Yuen-Mong's Revenge (37 page)

 
     
She gave the girl a kiss and handed her to the child nurse who had
appeared at her side.

     
After the nurse had left the room, Bee remarked: "I don’t know what
magic you did, but I have never seen her take to a stranger."

 
     
"You know that she has empathic abilities."

 
     
Bee frowned. "I hope not. How do you know?"

 
     
"Because I have it too. That is why she felt safe with me." When
Bee’s brows creased in worry, Yuen-mong added: "It is a wonderful gift
to have."

 
     
All the others had taken their seat and they joined them. The talk
around the table broke into small groups. She felt the undercurrent and
knew that it would not take long before the topic of the riot would come
up, with the fingers pointed at her. Not unexpectedly, it was Pat.

     
"Cousin, what you did on Thursday was not only outrageously foolish,
but criminal. You injured two Foundation members. You can count yourself lucky that they decided not to lodge criminal proceedings against
you. But you will not get that lightly off for damaging the security
system. It will cost you at least two million credits."

 
     
She noticed that all conversation had stopped and everybody was
watching her. She smiled and replied: "Expensive toys, these androids,
are they?"

 
     
"They are not toys. They are the most advanced and sophisticated surveillance and security system in the galaxy."

 
     
"Impressive!"

 
     
"Yes, it’s a first of its kind."

 
     
"I mean impressive that it took me less than ten seconds to disable it."

 
     
He opened his mouth and then closed it abruptly. Mai’s giggle was
met with an angry look. "You may joke about it, but it will cost you
dearly. The Foundation is likely to censure you and that can lead to
expulsion."

 
     
"Pat, you are correct that it will be costly," interjected her grandfather,
"but not for her, only for the Foundation."

 
     
"But that is impossible."

 
     
"It is so, my son," said her uncle in turn, "Yuen-mong’s lawyer has
already lodged a suit against the Foundation for threatening her."

 
     
"But she will not succeed. It is clearly her fault."

 
     
"No, it is not," remarked Chen Young. "The security system only got
the approval after it was guaranteed that it would never intentionally or
accidentally attack a Foundation member. It was supposed to recognize
Yuen-mong and fire a shoot at her, not even point a gun at her. For some
reason, security failed to file her picture."

     
Pat looked at his grandfather, mouth open, ready to protest, but Dan
preempted him: "This incident also points to serious flaws in the system.
If Yuen-mong could disable it with two stones, just think of what a well-armed and determined assailant can do."

 
     
"The scanners at the gates would detect weapons. That’s just the point
of this whole affair. The system is vulnerable to unexpected weapons,
like a sling," replied Ko Young.

     
"Do you always carry arms like these?" queried Mai.

     
"No, Mai. The sling also serves to tie my hair. That is why I had it on
me that day. I don’t walk around with a bow and arrow," she replied
chuckling.

     
"But where did you learn how to use a laser gun?"

 
     
"Atun had one and I studied it after I met him." She felt Atun’s surprised expression without even looking at him.

     
"You were naughty with me that day. You lied when I asked you if
you had seen something. And there you were the cause of it all."

 
     
"Mai, I didn’t lie to you. You asked me if I had seen something, and
I told you yes. Granted I held back information, but that was for good
reasons. I never lie. If I don’t want to give an answer, I will tell you so.
But you also have to ask the right question." She felt the smile of her
grandfather, and it confirmed to her that he had humor.

     
"But what happened between you and the three young men?"

 
     
"The one with the broken wrist called me a cripple and ordered me to
move aside to let him pass. When I refused, he tried to slap me. The one
with the broken nose also made a move to hit me."

 
     
There was an embarrassed silence around the room, and she knew the
reason. She had mentioned the unmentionable — the topic nobody had
yet dared to broach, although she knew that it was constantly on their
minds. It was her grandfather who replied.

     
"Granddaughter, I know your affliction must severely distress you and
I realize that nothing could be done about it on Aros. But here we have
the best surgeons and they can restore you to full physical ability."

 
     
"Thank you, grandfather. But my limp doesn’t bother me, nor does it
prevent me from doing anything. I may consider it in a year or two."

 
     
Her words were met by stunned faces. After a pregnant pause, her
grandfather addressed Atun: "And what is your view about this, Atun. Is
it not a shame that a lovely person like Yuen-mong is afflicted like this?"

 
     
"Sir, it bothered me when I met Yuen-mong on Aros, but then I
realized that the affliction is not really hers, but rather was one in my
mind. I know no man or woman who can match Yuen-mong in physical
skills and stamina. She’s not a cripple. It’s our minds that are crippled for
thinking so."

 
     
"Well spoken, young man. I can see why she esteems you highly."

 
     
She met Atun’s gaze with a smile, ignoring Pat’s sneer.

     
Before leaving, she asked to see Ming again.

     
In the limousine back to their apartment, Atun confronted her: "You
tried the laser gun while you were leading me to your cave?"

 
     
"Yes, I tried it and it confirmed my father’s theory."

 
     
"Why didn’t you tell me?"

 
     
"But I did … more than once."

 
     
"Yes, you told me that electronics don’t work, but not that you had
tried the gun."

 
     
"I don’t think you would have believed me. You didn’t after I threw
you into the river, and I would never have pointed the gun at you if I
hadn’t been certain that it didn’t work."

 
     
"I felt such a fool then, and you were so beautiful in your anger."

 
     
"Was I?"

 
     
"Yes, like an angry goddess. That’s when I fell in love with you."

 
     
"I like it when you talk about me like that." She kissed his cheek. "I
like being your woman."

* * *

"I really do not understand that young woman," Ko Young remarked
when he accompanied his father back to the latter’s apartment. "Refuse
to have her limp corrected. She puts shame on all of us."

 
     
"Did you hear what her lover said? That it was not her affliction, but
ours to think so."

 
     
"Oh, he is completely under her spell. He cannot be taken seriously."

 
     
"I think it was very brave what he said, and there is much truth to it.
She definitely is not handicapped physically. I watched the broadcasts on
the Mall incidence several times. The speed with which she acted was
phenomenal and decisive, as if she had rehearsed it many times. But I
have no doubt that it was spontaneous. She even avoided the gun blast,
fortunately. The Aros instinct of survival. And she is equally sharp and
decisive in what she says. I think you should have a word with Pat. She
makes a fool of him every time he opens his mouth."

 
     
"Yes, unfortunately she seems to target him. Only last night, Syd
Twan has informed me that she wants to move into his villa within three
months. Pat will be furious."

 
     
"I suspected that when she refused to take up her mother’s old
quarters."

 
     
"I will talk to her and make her a good offer for the property."

 
     
"She will refuse, I’m certain. I think that the connection to her mother
means more to her than any money you can offer."

 
     
"She definitely does not show any loyalty to our family tradition and
shows no respect for the Foundation spirit. It has been a tradition for
more than a century that Foundation women yield to men. It is her refusal
to honor that tradition which caused this security debacle."

 
     
"But why do you expect her to show respect for the Foundation? She
grew up on a savage planet where survival came first and foremost, and
she is a survivor, you better take note of that. You cannot expect her to
shed suddenly twenty years of upbringing in a fortnight."

 
     
"There is more to it than that. She deliberately wants to cut her ties
with her family and even the Foundation. Right after that incident — in
fact it happened on her way to me, and she showed no sign, nothing; she
was as calm as anything — she offered to sell all her shares in UniCom
to me."

 
     
"She did? And what did you respond?"

 
     
"I tried to dissuade her. But she was adamant that she needed ready
credits of unlimited amounts, so she offered them to me at 90 percent of
market value."

 
     
"And you took it?"

 
     
"Yes, what else could I do."

 
     
"You could not let such an opportunity slip by, could you?" Chen
Young shook his head.

     
"I think I did the right thing. She really makes no effort to fit into our
family and severing the UniCom ties will make it easier to keep our
distance. I think most Foundation members will approve of it, especially
after this incident."

 
     
"Yes, she made fools of them too. Broadcasting the action repeatedly
and asking people to come forth with information, advertising the
security failure, and the only person who came forward was Syd Twan
with a suit for four million credits."

 
     
"That is why I think severing our ties with her will show that we do
not approve of her actions."

 
     
"I don’t like it. She is up to something and by buying her stake you
played right into her hand. She set you up, don’t you see? … Did she say
why she needed ready access to funds?"

 
     
"I asked her, but she was not forthcoming at all. All she mentioned
was going back to visit Aros. I guess they plan to exploit its gold deposits
there, but I think that is doomed. You heard another ship was lost there
recently?"

 
     
"Yes, but she and her lover escaped. They may know something that
nobody else does. You should have offered the help of UniCom’s
exploration division with a reasonable split in profits."

 
     
"But she does not seem to be interested in credits. She was willing to
lose half a billion credits as if it were peanuts."

 
     
"I think you underestimate her. She may never lie, as she claimed, but
she is definitely withholding important things from us. I think you will
rue the day you bought those shares. Did you already sign the contract?"

 
     
"Yes, Syd Twan drew it up yesterday and I signed. He has also taken
over the management of her fortune."