by Robin Roseau
The greatest need, of course, was to get the rejuvenation center operating. And that would be a major focus. But I am going to talk about a few other events, first.
I’d been working in my new role for about three months. Cecilia grumbled about money, and that was when I made my decision. I talked to Kalorain that night, and then together we approached the governor the next morning.
“Cecilia, I preempted your schedule for a half hour.”
“I saw that. What’s up, Maddalyn?”
“I get paid.”
“You do.”
“I get paid in local funds, and I get paid in Tarriton credits.”
“Are you here to ask for a raise?”
“No,” I said. “I am here to offer to use half of my Tarriton pay to help bring things here we need.”
Tears filled her eyes, but she said softly, “You don’t have to do that, Maddalyn.”
“This is my home,” I said. “Why would anyone think I wouldn’t do anything for my home. But governor, I don’t know what to do, not exactly. Any money I have is a drop in the bucket against your budget. I can’t pay for so much as one additional technician. But I could do something, couldn’t I? I can afford a jumper every two years, if it doesn’t cost more than the one I already bought. I could get a used ground vehicle even more often, as long as I don’t have to pay to transport it. I could bring more tablets. Or I could pay to help buy more power stations, but I think what we need the most are refrigeration units. If we can do a better job preserving food, we can have greater variety in the winter.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if I should buy some of these and add them to our supply, or maybe I should bring them here and sell them. This is a political decision, Governor.”
“You would be fully in your right to sell what you import,” she said, “If you work with me.”
“I don’t want to pay shipping if I can avoid it. I couldn't afford anything big if I have to pay the shipping.”
“Maddalyn,” she replied. “You should save your money.”
“What would I use it for?”
“An upgrade to your implant. Travel. Eventually an implant for your wife. Things you want.”
“Luxuries,” I said. “Governor, I want to help Talmon. Tell me how.”
She brushed away the tears. “Individual refrigeration units,” she said. “Work with your aunt on Tarriton to buy them. She and I will get them here.”
“What about power units?”
“No. Individual household power is too complicated to install. We need to install power at the village level. You can deliver them to the villages that have power.”
“I thought perhaps my job was at your side,” I said. “But Kalorain can deliver them, if she may use your jumper for it.”
“Of course.” And then she stood and pulled me into her arms, hugging me tightly.
It took two cycles of Urban Green. The first carried my message to Aunt Anna. She moved quickly, and so on the return, Urban Green delivered the first of my refrigeration units. There weren’t many, but it was a start.
* * * *
My contribution was dwarfed a few months later. It was mid-morning when Darkside appeared in the sky over Indartha. A moment later I had an incoming video conference from Colonel Blue.
“Good morning, Colonel. Welcome to Indartha.”
“Good morning, Maddalyn,” she replied. “We’d like to set down, and then I’d like you, the governor, and the vendart to meet us.”
“Are you coming in hot?”
“No, but I want to use the field outside of town.”
“You don’t fit beside the lake?”
“I’d rather we use the field.”
“Of course, Colonel,” I said. “I don’t know where Sartine is, but I’ll find her. We might be a few minutes.”
“Whenever you arrive is fine. Blue out.” She disconnected.
I got up from my desk and stepped into Cecilia’s office. “Darkside is visiting.”
“I heard them,” she said.
“Colonel Blue requests you and the vendart and have asked we meet her at the field outside of town. I didn’t ask which field, but I imagine you know.”
“I do,” she said. “Does Sartine know?”
“She’s next.”
“I’ll get her. Go fire up the ground vehicle.”
I nodded.
They were only two minutes behind me. I climbed from the driver’s seat, and Sartine settled into position. “You could drive.”
“You know where we’re going,” I said.
“Did Colonel Blue say what this was about?”
“No, but her tone was secretive. I hope nothing bad has happened.”
Cecilia’s lips tightened, but she simply nodded to Sartine.
The Vendart drove cautiously. She always did. I wasn’t one to complain. It wasn’t a long drive, perhaps ten minutes, and when we arrived in the field, we saw Darkside taking much of the space. For a little corvette, she sure was a lot bigger than anything else in system.
By the time we drove up, Colonel Blue was waiting for us beside an open cargo ramp. We came to a stop. Sartine shut down the vehicle, and we climbed out.
Cecilia led us in a pattern that had become quite common: the head of a V, with Sartine to her right and me to the left. Cecilia walked straight to the colonel and pulled her into a hug. The two clung together for a minute, and then Cecilia released her to offer somewhat less intimate greetings with Sartine and me.
“Has something happened, Colonel?” Cecilia asked.
“You could say that, and I’m not happy about it. They’re taking Darkside away from me for at least two years.”
“Oh, no.”
“We’ve talked about this, actually. She’s due for a refit, and my Executive Officer is going to see to it. I’m taking forced leave. I’m even less happy about that.”
Cecilia began to grin. “I imagine.”
“Governor, we’ve talked a little about this, but I am formally asking permission, and for a lot more than the privilege of spending my leave here.”
“Oh?”
“But I come with a bribe, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to give me exactly what I want.”
“River, do you think I’d turn you down?”
“No, but you’re not the only one I need to bribe. Come.” She led the way up the ramp into Darkside. We didn’t have to go far. Darkside wasn’t a cargo ship. She typically carried military gear. But in the space where she might normally have troops waiting to descend the ramp, or tanks, or whatever she might have, there were several crates, some of them quite large. We came to a stop, and the colonel gestured.
“Governor, my bribe. It’s not all for you; but all the large crates and the majority of the small crates.”
“What did you bring me, Colonel?”
“A power station.”
“What?” Cecilia spat.
“I don’t know if there are enough supplies to wire an entire village, and I’m not offering to install it,” she continued.
“River, what are you doing?”
The colonel turned. “I want to be paid for it.”
“That suddenly makes it difficult to consider a bribe,” Cecilia said.
“I want to be paid in local currency.”
“Oh shit,” Sartine said. I wondered where she learned that bit of English.
“Everything in this hold is my personal property, paid for with my own money,” she said. “Normally this would have been very naughty of me, but I actually asked permission. Imagine that. I want to be paid my purchase price at the exchange rate established for your family.”
“River…” Cecilia said.
“I want more than permission to spend my leave here,” she said. “I want to know if I decide to immigrate for a while, I’ll have it. And I want something else. I want some land. Not a lot. I want a little land here, in or very near Indartha, and another plot near Sudden. I have a small ground vehicle and a jumper. The ju
mper is somewhat more capable than anything else on the planet, discarding Darkside and anything she typically carries. I want permission to cut a road from my property to the edge of the respective towns, and a place where I can park my ground vehicle when I transition to something else.”
She looked between Sartine and Cecilia. “And I want honesty. I want to know if I just asked for too much. It seems like the planet has plenty of land. But maybe you don’t want every Tom, Dick, and Colonel buying up the land this way.”
“You’re not just anyone, River,” Sartine said. “Do you want a road, or do you want something partway up the mountains, and you’ll use your jumper to come down?”
“Well now, I hadn’t thought about that,” she said. “I was thinking first of Sudden. I think, Vendart, I would welcome your advice.”
“I think you should be careful calling me Vendart,” Sartine said with a grin. “Lest I trade you.”
River grinned. “You wouldn’t dare. Besides, I heard Cecilia was hard to take. How many people do you think you’d have to send for me?”
Sartine laughed. “That’s a very good point.”
“I’m not done asking, either. I want to be enrolled in whatever language program you have.”
“Cough, Galatzi Trade, Cough,” I said. Yes, I actually said those words.
“They’ve promised to give Darkside back to me,” River said. I thought she was ignoring me. It turned out, I was wrong. “Frankly, I don’t believe them. I keep turning down promotions. This might turn permanent for me. I hope not. I’m not ready to stop rescuing misplaced governors. But I sure as shit am not interested in the politics involved in a promotion.” Then she turned to me. “But if there are any Galatzi Trades in my future, I will not be the one being traded.”
“I want to treat Talmon as my home,” River said. “I want to learn what that means. But you can use me. I can teach.” She gestured to the crates and sighed. “Or install this stuff after all, but frankly, that’s not leave to me. Maybe in a few years, I’ll be itching for that.” She looked back at Sartine. “I’ll call you Vendart. I’ll do my share for Indartha. I might be happy with just a home here, but there’s more going on in Sudden.”
“I’ll need to borrow your construction equipment, but I know how to use it. I have everything else I need to make a comfortable home. Two comfortable homes.”
“River,” Cecilia said. “Yes, but I can’t promise for Baardorid.”
“I don’t want to ask him myself.”
“Then I can do that.” She cocked her head, and a minute later she said, “Baardorid, I have a favor to ask. You are familiar with Colonel Blue. I would like you to grant her a piece of land near Sudden, but she wants to be free of immediate neighbors.” She paused. “Yes, at least a while. And she wants permission to cut a road. She’ll drive a ground vehicle, so if there’s a stable somewhere that could hold a horse and carriage for her.” She paused. “I don’t know. River, how big?”
“I don’t need big. I’m not going to farm. I’ve never owned land. I don’t know how much to ask for.”
“A square kilometer,” Sartine said. “She’s not just anyone, Cecilia. Baardorid can offer a kilometer, if she doesn’t mind it’s not farmland. Some might be marsh, but there will be a good building site. And she can have half a mountain here, if that’s what she wants.”
“I hardly need that much,” River said.
But Cecilia said, “Could you afford a square kilometer, Baardorid, somewhere with a good building site. Maybe beside a lake. Somewhere beautiful.” She paused. “Thank you, Baardorid. I think we’ll all be down to visit.”
She refocused on River. “He said he has a hundred possible places, depending upon how close you want to be. As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.” She gestured. “I don’t know if I have the cash for all of that. I’m going to need to talk to the vendarti about that. I haven’t been making anyone pay for their systems.”
“You should start,” Sartine said. “River, how did you want to proceed?”
“I’ll take a handshake agreement on my equipment if I can get a down payment.”
“I think I could kiss you,” Cecilia admitted.
“That works, too,” River said with a grin. Then she looked at Sartine. “I can take you, Vendart. Just remember that.”
Sartine laughed. River’s kiss was on the cheek, but the hug she received was long and tight.
Finally Cecilia released her. Everyone was smiling. Then River said, “So. The good news is we can deliver this anywhere on the planet. The bad news is that needs to happen in the next 48 hours. If we have a full agreement, I’d like to drop off my personal crates here. Vendart, is there somewhere to store them? I’d like them out of the weather.”
“Which ones are we talking about, River?”
As soon as I saw them, I said, “There’s room in the hangar in town,” I said. “And it would only take one or two trips in Cecilia’s jumper, but I don’t know if I can move them.”
“If you get the jumper,” River said, “We have a grav sled. Have you ever used one?”
“No.”
“I’ll get a crew member to help you,” she said. “Cecilia, I hate for the surprise, but what do you want me to do with the power equipment?”
“Maddalyn, contact Luradinine and Baardorid. We’ll be down in three hours. Then take care of this equipment.”
“Three hours, Governor? Twenty minutes.”
“My jumper can’t make the trip that fast, and it sounds like Darkside needs to go.”
“Yes, but your jumper will fit right here.” She gestured, grinning.
“I’m not flying it in here,” I said.
River laughed. “No. Leave that to me.”
I took the ground car back to Indartha. On the way, I pinged Mordain. “Didn’t we talk already?”
“Mordain, I need you to find Beacon Hill and Sudden Vendarti. We need them at the embassy in an hour.”
“You couldn’t have warned me you’re on the way?”
“Call me back if you can’t reach them.”
“I’ll handle it.”
We clicked off and I immediately dialed Kalorain. “We’re going to Sudden. Meet me at Cecilia’s jumper.”
“Oh, so bossy,” she said. She grinned. “I’ll be there.”
When I arrived, I left the ground vehicle parked outside. Kalorain appeared as I was pulling Cecilia’s jumper out. She got in, and thirty seconds later we were in the air.
“What’s going on? Did someone die?”
“No, but everyone else says we’re in a hurry. Colonel Blue brought us a rather pleasant surprise.”
“That was Darkside,” she said. “I just caught a glimpse, then she was gone.”
Just then we came over the hill, and Darkside was laid out before us. I brought us in as efficiently as I could, turning at the end to point our backside at the military ship. I dropped the ramp and said, “Go to Sartine.”
“So bossy,” she said. “You are so going to get spanked.”
“Promises,” I said. “Any time.” I followed her down the ramp, and then we both stepped aside as two of Darkside’s crew moved up the ramp, guiding the gravity sleds. It took them two trips, and then they stowed the lift devices. The three of us moved forward, past the boxes, and I asked, “Are you more qualified to fly this than I am?”
“Probably,” said the woman. “But it’s a short ride, and you’re fine.”
We took seats. I powered up and stared at the display. “We’re overweight.”
“You have a great figure,” the woman said. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know what’s back there.” I hooked a thumb. “But we’re four hundred kilos overweight.”
“We’re fine.”
“We’re in the mountains.”
“We’re fine.”
I looked at her. I remembered regulations. And I opened a conference with Colonel Blue and Governor Grace.
Ri
ver laughed. “It’s fine, Maddalyn.”
“You don’t even know what I want.”
“You’re a few hundred kilos over gross. Make it an easy ride.”
“Regulations-”
“If you’re uncomfortable, Maddalyn,” she said, “I can fly it.”
“Do what she says, Maddalyn,” Cecilia said. “But if my jumper crashes, I get all these lovely power generation toys for free.”
“Maybe I should fly,” River said immediately. I didn’t wait and lifted in to the air. “Hey!” she complained. “I was serious.”
“Too late,” I said, cutting off the conversation.
We were heavy and slow, and after we set down, I said, “I’m not doing that again. We will either take extra trips, or someone else can fly.”
“You did well,” said the woman. “Want to learn how to drive a grav sled?”
“Sure.”
* * * *
It took a second trip, and this one was just under gross weight. We dropped everything off and flew back. “I’m not parking this thing in there,” I said.
“Yeah, we don’t fly in, either. Just park, ass backwards, please.”
I did that, then shut down. They grabbed the gravity sleds, and by the time we were done, more crewmembers were there. I turned out we were using the baby grav sleds. I watched as they used Momma Grav Sled to bring the jumper aboard. They lashed her down, and when they were done, I was struck by just how big Darkside was.
I thought Cecilia’s jumper was big. It was just a baby.
Halfway to Sudden, Mordain confirmed she was on her way back to the embassy with a confused Luradinine.
“Please have a vehicle available for us,” I said. “We’re… Holy shit! We’re ten minutes out, although I imagine landing will take more time.”
“Maddalyn,” Cecilia said. “Have them come to the airfield.”
“Right. Mordain, change that. Wait for us at the airfield, and get Baardorid there, too, but have enough vehicles for us.”
* * * *
My jumper landed just a minute ahead of us, and Mordain was still maneuvering when we settled in over the runway. Two minutes later, River announced, “We’re done. The skin will be warm. No touching.”
“She is such a showoff,” Cecilia said. “I can’t imagine anyone else commanding Darkside.”
