John Mark Ellis didn't need to hear the rest. He knew his father had been lost to the Cluster.
* * * *
Edmund Swan found himself sitting in a large room. Tapestries with medieval motifs hung on the walls. The floor was of fine wood. A long table filled much of the room. A bald man in a hover chair had led Swan to the room and sat him at the end of the table. He recognized the man from Manuel's description, as Roberts. Shortly thereafter Roberts returned and offered him a drink; he decided he needed a beer. Swan sipped the cool, dark beer and tapped his fingers on the table.
Finally, a surprisingly lithe old man stepped into the room. His long white hair was tied in the back. He wore a beard, trimmed close. The old man extended his hand. "My name is Ellison Firebrandt," he said with a smile.
Swan accepted the hand. "Pleased to meet you, Captain Firebrandt." Firebrandt looked sure of himself. Swan studied the captain with his mechanical eye. His heart rate was up. He was perspiring, even though the room was cool. Despite appearances, the captain was nervous.
Firebrandt grinned and motioned for Swan to be seated. "We'll have none of those formalities here," said the captain as he seated himself. "I am long retired."
"Even so, I'm honored," said Swan. Firebrandt laughed. "There have been years when no one would say they were 'honored' to see me." He leaned forward. "I understand you gave the Tejans quite a run for their money."
Swan took a sip of his beer and scratched his head. His hair was growing out and it felt strange after years of wearing it as a crew cut. "I don't think I was what they had in mind when they hired a new marshal."
"No," said Firebrandt with a devilish grin. "But you must be aware that you embarrassed them a great deal. You showed a lot of us that the way they could keep Erdonium prices low was by using slave labor." The captain sat back folding his arms. "They won't stand for that."
"But surely the Confederation will keep order," said Swan. He felt the sweat trickling under his collar. "Now they know the Tejan miners aren't voluntary migrants."
"Son, the Confederation only cares about the Cluster," said Firebrandt. Suddenly the retired privateer captain felt very paternal then shook it aside. "Since they only care about the Cluster, that means the only thing they care about on this planet is the Erdonium. Ergo, they are on the side of Tejo." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I'm afraid few people back on Earth even realized you freed slaves. They probably see what you did as an act of aggression, slowing the war effort against the Cluster."
Swan took a long swallow of his beer. Thoughtfully, he lowered it to the table and licked his lips. "And you think Tejo is going to formally declare hostilities against New Granada?"
"Today Tejo is the government of Sufiro. They could virtually declare slave labor legal and no one would stop them." Firebrandt shook his head. "I'm afraid that freeing those slaves may have started a full scale war."
"Is that why you did nothing to free the slaves?" Swan blurted out, then regretted it.
Firebrandt stood, put his hands behind his back and began pacing the room while looking at his feet. He did not say a word for a long time. Finally, he stopped and looked at Swan. "You're right. I did nothing. As people began to settle this world, I made a conscious decision that I would not interfere with the personal freedom of anyone who came." Firebrandt sat down, not meeting Swan's eyes. "I knew some would abuse that freedom, but I never dreamt it would go as horribly wrong as it has. There has to be a way to stop the Tejans."
"There's always a way," said Swan.
The captain closed his eyes. His reddish eyebrows came together. "We could have formed a more formal government early on. We could have passed laws preventing this sort of thing." He opened his gray eyes. "I fought for and believed in the Gaean Alliance because they had solved all the human rights disasters on the mother planet. The Gaean Alliance even managed to end the abuse of people in my father's homeland of South Africa."
Swan nodded, remembering history. He had to admit that when Manuel Raton had told him there were few laws to enforce in New Granada, it had frightened him. He wondered how rights were protected.
"It wasn't until I came to Sufiro that I realized that while humans live in peace, they aren't really free. Suki, Roberts and I dreamed of a world where a people live in peace and are free. When I heard about slavery in Tejo, I thought I saw my dream crumbling to dust." Firebrandt's fist was clenched. He slowly relaxed his hand while looking into the younger man's mismatched eyes. The older man's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Then you came along."
Swan sat back, stunned. "What do you mean, I came along?"
"We can fight the Tejans, whether or not the Confederation is on our side," said Firebrandt. "It's time we show the Tejans that we value personal freedom. We must be prepared to fight to keep ourselves, our friends and our families free. We must begin organizing the defense against the attack the Tejan's are going to mount any day now. We must preserve our freedom, even if the price is peace."
Swan shook his head. "Manuel's analysis of the situation was that I'd embarrassed the Tejans; that they wouldn't mount a full scale attack."
"That was true before Manuel killed Stone. What was also true is that they would have simply resumed the
kidnappings." Firebrandt pursed his lips. "I don't know that what Manuel did was right, but it forced the conflict into the open. They know we'll resist openly now."
Swan studied the old man's eyes. "I understand that much..."
"I want you to lead the defense forces," said Firebrandt, laying his cards on the table.
It was Swan's turn to stand and pace the room. "Me?" Swan walked over to the fireplace and ran his finger over the cold, stone mantel. "I'm not any good in that kind of a fight. I'm just an old cop from Tucson. Hell, I get sick just at the sight of blood."
Firebrandt stood and placed his hand on Swan's shoulder. "That's why I want you." Swan looked at the old privateer captain as though he had lost his mind. "I don't want some war-hungry hero. I want someone with a heart ... and a mind."
"I wouldn't even know where to begin organizing a defense," stammered Swan.
"Start with Manuel," said Firebrandt. "Then study the records of the people of New Granada. Roberts and I have those."
"It won't be easy."
"War is never easy," said Firebrandt moving back toward the table. "I don't want war. I want this conflict over, so we can all get on with our lives." Firebrandt sat down in the chair Swan abandoned. "You see, I don't begrudge anyone on the Tejan continent having and mining Erdonium. I only begrudge them taking and using innocent people. I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure that stops."
"Then you can count me in, sir," said Swan nervously. Firebrandt stood and the two men clasped hands. The captain showed Swan to the door then returned to the room and sat down. Roberts floated into the room on the hover chair.
"How are you, old friend?" asked Firebrandt with a ghost of a smile.
"Old and cranky." Roberts folded his stiff arms. "Tired, with no desire to be on the receiving end of an attack from Tejans."
The captain sighed. "I understand."
"So," said Roberts, sitting back. "Why did you allow the Tejans to capture innocent people and use them as slaves?"
"Honestly?" Firebrandt shrugged. Roberts nodded. "Honestly, it was because interfering would have been as big a crime as the slavery itself. This whole migrant labor issue is just a test. The Tejans had a right to their freedom. They still do, as far as I'm concerned. Edmund Swan showed us that one man, exercising his personal freedom can change a bad situation."
Roberts rubbed his hand across a hairless head. "What about the rest of the slaves?"
"We'll take care of that," said Firebrandt.
Roberts looked at his former captain quizzically. "When?" In reply, Firebrandt removed a pipe from his pocket, sat back in his chair and lit it.
* * * *
Edmund Swan stood outside the large house studying it. In many ways it told the stor
y of New Granada. Part of the house was made of old wood, some of it painted yellow, the rest green. Part of it was adobe. The core of the house was the old gleaming black privateer vessel that Firebrandt and Roberts had crash landed in. The house was at once a mishmash of conflicting architecture and a palace of epic proportions. From his vantage at the front door of the house, Swan could look out across the village of Succor. The houses all nestled cozily along the banks of the Nuevo Rio Grande. Slowly, Swan turned and clambered into the old battered hover he borrowed from Manuel Raton.
Swan pushed the starter button a couple of times. The car was dead, sitting on the ground. He hopped out, gave it a swift kick next to the anti-graviton generator and the hover floated off the ground. With a sigh, he pulled himself in and engaged the engine. As he maneuvered the craft along the Nuevo Rio Grande, he took one last wistful look at the grand house.
The ex-Tejan Marshal drove full throttle, following the wide river. He tried to figure out how a handful of New Granadans could ever hope to defeat a well-armed army from Tejo. The problem was made even worse by the fact that the Tejans had the Confederation on their side.
As he drove, however, the scenery increasingly distracted him. The terrain around Succor was mostly grassland with rolling hills and low scrub. Trees grew closer to the river. As he continued north along the river, the terrain became more cultivated. Green hills and fields of corn surrounded him. He waved to a farmer riding a hover tractor pulling a laser plow.
Swan thought about Firebrandt and his difficulty with the situation. At one moment, he seemed to love the people and the land. The next moment, the one-time pirate had seemed willing to let the Tejans overrun New Granada. It suddenly occurred to Swan that Firebrandt was not willing to let the land be overrun; he simply valued the freedom of the Tejans as much as he valued his own. "So," asked Swan aloud, the wind whipping through his hair. "Why exactly did Firebrandt ask me to take over military operations?"
Swan's hover topped a hillcrest. He found himself looking down at New Des Moines. The city was large by New Granadan standards. On Earth, it would hardly be a village. Still, New Des Moines had the only spaceport in New Granada. Swan thought he would stop off at a tavern, grab a bite to eat and something to drink.
He drove down the central street in town and parked his hover in front of the Rancheros Tavern. Stepping inside the rough, wooden building through swinging doors, he had to blink several times to get adjusted to the darkness. He sat down at a small, round table that wobbled as he put weight on it. When the waitress came by, he ordered the burrito plate and a beer.
He looked around at the sparsely populated bar. There were assorted people from off world. Swan was startled by a heavy thud as a Rd'dyggian warrior sat down at the table next to him. Swan knew that Rd'dyggians were one of the few species that could survive in the same atmosphere as humans. However, few Rd'dyggians chose the company of humans.
The Rd'dyggian's thick purple moustache moved. Soon a voice followed from a pocket translator: "You look like a man with a problem."
Swan studied the Rd'dyggian. He was a deeper shade of orange than normal. One of his two black eyes had a patch over it. There was a receiver plug in the warrior's ear. Swan smiled nervously. "I believe you have me at a disadvantage."
"Not at all," said the warrior. "My name is Arepno." He held out his massive six-fingered hand.
Swan realized he was trying to emulate a human custom. He did his best to accept the hand that was nearly twice as large as his. "My name is Swan. And brother, do I have a problem."
"Brother," echoed Arepno. He forced a decent imitation of a smile. "I like that. Tell me of your problem."
The waitress arrived with the burrito plate and beer. Swan downed about half the beer as he detailed the Tejo-New Granada conflict to the Rd'dyggian. The Rd'dyggian nodded understanding and sympathy at key points in the story. After the story was complete, the Rd'dyggian contemplated it for some moments.
"Slavery is not honorable," he said at last.
"Do Rd'dyggians even know what slaves are?" asked Swan between mouthfuls of food.
"No," he said. "Not until I heard about them this morning from an old friend."
Swan blinked a couple of times. He ate the last mouthful of burrito on his plate then looked back at the Rd'dyggian. "An old friend has already told you this story?"
"I thought everyone knew," said Arepno. "Ellison Firebrandt has many friends. My crew and I are ready to help you in your honorable cause, General Swan."
Swan sat back and laughed. Arepno inclined his head. "Call me Edmund," said Swan waving his hand. "I'll have none of this 'general' stuff."
"My crew and I await your instructions, Edmund Swan," said Arepno, making a noise Swan recognized to be the Rd'dyggian equivalent of laughter.
Edmund Swan and Arepno sat for much of the evening telling stories. Swan knew that was the custom of the Rd'dyggians. They laughed and talked for hours. Swan could see how Firebrandt could get attached to this large warrior. Finally, Swan made his apologies, explaining that he had to get back to Nuevo Santa Fe by dark. Swan asked Arepno to meet with Manuel Raton and himself the next day. He drew the Rd'dyggian a map.
"I will be there." Arepno put his hand to his abdomen in the traditional Rd'dyggian salute.
* * * *
Suki Firebrandt Ellis arrived later that night at the spaceport in New Des Moines. It was surprising to see how small it was compared to the port in Boston. Still, the old adobe structure seemed familiar and comforting. As she walked through the port, she found what she was looking for. There was a row of five booths with people standing behind them, selling tickets to the shuttles bound for various settlements around New Granada. There was, in fact, a booth for Tejo City, however no one stood there. It looked as though it had been ransacked.
Fire walked up to the booth for Succor and bought a ticket for the shuttle. The man behind the booth warned her that the shuttle would be leaving in five minutes, so she'd better hurry. She stepped out of the spaceport, dragging her single suitcase on an anti-gravity sled. The shuttle driver stowed her case and she climbed aboard. There were only four other people on the shuttle.
She sat down in a terribly uncomfortable seat. The shuttle started with a lurch. Then shot out over the countryside. Sufiro's oblong moon wasn't up. There was no view out of the window. Fire closed her eyes and thought about her decision to return to Sufiro's World. After she found out about Jerome's death, she had tried to contact John Mark. Control on Titan said there was radio silence for all but emergency communication in effect.
Fire called her father. He had been enthusiastic about the idea of his daughter coming home. It was always a comfort to know she loved him and thought of him. He wondered what comfort, if any, his mother would have taken in her son's love. It had taken a few days to arrange a leave of absence from her job on Nantucket, but the board of directors understood. She needed some time with her family to recover from the shock of her husband's death. Fire packed a suitcase, closed the door of the Ellis family home and caught a ship for Sufiro's World. Aboard the shuttle, she drifted off to sleep.
The shuttle settled to the ground in Succor lurching Fire awake. She got out and walked up the hill to her father's house. The sun was rising as she topped the ridge. Memories flooded back to her as she stood looking at the house. She ran to the door and knocked as loudly as she could. Ellison Firebrandt opened the door. Father and daughter embraced. She stood back and looked at him, amazed at how white his hair was and how thin he looked.
"You came back at a difficult time," he said. "Was there ever a simple time on Sufiro?" she chided as they stepped inside the house.
"I think this may be worse than normal." He led them into the dining room. Roberts came floating in on his hover chair.
"It's good to see you," she reached down and embraced Roberts in the chair.
Roberts grinned. "With hugs like that, I wish you'd return more often."
"You've turned into a dirty old
man," she said.
"I've always been a dirty old man. I can get away with it from time to time since you're not my genetic daughter." Roberts cast a sidelong glance at Firebrandt. "Most of the time."
A valet came in with coffee and poured some for Roberts and Firebrandt. Fire gracefully declined, she was ready for bed.
"Is it true what they say," Fire said at last. "Are Tejo and New Granada going to war?"
"We'll win," said Firebrandt, simply.
"The Tejans have the support of most of the
Confederation," said Fire. "It's on all of the teleholo channels. Tejo has charged New Granada with interfering with the Erdonium trade. With the Cluster causing as much damage as they are, no one on Earth takes that lightly. If you hadn't told me about the slaves, I don't know how I would have taken it."
Firebrandt nodded. "Tejo's a popular place. New Granada isn't well known. That makes it hard to get the truth out. Somehow, though, we will."
"When the starliner came into orbit, I noticed a Rd'dyggian war ship in geostationary orbit over New Granada." Fire's brow knitted. "What's that all about?"
"That's our trump card," said Firebrandt, taking a sip of coffee. "It's our defense and our hope for our case getting heard." He looked to Roberts who nodded, understanding. THE BORDER SKIRMISHES
Colonel Clyde McClintlock watched a holographic projection made up of images taken from a satellite orbiting Sufiro. He did not like what he saw. A black egg-shaped Rd'dyggian star cruiser hung stationary orbit above New Granada. The holographic display showed the position of the ship and told the colonel exactly how many armaments he could expect to be aboard such a ship. The information made the colonel nervous.
He found himself in a difficult command shortly after the death of Sam Stone. Colonel Clyde McClintlock was the officer put in charge of the "migrant situation." In other words, he was to make sure that none of the "voluntary migrant labor force" from New Granada caused trouble after the travesty at the Erdonium mines outside Tejo City.
The Pirates of Sufiro (Book 1) (Old Star New Earth) Page 20
