The thunder of conversation was so loud Talina, Shig, and Yvette could barely be heard over it; they sat at the end of the bar. Inga was doing a roaring business, glasses, cups, mugs, and jugs being handed across, filled, and handed back accompanied by the clink and clatter of coin, or Inga’s calls of, “Half-SDR for Tony!” At which time young Micky would chalk it onto the credit board at the other end of the bar.
The cause célèbre, of course, was the big hearing, Supervisor Aguila’s surprise appearance, and Dan Wirth’s culpability. Wagers were being placed as to whether Tosi Damitiri would ever be brought up on charges of abuse. Most figured that Wirth was already taking steps to have Tosi’s body “disappear” somewhere out in the bush.
Tosi, no matter what his dubious qualities might have been, was getting less than twenty percent odds of ever facing the board.
“The moment Kalico walked in, I knew it was all over,” Shig said, his half glass of wine held delicately in his fingers. “And, at the same time, it was the answer to a dilemma.”
“How to keep them safe?” Yvette asked. “Dan Wirth isn’t known for forgetting a slight.”
“I had an aircar ready to haul their butts out to Riggs’ place. Chaco and Madison could have used the help.” Talina glared angrily at her mug of stout.
Yvette laughed bitterly. “We all know they could have never come back to town. Even given what I suspect Aguila is going to do to them, I imagine it’s better than what they had at Damitiri’s. The man’s a nut. What prompted Wirth to send them out there?”
“Unless she shoots them.” Talina wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“That is her prerogative. Spacers take desertion seriously.”
“Don’t forget, we funneled a lot of Turalon’s crew through here.” Yvette reminded.
“And they’re all out in the bush.” Shig lifted his glass to the light, studying the wine’s deep red color. “In that regard, we were smarter than Dan Wirth.”
“Going to have to put the word out.” Talina shifted on the stool. “They come to town, we can’t protect them.”
“Careful,” Yvette said. “Here comes Aguila.”
Talina glanced over where the Supervisor pushed through the crowd, looking irritated that they didn’t part for her. Behind came Lieutenant Spiro—and Private Dina Michegan was sticking closely to the lieutenant’s heels while glaring daggers at the press of Donovanians.
Some, recognizing Aguila, stepped back with a slight nod. Others ignored her.
“So much for the vaunted privilege of the ruling class.” Talina noted.
“Only through conflict and overcoming obstruction does the Supervisor find peace and illumination,” Shig said thoughtfully.
“Great, here comes Attila the miner, and Shig’s spouting Buddhism.”
“That’s more Tao than anything,” Shig answered as Aguila stepped up and took the empty seat next to Shig.
Lieutenant Spiro leaned into Tyrell Lawson’s personal space where he sat in the next chair in conversation with Hofer, and said, “Maybe you two scum-suckers might want to find more healthy surroundings, like away from here.”
Talina started from her chair, only to have Shig drop a restraining hand on her arm. His bland smile was already in place to forestall her outburst.
Talina watched Lawson and Hofer as they disappeared into the crowd, shooting hostile glances back over their shoulders.
“Yes, Supervisor, do join us. It’s been too long,” Shig told the woman with a smile.
“How’s the mine?” Yvette asked, voice neutral. “Making progress?”
“You might say that.” She reached into a pocket and tossed a small ingot of gold to clunk onto the bartop. Talina guessed it at seven ounces.
“That’s a sample from the smelter’s first run this morning,” Aguila added, arching her immaculately thin eyebrow. “Tonight’s party is on me.”
And with that, she signaled Inga, who strode down, demanding, “What’ll you have, Supervisor? I’ve got a new stout, but if you’re into something lighter, there’s a bit of IPA left. And then, for a more refined palate, my latest red wine.”
“Whatever Shig, here, is having.” Kalico tossed Inga the ingot. “And another round of drinks. What’s the word you use when I pay for my friends here? Tab? Is that correct?”
“That it is, Supervisor. I’ll have you set up in a jiffy.” She inspected the ingot. “And you’ll get your change from this.”
Aguila waved it away. “Keep it. Call it credit for some time when I’m in need.”
“As if that will ever be the day,” Yvette said with a chuckle. “Thank you for the drinks, Kalico. It wasn’t necessary.”
Talina fought to keep from lifting her lip. Wondered if she could leave Aguila’s drink on the bar.
You are in the presence of the enemy. Use your head, fool woman. Maybe, if you can think for once, you can learn something to your benefit.
“Got your deserters all buttoned up in the shuttle?” Talina forced herself to ask politely.
“They are.” Kalico fixed her cool blue gaze on Talina. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to stand them up against the fence and shoot them.”
“Let me guess,” Yvette said, “you’ve discovered the milk of human kindness, by the quart in every vein.”
“Where did that phrase ever come from? Something ancient, no doubt.” Kalico accepted the glass of wine from Inga. “How on Earth did people back then equate something like milk, a product for sustenance, with kindness?”
“Outside of offering our gratitude for picking up tonight’s tab, is there something we can do for you, Supervisor?” Shig asked mildly.
Kalico, a curious tension in the set of her lips, said, “Officially I am here to announce the successful operation of my smelter. Unofficially I’m here to sit and drink and enjoy a conversation where every blood-rotted sentence doesn’t end in ‘Yes, ma’am.’”
Talina cocked an eyebrow when both Shig and Yvette laughed. But then, they’d always been more forgiving.
“We’re not exactly your friends,” Tal couldn’t help but say.
Kalico chuckled at that. “Dear God. Since when has enjoying the company of peers ever had anything to do with friendship? You don’t understand how the Board works, do you? Everything in the upper management of The Corporation is about power, position, ambition, and advancement. Who can play whom. When I was just a girl my father sat me down and said, ‘Kal, never mistake anyone in administration as being your friend. In fact, if you ever feel you need a friend, hire an actor.’”
“And people say Donovan is heartless,” Yvette almost snorted in derision.
Aguila took a sip of the wine. “Not bad, actually.” Then she gestured. “Now, here’s the ultimate irony: We four are the most powerful individuals on the planet. We may not like each other that much, but I know that—unlike after socializing with my fellow Board members—wherever I might spend the night tonight, I know I’ll wake up alive in the morning.”
She paused. “That, my friends—and I use the term advisedly—is a most peculiar circumstance to find myself in.”
Talina exhaled a low whistle. “Wow. And you Corporate people think we’re the barbarians?”
“Different universe back there,” Yvette said. “Maybe even scientifically. Makes quetzals, bems, and nightmares seem almost benign.”
“Lost a woman to some kind of creature out at the edge of the farm the other day. Looked like a rock. Grabbed her and stuck a big spike through her. She was dead and being eaten before we could get to her.”
“Skewer,” Talina told her. “Same as got Cap down below Brigg’s place.”
“Like bems, you know they’re around because they smell like vinegar.” Yvette added, and took a sip of her whiskey.
“Are you having any luck keeping the trees out of your cleared land?” Shig asked.
Kalico shook her head, eyes fixed on some infinite distance behind the bar. “We’ve tried burning, ditching, nothing works. We’ve lost about a quarter of the land we originally cut. You’re sure you don’t have some clue about how to deal with this?”
“Not down south,” Yvette told her. “Our forests here are primarily aquajade and scrub chabacho, probably even a different species than the kind of chabacho you have down there. The trees grow smaller, not as dense. The only real research in the south was done at Mundo Base Camp.”
“What happened to it?”
“Abandoned,” Talina said. “They got cross-wise with Clemenceau. Cut off communications.”
“Is there anyone Clemenceau didn’t get cross-wise with?” Kalico asked.
“It’s a trait we’ve noticed when it comes to Supervisors.” Talina kept her tone light, trying to hide the steel underneath.
“Oh, please,” Kalico replied snidely. “Believe it or not, even Supervisors can learn from their mistakes.” She smiled a plastic smile. “Up to a point. But let’s get back to this Mundo Base. Where was it?”
“About two hundred clicks south and a little west of your mine.” Yvette swirled her whiskey. “Science research station. Took a couple of tries to get it established. Like everywhere, it was a bitter learning process. Couple of months after they told Clemenceau to go screw himself in a dark corner, they sent a message saying they were abandoning the base. No telling what happened.”
“You never went down to check?” Kalico asked.
“Not that far south,” Talina told her, memories of two dead bodies lying in the street—and her own role in putting them there—playing through her mind. “That was eight years ago. Even then we were fighting a holding action. Who would risk a flight that far on precious equipment? Keep in mind, Cap and I went down on a milk run no farther out than Briggs’ place. Trish looked for us for weeks. Imagine going down in deep forest? Instant death sentence.”
Yvette added, “There are species down there we’ve never seen. Giant-sized fliers. Forest creatures beyond imagination.”
“That’s the whole planet,” Shig reminded.
“I need your thoughts on something.” Kalico leaned back in her chair. “My people have been working ceaselessly in an attempt to first build, then develop the mine. With the success of the smelter this morning, we have passed a milestone.”
“Congratulations,” Yvette announced. “To the smelter.” She lifted her glass in toast.
Talina swallowed her pride and raised her mug. “To the smelter.” It was, after all, an incredibly valuable asset.
“Who owns that two-story stone building behind the assay office?” Kalico asked.
“Hofer.” Shig said. “The heavyset guy you had Spiro roust out of his chair so that you didn’t have to rub elbows with the riffraff and hoi polloi.”
“Would he sell it?”
“Hofer?” Talina smiled. “He’d sell his mother if the price were right.”
“I want to buy it,” Kalico announced. “But here’s what I need to know from you: I would like permission to bring my people here in shifts for a change of surroundings. Before you object—Officer Perez—you should know that I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. First, I’d pay my people in SDRs. Coin from your mint in exchange for bullion. They can pay their way, market economy. Not only will it give my people something to look forward to, a way to relax and refresh, but it will provide a boost to your economy.”
“What about discipline when they’re here?” Talina asked. “Who keeps them in line?”
“Ten marines, to work in lockstep with your people. Lieutenant Spiro will be my—”
“No.” Talina told her flatly.
Kalico arched a surprised eyebrow.
Yvette said, “Tal, in the long run, this is—for all of our sakes—a good deal. We’ll need to work out the details, but—”
Tal was still fixed on Kalico’s cool blue gaze. “You promote Abu Sassi, Anderssoni, maybe Miso, and I’ll work with them. They’re solid.”
Kalico glanced sidelong to where Lieutenant Spiro stood several paces away with Michegan, backs to them, a subtle reminder for the common folks to stay away.
When she glanced back at Talina—a thoughtful look in her eyes—she said, “I had no idea that you felt so strongly.”
“Damn straight I do. You three work out the other details as you will, but that’s my bottom line.”
“And what about Dan Wirth?” Shig asked. “Supervisor, are you going to declare Betty Able’s and The Jewel off limits?”
Kalico laughed bitterly. “I would if I could. Do you think there’s any way this side of fire on Mercury that I’d have a chance to enforce that?”
“It sure didn’t work last time,” Talina noted sourly. “As today’s hearing proved so well.”
“There is a way.” Shig finally lifted his wine, took a tiny sip, and then put it down. “Wirth is a psychopath, to be sure. Despite the grand show he put on here today, he hasn’t a trace of empathy for any living being but himself. And ultimately, his only goal is his best interest. That, ladies, is what we play to.”
“And Hofer’s building?” Talina asked.
“I want to convert it to a dormitory. Can you negotiate for me with this Hofer?”
“How much do you want to pay?” Yvette asked.
“I have the most productive mine on Donovan. And a smelter. Do I care?”
Shig chuckled his amusement. “No, I suppose not. But I don’t think it is in anyone’s best interest to overinflate real estate values just because you can. Tal, could you talk to Hofer? Find a reasonable price? You and he have always had a certain rapport.”
“Only because I’ve busted his head a time or two over the years.” She smiled grimly. “But sure. I’ll do it.”
“And we have another, perhaps the most thorny, subject to negotiate.” Kalico laid her slim hand on the bar. “I know Wirth indentured more than just the three I collected today. I have prior claim on them given that they’re deserters from Turalon. I’m willing to let that work out as it will, and over time.”
“Go on,” Shig said.
“I also know that sixty-some of Turalon’s crew deserted and are somewhere on Donovan.” Kalico’s gaze had grown frigid. “Most likely, they’re sprinkled out among the Wild Ones. Maybe working on the surrounding claims. Perhaps hiding out on the farms just beyond the fence.”
“Maybe,” Tal granted, her own face gone flint hard. “It’s a big planet.”
Kalico’s smile carried no humor. “Shig, you once told me that my dharma carried too much tamas, um, anger, rage, and discord. You also said that Donovan taught hard lessons. And, somewhat to my surprise, you’re right.”
“What does this have to do with the deserters?” Yvette asked.
“I didn’t want to space aboard Turalon either,” Kalico said. “I couldn’t convince myself to give the order. Captain Abibi, bless her soul, understood my reluctance, so she took matters into her own hands.”
“My, my,” Talina whispered. “You’re starting to sound almost human, Supervisor. Who would have thought?”
“Tal,” Shig chided softly. “There are times your own tamas proves itself not only to be ugly, but ill timed.” He gave Aguila an encouraging smile. “You were talking about the deserters, Supervisor?”
Kalico gave Talina a deadly squint, then said, “As you see them, let them know that if they’re happy in their new circumstances, they are welcome to stay there. For those who—like the three today—would improve their lots, they are welcome to return to Corporate employment with only an ‘unsatisfactory work’ reprimand on their official record.”
“That’s unusually generous,” Talina countered suspiciously. “Why?”
Kalico bit off what undoubtedly would have been a tart reply, smiled, and wearily said, “Play the odds, Officer Perez. Even with the best spin of the wheel, we’re on our own. We may never see another ship in our lifetimes. None of us are in a position to waste talent, even when it cuts deeply against the grain to let bygones be bygones.”
Sure, Kalico. As if I could ever forgive Cap’s murder.
But rather than say more, Talina just tossed off the rest of her beer before standing.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said. “I’ve got to make my rounds.”