the door when the music starts, people complain they missed some of it. Your server, Gallin, has spotted you. Your table is the one with the waving person behind it."

Gallin explained he'd won the drawing they'd held to see who got to take care of them that evening. He grinned and noted the club manager hadn't told them the person who did would only be taking care of guests at that table until after he was being cheerfully growled at by his co-workers, though he had told them whoever won was to tell them no tipping.

"Didn't surprise him at all that we all still wanted in the drawing for the honor of serving the captains' guest. Gen Harmodis, I know you don't drink alcohol and have a mild allergy. I have a list of sparkling and mineral waters, teas and fruit juices we have, with the analysis off their labels, for you. I recommend the Canbibby Bubbly Spring water for champagne toasts, if the mineral content isn't a problem. The bubbles will tickle your nose and it comes out of the spring that way. It's in a corked bottle and the cork pops, though not as much as a champagne cork."

"It's fun to pop one, Jarim. I've done it once on a special occasion. I got very explicit instructions on where not to point it."

"I've seen one popped, Tal, and understand why. Thank you, Gallin. It looks and sounds perfect, but I'd like jamberry juice with Tarney spring water now."

"About half and half?"

"Yes, but no ice please."

"No ice."

"Recommend an ale with good character, Gallin. I had the Garner's and it was nice, but a bit mild for my taste."

"Have you ever had Bully Red porter, Captain Hadlain?"

"No, but the gleam in your eye tells me I should. Let's make this easier. There are three Captain Hadlains. I'm Shel. Mandy, Tommy, Lola, Li, Kiri, Jarim and Tal."

"I could have managed. Thank you for not making me prove it. I really appreciate it. Mandy?"

"I liked the gleam too. I'll try a Bully Red."

"Three."

"Recommend a fruit brandy for me."

"I think you'd like Blue Orange Batterman, Lola. It comes from Cassenor. It's made from a fruit that looks like an orange on the outside, except it's the color of a ripe blue plum. Inside, it looks like a big plum, but it tastes more like a raspberry. Batterman is twenty years old and delicately spiced with something they do not identify specifically. I've spent hours listening to people who know spices discussing what it might be. The chefs give me samples of terrific if I make them copies of the list of spice names that come up."

"Oh, yum. Definitely."

"Yum-yum."

"Three yums."

"Tal?"

"Bully Red sounds interesting, but I don't know what porter is."

"It's basically made with the same ingredients as beer, but it's darker and more malty. It's sweeter and lighter than a stout."

"It sounds even more interesting."

"I'll be back with drinks and an hors d'oeuvre platter in about two. I have cut-in privileges."

"He's cute."

"He's good, Mandy. Li waved back and told him just what type of service we'd prefer. If none of us had, he'd have been professionally pleasant, explained he was our personal server, considered it an honor and quite agreed with the management's request we not tip. We'd have gotten recommendations with a bit of background, not descriptions with a bit of humor. He knows I know it and am not worried about him not getting a tip one evening. He makes very good ones. I'm sure of it because I'd tip him well. I have a suspicion we're not going to get a bill for our drinks this evening either, primarily because I was asked how many and not told how much when I made the reservations. Also note this is the only table for eight."

"They're all ten to twelve and have numbers on them, beginning with two and three on either side of us."

"They probably always begin with two, Tommy, and there usually isn't a table between them. It gives them a 'table one' when there is a reason for it. They just move those two apart and put it here."

"Shel, there's a married group coming this way, being led by a woman in late middle age."

"I stand, you do if I introduce you. Kiri, for this, you're his guest. You two stay seated. Good evening."

"Good evening, Captain Shelter Hadlain. I'm Captain Union Thudinnis, Union. Our family would like to say, 'thank you,' to yours."

"Call me Shel, please. Thank you?"

"We're Shadill. When we rather tentatively asked to dock, because we needed to replace a damaged sensor and did not wish to do it in open space, we were given immediate docking in a construction bay and politely asked to work quickly, once it was filled with atmosphere and warmed, because a ship scheduled for maintenance was due in four hours. We were stunned. While waiting for the bay to warm, we were contacted by Reverend Tassherty and told what had happened and of your petition of the Toscan church to perform group marriage, and of the unit and rings you gave him, before the drug enforcement ship docked. Before we had assimilated that, the captains' lounge commed and asked us if we would like reservations for the ball and told us a berth would be arranged for us when we completed repairs, if we wished it. Shel, for the last about fifteen years, we've watched growing bigotry without understanding why it was spreading so fast, when we'd come so far in spreading understanding of our ways in the years before. Group marriage had become a Shadill aberration. Even those who formed families of larger than one pair and their children carefully avoided possible association with the Shadill. Your family chose the opposite. You chose to state you were a married group and wear the symbol of that form of marriage, which we adopted. The realization that the bigotry was a plot to fragment the empire and being forced upon people by the use of a... foul substance would have gotten us fair treatment, but not an invitation to attend this event. That was because, by superb example, you showed the love that is the basis of a group marriage and your pride in yours and your family. Thank you for wearing the symbol of that love, even though it caused an association with the Shadill in most minds."

"I really don't know what to say. Association with the Shadill was never considered... a detriment. We were grateful that they'd given us a way to state we were married, a symbol of the love that binds us for all to see. We'd been married in spirit for awhile before we had a wedding, made our vows and got our rings. We knew how difficult it was to find someone to perform a group marriage and how important those vows and the symbol of them are to us, how important it is to us that it's also a legal union and that our children have that protection. We didn't try to set an example. We just didn't hide who we are, and part of that is married people who love each other. We'd be a little unusual for a Shadill marriage and did a bit of studying to make sure we wouldn't... damage you by use of the symbol. There are fifteen of us, nine more women, six in various stages of pregnancy and three watching over them in our big house on a farm, while we six confirm we did a good job, when we changed the drive and control systems in our ship. Yes, we're homesick and the journey is already longer than we wanted, but it has been since the morning we left. I hope you're staying. We'd love to get acquainted and have another married bunch to dance with."

"We'd love it too, but we have a cargo that's going to be slightly overdue as it is. We said no on the berth and need to clear the construction bay, but we all wanted to come say thank you. There's one question I need to ask, or I may get burned dinner for several days. Where did you get those incredible outfits?"

"Here. We were desperate by mid-morning when Kiri, who's a station comp tech, said she knew who on the station could design things for us. I said, if he could, I'd get people to make them up. Stand up and turn around so they can see what Jon did for us, everyone. Jon Benkirsk, he's almost fifteen. She said she was working on getting him a scholarship and prestigious credential. After he brought what he'd done, I told her I really didn't think he needed it."

"I don't think so either. Perhaps several guards to keep him from being mobbed by people begging him to design for them after tonight, but not a credential. I have a son about that age. Thankfully, his major talent seems to be talking me into buying tech for four to play with."

"Kiri says he has terrific parents and he does know how talented he is. I'm not really worried about him. He's also got two good friends, sisters, a couple years younger, who'll back off a mob with the shears they're very good with, if they get too pushy."

"Friends, that's what makes life enjoyable."

"Union, we have twenty minutes to clear the bay."

"Yes, Fortune. One more thank-you and a hope we meet again."

"I hope so too. Good journeys."

"I think they're going to be a great deal more pleasant than they have been for awhile. May you have the same. Let's go, gang. A couple more minutes and we'll be swimming against the tide coming through the door."

"Oh, I am so glad I got back here to see the modeling and hear the name of the young genius who is going to attract so many here to show off, and fill my pocket with runover of their pleasure in doing so. I wonder if he'd be interested in an investor who knows of a small shop that will be for sale in a year or two and would definitely be a good place for a designer's studio."

"Do you mean on the station, Gallin?"

"Oh, I wouldn't even consider recommending here, Kiri. My uncle has a boutique in the fashion district in Castrill on Merrilin and he's been trying to talk me into buying him out when I get tired of this place. He hasn't lowered the buy-out price, but the offer gets more attractive every time I walk in the door of my quarters. I wonder if asking how many cubic centimeters is in a condo for lease is a dead giveaway one worked here for awhile."

"That's good, Gallin. So is this."

"I thought you'd like it, Shel. My father does and he hunts for 'character' in brewed beverages."

"There's worry in your eyes."

"He visited me about eighty days ago, Tal. I imagine we all have someone we'd like to just comm and... find out if we did something to them. I don't remember spreading them, but I know I had opinions that weren't my own. Not gone, but I know they aren't mine. I'm very angry I have to remind myself of it and feeling a bit smug about the fact I'm having to do it less often already."

"Sounds healthy to me, both parts."

"Thank you, Li."

"We're all angry and it's spreading at the speed of a shout of it across transspace comm, in every direction, and the shout won't stop at the borders of the empire. They'll hear it in the Brennemer Union, the Tri-Star Hegemony and in the ancient cities of distant Earth. And everywhere it's heard, voices will join it. If the empire doesn't learn who has done this, the species will."

"TOMMY!"

"Damn. I got it on my jacket."

"Towel! I'll get... something!"

"Mandy?"

"I'm afraid to blot the blood to see, Lola."

"Water!"

Lola grabbed the pitcher Gallin was holding and poured it over the hand Mandy was holding. Tommy caught the end of the towel with his left hand and blotted the porter that had splashed on his jacket when he'd broken the glass with his right. A fast-moving person nearly skidded to a stop beside the table and another ran out the service doors with an aid kit. She grabbed it out of his hands.

"I'm a doctor. What the hell did he do?"

"Got angry about what had been done to people and his hand on the glass wasn't as controlled as his voice."

"I can't apply a healing aid and bandage until we know if there's glass in the cut."

"Scanner!"

"Thank you. That's what I needed."

"Gallin's a very good server."

"No doubt. He thinks and moves fast. I saw the water pitcher snatch. Clear. Young man, this should probably have a binder put on it for a few hours. Try to remember it's damaged long enough for the healing agent to begin to seal it."

"We'll remember, Doctor. About the third time one of us thumps him, he'll realize ignoring it doesn't really make sense under the circumstances. Understood, Tommy?"

"Yes, Li."

"If I didn't completely understand the anger, you'd need your jaw treated. Understood, Tommy?"

"Yes, Mandy."

"You'll be careful not to use that hand for awhile or you'll have dents in your shins."

"Yes, Lola. I'll remember, Doctor."

"You just might, at that. I need to go make a report. There are four doctors with our group and they'll have more questions than what happened, though that server may be listing the ingredients in the healing aid for the others too."

"He is good. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Aren't you going to threaten me, Shel?"

"No. I can imagine myself doing the same thing too clearly. Tal may be too upset with you to threaten."

"Tal?"

"Oh, damn."

Tal walked behind Tommy, put his arms around him and laid his cheek on his head. Gallin smiled and began carefully gathering the wet tablecloth, with the glass in it, from in front of him. Two other servers arrived with fresh linens and place settings for Tommy, Mandy and Lola. The hors d'oeuvre platter was carefully scanned for glass before it was put back on the table. Their drinks were just replaced.

When the orchestra started, the table emptied. Shel told Jarim no one was going to dance until they did and Kiri asked him to dance. The six of them walked onto the dance floor together and "size matched" the first dance, then each of the ladies danced with Jarim and the men with Kiri. By then, there were quite a few people dancing. About forty minutes later, Gallin brought out two champagne buckets and set them both beside Jarim. The champagne had been opened. The Canbibby Spring Bubbly water had not.

The orchestra leader announced they were about to break, but there was something very special on the schedule first and introduced Captain Shelter Hadlain as the person who was going to "do it for us all." Shel walked up to the front of the stage and took the case and rolled document from her hands, turned around, smiled and gave the sound tech a few seconds to adjust the vocal ranger to 'catch' both him and someone Jarim's height.

"The servers are hurrying to make sure everyone has champagne or sparkling water for a toast at this victory celebration and I'm trying to think of what to say. Just before the drug enforcement ship left, I was asked to do something when the TC duty operator, who had stayed on the job and done a great deal more than the job, wasn't 'staggering' and there were a great many people to cheer. This is official. The person who seemed to be the commander of the drug enforcement group said they didn't think this should wait, but one of these with a signature would be on its way very soon, probably by special courier. Jarim Harmodis, please join me. Throughout the time when the agents searched for the drug, their doctor searched for a counter, and people were treated, you made sure all those on ships were told what was happening. Every ship captain spoke of it and all said your calm voice, giving updates and personal reassurance when needed, had eased their worry about the people for whom they were responsible. Only a captain with that kind of responsibility can truly understand the value of your service during the emergency. Conductor, would you hold the case for me please. Thank you. By order of Emperor Thiretess Tam Modentiss, I am very honored to present you with the Imperial Crown of Service to the People and give you his, and our, thanks. Your turn."

"I don't know what to say. I can't read what this says because my eyes are full. I'm sure I don't deserve this, but I'll accept it as representative of us all. We all 'stayed on the job.' Every captain, crew member, tech, server and clerk did everything they could to help. They held hands and gave calm reassurance too. I just did it by comm to ships. Every injured person, and it was an injury, did all he or she could to aid those seeking to aid them. Captain Shelter called this a victory celebration. His statement this station was occupied by the enemy and freed is being quoted. The head of station security is also being quoted. He said, 'We have terrible memories, but no one to mourn.' Part of that enemy occupation was a very deliberate estrangement and one of the most successful enemy tactics. Most of us are still surprised the emperor sent us exactly the help we needed. How did he know? The empire is 'over there.' We learned it's not. We're very much part of it. The imperium may be based in Empire Sector, but it's in all the empire and watching over all empire citizens, as promised. So, for all of us, thank you, Emperor Tam."

"Now pop the cork on your bubbly water and give a toast."

Jarim carefully pointed the bottle and people cheered when the cork popped. He gave them a moment to fill glasses, then lifted his and shouted, "Victory!"

### Chapter Twenty-eight

Shel slipped Nightdancer into her berth in Nightband and joined the others at the hatch. It didn't take long for the bay to fill with atmosphere. It was tanked before bay doors were opened and the tank just split to vent it back into the bay. They lost some each time, but not a great deal. 'Warm,' of course, took longer, but hatches were built so it was unlikely someone would touch space-cold surface. The 'skin' of most ships could be heated to reduce the time required to get to merely freezing, but the power to do so wasn't usually worth it, unless one needed to work on it now. However, that happened often enough the circuits were on the frequent-maintenance check list. Nightdancer was on 'warm' because Li had an idea. Issidi was standing right in front of the hatch when it opened.

"You're supposed to wait until there's atmosphere in the bay, Izzie."

"I did, Shelter. I just started the hatch cycle when the tank opened. Nisbecki says he found lots of pretty side paths to explore on the way to finding the solution you thought was there, Li."

"Actually that was Tommy. I said I had an idea and he solved the focusing problem to there and sent it for you to play with. We had Dancer's computer busy with other things and Nisbecki is faster anyway. He can feel the right way to go and a comp can't."

"It'll let a ship land anywhere, balanced on a flagpole if you have, and want to use, the power."

"I thought it looked like that would be power dependent. It still makes sense to put it somewhere big enough for it to set down, but a nice lake is big enough."

"It's going to be very strange seeing a ship sitting on a lake."

"Hello, Anverd. Li said she thought the idea had been 'collecting ingredients' since we sank the Imperial Terrace Gardens."

"We sank them, Shel. Ven yelled, 'Down,' and I yelled that was closest. Tam yelled at people to get out of the way. That trader captain is a very rare individual. He landed on Shimmery and hadn't been there before."

"I think I understood that too well. How long since anyone who hasn't been there got beyond orbital docking?"

"I think about seven years. Lots of people docked. No one who hadn't landed. They wanted him because he goes to a lot of fairs and sells to a lot of very fine gift shops and several collectors, some of whom have names even you would recognize. Rosepond was just where there was one, when it wouldn't cost him much to make the trip. Basically, they set him up a cargo and dangled a fair at the end of the trip, to make it worth his while to buy it at a nice price and go a bit out of his usual way. The Agtech Traders' Association 'learned' he was going there and the agent on Shimmery sent an invitation."

"Seven years isn't as bad as we thought it might be."

"You're looking for a glimmer of hope, my friend, and I'm not sure there is one. That may be when they reached planetary saturation, or that happened four decades ago and the bigotry is being successfully taught so there's a surplus this generation."

"I'm beginning to wish we'd brought them all. This time it was Barri I wished was here first, but just first. You told someone we're headed there?"

"I sent coordinates of a spot nearby. We can't even get in the solar system without being noticed."

"Why?"

"Mining in the asteroid belt. It's interesting the mining seems to be more dependent on sensor coverage than ore value."

"Let's make the sensor net blink."

"I'm definitely interested in any idea you have to achieve it, Tommy. My wife wants to be closer to you than that. She's working on something. She said she's not sure exactly what, but it began with epidemiology statistics."

"Comm Ven."

"Yes, Tommy?"

"Statistics for inoculation of a population don't include most of them being sure you're the enemy."

"I had three hundred sixty-seven sedated. I hit it would take years to even find them all fast, but I'm still sure there's something in... Later. Out."

"She found it."

"Comm Tommy."

"Yes, Ven?"

"Here. Now. Lola too. Out."

Tommy and Lola reversed direction and ran back to the cross-corridor they'd just passed. Li and Izzie took the first lift that took them to engineering. Mandy winked at Shel over Tal's head.

"Glad I'm a captain. There are just times when being the right size and sturdy just aren't enough."

"Tal and I know what you mean, Mandy. Being the one who everyone keeps up to date makes it feel like one is accomplishing something more than just standing on the bridge, or relaxing in the spa, until they need our assorted sizes and muscles."

"Ooh, you have nice ideas, Captain."

"Shel, I think she got more idea than you had."

"I think she did too, Tal."

"It doesn't seem reasonable to have to remind myself, every few seconds, they will tell me what's going on to keep from calling and asking, especially this soon after all those hours I spent doing it on the station. I was sure you'd come up with a way to not have to do it."

"I did that a long time ago, Mandy. I ask Anverd every few seconds, but I'm sure he appreciates you coming up with another method."

"Most appreciated, Mandy. It's twenty-one-thirty-one ship time. We changed it to somewhat agree with when our bodies said morning. You six, however, are still short on sleep and Ven will remember before they've been working long. We've got several days to work on whatever they come up with."

"Five."

"Why as fast as we can get there?"

"Why do you think we should wait until the fleet is closer?"

"I'm not sure that's why."

"Nine days."

"Tal agrees with you, Anverd."

"I don't know where that came from, Shel."

"It doesn't make any difference if you got it from peering over Li's shoulder or out of thin air, Tal. I don't feel like nine days is too late for anything, so I'm not going to argue with it."

They worked on Li's idea and Ven's. Li's was 'simple.' It was just physics and engineering. Ven's was not. The counter had to be a 'dose' and it did require injection. Seven days after they left Gerridy, she suddenly saw something. It wasn't what she'd been looking for, but it was a possibility. She worked on it awhile longer, then decided she had an answer, but she couldn't share it with anyone. However, she could share her worries about it and the decision with Anverd. He met her in their quarters.

"You came up with something too dangerous to even talk about."

"Yes. It's everything I was after and too much more. I kept thinking of a line from The Arrogant and the Blessed, "flirting with death and dancing with immortality." In some ways, it's too apt. The blocking agent must be tailored to the specific genetic code of the individual."

"The counter?"

"Not the same, but not as dangerous either. Basically, we can just release it in the atmosphere. It'll take awhile to work, about forty days, but it will. It won't hurt anyone who doesn't need it. Anverd, I don't want to share what we've got with anyone, including the fleet. There's a reason research on suggestibility drugs is illegal. I thought I knew what it was. Those who made it illegal thought they knew what it was."

"Make it up, hand it over and say no work on it at all. There won't be any. They think they know why research on it is illegal."

"Yes, I suppose they do. We need to go home."

"What?"

"Please don't ask why. Should I treat all of us or just those in the marriage?"

"How can I answer that, Ven? You don't want to tell me why you have doubts, but the fact you want to give it to the whole family gives me an idea of... the power of what you found."

"Power. Yes, a good word for it."

"Pregnant women?"

"That's why we need to go home."

"Comm Shelter."

"Yes?"

"Ven has something. It includes we need to dust nine planets fast and go home."

"Tal and Tommy both nodded."

"Ven?"

"Yes, Tal?"

"I don't know where it came from, but I got you and Anverd and Tam and Mira. Did that make sense to you?"

"Yes, Tal, it did. I've been thinking about how vulnerable the empire is if the suggestibility drug was used on Tam and how many may be trying. Boer, Shelter, even the counter we came up with is too dangerous to just give the formula to the fleet. Sooner or later, someone would decide the suggestibility drug was the way to assure rehab for criminals worked 'instantly' and save worlds a huge amount, maybe by just giving it in case someone was guilty. It would certainly be less expensive to tell people they wanted to confess to everything they'd done that was illegal than have to go through the trial and appeal process. The formula for the counter, basically, gives the formula for the drug. That's even more true of the one I came up with that can just be released in the atmosphere."

"Just... released?"

"Yes, Shel, but the release will take a lot of planning. It will take about forty days to work, but it will. It won't hurt anyone who doesn't need it and it will be broken down by bacteria in the soil in about another forty once it settles out of it. It's very safe physically."

"How much are we talking about?"

"About one hundred sixty kilos for a world. We have just enough elemental stock to do that for nine worlds and docking stations."

"Ven, I will know what you intend for us and the emperor."

"Tommy, I didn't even tell Anverd."

"I didn't think you had, but I won't let you carry it alone. He knows I'm the one to tell. I'll be in the lab in about ten. Out."

"He's right. He is the one to tell."

"Why?"

"Because he's the spy.

Tommy paled when she showed him what she'd found, then slowly nodded. Ven realized how much lighter the 'load' was and commed Anverd. She told him thank you and she loved him too. Tommy smiled.

"It's a lot easier to pack with two helping each other do it. It scares the hell out of me, Ven, but I'm sure you're right about it. We did come up with a way to make the sensors 'blink.' Actually, we were working on blink and came up with a way to make them just decide nothing was there. Are you ready to make dust?"

"Yes. I'm glad I'll have your help."

The message the fleet was on the way reached them just as they finished dusting Shimmery. Anverd sent a message saying there were going to be a great many very confused people on nine worlds, but they'd be ready to accept aid when they got there and they headed for the second.

They made eight stops on space stations between worlds and Tommy released a carefully measured tiny amount of dust into their ventilation systems. It actually took a bit more because the systems did filter 'everything' out of the air in a short period.

Thirty-nine days after they left Shimmery, they were suddenly headed home. Eleven days into the journey, Shel woke Tal from a bad dream and yelled for the others of his family, Anverd and Ven to get to medical. A bit less than an hour later, the yacht was racing for Boniface with three aboard. Shelter had two injectors Ven had given him. Tal had been sure they needed to go there before they went home to Valer when Shel had awakened him.

Boer warned TC and took the yacht straight down. Tam and Mira ran for it as soon as it came down in the terrace gardens. A number of Imperial marines were very close behind. Shel slapped Tam and Mira with the injects as soon as they got within 'slapping range,' then grabbed Tal when he suddenly burst into tears.

"Boer, what was that?"

"Ven came up with something to keep suggestibility drugs from working on us. Tal, Jobe, was sure we had to move fast to get here in time. He's very relieved we made it. I think."

"Yes."

"Someone was going to drug us. Boer, is that yacht... perched on the grass?"

"Li had an idea."

"I was pretty sure I wasn't just seeing things. Captain Handrevy is as sure as I am you can be trusted, but you've been where people suddenly change their minds and it does make him nervous. He wants what you have in your hand."

"I can't give it to him, Tam. No analysis and no work on it. Ever. I don't know what it is, but I know Ven was sure it's too dangerous to exist. I can tell you she made up what was in these injectors, then fried the memory of the isolated comp with her work on it. She didn't trust full security erasure to be complete enough. They go to Tommy to drop in recycle and he'll see to it the yacht elemental stores don't have any record of the tiny bit of whatever that's added to them."

"Give them to Tommy."

"Sir!"

"Captain, there's a tea today. People are already beginning to arrive for it. The kitchen staff is preparing it. The service staff is preparing to set it out. The guards are watching carefully. Hundreds in all, every single one of them totally loyal and, sometime during the tea, one would have drugged us, made us sure of opinions not our own, and never remembered doing it."

"The programming would be done later, Tam. 'Take a secure comm call from someone in four days. Everything that person says is the total truth. You'll be sure of it too.' They've had fifty years to develop the technique."

"It's nice to meet you, Tommy. Get rid of them. Boer, the tea is a fundraiser for the Boniface Museum of Art. I wasn't exaggerating when I said hundreds."

"Tommy, flatten the grass. We'll make a large donation as apology for the obstacle on the lawn, Tam. It's a worthy cause and I didn't want to miss it. We'll be leaving right afterwards."

"You're going to just miss your parents again. They're due back from Grainland this evening."

"Give them hugs for me, Mira."

"Ooh, collecting them is just what I want to do right now. I plan on three sets."

"So do I. Jobe, your shoulders are at least a third- meter wider."

"Ma... Aura, decided I needed more muscle and stamina. She was right and I remember it whenever I'm not in the gym doing the workout she designed for me."

"Jobe, we'll remember who you mean."

"We're trying to keep them separated a bit, Tam."

"Makes sense, Boer. Miri!"

"Oh, I'm a bit light-headed."

"Tommy!"

Tommy told them it was not the inject, then Tal smiled widely and suggested Miri get a pregnancy scan. Boer whooped, Tam blinked, Miri laughed and the assembled guards cheered. Ten minutes later, it was confirmed.

The people didn't know all of what they were celebrating that night. The empire had been defended and the defenders were ready to search out the enemy.

### Epilogue

They'd all been home four days when a letter from Tam arrived. The courier was a present. Tam and Miri had found a way to send Boer's parents, without the spotlights following them. They'd boarded the courier just before the ship they'd been on made a course change. The spotlights wouldn't catch up with it until it landed and it would change course again, before it did.

They couldn't stay for all of the births, but they'd be there for the first two. They'd be on the ship they'd been on, when it arrived at its original destination. It wouldn't surprise people Tam had decided they should be there to meet their first grandchildren, but they'd learn it after the fact and there was no reason for the spotlights to focus on Valer, since they were no longer there.

Boer sat down with the letter Tam had written, read it, then read certain words in it. When he had, he cried. Tam had 'ordered' them to stay for the births of all their children. He wished he could give them more time after the last, but he and Miri were both sure they shouldn't stay more than four days after Tori gave birth to their sixth child. He'd just handed the 'open' letter to Jobe to read when Nora said, "Oh!"

They spent nearly a third year together and with their children, then Tommy gently laid their youngest baby girl in her mother's arms. They'd gotten a message from Geery that morning. The Brennemer Union had learned something. It was time to find a man with big ears, who had once been a clown.

