I rearranged flowers I had already arranged in the room where we would receive Master Skulla of the Unicorn. Such pretty things for a spaceship. Their delicate scents lightened my mood. Neither Captain Hill nor Joseph had said anything good about Joseph’s performance the previous meeting. But with Marcus gone, we desperately needed friends. It had taken weeks to arrange this meeting, long weeks that we used to study and fret. Long weeks of feeling alone.
Hopefully Master Skulla liked flowers.
Joseph came in with Caro wriggling in his arms. Her dark hair fell in fresh curls around her face. Even in a fancy blue dress, she looked out of place for a formal meeting. I raised an eyebrow at Joseph.
He shrugged. “I wanted to bring Caro or Sasha, and Caro dresses up better. We need to make Skulla smile.”
“I was hoping the flowers would do that.” I wanted to say so much more, like Caro should be a secret, and Caro might say the wrong thing, and What were you thinking? But I didn’t.
Joseph smiled as if he were totally innocent. “Caro asked to come.”
“And you always let five-year-olds dictate their own schedule?”
Caro gazed at me with her unique solemnity. “I turned six yesterday.”
Joseph and I shared a glance. What an awful parent I had become.
He ruffled her hair and kissed her cheek. “Here’s a birthday kiss.”
She slid free of him and raced to the far side of the room where she climbed up on a stool to smell the bouquets of flowers.
Joseph watched her, deep fondness on his face. “You must have decimated the gardens.”
“This is important.”
He hugged me. “Thank you. You’ve made it look like a party.” He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Caro is less likely to dig around in his data if she’s here.”
She turned on her stool. “I heard you. I promised.”
“Yes,” he said, smiling at her. “Yes, you did. And I trust you to keep your promise.”
“You don’t, but I will.”
At least they were talking out loud.
A chime notified me that Master Skulla’s ship had docked with the Thorn. I was out of time to do anything about Caro. She’d just have to behave.
Ten minutes later, Captain Hill brought Master Skulla in, then left, saying, “I’ve got to attend my shift change meeting.”
He stood taller than me by a head, and slender. A long grey ponytail trailed down his back to his hips, tied simply with a red beaded twist at the bottom. It contrasted with his severe black uniform.
We had chosen our everyday uniforms. I cursed myself, made a mental note to dress up next time, and held out my hand. “I’m Chelo Lee, Joseph’s older sister and his Deputy Secretary.” We had made the title up, and then Joseph had made it real.
Master Skulla’s hand felt bone dry and cool, his grip strong but not overbearing. I indicated my brother. “Of course you remember Joseph?”
“Yes.” His face gave nothing away, placid and neutral.
They shook hands, each looking friendly and awkward.
I finished the introductions. “And this is Caro, one of the children in our family. She wanted to meet you.”
Caro tilted her head up and offered her hand to him.
He looked like he wanted to laugh. He didn’t, but he bent down and took her small hand briefly in his long fingers. “Pleased to meet you.”
I ushered him and Joseph to a couch and asked Caro to help bring them wine and plates of snacks.
We had rehearsed questions for Joseph to ask. He had spent hours poring over specifications for ships and searching for details about Master Skulla’s background. None of that prepared us for when he looked at Joseph and asked, “Why are you here?”
Joseph, of course, blurted out the first thing he thought. “Marcus brought me.”
Skulla looked unimpressed. “Why did you come with him?”
“First, he saved me from the Port Authority. Then he saved me from myself.”
Joseph fell silent for a moment, and I hoped he was thinking hard. What he’d said so far made him a follower, and Skulla needed to see a leader.
“He taught me that power needs to be used for freedom.”
Skulla’s frown turned to a slightly curious look. “What does freedom mean to you?”
I thought of four or five good answers. The ability to choose for oneself. Enough responsibility to help others. Shared rules that people follow out of respect. The end of slavery. But impressing Skulla was Joseph’s job, so I kept my mouth shut and hoped.
My brother leaned back and spoke casually. “Responsible creation. You mentioned you’d seen the light-link butterflies? They are a vastly improved design, and live healthy lives, like regular butterflies. But the fliers? They could have been made more independent and healthier. Marcus and I studied their genetics, and there are flaws built into them for the express and only purpose of making them controllable. They could live free. Instead, they are effectively handsome spiritual slaves.”
Master Skulla’s thin lips twitched into a faint smile.
Joseph added, “We came here from Lopali. The fliers believe the spiritual part. They think they can save the world, even though they’re slaves. That feels wrong.”
It was an answer skewed for Makers, but a good one.
Master Skulla sipped his wine. “Go on.”
Joseph tapped his fingers on the table, hesitated, and then said, “Wouldn’t it be more responsible if we required that the freedom to create be combined with a requirement to create for the good of the created?” He waited for Skulla to nod. “If I create a shirt and sell it to you, and it falls apart, then it’s not really fair, right? But if it’s a good deal and I make money and you have a good shirt, you’re happy, right?”
Master Skulla again sipped his wine and nodded for Joseph continue.
“But if I modify a sentient being, or make a sentient being from scratch, then I shouldn’t be able to sell it, or to own it.”
“Then why would you Make it?” Skulla asked.
Joseph leaned back. “I might not. Or maybe I would do it for the love of the art. Or because that being needed to exist. We’re not weaker because we don’t create a slave.”
Caro crept in between the two men and slid onto Joseph’s lap. Her presence worried me. So much rested on this meeting, and on Joseph. I could have satisfied the Master’s questions more quickly, but it wasn’t me who owned three starships—no, warships—and parts of fourteen others. It wasn’t me who Marcus wanted this old, canny man to follow. He had to follow Joseph, willingly, and so Joseph had to perform.
My little brother, who had no practice leading men.
Master Skulla changed the subject. “What do you know of war?”
Caro held up her hand.
I held my breath.
Master Skulla looked down at her, his brows drawn together. “Yes?”
“We were all caught. My parents and Joseph and Chelo were left behind on Fremont after the first war, and then, after they got free and flew to Silver’s Home, they had to come back because me and my brother Jherrel were caught by Islans. There was a war about that, and Joseph made sure we won.”
Wow. I knew she knew both stories, but not that she had put them together.
“How old were you then?” Master Skulla asked Caro.
“I was a baby. I don’t remember it.”
He smiled at Joseph. “Maybe you can tell me the story.”
Joseph had paled; he took a sip of wine.
I handed him a plate full of food, but he set it down. I sat beside him and pulled Caro into my lap.
“You know the war started on Fremont?” Joseph asked.
Master Skulla nodded. “Star Mercenaries. From Islas. They killed some natives.”
Joseph managed not to wince.
He chose to tell the story short and straight. “My father sent the mercenaries. He thought we were dead, that the natives had killed us.” Joseph pointed at himself and at me. “Sending Star Mercenaries back to kill everyone was attempted genocide. The colonists had adopted us. Many were our friends and our family. They raised us. So it was utterly unfair when the mercenaries were sent to wipe them from Fremont.”
Caro stiffened in my lap.
Joseph looked at her, the two of them clearly sharing a moment of communication.
Master Skulla glanced at her and then back at Joseph. “She’s a Wind Reader?”
Joseph nodded as if it were only a small thing, and continued his story, keeping it simple enough for Caro to follow. “My father was sure we’d been killed at the end of the first war for Fremont. His affinity group had left a ship behind on Fremont, the New Making. Every day I breathed, I dreamed of flying it to find my parents.”
I felt proud of him for keeping it simple.
“I got my dream. I found my father on Silver’s Home, just in time to learn he had hired Islan mercenaries to wipe my family from the face of Fremont.” He looked at me. “Chelo was there. Liam and Kayleen, Caro’s other parents. All in danger because of my father.” He swallowed. “He planned genocide. He almost killed his daughter and granddaughter as well.”
Caro sat still in my lap. I stroked her stiff back to comfort her.
Master Skulla looked at each of us in turn, clearly assessing. Most disturbing of all, his gaze rested for a long time on Caro. “What happened next?” he prodded.
“My father came back to Fremont with me and a few of our friends, and we beat the Star Mercenaries.”
Skulla’s already pallid skin paled further. “Islas didn’t send the Star Mercenaries? Your father sent them?”
He had just learned that from us?
Joseph picked up a cracker, twirling it in his fingers. “To avenge us. I didn’t know about the babies until I got there. And well, we had to save them. To do that, we had to beat the Star Mercenaries. My father died in that fight.” Joseph’s face had gone stony. He’d left much out but included the bones of the story. The cracker stayed in his hand, a toy more than food.
Master Skulla sounded incredulous. “People don’t just ‘beat’ Star Mercenaries. Trained soldiers can’t do that. How did you?”
Joseph offered up one of the bits he had left out, his voice wooden. “To beat them, I had to control their ships.” He paused, looked directly at Master Skulla. “I learned to control Islan ships on Fremont. Smaller than these, of course. But I might be the only Master in this fleet who has ever controlled an Islan ship.” He swallowed, stopped, drank some more wine, and finally ate the cracker. I could see the moment he decided to go all-in. “I killed a ship. So I guess I can kill some of these if I have to. But I don’t want to. I want to end this without blood.”
A long time passed.
Captain Hill came in; I gestured her over with a finger on my lips. I wanted to hear what Skulla said next without an interruption. She nodded and sat quietly.
Skulla took some time to answer, as if he were turning Joseph’s words with a spade and checking for worms. “You know most of the crew on most of these ships wants to fight?”
Joseph nodded.
“Desperately wants to fight. Credit has been spent to outfit the best warships we’ve ever seen on these planets. Careers will be made, affinity groups will gain or lose power, Islas itself will gain or lose even more. They are betting their way of life.”
Joseph nodded again.
I held my breath.
Caro sat still, her fingers clenched tight on two of mine.
“There will be a fight,” Master Skulla said. “Perhaps we can make a peace out of the aftermath, perhaps not. But there will be one hell of a battle.”
Joseph blanched. “I know.”
All of our lives had been arrowed toward this fight, and we were going to be in it, probably in the next few days. And we weren’t ready. I hated it.
Skulla addressed Captain Hill. “I’ll tell the others to give Joseph his chance.”
The Captain’s expression looked lighter than I’d seen it since Marcus had died. She hadn’t heard most of what Joseph had said, but Skulla’s words apparently buoyed her.
Personally, I found it insulting that he addressed the captain instead of Joseph. But it didn’t look like Joseph had the common sense to be disturbed. He had impressed Skulla. But he hadn’t made a friend.
Two hours later, the flowers and snacks had all been put away and I’d sent notices to the captains of the Peacemaker and the Sun’s Orbit announcing Joseph’s ascension to Master, his promises to follow the fleet admiral’s commands, and his directions to his new captains to do so. We also affirmed their contracts, and at my suggestion, added a two percent increase to the entire payroll, as well as a modest one-time bonus to both captains. I’d seen the bank balances, and it seemed a wise expenditure. They needed to go to battle confident.
I had added the same bonuses to the Thorn’s payroll.
I went home. It felt like heaven to land on the couch next to Liam and fall into his arms. He looked tired, and I touched his cheek, admired the curve of his lashes. “We missed Caro’s birthday.”
“Oh, no!”
“She was philosophical about it.”
“I’ll make her a cake tomorrow,” he said. “I’m sure the kitchen staff will help.”
“Thanks.”
“How did it go?”
“Managing all these ships will be a full-time job. And then some. You should sign on. We need two hands.”
“Someone needs to watch the children. Better me than you.”
“That might be the harder job.” I told him about Caro’s turning the conversation, and about her insight, ending with, “I wouldn’t have put those things together so succinctly until I was a teenager.”
“It’s going to be hard to stop her from trying to play war games,” he mused.
“Sedatives?”
He knew I didn’t mean it, and he told me so by leaning down and kissing me as if we were on our way to bed, sending a thick shudder of desire through me in spite of my tired brain. “Are the kids in bed?”
“Caro went to Lou, and Jherrel has been asleep for an hour.”
“Kayleen?”
“I think she’s off making protest signs.”
I puffed out a breath and climbed out of my comfortable spot to pour us each a bulb of good red wine from Silver’s Home. “Can we keep Kayleen happy? Can we even keep her sane?”
He took the bulb from me. “She likes Lou’s company. I worry more about Joseph.”
He always knew my deepest fears before I did. No wonder I loved him so completely.
Liam nodded, and raised his glass. “Here’s to no one, ever, being lonely.”
He had the right of it. Joseph was alone. And he’d just become very, very rich. That would make him a target. He was spending more time with Ming, who now ran his security and sometimes stalked the halls beside him as his bodyguard, a job she took quite seriously. I wasn’t sure she had any training, but she looked the part. Then there was Captain Hill, who he almost seemed to have a crush on. She was probably too smart to fall for her Master, but who knew? He was no boy any more. He was wickedly smart, powerful, and now he was rich.
I looked Liam in the eyes. “I remember when we first left Lopali, and he said he didn’t know if he could kill again. He said it might destroy him if he did. In the meeting just now, he told Master Skulla he could destroy Islan ships. What will happen to him if he does?”