by Scott Rhine
Reuben shrugged. “Can you think of a better code name? As you pointed out, I even have the cloven feet.”
“I-I’m sorry about the rant.”
“Hey, if I can’t take crap from you with a smile, how can I take it from the asswipes who hate me?” Reuben shook his mentor’s hand, knowing all was forgiven. “I know none of you liked being manipulated, but we didn’t have time to do it the old-fashioned way. The trance shows me the quickest way to what my people need.”
Kesh asked, “How is this about your people?”
“We’re going to be mentors of the mimic species.” Reuben pointed at Max. “Don’t you dare make up a nickname for them like the Sloths.”
“Jeeves calls her people the Hidden Forest Singers.”
“Sounds like a band. Is that just her tribe or the whole race?” asked Reuben.
“I don’t know. Magi had the hidden thing down first, and forest does sound too limited. I guess Mimics would probably be a better title.”
“Does she have her speech ready?” asked Reuben.
“Who?”
“Jeeves. You know, the pitch why we should include her people in our great Union of Souls?”
“Um … she’s just a toddler.”
“Maybe Roz should give the speech.”
Max said, “Roz will be delivering Echo’s mantle to the Magi representative for the Academy of Sages.”
“Where will Echo be?”
“Here, sick. She pushed herself so hard that I had to confine her to her medical bay. Roz will be handling the jump alone this time.” Max checked his wrist unit. “We have about fifteen minutes to enter stasis. Daisy will be the last in to keep us protected as long as possible.”
“Whoa,” Reuben said. “The plan was for all of us to attend the Convocation.”
“The next time Echo enters a gravity well, she’s not leaving it. I talked her, Troy, and Fiona into guarding the prototype in orbit. The other Magi ships will gather around to protect Solemnity once we’re on the surface.”
“I guess Fifi has to pilot since Roz is going,” Reuben said glumly. No sex for a month. “On the morning of the first day, I’ll do the distraction thing at the colonization meeting. I might need help.”
Kesh said, “As head of an esteemed family, I could move that the committee pay all Saurian mining fees on Niisham to the people rather than the Bat throne world. Menelaus can back me with a copy of their declaration of independence.”
“They have one of those?” Max asked.
“Recently discovered among the letters the prince gave us,” Kesh explained.
Max nodded. “While all eyes are on you, I’ll sneak Jeeves into the Sentience Committee.”
“How?” asked Reuben.
“She’s big enough that I can wear her like a camouflaged suit,” Max said. “With your maps and network of contacts, a null like me should be able to waltz in undetected.”
Kesh cleared his throat. “Doesn’t that violate some sort of Union rule about protosentient contamination?”
“Which is why he didn’t mention it until after Echo was asleep,” Reuben said with a grin. So much for complete honesty to spouses.
“As plans go, this doesn’t seem very sophisticated,” Kesh said warily. “Are you sure it’ll work?”
“I’m expecting it to fall apart ten minutes after breakfast,” Max admitted, “but we’re on the side of the angels. If God wants this task completed, he’ll open a few doors at the right time.”
“If not, we brought an explosives expert,” Reuben joked.
****
Reuben’s stasis chamber opened automatically after the jump to Giragog. Dazed by the long immersion, he staggered into the enormous, mirrored astrogation chamber. Max was leaning over a cot, murmuring to Roz.
Reuben asked, “Everything okay?”
“No. Roz didn’t want to come back from the subbasement.”
“She did a longer jump before without collapsing,” Reuben said.
“The problem isn’t physical, it’s emotional. She’s worried we’re all going to abandon her after this. She said that once Echo is gone, I’ll return to the Trout. She babbled a lot. Not much made sense.”
“Fate-weaving and depression don’t mix.”
“Oh God, I didn’t think of that.” Max stroked her forehead, his finger lingering on the scar. “Do you think she really found a universe where everybody is happier without her? Impossible.”
Reuben whispered in Roz’s ear, “You’re going to be together for years. I swear by Blythe.”
A tone sounded from the centralized comm panel. Max said, “The Lunar Oligarchy patrol ship just pinged us from extreme range. Either we’re late or they’re early.”
In the Convocation time zone, it was one in the morning. “Someone’s bored and looking for trouble. I’ll head to the turret,” Reuben said.
“It won’t work until the reactor cycles.” Roz stood on legs filled with jelly. “Even then, powering up defenses could trigger a lethal response. We came in peace to ask them a favor. I’ll finish waking the others.”
When Reuben tried to leave in order to wake the pods full of people in the second chamber, Max grabbed his arm. “Stay here, just out of camera shot.”
The newest Black Ram nodded and stepped behind the comm pedestal. He would be able to watch any holographic projection without anyone on the other end of the call seeing him.
Max hailed the unexpected fighter craft. “Greetings. I’m Medusa, a freelance consultant for Lunar Intelligence with vital information for Colonel Troutwine.” With iron nerves, he agreed to be boarded and searched if the fighter relayed his message. Minutes later, the craft relayed an encrypted signal from the surface. A rumpled but attractive blonde appeared on his screen in sweatpants and a snug, black T-shirt.
Reuben’s eyes went involuntarily to her chest, which seemed to have grown even bigger since his last encounter.
Max said, “Please don’t shoot my ship. We have several important dignitaries aboard, and it’d be embarrassing for everyone.”
Her eyes roamed over Max. “I forgot how handsome you were. What’s the favor?”
“My friends and I need a ride to the diplomatic zone.”
She crossed her arms, further accentuating her breasts. “Why?”
“We’re carrying an emissary from the Bat prison world of Niisham. There are generations of colonists living there who’ve never committed a single crime. They want to file for independent status. In exchange, they’re willing to offer mineral rights, art, secrets of neutronium mining, and a government free of royals or priests.”
Lisa grinned. “God, you get me hot when you talk dirty like that.”
Max held up his wedding ring. “I can’t mislead you. I’m married now.”
Clearly upset, Lisa cursed. “What did you do, marry the first woman you met on Eden?”
Actually, he met her in the customs line at the space station, Reuben thought. Troutwine was good.
“She’s a very kind, very stable woman.” Max neglected to mention Roz’s name to the shark.
“Bo-ring. You came back to me for a little excitement?”
Max clenched his jaw. “I came to you for the favor you promised—transportation for six sentients, plus minimal luggage. No weapons. Once we touch down, we’ll turn this ship we borrowed over to the Magi government. They’ll be very grateful.”
“I want to meet her.”
Reuben made a face and waved wildly in the universal “bad idea” sign language.
“Are you going to welsh on your favor?” Max asked.
“The favor was for you, sweet cheeks. I have to check the others out before I can vouch for them. I have to be responsible.”
“My wife and Menelaus, the appointed Bat emissary, are the only wildcards. You already know Kesh and Reuben Black.”
“That loser?”
Reuben showed heroic self-control not lambasting the whore out loud.
Max replied, “My protégé is the
current Black Ram, and it was his idea to monkey-wrench the Convocation this way.”
Lisa laughed. “I love watching their videos. He’ll make an excellent sideshow act.”
“As an invitee of the ram, my wife should be allowed by protocol.”
“No. Everyone else I’ll allow with a scan and proper documentation. You’re trying to get away with something. You can either choose to spend an hour alone with me without clothes or let me spend five minutes with her—one minute for each extra person. Seems fair.”
“Five minutes with all of us.”
“Are you sure? I’ll be bringing someone you might not want them to meet.”
“The embarrassment won’t kill me. I can’t say the same for what you might do to an innocent woman if I’m not there.”
Lisa managed to look offended. “I’d never kill in front of a witness. You know me better. I’ll send the shuttle now and meet you at the Lunar Oligarchy’s landing pad. Anyone who doesn’t pass muster with me gets a ticket back to your ship.” She terminated the connection.
“Well?” Max asked, hoping for reassurance.
“She’s way too confident. You’re screwed. I could protect Roz by calling her my consort or something, but the Trout is going to gut you in front of everyone and dance on your entrails.”
“Yeah. I thought so, too.”
****
The Lunar-owned shuttle was cramped but fast. It carried a dozen marines in full combat gear. Soldiers sat on either side of each of the six passengers. Menelaus seemed excited by the escort. “They treat our combat prowess with appropriate respect.”
Max said, “As a medic, I treated marines. I’ve never harmed one.”
“So ten of them are for Kesh and me, and the two females are for the Goat.”
“I’ve never had two at once,” Reuben said, playing along.
Roz flicked him on the top of the ear. “Respect.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And no fighting. I don’t want my dresses damaged.” Jeeves was hidden inside Max’s duffle bag, sandwiched between several blankets.
As they entered the atmosphere, Reuben could feel the Union of Souls as never before. His people had filled this world. Their auras wrapped around him like warm water, simultaneously smothering him and buoying him up. A mass-mind here would be ten times as powerful as the one in New Hawaii.
As the military shuttle descended, Reuben could see the lighted Convocation tower through the shuttle’s tiny side windows. With the pink of pre-dawn, the ocean stretched as far as one could see in any direction. He hadn’t realized from the maps and photos that the entire city was floating. He casually activated his media ball as he attached it to his hip with a gold chain. The Local light went on as well as the Recording indicator. He assumed it was a direct feed to MI-23 to apprise them of his whereabouts. Playing nice with the locals couldn’t hurt for once. He would overlay a tranquil, string instrumental in the edited news feed. “The Convocation will be my first official function as Black Ram. Ironically, Goat laborers built most of this for the Phibs before the war. The concrete cures underwater, and it shapes nicely. Now it’s ours. Of course, we had to spend years repairing the damage from allied bombing before we could reopen the planet for tourists. The food here is going to be memorable. Any questions?”
The uniform, pale blue-green of the concrete reminded Reuben of the tropical lagoon and white sands of Eden.
“How does cement float?” asked Menelaus.
“I’m a computer programmer, not an architect.”
Daisy closed her eyes for a moment and responded, “They encase a huge piece of foam in a thin layer of sea-crete. What I find more interesting is the mu shielding built into the dome walls. That means no out-of-body visitors or telepathic spying indoors.”
As they came in for a landing, Roz said, “I’m told the Magi who visit here find the experience soothing. The walls shelter their minds from the clamor of the other races.” The shuttle touched down on the left landing gear and then lurched right.
Reuben clutched his mouth. “Ugh. I just tasted the spaghetti I had for lunch.”
“I’ve seen drunk cargo haulers do a better touch down,” Roz said.
The head marine by the airlock explained, “The pads float independently on the water. They’re not exactly stable or visible at night.”
Hand on her hip, Roz said, “See those lights at each corner of the plus sign? Those are nav transponders. Your pilot has a little button on the right side of his dash on this model that he could use to sync with them.”
“Yes, ma’am. Appreciate the tip.”
The tech officer was handing out ID badges with each person’s name and planet of origin. When he reached Roz, he looked nervous. “Before we disembark, we have to fit you and the Bat with tracking anklets.”
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone else here is in the DNA banks and will show up on the sensors by name. However, your husband refused to allow a DNA sample for you two.” Lunar intelligence would have a field day with her talent, and advertising the Bat’s point of origin on an ID would be risky at this point.
Roz held out her wrist because her boots were knee-highs. “People with nothing to hide hide nothing.”
Menelaus seemed less enthusiastic. “What if I cut it off?”
“Then every guard in the area comes down on you like the wrath of Thor.”
“Do it,” Kesh growled. “Your mammal sweat is making me hungry.”
Roz raised a finger. “If you can’t say something nice ...”
Once formalities were over, the marines filed out of the vehicle, forming a row on each side of the pier.
The commander led Roz out first, explaining to the uniform on the ground, “This one is in charge.”
She glanced at Max, who nodded subtly. Then that was how they would play it. Max tucked the carpetbag under one arm and followed like her footman. Reuben decided to let the camera feed continue to transmit to MI-23 in case Trout tried to disappear anyone.
In her flight suit and swashbuckling boots, Roz raised her head like a queen and strode past the docks into a round garden. She paused beside a bush that had been sculpted into a unicorn.
Wearing a white, summer dress, Troutwine stepped out into the mosaic walkway and deposited a squirming bundle of fabric on the tiles. It might have been a pet until Trout proclaimed, “See, this is Daddy.”
A dark-haired toddler with olive skin emerged from his blanket and charged toward Max, tackling his leg with enthusiasm. The doctor froze as if punctured by one of his own paralytic darts.
Reuben couldn’t switch off the camera without attracting attention. Instead, he supplied the missing information for the rest of the crew. “The boy is a null, too. You must have been a few months pregnant by the time we left Eden. That’s why you were so moody. You could have told Max.”
“A doctor should’ve been observant enough to notice if he had the inclination. I thought he understood that this favor was in exchange for my little Hunter.”
Roz winced as if stabbed. She wanted children but couldn’t have them. This witch was raising Max’s child as a next-generation political assassin.
“Explains the improvement in that rack of yours,” Reuben babbled. “Not that it wasn’t awesome before. I mean, not that I looked when you were naked. Why isn’t someone shooting me yet?”
Then Roz did the bravest thing Reuben had ever seen. She bent to scoop up the child. “He’s beautiful.”
“The best thing I ever did,” Lisa agreed.
Hunter played with the heavy, gold necklace around her neck. “This?”
“My Enigma Mantle, the symbol of my standing in the Academy of Sages.”
“Nig Ma.”
“You’re the Magi?” Lisa asked, awed. “The one who owns the spherical ship?”
Roz simply nodded.
“I guess you had Max first. Congratulations. The therapy was a rousing success,” Lisa said. Whatever she had been planning to say or
iginally had been obliterated by surprise.
Gazing at Max, Roz said, “I couldn’t live without him.” Then she handed the curious child over to her husband. Reuben took the heavy carpet bag and managed not to grunt. “Here. Spend as long as you like. I would not limit you to minutes, my love. Reuben, escort the rest of our entourage to my room.”
At the Goat enclave’s dome, Reuben flashed his credentials to a stupefied doorman. “You’re the Black Ram.”
“I know. Could I, perhaps, be a ram with a bed?”
“We weren’t expecting you.”
“Quite all right. Any bedroom will do.” Goat communal bedrooms could sleep ten with ease. He pointed to the first room on the outer ring. “Is that one taken?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, it is now. Inform MI-23 that Uncle Vanya is in the house.”
“Yes, sir.”
Reuben led the others into the room and piled the reed floor mats on top of each other for more cushion. “We have a day before the event begins. You should get some rest. I can give you as many pillows as you like.”
Roz was already crying, so he shut off the media ball. “This is the world where he leaves me.”
Reuben replied, “Such a place does not exist.” Before he could be distracted, he used his authority as Black Ram to cite Roz for outstanding bravery in the face of the enemy and demonstrating undying friendship to the Goat people. He only hoped it came with a ridiculously large medal.
Chapter 32 – Enigma
After Menelaus borrowed blankets from the carpet bag and settled in for a nap, Reuben took his own advice. He nestled into a beanbag, put in earbuds, and drifted off to a collection of harp music.
Max woke him an hour or two later. “Where is she?”
“Who?”
In response, Max held the empty carpet bag upside down.
“Don’t panic. Max and Bat boy, search the cupboards, under furniture, and behind the drapes. She likes hide and seek.”
“Roz?” asked Menelaus, still groggy. None of the women were around.
“The mimic. Check the ductwork near the kitchen for clean patches and evidence she’s been there. Commandeer a bunch of bananas and some peanut butter for bait.” Reuben’s brain didn’t work well on one hour of sleep. He tried to soothe his mentor. “Relax. I’ve lost her plenty of times. She’ll turn back up before tomorrow.”
