Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (10 page)

They embraced and then Leah stepped back to
pointedly look down the corridor after the man. "A visitor Moriah - that's
nice, is he an old friend?"

"Yes," she said quickly, "a
cousin in fact, Leith, he came as crew on the Fair Passage delivery voyage and
then stayed to tour Earth before returning to Gliese. He leaves in a few days
to go back." She turned and ushered Leah in through the door.

"Did he have news from Cora for
you?"

"Yes and no; Leith is based on Fifino Orbital
managing a business there. He purchased in the days of the Emperor and has done
very well; he's trading throughout the whole system now."

They made themselves comfortable in the
spacious yet modest lounge and Leah could see Ruben playing in the small
garden.

"And yet he came here as crew on a
passenger vessel - isn't that a little strange?" Leah continued to probe
gently.

"Oh Leah, have you any idea how many
from Gliese want to visit here? He jumped at the chance to come early and of
course Aaron has opened up the possibility for traffic so regular that Earth
could become a new tourist destination, an adventure trip." Her eyes seemed
to glaze over at the mention of Aaron's name. She drifted for a moment then
continued. ". . . And with Aaron's work establishing the link to Orion,
well, people could eventually travel across the galaxy in weeks."

"Hmm, it is great," Leah smiled
to encourage her, "and with the research Regan has been getting for him
who knows where we will get to in time." She attempted to bring some
perspective to Moriah, reminding her that Aaron wasn't operating in an
information vacuum. It was to no avail and the Coran seemed not to hear.

Moriah shifted forward excitedly,
"Aaron feels he can link up the galaxy, open up other systems, perhaps
even undiscovered planets that will sustain life, the opportunities are
endless."

Leah frowned, "And would your cousin
be interested in such things?"

"Oh yes, who wouldn't, the
possibilities for business are huge and Leith sees a great future for Aaron -
he's right don't you think?"

"Of course, he has great opportunities
now as well as in the future. Regan values him hugely Moriah, although I don't
think business is Aaron's interest. He loves his research and development, put
him in a lab, or an engineering workshop and he's as happy as a clam."

"I'm sorry; a clam?"

Leah chuckled. "It's a saying from
home, when Aaron’s working in his workshop he's like a clam, a shellfish at
high water, he's in his element; work is what makes him happy."

"Hmm, yes he's happy I agree, but
perhaps sometimes he doesn't see the value of his work, I wish he did."

"Oh I'm sure he knows he's valued,
Moriah, Regan thinks very highly of him, as do the people of the Regil star
system." 

"Oh, I'm sure they do . . ."
Moriah hesitated before changing tack, "Would you like to eat something? I
have some of your pancakes fresh?" And with that she stood and moved
through to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder as she left. "My cousin Leith
has recommended a patent lawyer from Reubus Orbital to me, he feels Aaron
should be protecting himself and I tend to agree. He is so innocent and trusting
don't you think?"

Leah shifted uncomfortably and leaned
forward to call through the door. "Moriah, before you do anything, I think
Aaron should talk to Regan, that would help I'm sure."

The muffled reply came back, difficult to
read in terms of sincerity. "Oh, yes of course, I will think about it and
talk with him."

Leah could sense Moriah's hesitation, and
then the bustling signs of kitchen activity again filtered out to the room.

Hmm, I need to talk to Regan.

* * * * *

Chapter Three

Rigel star system in the Orion Belt

Both androids stretched uncomfortably in the
tiny probe, traveling as they were lengthways and feet first in the direction
of travel. They bickered as the missile soared into atmosphere and down through
the bleak night sky.

"I don't like this; I don't like it at
all."

"Bob, this kind of reconnaissance is
essential so be a man, toughen up, what are you a wuss?"

"Ham, I have no idea what a wuss is,
as you well know but I'm sure it's nothing remotely like me. We could be
alerting them to our plans; it's a mistake to go in."

"And yet you are here, it's
invigorating isn't it? This is real life my . . ." Ham shuffled
uncomfortably as he clamped down on what he was about to say, then settled on ".
. . my accomplice."

His companion laughed. "Ha - you were
going to say friend, admit it, you like me."

Ham ignored him, concentrating on the data
flow as they approached this small dense twin to Bob's home planet which likewise
orbited the star Rigel. Both cycled a similar distance from their sun and
chased each other continually as they had for trillions of years, but not
forever. This satellite planet Regis was slowly catching its brother Rexis and
at some point tens of thousands of years in the future the gravitational
influences would wreak havoc; but not now.

Ham grimaced. "I need to concentrate
Bob. It wouldn't pay to make a mistake with the landing would it, and I want to
make the drop at juuust the right spot." He drew out the word comically,
winding Bob up with his casual attitude. It was deliberate.

Bob now shifted uncomfortably and Ham
looked sideways at him, a look made with difficulty in the shared tube. "Ha!
You've dialed down your pain settings haven't you?"

Bob shrugged uncomfortably. "It would
be mad not to, this is going to hurt."

Ham grunted. "An old sage once said,
make pain your friend, grasshopper." He smiled as he made the final small
adjustment sending them into a steep dive. They were resting feet first now and
both braced themselves for the jerk of the chute they knew would come soon . .
.

The missile-like shape buried nose first
into soft earth. The ground gave more than Ham expected and the door which was designed
to ratchet outwards and down, was wedged shut with the weight of earth around
them. The parachute, though dark in color, would still draw attention draped as
it was over the few trees in the area and they needed to move fast. Consequently
they would need to work together.

Dialing up power in the android limbs they painfully
worked their arms up to the chest and then pressed outward simultaneously, a titanic
effort that produced metallic pops and groans before the door cracked open with
a sound like a rifle shot. Clambering quickly over the jagged edge, first Ham
then Bob dropped to the earth and they began hauling in the chute. Ideally they
wanted at least two days to accomplish their reconnaissance and to do that it
was essential they not be discovered early. Bundling the fabric into the probe
they commenced digging like moles, scooping away the earth in a blur of arms to
create the shallow trench needed to hide the transport and bury it completely.
It took an hour to dig, bury and disguise the craft and eventually only a
slight mound betrayed the spot. It was six hours till dawn, time enough to
quickly gain ground toward their objective, the celestial city. Once there they
would need to find a place to settle through the daylight hours. Beginning a steady
jog through the trees they moved quietly through the forest and then
accelerated out onto a wide plateau, settling on a steady twenty five miles per
hour run through pitch blackness. Neither bothered to look back; they would not
be returning.

Sunrise found them laying face down on the main
peak overlooking the city. Neither appeared tired; these android forms could
have continued running for several more years, negotiating the planet without
trouble either overland or under water. The one hundred and twenty mile overnight
journey had melted away beneath their feet without incident, with no artificial
light to expose their progress. Nearing the city they had slowed, taking more
time and being much more cautious about their approach. Having deliberately
taken the most difficult path to the peak they felt confident no one would be
aware of their presence; the natives here would never have expected visitors. Dialing
up their vision they now zoomed in, surveying the scene with grudging
admiration.

Early dawn revealed the hustle and bustle
of a surprisingly high tech city. Technological it may be but nevertheless as
they watched, vehicle accidents confirmed what they already knew, high level
technology did not extend to support from Artificial Intelligence. Ham already
knew the fears of AI emergence had led both to the tribe's flight here from
Rexis and their falling behind in development. Of more concern was that fears
had evolved over the generations since into religious observance and commitment
that Bob was cynical could be changed.

He reviewed for Ham the little intelligence
they had. The planet had an estimated population of twenty five million with a median
age of thirty two years and a male female split of roughly fifty/fifty. Those demographics
combined with the Regis tribes social values meant they were ideally placed to
thrive and grow in population, given the right environment. With nothing to
curb growth rate in the ten generations since the tribe's departure from Rexis
to this planet the population had roughly doubled every twenty years. The only
problem they faced was that roughly seventy three percent of the Regis's
surface was uninhabitable due to the orientation to the mother star and the
planets minimal spin. Much of the surface was ocean, and much of the land was
desert.

". . . and what will that mean for the
future Ham?" Bob continued pessimistically, "It doesn't take an AI to
work it out. They have a growing population, with limited space and resources.
Conveniently just nearby rests the ideal potential home, one with an aging
population who are soon to die out and it is a planet with which they share history.
Many of the people of Regis consider our home planet their heritage and they
have long waited for this opportunity to return. They are restless Ham; I don't
believe they will wait for much longer and when they return they will seek to
wipe us out, we Minds I mean."

"Bob, you let this happen, you know
that." Ham's eyes were fixed on the Celestial Palace in the centre of the
city.

Bob followed Ham’s gaze while still talking.
"What could we do - nuke them before they became a threat? And what good
would that do? The population on my planet Rexis is already in decline anyway.
Even if we wiped their population out, which we would
never
do by the
way, our people at home would still die out within two, maybe three generations
and only we Minds would be left. No, this tribe, as much as they represent a
threat to me they also represent the only hope of this humanoid species for
many generations."

"And yet if you do open Rexis to them
they will wipe out you and the other Minds because they're small minded and
afraid."

"Correct." Bob became wistful,
staring off into the distance.

"The stars protect us from mad
religions eh?" Ham spat it out in disgust.

Bob shook his head in bewilderment.
"Seriously, Ham the evangelist of Gliese is denigrating religion?"

"It was a tool Bob, and a damn useful
one at that, but there is no doubt it can be a dangerous tool in the hands of
blind zealots."

"Hold on - Reganism is still the
fastest growing religion in the Gliese system and you started it!"

Ham nodded in agreement. "And therefore
clearly I am in a unique position to comment on how dangerous religion can be,
I don't see what you're getting at?"

Bob lay speechless for a few seconds before
returning his attention to the palace. "If they have something to use
against the Minds, it has to be in there."

Ham nodded. "Tomorrow we go in. We'll
gather as much local knowledge as we can then hightail out of here until the
troops arrive."

Bob still looked unconvinced and shuffled
up on one elbow. "Ham, no one among our people fights. Even with this
intelligence I fail to see what we can do; they are younger, better armed and
very defensive."

"Bob, on our world we call what we are
about to do a surgical strike, basically we excise the problem so that it
doesn't develop. I'm almost certain no one will be hurt in the process . . .
well, none of our people anyway."

* * *

Hillary Station, Sol System.

The women drew admiring looks and whispers
from the passing throng as they strode toward the Stein family compound.
Everyone on station knew Regan and Leah, and Charlotte could sense somehow she
was bathing in reflected glow; she loved it, especially the looks of the men
who seemed to have outnumbered women everywhere they had visited. At Regan's
request, Leah had been watching the newcomer like a hawk, and she had been
impressed.

[Isn't it great seeing things through fresh
eyes again?] She subbed to Regan.

[You got it babe, it reminds me how much I
take for granted up here now, Charlie's like a breath of fresh air.]

They guided Charlotte through into the
Stein Compound after three hours of touring the station during which they had
explored the flight decks, enjoyed a circuit of the tube that took in the whole
helix spiral and then lunched at the Cafe Luna in Central Park. It would be
fair to say Charlotte was initially overwhelmed with this bonus holiday on
station and even more delighted to find the two women were her tour guides but
her demeanor had changed as the day progressed. She was still relaxed but
definitely in control of her emotions. Regan wondered what was going through
the woman's mind, and how she would respond to the proposal they had in mind
for her. The woman wasn't stupid, far from it, and with the tour coming to a
close she had become a little cannier in Regan's estimation.
She knows she's
being wooed.
Just the thought made her chuckle.

"Something funny, Regan?" Leah
asked.

"I've just had a great afternoon babe,"
and she turned to their guest, "what about you Charlie, how do we stack up
as an organization?"

"Ha!" She laughed, "I
already knew you'd be top class - with Hilary running the ship everything had
to look good." She stopped and turned to take Regan's hand. "Regan,
thank you so much for this, and you too Leah, I'm the envy of the whole team down
at Riverside. You know it would do so much for everyone to get a chance to come
up here occasionally; I'd love to bring groups up as a reward. You've already
won them over but you'd have them for life if they got up to the station."

"We might just do that Charlie, something
for us to consider perhaps, but I'm not sure you will be the one bringing up the
groups. Come on into the lounge, I have a proposal for you, and I hope you'll
take it up."

Charlotte hardly seemed to bat an eyelid at
the suggestion, following Regan's gesture and walking through to the spacious
room with Leah behind.

As they entered Regan turned and exchanged
looks with her partner, both clearly having the same thought.

Leah nodded agreement. [She's unflappable!]

[And she certainly knows how to stay
neutral.]

They trailed after Charlotte into the
lounge to find Mary already waiting for the customary embrace. Hilary was manifesting
to the side, the gracious lady wearing a huge smile on her face and they could
see coffee waiting on the table.

Everyone took seats while Mary began to
pour coffee.

Regan took the lead.

"Charlie, thank you for coming up, I
think you know we probably had another agenda for getting you here?" She
smiled warmly.

Charlotte laughed. "I'm hoping you're
going to offer me a job on station, because if you're not I'll have to be
dragged kicking and screaming back to the Pod."

"So - you'd like to be working in
space?"

"Who wouldn't? Honestly Regan, there
wouldn't be a team member at Riverside who doesn't dream of the chance to be up
here, much as we all love our jobs down there."

"Hmm, well, sadly it's not a job for
you here on Hillary that we have in mind." Regan paused; interested to see
Charlotte's reaction and the woman seemed to deflate with disappointment.

Mary couldn't stand it. "Oh for goodness
sake Regan, don't tease it out, you've already made your mind up I can tell. Put
the poor girl out of her misery."

Regan smiled, and with a sweep of her hand
raised an image that filled the huge lounge screen. It was the liner Fair
Passage, hanging in space just off the earthward end, flanked by the Behemoth
and the Ascendant. Moving between the huge vessels tiny dots could be seen
shuttling and Regan could see Charlotte's eyes following them.