“How long are you here for?”
“We were thinking two days, if that’s okay.”
“That should be fine. We’d love to have you around. Things have been hectic on the best of days.” Edward thought for a bit, “Wasn’t it a long trip out here just for two days?”
Llewellyn grinned, “Normally, yes. However, Dawn has figured out how to use the blank gate at the citadel to link up with the gate stones. Toch the Red has them and we were able to gate straight to him.”
That floored Edward, “No one has figured out how to use those in two hundred years! Just opened a wormhole right up?”
Llewellyn beamed, “Dawn is a sharp cookie! Yep, clean and stable wormhole. No distortions at all. You couldn’t pick it out from one of the gates back home. The only downside is the gate stones have to recharge themselves between uses. Doesn’t matter how long the gate is open. Just how often you try to open a new one. ”
“To say ‘fascinating’ is an understatement! Oh, they are taking a break. Shall we?”
Llewellyn nodded over to Ivy, a striking lady with an orange-red coat with a splash of white down her chin and belly with brilliant curly red hair. She smiled and joined the pair of brothers as they walked up the stage.
Edward waved Zoë over to where Tatiana and Gillian were standing, and soon the entire crowd converged.
Gillian’s eyes glowed, “Ivy Stratford?”
Ivy laughed and nodded, “Yes indeed. I find it funny to still be recognized off-world.”
Gillian laughed back, “Well, someone like you sticks out in my mind. I’m Gillian Rose. I’m the producer of the show as well as Tatiana’s agent.”
“We call her ‘mom,’” interjected Edward.
Gillian and Ivy both laughed at that.
“This,” continued Edward, “is my brother Llewellyn Stratford of clan Silverglade.”
Gillian nodded politely, “We’ve been delighted to have Edward around. And not just as security!” Gillian motioned over to Tatiana, “This is Tatiana, the lead for the show.”
Tatiana bobbed politely and smiled, “We’ve heard so much about both of you.”
“And this,” continued Gillian, “is Zoë. She plays piano, violin, sings opposite on the duet and wrote it as well.”
Zoë was giddy, “I heard you play, Mrs. Stratford, when I was thirteen. It was magical.”
Ivy’s fur flared slightly, “I’m so glad when young people take to concerts like that. It makes all the practice worth it.”
“Speaking of practice…,” interjected Gillian, “did you two have anything planned for after this was over?”
“Well, we planned on just goofing off tonight. And then tomorrow, for all who would care to join us, sit down with our entire family for dinner.”
“Your entire family is here?” asked Gillian more than a little surprised.
Edward laughed, “No, but they will be. Thanks to Toch the Red and a gate stone.”
“I won’t ask how that works,” muttered Tatiana.
“Good, because I’m not sure either!” laughed Edward.
“So, Edward, do you have a date you can bring tomorrow?” asked Ivy.
Edward rolled his eyes as Zoë and Tatiana giggled, “Um, Zoë and Tatiana.”
Ivy beamed, “Both? Excellent! Your partner is invited as well of course. You too, Mrs. Rose.”
“Just call me Gillian,” she laughed. “May I bring a date too?”
“By all means,” replied Ivy with a grin.
“Who’s your date?” asked Edward.
“I thought that was obvious,” replied Tatiana, “Trevor.”
29
Lunchtime was soon upon them, and Ivy took that time to sit down at the piano with Zoë. Ivy’s fingers danced up and down the keyboard as she warmed up. Even her warm up exercises seemed delightful to Zoë as she sat blissfully beside her. “Für Elise” and other staples of piano quickly followed as the entire concert hall was filled. Everyone, even if they didn’t care for the style of music, could appreciate a master at work. Soon Ivy was baiting Zoë along with common duets as well, and the pair of them danced away on the piano. Lunch break ran long, very long, but no one, least of all Gillian, seemed to mind. All could appreciate the rare show at hand. Finally, Ivy closed the piano’s lid and admonished Zoë for not having eaten a thing all break. A short burst of applause, a quick hug later, and Zoë was happily wolfing down lunch as Ivy returned to the chairs with her husband, Llewellyn.
Gillian smiled and nodded to the hungry Zoë, and gave her a brief respite as they started rehearsal again, but with the fourth number, freeing Zoë long enough to eat a bit more.
Ivy grinned to Edward. “She is quite good at that. Well, actually, they are both quite good at what they do. I just speak more to Zoë’s strengths as they are what I know best.”
“Yeah, Zoë has a scholarship to the local university. She put off starting one semester so she could do this concert series and help raise money to support her brother. They kind of have some problems there.”
“Talented and responsible, she seems like an excellent young lady. Tatiana seems like a joy to be around. Full of life and energy and comes across as friendly and sincere. They are both wonderful people. How serious are you three?”
Edward shifted nervously, “Serious enough to be confused?”
Ivy laughed, “That is a perfectly reasonable answer! Just keep talking to each other. So long as you are talking openly, things will work out.”
Edward nodded. He didn’t know what to say really. He was just happy that “confusion” was an acceptable state of mind. Hard answers were hard to come by right now.
Edward noticed Lucas talking to Llewellyn. He never noticed how similar those two looked; both had sleek and elegant coats like snow leopards. Lucas was obviously younger and a bit squarer but shorter. They could easily pass for siblings on their own! Maybe now was a good time to learn about Lucas. At least some questions might get answered today.
“Here comes trouble,” joked Llewellyn as Edward approached.
“Trouble compared to whom?” asked Edward as he cocked an eyebrow.
Llewellyn just grinned, “Fair enough! Who you after, him or me?”
Edward nodded to Lucas, “If you have a moment of course.”
“Of course! What’s up?” grinned Lucas as Llewellyn returned his attention to Ivy.
“Just kind of embarrassed. We were in a hot situation the other night and I hardly know a thing about you short of your name. Well that and obviously you are a Silver and a Highlander.”
Lucas grinned as his fur coat softly rippled in color, “Yeah, the Silver part does stick out a bit. I was with the 519th for two years. We almost ran into each other at Ramidar after your sister Helen was killed there.”
Edward laughed, “Glad you were there. Toch called for volunteers and he got quite a crew.”
“Toch had to turn people away,” remarked Lucas. “To say there were a lot of volunteers was an understatement. Sorry about your sister, never got to say that to you properly.”
Edward shrugged, it hurt, but it was very much in the past, “Thank you…”
Lucas smiled, “You're welcome.”
“So you left the 519th to come here?”
Lucas scratched his head, “Well sort of. I was rotating out, two years was enough for me, so I was working with some new kids rotating in. Toch called and asked if I’d be willing to take a three to six month extension here instead. Toch asked, the assignment looked cool, so when the other replacements showed up, I came along for the ride.”
“The assignment looked cool?”
“Let’s see, I could spend the next month and a half training kids with more testosterone than good sense, or I could come here and watch half naked girls run around on stage.”
Edward laughed, “Well, when you put it that way…”
Quitting time came soon enough; Ivy and Llewellyn were coming along for the ride. The Shukurae in the unit suddenly seemed relaxed.
Edward didn’t realize how different they looked relaxed; it was such a rare sight. Lucas shook hands with Llewellyn on the way out the door as did Alex. All the Highlanders wanted to meet him; he was a living legend back home.
Tatiana tapped Edward nervously on the shoulder, “What’s with the Shukurae. They look so weird.”
Edward tried not to laugh, “That is that most rare and mystical state of Shukurae: the relaxed Shukurae.”
The whole party giggled at that.
“Seriously, Llewellyn has that big of an influence on them?” asked Gillian, genuinely curious.
“Yep. For all practical purposes, the team feels they have a day and a half vacation,” replied Edward.
Gillian tapped Llewellyn on the shoulder, “I assume you’ve overheard all of this. Doesn’t their cavalier attitude put a lot of stress on you?”
Llewellyn just grinned, “I’m among friends. It doesn’t bother me. I’d much rather be admired and appreciated than feared.”
“But they are acting as if you are responsible for the defense of all of us. Certainly that’s not fair to you out on a trip on your own time.”
“Eh, it’s a small price to pay to be able to come out and see my brother. I don’t mind,” he replied with a broad grin.
Gillian nodded, but was still more than a bit taken aback by the whole situation. But they soon were in the armored car and from there back to the hotel.
As they crossed the upper lobby, they ran across a party of three: the young Moira Gruaer, Victor, and a new person they had not met. She was a striking older lady with a solid white coat and white hair, another so called Auroran. An easy guess placed her as Moira’s mother. Gillian nodded politely to the party as they passed, when the lady stopped and addressed Ivy.
“Ivy Stratford?” she asked.
“Yes? Oh my word! Fiona Westford! I haven’t seen you in years!”
The lady beamed, “Well, they call me Gruaer-Westford nowadays, but it is so good to see you. Are you in town long?”
Ivy shook her head, “No, just today and tomorrow.”
Fiona wrinkled her nose, “Can you come by for morning tea at least?”
“Of course! I’d be delighted to. So this is little Moira? My, has she grown!”
Moira bobbed politely, “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am. And this is?” she asked of Llewellyn.
Ivy laughed, “Oh, where are my manners. This is my husband, Llewellyn of clan Silverglade.”
Fiona bobbed politely and Moira’s fur flushed and stood on end. Fiona and Ivy both giggled at Moira’s display.
“I’ll see you at ten o’clock then,” smiled Fiona.
“Delighted,” beamed Ivy back as the two groups split.
“Wow, you know Fiona Gruaer-Westford?” asked Tatiana.
“Well, I knew her when we were both just kids. I learned piano from her mother, in fact. She never took to music so much herself, but she did have a good ear. She was several years my senior and she and my older sister were very good friends.”
“Did you see the looks Moira was giving Llewellyn?” giggled Zoë.
“Hey, at least I didn’t get myself in trouble this time,” countered Edward.
“You get in trouble for noticing her curves?” kidded Llewellyn.
“Hey,” joked Tatiana, “I thought married men weren’t supposed notice curves on other women.”
“Eh, I’m married, not dead. Besides, I’m a Highlander. You should have been giving me grief about how young she is.”
“A point that Edward failed to notice,” jibed Zoë.
“Is our elevator here yet?” asked Edward.
As they reached their apartment, they were greeted with two surprises: Tazo and Ethan. Everyone was very happy to see Tazo up and walking around. They had been told as much by Trevor, but seeing him upright and mobile in person was so much better!
“Ethan!” beamed Zoë as she hugged him. “What brings you out here? Not that you aren’t perfectly welcome to come out here whenever….”
Ethan held up an official looking letter. “This. I got it from my school counselor today.” He handed the envelope to his sister.
Zoë looked both nervous and curious as she turned the letter over several times before opening it. Her eyes went wide as she read it. “Um!”
Gillian grinned broadly, “Yes, dear?”
Zoë cocked an eye as she looked at Gillian, “You are ‘Gillian Evelyn Rose’ yes?”
Gillian batted her eyelashes, “Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Care to fill the rest of us in?” asked Tatiana with no small amount of confusion.
“I’ve been accepted to the Katwara Prefecture Preparatory School. My counselor signed for the academics, and Ms. Gillian Evelyn Rose is my patron with additional financial support from the 517th and 1212th CSOG. Um, not that I’m not really appreciative and all, but do you guys realize how expensive that place is?”
“When spread across a hundred people, it isn’t that big of a deal. The current plan is to sponsor one additional person from your school every year whilst the 1212th CSOG has contracts with the Nedej Consortium here on planet. That is currently estimated to be at least twelve years. We are negotiating with the new Director of Operations for Nedej Construction to match our funds so we can sponsor two additional students every year starting next year,” replied Tazo evenly.
“You shouldn’t have to spend your money on people like me,” protested Ethan.
“We have the opportunity to help a gifted student move to a school that more appropriately challenges his scholastic needs. It is our money; we spend it as we see fit. We see this as an easy assignment. Since we feel we are being paid disproportionately, it is only fitting that we give back to society.”
“This is an easy assignment?” asked Zoë. “You were shot with an anti-tank gun last night!”
“It was a light anti-armor gun, not anti-tank gun. I was only wounded, and yes, it is an easy assignment. There has been very little actual conflict. Most of it is standing around and glaring. Fortunately, Shukurae excel at glaring, or so I’ve been told.”
“I think you just tried to make a joke,” smirked Zoë.
Ethan finally laughed, “Okay then. I guess this is where I give up and just say, thank you. Thank you all very much.”
“I will be sure to pass that on, Lord Ethan,” replied Tazo with a toothy smile. “Come, let me get you a lift back home.”
Ethan made a quick detour to hug Gillian before heading out the door with Tazo.
“Just for the record,” began Gillian, “it was Kadu’s idea. I just did all the paperwork.”
“Any problems with his current school?” asked Zoë.
“None at all. His counselor was tickled to help, and Ethan more than had the scores to justify it. You expected there to be push back from the school? Why?”
Zoë shook her head, “I don’t know. I just get suspicious of people at times.” She paused in thought for a second, “Wait a minute. This is why you told me not to sell the necklace!”
Gillian beamed, “Well no sense in selling such a beautiful thing if your brother’s schooling was being taken care of another way.”
“I’m surprised you never made complaints about our host, Peter van der Grauer. He could easily pay to put Ethan's entire class in private school,” interjected Edward.
Zoë laughed and shook her head, “You don’t know much about this planet’s politics, do you? He’s earned his right for his little idiosyncrasies. Any peace and prosperity this dirty rock has had can be traced to him.”
Edward cocked his eye and looked at Tatiana, “Would the daughter of the governor care to comment on that?”
Tatiana laughed, “No. Not hardly. All but the most blind sycophant would agree. Because of him, we have the lowest food prices on any of the known colonies. He has a sliding scale on cost of food, so actually the fancy restaurants pay more for the same food than others, but even then, the very highest price tier is still below average for twelve systems arou
nd us. He uses that to subsidize food to poorer areas.”
“For a while, clean water was more expensive than food. That is how cheap food is. When he found that out, he bought out the water works and now all areas have subsidized water as well. Then there are the hospitals,” beamed Zoë.
“We have the best public hospitals of any of the colonies. Period. All because of him. My father may hem and haw about what all stupid public works stunts he’s done, but everyone knows Mr. van der Grauer makes it all possible,” continued Tatiana.
“How does he do it? I mean does he hike prices on other planets so things can be cheaper here?” asked Edward. He was impressed with the girls’ knowledge and surprised that Tatiana was so open about her father and his politics, or lack thereof.
“Nope. Very stable control and very tight margins. He controls all aspects from field to table. Other places would try and break him up for having too much control, but his opinion is always, ‘Let them compete.’ There is no middle man at every stage of food handling, each wanting a larger and larger cut. He has it all on a very, very tight leash. The only thing anyone is worried about is what happens when he dies! Will his heirs continue the same?” replied Tatiana.
“The cool part is,” began Zoë, “he has helped other people on other colonies start to set up systems just like his. Even if they would end up competing with him. Nope. The man is cool enough to have his fancy hotel!”
“Well then! I think I’ve had my education for the day,” replied Edward with a laugh.
“And people were curious why I was happy to be blocked from the post as mayor,” laughed Ivy. “Small town politics are bad enough, much less trying to coordinate a colony stretched across an entire planet.”
“You are blocked from being mayor?” asked Tatiana. “Um, that seems kind of rude.”
Ivy smiled and shook her head, “They asked Llewellyn to be the next baron. They never want a baron and mayor to be in the same family, thus, as a condition of accepting the job, I had to agree to never run for mayor.”
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