ELISA ENTURI
Elisa returned to the extraction yards after her roundabout trip, always happy to be back, if only briefly. These operations were entirely cut off from the rest of the Spiral Arm, as if they existed in their own universe. Elisa was happy to keep it that way in order to protect Iswander Industries.
The clumsy efforts of clan Duquesne would no longer threaten their ekti-X production. With such a small and newly established facility, she doubted the Duquesnes had had time to spread the word, even among their own clan. If someone else knew about the operations, then another rival extraction field would spring up, and another. The thought wearied her.
The bloaters were growing more and more common, though, and sooner or later someone else might accidentally figure out what they contained—just as she had. By silencing the Duquesnes, Elisa had bought them time, and she did not regret what she had done in order to protect Iswander Industries … at least for a little while longer.
Lee Iswander had returned from his journey to Newstation and Theroc. Elisa didn’t quite understand why he had been so generous as to deliver all of the Onthos plague data, but she supposed that it served as goodwill. Iswander Industries had no aspirations to delve into medical research, so why not earn capital on an investment that cost them nothing? That was probably how he thought about it. Elisa resented the source of that data, though: Orli Covitz, as she was supposedly dying from the plague. And then that woman had flown off with Garrison and her son! To Elisa, the database was tainted.
Iswander got back to work in the extraction operations, glad that everything had run smoothly in his absence. “Londa will be content for a while,” Iswander told her, sounding relieved. “Reassured that Arden is safe and happy at Academ, although just seeing him probably made her miss the boy all the more. I expect I’ll be taking many more trips to Newstation than I had previously.” The tone of his voice changed. “At least that way I can watch Sam Ricks make everything fall apart due to his incompetence.” Intense, he had gone off to work on a private project, one that he would not tell even her about.
Several days later, when Iswander called her for a private debriefing, she could tell he was troubled by something. He closed the door of the conference room, set his datapad on the table, and activated his files for her to see. He was obviously struggling to keep himself calm as he reviewed his notes. “That man insulted me, and I have decided not to let it pass.”
Elisa listened, concerned, and he related to her the snide and vengeful incompetence of Speaker Sam Ricks. “That’s the real reason I went to Theroc after meeting with him. That’s why the goodwill gesture of giving away the Onthos data was so important. The King and Queen are vastly more important than the Speaker for the clans.”
Elisa felt identical anger on his behalf. “You will oust him. Given enough power and wealth, you’ll easily dominate the clans. By the next Speaker election, Ricks’s own failings will be more obvious than they are now. They must know their mistake already.”
“I would prefer to overthrow him sooner rather than later—and doing so just takes a little research by a clever person,” Iswander said. “Before I left Newstation, I collected all their records, even confidential information from the clans, administrative filings and details of Ricks’s daily schedule. It had all the clues I needed.”
Elisa had thought the vast profits generated from ekti-X would make Iswander feel whole again, but now he was thinking of a much larger picture. She had never sought the limelight for herself, but she understood his hunger for respectability.
“I’ve been doing detailed research for days, combing through records, making connections. I can assure you that Sam Ricks is a shifty man, but not a clever one. He’s not very good at being corrupt.” Iswander smiled.
“Ricks has a pattern of appointing people from his own clan and then increasing their salaries far beyond their predecessors.” He shook his head. “I have an airtight case, and I’ll soon be heading back to Newstation to present this. I can expose Ricks, and then I’ll step into his place.”
She got the impression that if that happened, he wouldn’t necessarily care about the ekti-X anymore. Elisa wondered if he would promote her to be manager of the extraction operations, and she decided, yes, that would be fine. After all, she had spilled enough blood to protect them—and recently, although she kept that information from him. She wanted to earn his pride and appreciation, although she had already done so many times over.
He looked up at her. “You just came from Ulio Station?”
“Some time ago, I had … other destinations.” How she longed to tell Iswander what she had done for him, so he could thank her for it and know how loyal she was, but she remained content with the private knowledge. “You can present your case, sir. They won’t be able to deny the evidence.”
Iswander nodded, not asking for details. “Oh, I saw your son at Academ. Seth—he was taking classes with the other Roamer children. Garrison must have enrolled him in the school again. At least now you know where he is.”
Elisa flinched, but she gave him a cool nod. “Yes sir.”
He reviewed his files one more time, then closed down the documents. “Make sure that my vessel has a full tank of stardrive fuel. I don’t intend to waste any time—I know I just got here, but I’m going back to Newstation with my evidence.”
“I’ve always envisioned you as Speaker Iswander, sir. You’ll change the Roamers, force them into the present. It will be an admirable thing.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you, Elisa.” He seemed about to say something else, but then just nodded and gathered his records.