Eidolon (8 page)

"Are you sorry?" she asked as they moved
toward the lounge their tickets entitled them to, visible down a
small hallway, with well-appointed doorkeepers on either side.

Joshu sighed, squeezed her hand.

"Excited is better. But I'm a salesman; I
can sell things wherever I go, I can do things. You, I was so
concerned for you, Beba, that they'd lock you in finally. You are
sensitive and so connected to the world! You've been persistent
though, and I admire you the more for it!"

Beba walked straight ahead,
keeping her sight off his colors, trying not to pick up the
excitement of others, the fear of others, the joy of others--and
there were so many! Lights fluttered in front of her, but not the
colors of someone's psyche. The lounge indicated that boarding
would start on schedule for First Premium passengers on
Vashtara
.

That was them.
Their ship, their release
!

Derry had been positively amazed to hear
that they were off so soon, but then she'd been willing to deal
expediently. Joshu had signed the papers, wailing the while about
the deal, while knowing the price was reasonable, if not good. At
the last Derry made one more effort to recruit Joshu to her bed.
He'd parried it, red-eared, able to say in good conscience that
yes, he certainly would be in touch with her, when he returned.

Derry, of course, had not seen them at the
emigration center, where Management, police, and debt-services had
one last shot at their record and their money, before clearing them
as Class D returnables--the least desirable rating.

"Yes,"she told the man without a trace of
rancor, "I was the last planetary holder of the Sinners Rug of this
court order dated two hundred Standards ago. That rug has been
transferred to new ownership and taken off planet, I so
attest."

She'd done that, knowing full well that
Conrad Cash Sale had been away mere moments after she'd touched the
container that held the rug.

He helped her pack and roll it, watching the
care, concerned.

"This is not a theft," he said to her, "you
do not do this under duress."

She'd managed to smile at him.

"Not duress. It is apparent that you need
this rug more than I. Perhaps you and your friends will sport on
it: certainly it deserves the attention and appreciation of people
not afraid of joy. Perhaps," here she paused, on dangerous
territory momentarily, "perhaps this can bring you some measure of
relief to your grief, which must be a terrible thing to be so
compelling. And for me, this is relief. This is a good thing."

And then they were at the door, she and
Joshu, and the door woman nodded to them from behind her glasses,
saying, "We're so glad you've joined us for your trip to Brulandia.
Your baggage is on board and will be delivered to your stateroom
before you board. We hope you will enjoy some cheese and wine while
you wait. Brulandia is only five jumps away."

The door closed behind Beba as she vowed to
never again live where ignorance was winning.

--END--

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
are the celebrated co-authors of the best-selling Liaden Universe®
series and have been writing together since the first "Kinzel"
stories hit
Fantasy Book
in the early 1980s. They started the first Liaden
story in 1984 and have published a dozen novels and several dozen
short works in that series alone.

Along the way they've become fan favorites
at SF conventions from California, USA to Fredericton, Canada, with
Guest of Honor and Special Guest appearances at PenguiCon, COSine,
AlbaCon, Trinoc*con, ConDuit, MarsCon, ShevaCon, BaltiCon,
PortConMaine, SiliCon, Second Life Library, and elsewhere. Upcoming
Guest of Honor apperances include Oasis 23 in Orlando, Florida in
May 2010 and DucKon 19 in Napierville, Illinois in June 2010.

They count Baen, Del Rey,
Meisha Merlin, Ace Books, Phobos, and Buzzy Multimedia among their
English language publishers and have several foreign language
publishers as well. Their short fiction, written both jointly and
singly, has appeared in
Absolute
Magnitude, Catfantastic, Dreams of Decadence, Fantasy Book, Such a
Pretty Face, 3SF
, and several incarnations
of
Amazing
.

Their work has enjoyed a
number of award nominations, with
Scout's
Progress
being selected for the Prism Award
for Best Futuristic Romance of 2001 and
Local Custom
finishing second for the
same award.
Local Custom
was published by Buzzy Multimedia as an audio book
read by Michael Shanks --Stargate's Daniel.
Balance of Trade
, appeared in
hardcover in February 2004 and hit Amazon.com genre bestseller
lists before going on to win the Hal Clement Award as Best YA
Science fiction for the year.

Their most recent Liaden
novel is
Fledgling
, published in September of 2009, with
Saltation
(sequel to
Fledgling
) and
Mouse and Dragon
(sequel
to
Scout's Progress
) due in 2010. Baen will also be reprinting the original ten
Liaden novels in four omnibus editions starting in 2010. The
authors have several other works in progress.

Steve was Founding Curator of Science
Fiction for the University of Maryland's SF Research Collection as
well as Vice Chair of the Baltimore in 80 WorldCon bid, while
Sharon has been Executive Director, Vice President, and President
of the Science Fiction Writers of America; together they were BPLAN
Virtuals, an ebook publisher in the late 1980s. These backgrounds
give them a unique perspective on the science fiction field.