Blood of the Cosmos (38 page)

Rlinda held up a finger. “Don't you worry about a thing. I read your message, and that's all I needed to know.” She lowered herself into the extra wide chair behind her desk. “On second thought, I want to hear everything. From you directly. Sorry you got into so much trouble. I thought I was doing a good thing by asking you to check on that stubborn fool, Olaf Reeves.”

“They're all dead,” Orli said.

“I know that, but it's not your fault. They caused their own problems.”

“It was still a tragedy.”

“Yes, it was. But while some tragedies are unavoidable, some are caused by human stupidity.” Rlinda reached forward and picked up a silver capsule mounted on a Lucite stand on her desk. She ran the capsule between her fingers, rolling it, staring at it. A sheen of tears filled her eyes.

“When BeBob died, there was no warning, no way I could've known to be there. He just dropped dead walking across the street.
That
was a tragedy. Unavoidable. Now, after I go, two capsules with our ashes will be shot off into space together, and that'll be a romantic end to the story.” Rlinda wiped her eyes, replaced the capsule, and glanced back at Orli. “I suppose you want another chance and another ship?”

DD immediately said, “We would like that very much, Rlinda Kett.”

“Maybe…” Orli said. “Or something here?”

“I'll turn you over to Tasia and Robb, and they'll find something for you to do.” She smiled. “For myself, I'm off on a special mission for King Peter and Queen Estarra—to negotiate with a secret medical facility that just may have a cure for Prince Reyn. I'm told that the answer is probably going to be no, but I don't like that answer.” She sighed. “Poor Raindrop. I plan to use my negotiating skills and my charm—or anything else that might be required.”

 

CHAPTER

60

XANDER BRINDLE

The
Verne
headed for the coordinates contained in the mysterious message someone had left Terry at Ulio Station. They arrived in “the dead center of nowhere, just a little bit to the left,” as Xander described it.

OK studied the long-range sensor results. “I detect a large ship ahead. Judging by its configuration, it appears to be an Ildiran warliner.”

Screen enhancements finally showed the silhouette of an enormous vessel lit by only a few twinkling lights, while the rest of the hulk was dark, ominous. “It's Ildiran all right, but what's a warliner doing out here? And why would they contact you at Ulio?”

“I don't know any Ildirans,” Terry said, baffled.

It was too late to be cautious, however, since the ghost ship would have detected their arrival. Even so, Xander made sure all the
Verne
's defenses were up as they proceeded toward the rendezvous.

Terry leaned forward, staring at the screen—and suddenly burst out laughing. “That's not just any warliner—it's Maria! Maria Ulio.”

The
Verne
's comm activated, and an old woman's face appeared on screen, her skin a spiderweb of wrinkles, her gray eyes twinkling. Her smile was genuine. “Glad you got my message, boys. I appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to talk with a lonely old woman.”

“Maria!” Terry cried. “You could've left us more of a clue. We didn't know why anybody wanted to meet us—and lately, people aren't always friendly.”

“I wanted to pique your curiosity. Would you have come if you knew it was just me?”

“Of course,” Terry said.

She chuckled. “Yes, you probably would have. Allow an old lady her melodrama.”

“But, why are you here, so far from … anything? What do you need from us?”

Maria leaned closer to the screen. “Since you came all the way out here, why don't you visit me in person? It's about time I had some company on this great big empty ship.”

Xander answered for them both, “We'll be right over.”

Though Xander already knew much about the woman who had taken Terry under her wing, he had never met her in person. Maria's salvaged warliner was huge enough that they could land the
Verne
inside one empty docking bay. After they exited the
Verne
and walked across the dim landing bay, a group of compies greeted them. “Maria Ulio asked us to escort you for a fine high tea.”

Xander looked at Terry. “I don't know what's more unexpected—finding legendary Maria Ulio out here, or learning that she drinks high tea.”

“She goes through phases,” Terry said. “She gets interested in something, then buries herself in it.”

“We even made crumpets,” said one of the escort compies.

The refurbished Solar Navy vessel was designed to carry thousands of Ildirans, but now Maria had the entire ship to herself—a full warliner for one person and a handful of compies. “Sounds about right,” Terry said. “She did like her elbow room.”

The old woman had converted the command nucleus into a penthouse for herself. She had remodeled the entire deck into a lavish relaxing room with the transparent dome overhead, so she could see the stars. She kept her ship's gravity low, partly to relieve the stress on her ancient heart and bones, but also for Terry's ease of movement.

As soon as he emerged from the lift, Terry propelled himself forward, legs extended behind him, until he collided with Maria, laughing. “It's good to see you again!”

She caught Terry and wrapped her bony arms around him, making them both lose their balance. “I have a soft spot for you, young man—or maybe a soft head.”

“A little of both,” Terry said; then he remembered his partner. “This is Xander.”

“I know who he is, dear boy, and I'm glad he makes you happy. For myself, what makes me happy is to be away from all those maddening people. I thought it was refreshing to be alone—for the first few years at least.”

Xander said, “You've got an empty ship all by yourself, parked halfway between star systems. I'd say you found a way to be alone.”

“Yes, I've got an abundance of quiet out here. Sometimes it's too quiet.… But every year or so I desire worthwhile company.”

“Which is why you invited us?” Terry said.

“That … among other things.”

On a table in the middle of the command nucleus was a tea service, three cups, a tray of scones, a jar of red jam, a pot of clotted cream, a honey dipper in a pool of what looked like real honey, as well as a three-tiered tray that held tiny fragments of sandwiches. The old woman folded her hands over a linen napkin at her place. “So glad you could join me in time for tea. I had no idea when you would get my message.”

“Well, I'm glad you found me.” Terry held the edge of the table and pulled himself into place. His expression of delight was plain as he looked at the spread. “All my favorites. You remembered, Maria!” Xander made sure his partner was situated before taking his own seat across from the woman.

When compies came forward like prim butlers and began to serve the high tea, Xander tried to participate as if he knew what he was doing. He had never tasted cucumber sandwiches before, which were strange, but the scones were delicious, particularly with the clotted cream. The tea was strong, and he indulged himself by adding milk and two dollops of honey from the dripper.

He leaned back. “So, you earned your place in history by creating Ulio Station, even if it came about by accident. It's an important commercial hub—and you just gave it all up?”

She offered Xander and Terry chocolate biscuits from a tray. “Ulio Station is a shining example of people sharing responsibilities and resources. But as always happens, when a good thing gets too big, the headaches become intolerable. I enjoyed the community I built, but then the squabbles and the esoteric bureaucracy made me give up. So, I left and never regretted it. Ulio Station can survive or fall, with or without me. I'm not a part of it anymore.”

“Sounds like you're bitter, Maria,” Terry chided. “That's where I met you, where I learned so much of what I know. I don't regret it for a minute.”

Maria sipped her sweet tea. “That's why I brought you here, dear boy, to remind me of those things. Sitting alone in empty space, I have too much time to think.”

“Were you cheated by the station?” Xander asked, figuring that might explain her mood. “Written out of profits or something?”

Maria chuckled. “Oh no—not that at all. I've got more wealth than anybody would know how to spend. It's built into our original charter that a percentage of all trading fees goes into several accounts in my name, dispersed across various financial institutions, and I have quite a vault of tangible assets stored back at Ulio … but I left all them behind. Now that I don't need wealth, I seem to have an excessive amount of it.” She tapped her fingertips on the table.

The compies removed the dirty dishes, replaced their napkins with fresh ones. Xander dabbed a speck of clotted cream from the side of his mouth.

Maria continued. “Now, since I don't require any of that wealth, and I certainly don't intend to spend it out here, I thought it better go to some kind of use. Why should I let the bankers have all the fun?” She leaned over and prodded Terry on the arm. “I don't have any blood heirs, and you're as close as I can come to a son.” When she smiled, the wrinkles on her face seemed to vanish.

Xander caught his breath, but he saw that Terry didn't realize what she was suggesting.

“I've already initiated the transfer and filed the necessary documents,” Maria continued. “Terry Handon, you are now the heir to a specified percentage of all future profits from Ulio Station. You'll need to go to the Central Offices, talk to whoever the current chief is, get everything transferred into your name.” She pointed at the three-tiered tray. “Try the watercress sandwiches with cream cheese—I particularly like those.”

“But … what will I do with all that money?” Terry didn't look greedy, simply perplexed.

“Exactly the problem I've been struggling with.” She waved a hand. “Donate it to some reconstruction project, if you want. Buy a planet. Paint your ship green, for all I care. I don't plan on going back to Ulio Station. I'll just stay out here and watch. I have this enormous ship with enough food and power blocks to last me five centuries. I certainly don't need the accounts anymore.”

“How … how much money is it?” Terry asked.

“Dear boy, the balance is large enough that you never actually need to worry about what the balance is.”

Xander interrupted before his partner could keep asking unnecessary questions, “I'm sure we can find some worthwhile investments or causes, ma'am.”

“I don't know what to say,” Terry said.

Xander nudged him in the side. “
Thank you
would be a good start.”

“Thank you,” Terry said. “You've already done so much for me, taught me how to repair starships, gave me a home when I was nowhere.” Tears were sparkling in his eyes.

“And I'm proud of you, boy.” The old woman sipped her tea, then looked at the observation dome over their heads. She turned to one of her compies. “Would you mind showing us the stars, please?”

The compy dimmed the lights in the command nucleus, and the three of them sat in the darkness, drowning in a blizzard of pinpoints.

Maria grew more serious. “You may need resources in the coming years, might even want to buy a ship of your own like this and find a place to lie low. I see things out here … dark and terrible things.”

“What do you mean?” Xander asked.

“I've been out in space long enough to have a sense for this. Something is different now, I can feel it. It's like the universe is
awakening
. I don't know how else to explain it. I've seen shadow nebulas that appear and disappear, lines of strange nodules floating along for parsecs, connecting nothing to nothing.” She turned her gray gaze back to them, leaning closer to Terry and Xander. “Keep an eye out. I have a feeling things are going to get a lot worse.”

 

CHAPTER

61

AELIN

Inside Dauntha's quarters on Ulio Station, Aelin gradually began to feel like a green priest again. A year ago, when he joined Lee Iswander in his first bloater-extraction field, Aelin had sworn not to reveal the source of ekti-X. Back then, he hadn't known what he was agreeing to, and now he didn't dare call attention to the source lest he trigger hundreds of copycat operations.

With the expansion of the Confederation after the Elemental War, freelance green priests were in demand on starships and isolated colonies to provide instantaneous communication via telink. Dauntha had seen a need at Ulio Station, with so many visitors and traders wanting to send personal messages or business communiqu
é
s. After coming here, she sat with her treeling and took visitors one by one, every hour of the day. She spoke to her clients, found out what sort of mood or message they needed, then used her treeling to pass the word throughout the extensive verdani network.

Right now, Aelin observed as a man with red hair and a bushy beard sat across from her, all business, no casual conversation. “I need to send a message to my company headquarters on Herren 3. There is a green priest stationed on the opposite continent, but he can convey the message once he receives it from you.”

Dauntha nudged the treeling in Aelin's direction. “My partner will make contact. He can relay your words.”

Aelin hesitated, but of course he knew how to do this. He had been pressed into service as a green priest many times. Redbeard didn't seem to care one way or another.

“The verdani mind will know the name of the green priest on Herren 3,” Dauntha said, as if to reassure Aelin. “You can find him.”