Under-Secretary Vieira sent a flight-limo to collect me. It brought me to the house he’d rented while on Mars, just outside Elysium City in a posh district where other One Gov officials lived. Elysium City was the capital of Mars, primarily due to its proximity to the space elevator. Mars didn’t have countries per se. Each city was more of a city-state, governing the surrounding area. Countries might come eventually, but not during my lifetime.
Because it was dark, I couldn’t get a sense of the house other than it was big and One Gov hooahs patrolled the grounds. If Alexei wanted in, he could still manage it, but he’d also have to take on One Gov. I doubted he was that irrational.
Hooahs escorted me inside, each dressed in their standard-issue black uniforms and carrying a variety of weapons as if expecting an immediate attack. If I’d been in a different frame of mind, I might have rolled my eyes. Instead, I shuffled where I was led, barely taking in my surroundings.
Vieira met me in a formal office where it looked like he might meet with other world leaders and they could kiss his ring. It also looked like he was working. Given the time—the tail end of Witching Time—I thought it odd. Then again, Alexei was often awake most of the night working. The Under-Secretary probably kept a similar schedule. It made me realize this man, who practically ran the tri-system and had power over billions of lives, had come all this way to see me. And I was running to him all teary-eyed and pathetic because I’d just broken up with my boyfriend. I might have laughed at the absurdity of the situation if I didn’t feel like dying instead.
He got up from behind a desk that looked to have been carved from a solid slab of granite and approached me.
“May I hug you?” he asked, his Portuguese accent softening the words. “You look like you need it, and I believe it’s what grandfathers do.”
I smiled weakly. “It might be stiff and awkward, but I guess it would be okay.”
He pulled me into his chest and patted my back. Just as quickly, he let me go though his hands remained on my shoulders. He peered down at me with green eyes unnervingly like my own.
“What has he done that’s brought you to my doorstep in the middle of the night?” he asked gently.
I sniffed and rubbed an eye with the palm of my hand. I sort of laugh-cried, as I swiped away the tears. “The long answer, it’s complicated. The short answer, he lied. I shouldn’t have come here but I didn’t know where else to go.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure One Gov can stand against the Consortium a little while longer as you sort yourself out. Perhaps this will allow us an opportunity to learn about each other. Relationships can’t be forced, but we are family so who can say? I’ve had a room prepared for you.” Then he gestured behind me and turned me slowly. “Andreza will show you the way.”
A young woman waited. She had dark olive-toned skin, and long brown hair styled into impossibly shiny waves that made me want to touch it. Her brown eyes were framed with lashes so long, I felt like I was being fanned every time she blinked. She was so fresh and pretty, especially given the late hour, I felt like a bag of crap beside her. I wondered if she was one of Vieira’s three mistresses, then decided I had other nonsense I could occupy my thoughts with.
“Thank you for taking me in,” I said. “I know it’s late and this whole situation is awkward, so again, just…thank you.”
He smiled again. “If family called in the middle of the night and asked for help, would you turn them away?”
The answer was automatic. “Of course not.”
“There’s your answer. You can thank me by letting Andreza take you to your room.”
I gave him a watery smile. “Okay. No more thank-yous then.”
“Exactly. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Felicia.”
“Good night…What do I call you? Sir? Mr. Under-Secretary? Grandfather?”
He laughed. “Let’s leave it at Felipe for now.”
My bracelet vibrated on my wrist. Steeling myself, I looked at the screen. Alexei. I powered it down, leaving it dead on my wrist.
“You will need to speak to him eventually,” Felipe said.
“I know, but not tonight.”
“No,” he agreed. “Not tonight.”
I followed Andreza, swallowed up by One Gov and a family I didn’t even know I had, resolving to deal with everything later. But first, I had to make it through tonight. And that, I knew, wouldn’t be easy.
Later turned out to be an entire week later because once I stepped inside the bedroom, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. I didn’t know what to do. Usually, I relied on my cards or my gut feeling to direct me. No matter how deeply I wallowed in my own misery, I could always come up with a plan.
This time, nothing. I had no ideas. No strategy. No cards. No gut feeling. No way to deal with the situation. All the tricks and tools I’d used in the past felt like they’d betrayed me. I saw myself as a stupid pawn who made bad decisions, picked the wrong men, and bumbled through life without learning anything from my mistakes. Where were the great lessons I should have learned these past twenty-six years? Oh yeah, don’t trust liars. And definitely don’t fall in love with them. Well, too late. I’d done both of those things with spectacular results.
I wanted Alexei and I hated him. I missed him with a pain that made me ache, a pain worse than anything I’d experienced a year ago because, then, I hadn’t loved him. Now I did and that made the agony crippling. I hated myself because I’d fallen for his lies all over again. I hated Brody too because he’d brought this chaos into my life and showed me how the life I’d thought was perfect was really a sham.
And now I was stuck on Mars, jobless, homeless, and broke. I had nothing but the clothes on my back and my c-tex bracelet. I didn’t even have Granny G’s cards. I don’t think I’d ever been in more of a mess in my life. It was actually astonishing to me how far I’d fallen—from everything to nothing in mere minutes.
These were the thoughts that chased themselves in my head as I lay in bed for a week and ignored the world. Throughout, Andreza brought me meals whether I wanted them or not, silently taking them away when I couldn’t eat. My new grandfather made a few efforts to talk, but mainly left me alone. So long as I didn’t die in my room, it seemed I could take whatever time I needed to recover.
Eventually, I got up. I felt too gross and sore to lie in bed any longer. Plus, I was bored of my own company. I took a shower in a bathroom as big as my entire condo back on Earth, and lathered up with expensive soaps and shampoos that probably cost more than I made in a month. When I was done, I discovered the ever-helpful Andreza had been in my room, opening the curtains, selecting clothes for me to wear, and leaving more food. I ate part of the sandwich, all of the dessert because I liked chocolate, most of the tea just because I was thirsty. Then I put on the pale cream-colored linen shift and wedge sandals. The shift was pretty, belted at the waist and dotted with pink and white flowers, though it made me feel like I was ten years old.
I glanced down at my c-tex bracelet. I had no desire to turn it on and deal with the real world. Instead, I went in search of my grandfather.
The house wasn’t as big as I’d first thought. It was also sparsely decorated, giving the impression of a hotel, not a home. Perhaps that was the case—a residence to be used only when bigwig One Gov officials were in town. There were bouquets of flowers on fancy little tables, lots of marble and stonework and pictures on the walls, but no sense anyone lived there. In a few places, I found One Gov sentries keeping watch. Their eyes flicked over me, but they mostly ignored me—something that might have freaked me out if I hadn’t lived these past few months with chain-breakers watching my every move.
I found Felipe outside, on the edge of a massive rose garden that encompassed half the property. The sky overhead was a gorgeous, cloudless blue and the sun was warm as it beat down on us. No Phobos in the sky, which was something of a relief. I don’t think I could have handled the uneasy feeling I now had in my gut whenever I saw Phobos overhead. Roses bloomed in a variety of colors and a cobblestone footpath wended its way throughout the garden. From the look of it, I could probably walk for hours before I reached the end of the path.
Felipe was dressed in a faded blue shirt and beige pants with dirty knees, pruning roses. He wore a hat to shade him from the sun and gloves to protect his hands from the thorns. The sight of arguably the most powerful man in the tri-system cutting roses stopped me in my tracks. It was so unexpected and, quite frankly, normal, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. And the thing was, he looked like he knew what he was doing. More surprising, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
He grinned as I approached. “Glad to see you’ve finally decided to join me.”
“I needed a change of scenery,” I admitted. I gestured to the roses. “Aren’t there drones to do this?”
“There are, but I find it restful. We have roses at home, and I tend them when I have a chance. I like the idea of cutting away what’s faded to make room for new growth. Something about it appeals to me. I had these roses transplanted from home, but truthfully, I’ve only ever enjoyed them a handful of times.”
“Are you going to do the whole garden?” I asked, my gaze taking in the roses in their entirety.
“I might. It depends on how long my trip here lasts.”
I nodded as if I had thoughts on the matter. “As soon as you’re finished, you’d probably have to start pruning the whole thing over again. It’s probably easier to leave it to the drones.”
“Yes, but not as satisfying.” Then he looked me over as if considering. “Would you like to help?”
I shrugged. It wasn’t like I had anything else going on. “I wouldn’t want to kill them. I’ve never had a garden. I couldn’t afford the space, and condos aren’t really conducive to growing things. Granny G—that’s my great-grandmother—sometimes had a vegetable garden back in Nairobi if we lived anywhere long enough. I helped when I was little, though I probably got in her way more than anything.”
“I’m sure she appreciated your help,” he said kindly. Then he directed my attention to the rosebush in front of me. “It’s not as difficult as you think. Besides, these are hardier than what’s back on Earth. Much tougher to kill. Let me show you how it’s done.”
So he showed me where to cut and what to trim, how to open up the plant to let in light and let air circulate, at what angle to cut and to never leave a ragged edge. I went back inside and changed into something more appropriate for gardening. I tied back my hair so it wouldn’t get caught in the thorns, was given a pair of pruning shears and a basket for my clippings, then set to work in my grandfather’s garden.
Pruning roses was a different sort of workout than the gym. Lots of kneeling, crouching, and bending over. My back was aching within twenty minutes. Added to that bit of nastiness, I was jabbed by thorns at least half a dozen times. Those little bastards poked right through the gloves, getting their revenge on me without a care in the world. But it was mind-numbing and oddly satisfying to make a rosebush take shape. It was also pretty and smelled like heaven. Being surrounded by all those colors and having to do nothing but decide where and when to cut was soothing.
Time passed, and at one point, I realized I was alone. I looked around, unnerved by the utter stillness with nothing more than me, the roses, the breeze, and the sun. Oddly, I felt like I was on display even though I knew I was alone. Shaking off the feeling, I went back to work because I wanted to get to the end of the section I was pruning. It was really starting to take shape and actually looked like I knew what I was doing. I looked back at the pink roses with an enormous feeling of satisfaction. I could see why Felipe would find this enjoyable. Maybe I should think about growing roses when I got to…Well, when I got to wherever I was going to end up.
By the time I’d finished, Felipe returned and told me it was time for dinner, which shocked the hell out of me. I checked my c-tex before remembering it was off—no wonder I’d lost track of time. My back and legs were aching, but it was a pleasant ache. It probably wouldn’t feel so pleasant later when my abused body demanded to know what the hell I’d been doing with it, but for now, it was nice.
“I’d like to do this again tomorrow if that’s okay,” I said, watching as the sun cast longer and longer shadows along the ground.
Felipe grinned. “I think that can be arranged.”
I pruned roses with my grandfather, the Under-Secretary for One Gov, for the entire week. When I asked him if he had other things to do, he admitted he could still check on work via the CN-net. Besides, a little time off never hurt anyone. Sometimes he went away and left me on my own for stretches of time. Others, we worked companionably together. We didn’t talk much, and when we did, it was about roses. Or he’d tell me about his childhood on Earth. He was actually very funny, with a sense of humor I could appreciate. And when I did think about Alexei, it was in the few minutes before I fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.
I was disappointed when we finished pruning, and it seemed that once you were done, you didn’t need to start again. It would probably be another few weeks before the roses needed tending. But by the time we were done, I also knew I couldn’t keep pretending the rest of my life didn’t exist.
We were having dinner that night, just the two of us, when Felipe said, “There’s a problem on Venus I’d like your help with.”
I looked up from my re-molecularized pork tenderloin, which was a thousand times better than anything I’d ever cooked myself, and stared at him. “I’m not sure how I could help.”
“Perhaps all I’m looking for is a second opinion,” he said. “There’s a village in Aphrodite Terra, settled before the region could be properly mapped. They’re stubborn on Venus. Left too long to their own devices, the colonists tend to run wild. It’s like the American Old West there sometimes.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not familiar with that period,” I admitted.
“Suffice it to say that they’re reckless, headstrong, and can take advantage of a situation when no one’s watching. I’ve been focusing more on issues with the Consortium than Venus, so I’ll admit I haven’t been giving events there my full attention.”
I stiffened at that. “What’s going on with the Consortium?” Even if I was upset with Alexei, if something bad had happened, or if my reading had suddenly come true, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.
“I’m not entirely sure,” he admitted. “There are rumblings on the CN-net, and of course there are always spies and double agents, but it’s difficult to be certain.”
“Is Alexei…Do you know if he’s okay?”
“So far as I know, yes. And he still heads the Consortium, but there are issues with the mines. The incidents are isolated, but messy. People are dying. Resources aren’t in jeopardy yet but the violence is escalating and we think the problem stems from within the Consortium’s ranks. Unfortunately, my sources are only so good.”
“It’s because that snake Belikov is here,” I muttered, stabbing at my food, nearly knocking it off my plate.
“That’s entirely possible. But I’d like to talk to you about Venus and my village on Aphrodite Terra.”
I tried to refocus and not let myself worry about Alexei. His problems weren’t my concern anymore. Yeah, right.
“So what about Venus?”
“As I said, they settled in an area before it was properly surveyed, and now it appears they’re on a fault line. A very dangerous and potentially active one. Do we forcibly relocate them or let them take their chances? If we leave them, they could die if there’s a shift in the tectonic plates. If we move them, we risk making an already troublesome group even more rebellious. It won’t be easy to relocate them, but if a quake hits, then what? We’ve already weighed the costs of both scenarios, but we can’t predict what might happen.”
“But you think I could?”
He shrugged. “Merely asking a hypothetical question.”
I eyed him warily. “I don’t have my cards.”
“If you did, could you determine the best outcome?”
“Probably.”
“I only want to find the solution with the least number of causalities. But I also understand your reservations. I don’t want to pressure you. I’m merely asking you to think about what the result could be.”
I sighed. “I’m not opposed to using my luck to help others. That’s what I do in my Tarot readings, after all. And it’s what Monique did when she created…” I let the sentence fade, not sure how to finish it.
“I know what she did,” he said gently. “Is that why you left Petriv? Was he using you to read for the Consortium?”
I hung my head. “No. He never asked me to read for him, though I did it anyway. He didn’t want me to think that’s why he was with me.”
“Ah. Well, he’s a better man than I imagined. Better than I am, and I’m your own flesh and blood. I shouldn’t be taking advantage of you. I’m sorry for asking this of you.”
“Don’t worry. My family uses me all the time. It’s what they do for kicks, I think.”
“And I’m doubly sorry to hear that. It’s seems Petriv may have been the only one not using you.”
That startled me, and made my heart jolt unexpectedly in my chest. I sniffed, looking down at my plate. “I left Alexei because we can’t have a baby. More specifically, he can’t with me or with anyone apparently, and he lied about it. He let me think we had a future together and…and we didn’t.”
He reached across the table and took my hand in his. “If I may speak so boldly, you know he did it because he didn’t want to lose you.”
“He still lied,” I said stubbornly. “That’s the one thing I asked him never to do, but he did it anyway.”
“But it must have been difficult for him knowing he couldn’t give you what you wanted most. Perhaps he thought the lies were justified if it kept you with him. Fear can make even the smartest among us do very stupid things, and Petriv is more intelligent than most. It would be challenging for anyone in your situation. I doubt few relationships would pull through unscathed under that sort of pressure. It must have terrified him knowing he couldn’t give you everything he thought you wanted.”
I gasped at that, finally realizing what Felipe was saying and what I’d been too upset these past few weeks to see. I’d been so angry Alexei had lied to me, just like he was always lying, I couldn’t see my own faults. I’d treated him the same way Dante had treated me when I’d told him about my blacklisted status. Instead of supporting Alexei, I’d left him just as I’d been left. I thought Dante and I would be together forever, yet when he’d learned the truth, he told me we were finished and smashed my heart into a million pieces. And now I’d done the same to Alexei.
At least my blacklisted status could be revoked. He had less control over his situation than I did. For Alexei, there was no changing who he was. He’d been afraid to tell me because he thought I couldn’t accept it. And once again when I learned the truth, I’d run away. Even worse, I’d been turning to Brody this whole time, pushed by a gut feeling I had to fight to ignore, because he was the quickest route to securing whatever it was luck thought I needed. And Alexei had watched helplessly as it unfolded under his nose because he didn’t know how to prevent it from happening.
“Oh gods, how could I do this to him?” I whispered, tears rising. I swiped at them with the napkin from my lap. “I’m a horrible person.”
“Not horrible. Just confused and hurt.” Then he was quiet, holding my hand while I reined in my emotions. “May I tell you something?” I shrugged, not trusting myself to speak. He must have taken that as a yes because he continued with, “My daughter was gifted. Extremely intelligent, perhaps to a fault. And yes, it may have driven her insane. I think she found it frustrating dealing with us mere mortals. While I’ve read her research, even I don’t understand everything she wanted to accomplish. However, one thing she knew with certainty and it bore out in all her research was the luck gene always struck true wherever it was applied. And she believed with absolute conviction, as odd and as twisted as this may sound, that you and Petriv could have a child.”
That brought my head up. “How can you be so sure? The Consortium’s been studying this for years. Wouldn’t they have considered this by now?”
“Unlikely, since they didn’t have access to you or Monique’s research. And if I may say it without sounding like a boastful father, I would trust my daughter’s genius over any Consortium think tank.”
It made sense, but none of it explained my gut reaction to Brody. How did he factor into this? If I could have the future I wanted with Alexei, why did I feel pushed in another direction?
“I can see you’re skeptical. If I may offer one more piece of unsolicited information, I know Konstantin Belikov. I’ve tangled with him for decades and I hate that man as much as I respect him. If he thought it would give him an advantage, he would withhold information as he saw fit. How do you really know you and Petriv are incompatible if you only trust the Consortium’s word? How do you know Belikov isn’t lying?” Then he let go of my hand, retreating to his side of the table. “I’m not certain Alexei Petriv is the right man for you, but I do think he loves you, despite his many faults.”
I was silent, staring at my dinner on my very fancy and probably very expensive plate with its One Gov emblem on it, thinking about nothing and everything. “Can I ask you how you know Brody Williams?”
Felipe looked surprised, as if I’d thrown him a curve he wasn’t expecting. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
“Just curious why he seems to be involved in all of this.”
He thought a moment. “Well, at one point he was up and coming in One Gov’s ranks. I remember him being brought to my attention because he had potential and his name was associated with yours. Even though Monique forbade me to contact you and kept your grandmother and me at a distance, I still had reports about you. When he was reassigned to Mars, I lost track of him. Frankly, since he was out of your life, I stopped paying attention. I found it odd he was with you again when we met recently, and when I investigated, I saw he worked for the Consortium. When I looked further, I noticed a three-year gap in his personal history. Whatever he’s done during that time, I couldn’t say.”
I think my jaw dropped at that. Brody had three years of time that couldn’t be accounted for? What the hell was going on? I pushed my plate away, no longer hungry and more stumped than upset. “Please excuse me, but I think I’m done for the evening. I should check my bracelet. I haven’t turned it on in weeks. It’s probably going to crash the CN-net once I start going through my messages. And…I need to think about what I’m going to do next. I can’t stay here forever.”
“There’s always Earth,” he suggested gently.
Yes, Earth was an option but I wasn’t ready to run that far yet. “I should probably figure out things here first before I give up entirely.”
“The offer is always open. And I’ll be staying on Mars for a while longer. It’s been at least a decade since I was here last and it’s more interesting than I recall previously. I don’t plan on making the return trip for at least another year.”
I’m sure my eyebrows reached my hairline. “A whole year away from Earth? What about Secretary Arkell? Or your wife?”
“They’ll make do without me. I have no doubt of that.” Then he shrugged and grinned at me when I continued to stare. “What can I say? Things are happening and I’d hate to miss them. Besides, it will give us time to get to know each other, and that isn’t such a bad thing.”
“I guess not,” I said slowly. “I assume we’re not going to spend all our time pruning rosebushes.”
“It could be a different sort of pruning, though who can say for sure?” Again the grin, and again I could see how the man had three mistresses.
“If I had my cards, I could look into that Venus issue for you,” I said finally.
“I’ll see what I can do. I confess, I would be interested in the answer.”
“Someday, I’ll have to read your cards for you,” I said, getting up from the table.
He laughed. “I’m actually afraid of what you might see.” Then his expression grew thoughtful. “Before you go, I wondered if I could invite you to a charity gala being held tomorrow night—if you’re feeling up to it. It’s a One Gov–sponsored event and I’d like it if I could introduce you as my granddaughter.”
I wondered how long he’d wanted to ask, but been afraid to broach the subject. It wasn’t like galas sprung up overnight. I could think of a hundred reasons why going would be a terrible idea. Reasons I’m sure he already knew and probably some I hadn’t even thought of yet. I decided to see him as a lonely man full of regrets who wanted to reach out to me rather than everything else he was. Maybe I’d feel differently in time, but right then, I couldn’t bring myself to dwell on what his faults might be.
So I said, “I’d say yes, but I don’t think I have anything in my closet that says ‘charity gala.’”
He looked so relieved, I almost laughed. It loosened some of the tightness in my chest that my answer made him so happy.
“I could get you a dress.”
“And it’s only One Gov personnel attending?”
“Primarily One Gov, yes. It is still a charity event, sponsoring reef and coral seeding projects in the Utopian Ocean. Anyone with enough gold notes to donate would be invited.”
But if it was a One Gov event, it was unlikely anyone from the Consortium would be there just on general principle alone.
“Alright then,” I said as I powered on my bracelet. As anticipated, it started vibrating so violently, I took it off, set it on the table, and watched it dance across the granite. “Looks like I’m going to the gala.”