Chapter Eleven

Olaf Reeves

For days after Garrison stormed away, Olaf could still feel the sting in his cheek from where his son—his own son!—had struck him. It was disrespectful and deeply unsettling. His fists clenched, and he did not know how to respond. He tried not to let rage dictate his actions, because he was not a man who made his decisions based on anger, but rather on determination and clarity of purpose. His Guiding Star.

Bjorn transmitted to the main asteroid complex. “All those modules are cut loose and dispersed, by your orders, Olaf. They’re adrift far enough from the other asteroids that they won’t pose any problems.” The engineer fell silent for a long tense moment, then added, “It’s a damn shame, all those perfectly good resources.…”

“We’ll do fine without them,” Olaf said. “Doing business with Earth might have gained us a few years, but would cost our souls.”

Bjorn clearly did not agree, but didn’t contradict him on the open comm.

Olaf went back to his office and mulled over what to do next. Finally he summoned his other son—perhaps his only son now. “I need to see you, Dale. We have important matters to discuss.”

“I’ll be there in just a minute, Father.” He knew Dale would practically run, so as not to displease him. Dale was so different from his brother.…

Garrison had his little tantrum, but Olaf wondered if it was more than that. They had had arguments before, increasingly contentious disputes about the future of clan Reeves. Yes, he was allowed to express other ideas, but the clan leader had the final say, and everyone needed to accept that. Garrison didn’t understand the proper hierarchy.

Olaf had been opinionated and argumentative with his own father back when he was young, long before the Elemental War, but that rebellious phase had been brought sharply under control. He doubted that Garrison’s problem would be resolved so cleanly.

Now that several days had passed, a heavy feeling hardened in the pit of his stomach, replacing the anger. He expected his son to return, contrite, to beg forgiveness. But after such a sharp confrontation, Olaf knew it might take days or weeks for the young man to make up his mind and apologize. But Olaf feared there was something different this time, something worse.

What if Garrison never came back? What if he went with that woman instead?

Flushed from running, Dale arrived in the admin office and stood before his father’s desk, looking anxious. He was a thin young man with pale skin, a long face, and large eyes that gave him a rabbitty appearance. Olaf didn’t rise, nor did he give Dale the opportunity to sit. “You and I need to discuss possible changes in clan Reeves.”

Dale blinked. “Changes? Shouldn’t we wait for Garrison?”

“I’m done waiting for Garrison to accept his role as the next clan leader. Therefore, provisionally, I rescind that title from him.” Dale gasped, and Olaf continued. “I have no choice but to consider you to be the future of clan Reeves.”

“I … think you’re overreacting, Father. Emotions are high. You both have tempers.” He swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. Garrison has his Guiding Star, and he did what he thought best for the clan and for Rendezvous.”

Olaf forced himself to remain seated behind the desk. “You’re defending him?”

Dale swallowed. “Those modules would have been a big help here, and you just discarded them.”

Olaf sighed. “I can see I have to teach better priorities to our people here.”

When Dale’s shoulders sagged, Olaf knew he had won the point.

Around the admin office—once the Roamer Speaker’s office, back in the glory days of Rendezvous—he had placed historical images of the thriving asteroid complex, the artificial habitats, the numerous domes and connecting tubes. Images showed countless designs of Roamer ships patched together from other components, modifications created either by inspiration or necessity. Olaf liked to admire them, a display of the best Roamer abilities.

He activated controls on his desk to project a hologram that drew Dale’s attention. “Rendezvous, as it can be again,” Olaf said in a low voice filled with awe. “This is what we had. This is what the Roamer clans built, and this is what we must recreate. That task falls to us, since the other Roamers have lost sight of the true goal.” The shimmering hologram showed the precise arrangement of drifting rocks, connecting structures, and outlying facilities from before the attack from the Earth military.

Alas, it would not be possible to rebuild the asteroid complex exactly, because the EDF had destroyed some of the orbiting rocks, but Olaf intended to reassemble the debris as perfectly as possible, even if everyone else lost interest.

Looking at his son, he sighed. “I’ve concluded, Dale, that this lack of drive is my own failing. I let Garrison address the clans about our dream, and he just proved that his heart is not in it. Therefore, it’s time for me to go to the Confederation myself.” Now he rose from his desk and stood over the slowly rotating image of the asteroid complex. “The King and Queen need to understand what we once had. Just because Roamers joined the Confederation doesn’t mean we must give up our independence and our culture.”

“Of course not,” Dale said. “That was explicitly stated in the charter.”

“Nevertheless, they need to be reminded,” Olaf said in a sharper voice. “I’ve talked to our clan leaders to the point of oxygen deprivation, but I’ll go to Theroc and maybe Peter and Estarra will show their support for our dream.” He sighed. “And if they don’t, then we’ll do it ourselves, as I always vowed to do.”

“Should I go with you, Father? Be at your side?”

“No, I’ll take Bjorn. I am leaving you here to supervise the reconstruction. You’ll need to take on more duties like that if you’re to be clan leader someday. I’ll instruct the clan members to follow your directives.”

“Yes, Father.” Dale seemed far out of his depth, and Olaf knew he would have to be hard on his younger son to mold him into the necessary personality. The role should have fallen to Garrison, but that was not to be.

Olaf clenched his hands again as he felt his dream slipping through his fingers. He needed to hold everything together to make Rendezvous what it should be. Through sheer force of will, he could make this project happen.

He held back a sigh, thinking of Garrison and that woman, Elisa Enturi. He thought of how Lee Iswander had given up his principles, yet still pretended to call himself a Roamer ... and he thought of the Earth Defense Forces, everyone who had caused so much damage. Olaf could trust only his sadly dwindling number of followers, because only they could see the proper Guiding Star.

Maybe it was too much, too difficult. Maybe it would be best if he and the remaining members of clan Reeves just isolated themselves, found someplace to be self-sufficient and live on their own terms, as the neo-Amish had done on Happiness.

But Olaf wasn’t ready to do that. Not yet. But perhaps soon …