Regan's Reach 4: Avarice (7 page)

He laughed. "Of course, I understand,
you have partners at home . . . in the Earth system. But you can't blame a Mind
for hoping, can you? You have so much to share," and then he couldn't help
himself, glancing once again at the android, "Gliese would benefit so much
from you being here more."

Regan teasingly stroked the leg of the
female form beside her and she could see Reubus shiver uncontrollably. "I
must go for now; Reubus please, if you care for me go easy on Tihan, you have
so much already; do you really need more?"

He settled back and smiled patronizingly.
"Tihan yes, I love him like a brother and I respect his ability to
organize and manage, but Regan he knows nothing of business and . . . you
probably don't know but he has made so many poor decisions. For you, my dear, I
will help him as much as I can, but in some ways acquiring businesses there is
the best way to do it. Some would say it is a kindness."

Regan stood and nodded her head in
acknowledgement. "Do what you can Reubus, for me, and I will think on the
things you have said."

"I can ask no more." he replied,
rising to take her extended hand, a cyber haze seeming to enshroud the android
arm as he did so, reaching above the skin to meld with her essence.

He seemed to draw something and she
willingly let it pass, watching his eyes glaze over for a moment in ecstasy
before she dissolved in gentle fading light leaving him standing there alone.

* * *

Dahlia Orbital

They reunited in a favorite cyber
construction on Dahlia Orbital; Regan, the beautiful man, and the gracious
lady. Regan sighed; relieved now to be with those she could be completely open
with. What Ham had been up to she would soon find out. What Dahlia/Hilary knew
she would also soon know, but for now she was happy to inform.

The greetings over, she reclined in her deck
chair on the beach, reflecting on how nice it was to be meeting in this
beautiful bay, and reclaiming it as a favorite meeting place they could take
anywhere in the Galaxy.

"It was an interesting meeting with
Reubus."

"Interesting - how so dear?"
Hilary asked.

"Hmm, it would be easier and you'd
get a better feel for everything if you experience both meetings for yourself. Feel
free to rummage around in here, both of you; do the Tihan meeting first then
Reubus, I'd be interested to know what you think."

And she opened to them, a vague sense of
shared space coming to her as they updated from her data files, and she joined
them, reliving the meetings for the few moments it took but this time as an
observer, not a participant. Although she had been instinctively aware of Reubus's
solicitous attention on review, as she focused on him his look was unmistakable
- it was lust, he wanted her.

"What a shit!" Ham finally
exclaimed. "Is there anything more odious than a randy android?"

"Actually, he was very nice Ham, not
forceful at all, or odious."

"You're not seriously considering
it?"

"No of course not, but for the
moment it won't hurt that he's interested." Regan turned to Hilary and
noted a slightly wistful look in the gracious lady’s eyes. Putting the
observation aside for later she pressed on to the most concerning issue.

"Hilary, what's your take on this,
the business thing?"

"Hmm, I've never taken much
interest in inter-Orbital politics or business, not until meeting you anyway
dear and even now all that's happened is that I look a little further afield in
protecting our interests as I see them. I had no idea Tihan had allowed himself
to put the Orbital in such a precarious situation. Reubus is right, he's the
businessman and he knows how to maximize returns. Tihan is more an
administrator and he enjoys it, whereas Reubus would always employ a manager to
administrate. Therein lies the difference, Reubus can't really be blamed for
that."

Ham shook his head in concern.
"That may be true but he will get stronger and stronger if we let him.
Perhaps we should have considered this Regan; it may have been remiss of
us."

Regan turned slowly to the beautiful
man. "Oh . . . so now it's 'we' and 'us', cyber man." She looked
stern and then broke into a disarming smile. "Whatever - we need to
monitor the situation . . .  and Hilary, now that you are fully aware of the
situation please be careful. You don't need anyone else to take over your
businesses. If you do need help, just call."

"Thank you dear, you know I
wouldn't hesitate but I have things in hand."

Regan nodded agreement "Of course,
I must say I smiled when I heard you'd already purchased your own energy
source. Well done, and Tihan is envious for sure. Plus you at least have your own
primary industry; you're already the main exotic food source for the system.
How could they do without you and your produce?"

Ham and Hilary exchanged knowing looks,
an action that did not escape Regan.

"What am I missing?"

"Regan, think about it, it's only
humanoids and other animals who are concerned about food; food isn't important
to Reubus, he's a Mind. You can't assume he cares whether humanoids can eat."

Her look changed as the insight dawned
on her too.

"Oh . . ."

* * *

Sol System, Hillary Station

The jump back to Hilary Station was
instantaneous and uneventful. Regan mused on the thought that she was
effectively a data transport now. Ham and Hilary began immediately updating
with their local selves as did she, and of course she returned with the alternative
energy data from Tihan. She wasted no time passing this on to Aaron, knowing he
would need a new challenge soon anyway. The wormhole project was now largely
completed and for the time being anyway it was simply a matter of portal
construction, anchor placement and refinements. He was delighted to hear about
the challenge and received the data with an enthusiasm that as always she found
infectious. He and Kutch would work together on the project, the two men happy
partners in development as joint Special Projects Directors. They worked
together well, with complementary skills and talents, Aaron being brilliant on
the technical side while weak on people. Kutch was strong on the technical but
most importantly provided that important people skills link that enabled easy
working with every other arm of the organization.

Having lightened her data load Regan's mind
drifted back to Gliese, and the expanding Reubus empire.

Perhaps you dominate energy supply for
the moment Reubus my friend, but things will change. I would love to even that
playing field again.

Twelve days remaining before departure for Rigel.

Where is Jared?

* * *

Brian Timu unslung the hunting rifle and
placed it carefully against the twelve point stag he shot earlier. Jared
carefully placed his own rifle flat on the rock and but looked less content,
staring out over Lake Waikaremoana and not really interested in the view from
the top of Panekiri Bluff. His mind was still on his own missed shot from an
hour ago and it was eating away at him quietly. He stole occasional envious glances
at Brian's kill while saying nothing.

Brian broke the silence. "Mate, breathe
out, squeeze the trigger, it works for me."

The boy didn't answer.

Brian grunted in frustration. "Jared,
I've missed more deer than you've had hot dinners; get used to it, sometimes
you just miss."

The boy kicked at a stone, sending it
tumbling into the void and down the cliff face. "I'm just disappointed Sir;
we need to head home soon and I was really hoping . . ." He gazed off into
the distance wistfully before turning back to the man, "But thank you, this
has been great. I really appreciate you bringing me." He kicked at another
rock, which ricocheted sideways off the face . . . and nudged his rifle, which
began to shift, and slide toward the edge. Scrabbling, Jared dived to grab it, a
reckless action on the slope which steepened alarmingly. He quickly lost
control with his momentum carrying him forward over the rifle and toward the
edge.

As Jared vainly clawed at the rock Brian flung
himself forward to grab a trailing hand, just as the boy dropped over the edge.
He jerked to a stop there, dangling in space from the strong arm.

"HAM!" Brian yelled painfully.
Having landed on Jared's rifle, the butt pressed into his ribs with every swing
of the boy's body adding to the misery.

"What are you two up to? This isn't a
time for games." The voice boomed in Brian's earpiece.

Looking across the lake Brian could just
see the Pod drifting in from the north. It didn't seem to be in any particular
hurry.

"Just get here Ham, I can't hold on
forever."

"What do you want me to do?" Ham
sounded particularly uninterested.

"Well do something; can't you just pop
him in there?"

"Hmm, not so easy, how attached are
you to that right hand?"

There was a short pause as Brian considered
the prospect of losing it in the displacement.

"Very . . . so what would you
suggest?"

"Just drop him; he needs to learn a
lesson."

"I'm not dropping him."

"Then prepare for application of plan
A; in five, four, three . . ."

Brian released the hand and suddenly the
boy was falling.  

From the Pod Ham watched as Jared initially
flailed and then bunched into a ball, turned one full somersault then extended
into a perfect swan dive plummeting toward the earth.

"Grrrrrrmmm . . ." a sound like
grinding teeth filled the cabin.

In the final second Ham snatched him from
the air and deposited the boy in the Pod; he was still smiling.

"Jared, you must be more careful. If
you let your attention drift from the job at any time - anything could
happen."

"Ha - I knew you wouldn't let me hit
the ground."

"But what if I wasn't there boy? I
might not always be able to help."

"Oh you'll always be there, we've
talked about this."

"Hmm - don't be so sure, your mother
is yet to be convinced."

"Then I will decide with you." He
was quite definite.

"We will need to get back to Hillary for
that discussion, Jared. let's pick up Brian and get underway."

And already the Pod was climbing to nudge
in backwards against the cliff top.

"Jared . . ." Ham hesitated.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

The boy was gazing dreamily into the
distance via the high resolution screen.

"Oh yes!" he replied quickly
without hesitation.

The doors slid open and Brian entered with the
stag over his shoulders and a rifle in each hand. He shrugged the stag to the
floor, carefully placed the rifles against the carcass and then thumped Jared
hard on the bicep, a short sharp punch that caused the boy to wince.

He glared at the boy and raised one finger
in admonition. "Not on my watch . . . okay?" And then he winked.

* * *

They met in the war room, just the three of
them like a real family, but with Ham minus his favored android form and instead
presenting as the beautiful man. It mattered little, Jared was the focus here
and he knew it. He had clearly thought things through, rationally and
logically, and he was quite determined.

He took Regan's hands now and met her gaze,
waiting to let the full strength of his determination sink in, and then he told
her how it was going to be.

"Mom, I understand your concerns, but
at the very least this is my rite of passage, the neural web would always have
been given to me at this age anyway, and you're already happy for me to have
that. Ham will be operating and while he's doing that step, to insert a
processer just as he originally did with you makes perfect sense and he has
even improved things; you know that. The processer, the speed, the power
source; everything is better, and it's what I want. I have only one other change
from what Ham has proposed."

Regan felt flat, neutral, switched off, the
events out of her hands now and she knew it. She could rationally understand
that her fears were over harm coming to Jared and tempting her to try and put
the whole procedure off. But at the same time she had no doubt this operation
was also part of protecting him; it was a conundrum. Having said that, giving
him the neural web was one thing, the implant, the power source . . . this kind
of invasive procedure scared the life out of her.