Chapter 13
by Dan Kirk
“What do you think?” Garret asked his Executive Officer as they both sat on the couch in his cabin’s front area. On the coffee table was a pot of tea, two cups, and several small cookies that they’d both nibbled on while he explained nearly everything to her. Alexandra Harrington had listened raptly, asking few questions and occasionally flicking her longer brown hair out of her eyes.
“I think I’m glad to just be your Executive Officer and not your Chief Advisor.” She snorted with another shake of her head. As if stalling for time, she reached out, picked up her nearly finished cup of tea and took a sip. It was late, by shipboard time, and they’d long since left Shinawa behind with a ship filled past capacity. Their first jump had been completed without incident, and he’d attended the play with Gary, the three Speakers, and their wives all in his box. The play had been even more enjoyable than the first time around, and Gary had seemed genuinely happy to attend with him. The younger clone hadn’t even complained when he’d had to leave for this meeting with Harrington.
“I don’t have a Chief Advisor.” Garret observed after the silence had gone on too long. There were so many things he needed to mull over that during the play he’d decided that he should fully trust his Executive Officer. She’d proven her loyalty to him every day that she worked in her position without any sign of dissatisfaction with being under the command of a clone.
“Yet.” She responded and smirked at him. “Don’t you even think about trying to get me to fill that position. I’m a good officer, but I’m not experienced or trained for all the political maneuvering you’re going through. I’ll make sure this ship is ready for whatever you need from her, and I’ll fill in for you when you’re stuck on the planet, and turn her back over to you without hesitation, but that’s it until you give me command of my own ship. I’m no fool, you’re a good man and you’ve proven that by your generosity and graciousness as our captain. You didn’t have to share the combat bonus with us, but you gave us all shares of that and now I could afford my own house on any planet in the Republic if I wanted to settle down.”
“You could buy your own ship.” Garret snorted and she smiled.
“A small one, if I wanted, but I prefer Adamant or something similar.” She answered and Garret smiled.
“I’ll remember that.” He assured her. “I hear O’Leary is getting ready to commission a new line based off the Adamant designs, although without all the heavy weaponry. They’re on the high end, but if the business keeps picking up, they’d be good to establish a regular passenger/cargo run between some of the bigger planets.”
“Don’t forget Melos.” She advised. “The vacation packages there are getting pretty lean, and I’ve heard that they’re looking for regular passenger service. It’s a four-day jump from Peladon, or a three-day jump from Oberlin Station. Marjaan and I have talked about it and I think she’s going to recommend it to you.”
“Would you want to command a ship on that run?” Garret asked her and she laughed.
“No, but thank you.” She said when she’d calmed her laughter down. “It sounds like you’re going to have your hands full and won’t be able to command Adamant all the time. I’d prefer to stay on board and take her out while you’re occupied.”
“I would prefer that as well.” Garret said as he frowned. “Alex, you know that things are getting tense in the Republic. If something went really wrong…”
“You don’t understand do you?” She replied with a frown of her own. “Garret, people like you are the rarest sort in the Republic. Loyalty and honor aren’t just words to you, you live and breath them. I think that Academy of yours dips you in vats of those two ideals and hold you under until it’s soaked into your bones. Most people, well we don’t have many opportunities to work for people like you. A lot of the time we’re stuck with okay people, or down-right assholes who are only interested in hoarding credits for themselves, and all you are is a tool for them.
“Everyone on this ship, clone or True Born, knows that as long as they are loyal to you, that you’ll take care of them. We’ve been part of your crew for going on two months now, we know you. I’d be surprised if there’s any crewmember from me on down to the lowliest cabin maid that wouldn’t follow you into hell if you went there. We know you’d bring us all out again.”
“That… that’s scary.” Garret admitted hoarsely and she had the nerve to actually laugh at him.
“Face it Captain, you’ve earned that praise.” She told him and then smiled wickedly when she popped his expanding head. “Just don’t think that I will mind you leaving me the ship once in a while without you around. If things get real bad, I’ll be flying back in with lasers blazing to pick you up and take you to safety. I promise you, Luxon and the others will be right behind me to pick up everyone else that looks to you as well. You didn’t get to spend much time with them after Lemos, but they care about you a lot, and they’re your men more than they’ve ever looked to anyone else. It’d take a fool, even without what you’ve told me, to know there’s growing sentiment against the Great Houses in the Republic. It worries us, and we’ve decided to make sure you’re okay and don’t get caught up in anything… bad.”
“Thanks.” Garret’s voice was dry as he said it, but she nodded, setting down her empty cup and standing.
“If you’ll excuse me sir, I’ll get back to what I know while you worry about the fate of the galaxy.” She said with a slight chuckle and Garret found he was smiling.
“Good night, Commander.” He told her with appreciation and she nodded before turning and leaving the cabin.
As Garret got up and went over to his desk, Devin appeared to clean up the tray. Garret had no idea where Davin was, and at the moment he really didn’t care too much. There were so many things waiting on his desk for his attention that it was all he could do to focus on them.
On top of the list of things for him to review was a report from O’Malley. The ship’s engines were in serious need of maintenance that would have to be done as soon as they reached Peladon. All the high-speed accelerations they were performing were already taking their toll. He had a list of requisitions that needed approving, and the ship would pretty much be non-operational for two weeks after their arrival. At least the ship didn’t need to leave for its next run until two days after the repairs were scheduled for completion.
Another report that had been received from Marjaan indicated a new contract had been picked up from the military’s Supply command. Fourteen tons of cargo would be loaded on that run, and an extra leg added to a journey without any delay in the schedule. The ship would be going to Agathon, one of the new colonies, with emergency medical supplies needed after an accident there.
The lists went on and on, including a huge stack of invoices and account transfers that needed his approval. Next to last was the schedule for the next day, prepared by Davin, and Garret let out a sigh at his breakfast plans. It would be his first meeting with Masako, in the cabin’s dining/conference room. He knew he’d agreed to it, but that didn’t make it any easier to face. His world was changing too much, and not in directions that he wanted it to go.
Last were twenty samples of electronic messages sent to his corporate mail account from various citizens who had viewed the holo-news story by Anova about the Battle of Lemos. A summary by Devin told him over twenty-thousand messages had been received so far. Of those, eighty percent were positive, fifteen were mixed or ambivalent, and the rest were negative impressions of a clone ‘getting above himself’. They wanted him to personally reply to these twenty, all of them from important business or social leaders. Three were from Peladon, and a note indicated that he should consider accepting an invitation to speak before their groups.
As he was finishing up the last reply, his cabin door opened and Gary strolled into the room with a smirk on his face. Garret sat back in his chair, turned to face the other clone, and he frowned. Gary’s smile didn’t falter under the scrutiny though, and he began to slip out of his officer’s uniform.
“What are you doing?” Garret asked with a little surprise.
“It’s my turn, isn’t it?” Gary shot back with a tilt of an eyebrow. “Or do you have a headache?”
“I do have a headache, but that’s…” Garret started to reply but Gary cut him off.
“Oh, a headache I can take care of, Davin won’t mind if I use their massage table.” Gary’s voice was pitched a little high, and Garret let out a groan as Gary crossed the room and practically pulled him to his feet. He didn’t want to do this, but he’d given Gary a commitment…
‘That certainly was different.’ Garret thought to himself as he woke the next morning, ship’s time, and moved out of Gary’s tight grasp. Gary wasn’t the only other person in the bed this morning. After his massage, and the enjoyable sex with Gary on the massage table, Lukas had shown up, his desire plain on his face. To Garret’s surprise, Gary had welcomed him into the cabin, and the two of them had joined together for Round Two with Garret in his bedroom. He’d woken sandwiched between the two of them, and getting out of Gary’s grasp was a little more difficult than normal since he didn’t want to wake Lukas who was on his other side.
He spent a bit longer than normal in the refresher than he usually preferred. It was going to be a very busy day, and it started off with one of the most important meetings of his life. All the sex last night had kept him from thinking about his future, immediate and long term, so he made up for it while letting hot water run over his body. When he finally stepped out to dry off, a smiling Davin standing there with a thick towel startled him.
“You ready for the day, milord?” Davin asked as Garret let him begin drying Garret’s body.
“No.” Garret answered honestly.
“Well, the Lady Ito is on her way.” Davin chuckled. “Devin supervised the preparation of breakfast personally. We have a full list of dietary and social preferences for the Lady and are making sure everything will be perfect.”
“Just great.” Garret muttered as Davin finished drying him. The guy started to try and put deodorant on Garret’s body for him, but he drew the line there and took it in his own hands to apply. Somehow Davin wormed his way into doing Garret’s hair, before they stepped out into the bedroom. Gary and Lukas were both gone, and Garret let out a sigh at the formal dress uniform waiting for him. Ten minutes later he stood in front of the main hatch to his cabin, waiting for it to open.
“Sir, may I introduce Masako Ito.” A middle-aged woman said as she entered the cabin, after a short bow of her head to Garret. The woman, unlike the shorter woman who followed her, was dressed in a fuchsia and black robe. The shorter woman, who was introduced as Masako, was dressed in denim jeans and a cotton shirt of bright pink. She smiled as she entered the cabin, and her eyes twinkled as she stared at Garret.
“My lady, my I present to you Garret Atrix-Lars, captain of the Adamant.” Davin said from where he stood to Garret’s right and just forward of him.
“Welcome to my cabin, Gospedena.” Garret said with a slight bow of his head to Masako. “Would you care to break your fast with me?”
“That is the plan my father set, is it not?” She asked and stepped forward, taking Garret’s proffered arm. She was short for a True Born, barely an inch taller than he was, and she had a thin frame, as well as an oval face. Her hair was dark as midnight, and she had dark eyes that nevertheless seemed to glitter with amusement as Garret led her into the dining room and held her chair for her. It was at the forward end of the table, next to his at the head of the oval table, and their places had already been set. When he sat down, he realized he could eat, and talk to her without having to look directly at her, or having to turn his head to see her at all.
“I trust the food is to your liking?” Garret asked nervously, and almost blushed at the way she laughed. It reminded him of a waterfall, gushing down a hillside.
“I’d expect nothing less.” She said after she was done laughing. “Your crew has proven quite excellent at caring for your passengers. My mother and my father are quite happy with the accommodations.”
“What about you?” Garret asked after swallowing a forkful of eggs.
“I’m happy to see such excellence in the crew of my potential husband’s flagship.” She said with a disarming smile.
“That is good to hear.” Garret said weakly, cursing his nervousness. He’d rather face a dozen pirate Mother Ships at that moment.
“Relax, Captain.” She said with a light chuckle. “According to my father, we would both be insane to deviate from his plan.”
“It’s not like we, or at least I, have much choice.” Garret said softly and she laughed again.
“Are you a human or a clone bound to obey the will of everyone else?” She asked with a hint of derision in her voice. “I promise if you can’t make your own decisions, you will find yourself little more than a slave to my every whim.”
“You are direct, aren’t you?” Garret asked with wonder and she laughed again.
“Yes, it saves time, does it not?” She asked and Garret nodded at the largely rhetorical question.
“Shall we discuss this proposed marriage in its entirety?” Masako asked as Garret took a sip of his juice. He set the glass down and nodded slowly after a moment of thought. “That is good, I do not like wasting my time with banal pleasantries, especially with someone that I might make a lifelong commitment with.”
“I… you must be aware that I’m not… that I cannot be a husband in the most traditional of expectations.” Garret stuttered as he blushed.
“I should hope not.” She almost snorted. “If you wanted that, I would not be here discussing it with you. I do not want a male in my bed, although you do seem to have a few good looking females aboard, both clone and human.”
“If they are willing…” Garret stated but she interrupted him.
“Only if they are willing.” She did snort this time. “I want no one forced, tricked, or paid to satisfy me in the bedroom. Ever since I was a small child, I have wanted to travel the stars, and as long as you make that happen a few times a year, we will get along just fine. You must be warned though, that I expect no public scandals about our… choices in the bedroom.”
“On that I agree.” Garret said firmly, almost shuddering at the thought of a scandal regarding who they bed. “I will have… quarters made for you that connect to these, if we proceed with this.”
“So long as they are as spacious and as nicely appointed as yours.” She said with a nod. “It will be good for our children to have their parents at least appear to live together.”
“You do want children, do you not?” Garret asked nervously and she smiled with twinkling eyes.
“Oh my, yes, I do want children.” She said softly. “I know you need just one for an heir, but I wish to have four children, two boys and two girls. Will you consent to that?”
“I will.” Garret said softly.
“We’ll have their genes spliced before conception as well.” She said firmly, looking him directly in the eyes. “One boy and one girl will be mostly hetero, and have facial appearances closer to traditional Japanese. They can be the younger son and the older daughter who will be born after your heir. Your heir of course will most closely resemble you. The youngest girl will have your hair, my eyes, and my preferences for bed partners.”
“You have all this planned out, don’t you?” Garret asked and she smiled.
“I have since I entered puberty.” She admitted. “The only difference was who the man would be that I did this with. I will bear you children, I will be a good wife, a good partner, helping you whenever and wherever I may, and I will spend your money and have the things that make me happy. It is my hope we will become good friends, best friends even, and love each other in that way while enjoying our own separate lives. Tell me, do you have a favorite bed partner?”
“I… uh, not really.” Garret stumbled over his own words, shocked yet again by her directness and her acceptance of this marriage. “There are four right now that… um…”
“Oh my, four?” She smiled wickedly. “You are a randy little bugger, aren’t you? I think I’m glad after all you don’t like women.”
“I like women.” Garret shot back. “Just not in my bed.”
“Oh, you do have a sense of humor!” She giggled with a hand over her mouth.
“Yes, I do.” Garret said like he was offended and she giggled some more at the smile on his face. “You’ve thought a lot about this haven’t you?”
“Haven’t you?” She asked and shook her head when he opened his mouth. “I’ve been thinking about this for years. I know as a daughter of House Ito I would be married off to perform my duties to my House. I hoped and prayed it would be someone like you, who would not have undue expectations, and the fact that you will take me with you amongst the stars like this, it becomes a marriage greater than any I had hoped for in my wildest dreams. We will raise fine children here, aboard this ship and in our homes on Shinawa and Peladon.”
“I’ve never given thought to marriage until yesterday.” Garret admitted with a hint of sourness in his voice and she frowned for the first time in his sight.
“You do not wish to be married?” She asked him. “Is it not your duty?”
“It’s my duty… now, but it’s not something I have ever considered in my life.” He stammered breathlessly as anxiety clutched his chest. “I… always knew what I was here for, what I would do with my life. The military would be my life until I reached twenty years of service, and then Billy and I would start up this company and travel the stars, but that’s not going to happen now.”
“You love him.” Masako stated flatly and Garret was surprised at the tears that were forming in his eyes.
“Yes.” Garret’s voice was hoarse, and barely loud enough to be heard. Masako reached out a slender, delicate hand and put it over his.
“This is the Republic, not the Empire.” She said softly with compassion filling her every word. “There’s no reason why the two of you cannot… express your love together when the opportunity presents itself.”
“His fiancée requires him to be faithful to her, physically.” Garret’s words held every bit of the misery he’d been denying. Masako’s hand on his was a gentle caress, and he found himself wondering what it would be like to be married to her, not as an abstract, but in reality.
“Oh you poor man.” She said with real sympathy as she squeezed his hand. “I wonder how he feels?”
“Who knows?” Garret wondered softly and she shook her head.
“But you still have four bed-partners…” She said softly, a hint of inquiry in her voice.
“It started after he told me… we wouldn’t be together anymore like that.” Garret did let out a sigh this time and the tears began to recede from the point of spilling onto his cheeks. “There was no reason to deny those who wanted… pleasure with me.”
“I think it was the right thing, as long as you don’t use it to hide from your grief.” She said sympathetically. Then her gaze turned very serious. “Tell me, what exactly will I be marrying?”
“I–I’m not sure what you mean.” Garret stated after a confused moment as he tried to ponder what she meant by that question.
“I know you prefer men the way I prefer women.” She replied seriously, and her tone was very neutral, almost flat. “I also know you’re a replacement clone who has been raised as a regular clone with all the training and programming to make you a loyal servant of the Republic. You were raised in a Great House, as a brother to the True Born son of that House. It’s clear you were trained at the Academy and learned all they could teach you. Now you sail the stars, the owner of a shipping company, and Captain of a powerful vessel. Over breakfast you have told me much of what you do, what you expect, but I want to know who you really are. Are you little more than a pawn being moved on the board by people like my father or are you your own man?”
“I… I’ve never thought of it that way.” Garret said softly, almost startled by the words that just slipped out of his mouth. “I know I can be independent when I need to be, and I know I defer to others with more experience, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.”
“In proper measure, it isn’t.” Masako agreed with a slight nod. “When you always defer, when you always follow the lead of others, it is a bad thing.”
“I do take action on my own when I see the need for it.” Garret said and realized he was speaking defensively.
“Why only when you see a need?” She asked with a lift of an eyebrow. “Do you not want to lead for real? You are about to assume the leadership of a Great House. Will you not then be responsible for leading, not only your ship, your crew, your company, or your House, but for the entire Republic? If you take your due seat in the Deliberatorium, will you not be expected to lead there as well?”
“The Deliberatorium has over forty Speakers already.” Garret countered. “I will be just one of those.”
“Sophistry.” She declared with a wave of her hand. There was a gleam in her eye though, and a slight smile on her lips. It was apparent she was enjoying this discussion. “Speakers are supposed to bring the problems of their peoples to the Deliberatorium so that the Republic as a whole may deal with them. That is part of our problem now, far too many Speakers choose not to lead and allow the issues of their people to go unaddressed.”
“What do you mean?” Garret asked with a frown.
“I’m not talking about House Lars, or House Shinawa, or even about most of the Houses, but there are enough of them that they are hurting the Republic.” She said firmly. “Always in the past, when the Republic has faced problems, the Great Houses have taken the lead and used their own resources first to meet the needs of the Republic. When Sol attacked our colonies and outposts, they sent their sons and daughters to the front lines. House Richter has been defunct since that time because they sent every member of their family on every ship they had, every Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and everyone who worked for them, to rescue the population of Delphi. They saved nearly two million people in over thirty runs before their convoy was destroyed.”
“I remember House Richter.” Garret said bitterly. He’d studied them because Richter had once held the largest passenger and shipping fleets in the Republic. The remains of their fleet after the destruction of their convoy had been absorbed into the Republic Navy for troop transports. Since then, no company possessed the resources necessary to start up a full-blown passenger transport system.
“Now, because House Richter no longer exists, and unlike House Atrix there are no materials to make replacement clones, the Republic lacks a reliable system of transport between our planets.” Masako pointed out. “We have dozens of small companies, but they have no set routes, they go where the primary source of income takes them, and passengers must choose most often at the last minute whether to take transit to whatever destination a freighter runs. That is why your business has been so well received. For the first time in ages, a passenger ship exists that takes people from place to place, somewhat on schedule.”
“What does this have to do…” Garret started to ask, but she held up a hand.
“In the old days before the war, the Great Houses were the business leaders as well as the government leaders of the Republic.” She said in a voice that made it sound like a quote from a textbook, which it was, almost. “House Ito produced some of the finest home and commercial electronics every seen. House Atrix led the way in genetic engineering and clone production. House Lars made their fortune making sure every Agricultural business in the Republic had what it needed to grow, process, and distribute food. House Tremere made sure we laughed, cried, and had enjoyment in our daily lives. House Haxong led the software engineers of the world designing better software to be used on the advanced computers made by House Volsha. House Ma led the way in building large ships for the transport of freight, and for the needs of the military while House Giabaldi made smaller transports, private yachts, and smaller military support craft.”
“You sound like a Republic Propaganda piece of forty years ago.” Garret murmured with a half-smile. She frowned at the interruption but giggled softly.
“I know, but they were right, weren’t they?” She countered. “The Great Houses gave back to the Republic for everything they ever received.”
“Yes, yes, and yes.” Garret said with a shake of his head. He knew this as well as she did, they had both been raised in Great Houses after all. “Before the war started, the Houses gave away half their profits in development grants or loans to small business operators. They encouraged new businesses either in their fields of expertise or what was needed for the planetary populations in their geographic area. When the war started, most of their profits went into helping fund the military build-up. They did this so the war taxes wouldn’t be as harsh on the citizens of the Republic. Nearly every House went to the point of bankruptcy to fund ships and troops. One out of every two clones produced in the first forty years of war were funded by the monies of the Great Houses, nearly one in three military ships were built with monies from the same source. Most economists credit the fact that war taxes stayed under six percent for keeping the Republic’s economy going even in the worst days of the war.”
“But in the last twenty years, more and more taxes have been levied to pay for the ongoing war effort.” Masako countered and Garret frowned. They had only been one or two percent increases, and there had only been four of them, but he knew many in the Republic resented every last hundredth-credit they paid.
“That’s because the Houses were approaching bankruptcy.” Garret argued. “We know that if they had kept putting all their monies into the war effort the Republic would have collapsed. The houses had to cut back on their public service grants, their business grants and loans, and all the other safety net contributions they make just to keep the war machine going. Half the Houses ended up selling off their businesses. Look at Tremere, forty years ago they controlled the major comm. networks and entertainment industries. Now they’re little more than operators of pleasure houses and cheap holo-dramas. They haven’t been able to provide a start-up grant or loan to a single new filmmaker in ten years!”
“Precisely the problem.” Masako’s voice was grim. “Only eight of the Great Houses have issued business grants or loans in the last five years. Twelve are all that pay into the Public Healthcare Program. In the past six months, fourteen hospitals on seven planets have shut down due to lack of funds. With the Charter’s ban on corporations, small and medium business form the core of our economy, and there has been zero growth in that sector since the war ended.”
“How is that possible?” Garret asked with a frown.
“The larger companies, it is against their interests to fund what can become possible competitors.” Masako pointed out and Garret nodded in agreement with her words. “That is why it was always the Houses that provided funds for the startups. Larger companies, like Ager Mining, run by your friend Blashame, hire mostly clones under contract to keep costs lower. Ager saves nearly three billion a year in retirement costs because it has a mostly-clone workforce. They do not have an obligation to fund business startups that may one day compete with them. The Great Houses always funded those startups, but now they cannot, or in some cases will not.”
“They believe they’ve given enough to the Republic.” Garret stated, thinking of Tremere.
“Exactly so.” Masako said softly. “That is why our economy is on the verge of collapse, why our unemployment rate is so high, and why this democracy movement is gaining in popularity.”
“You think the companies are behind it?” Garret said in wonder.
“Maybe, but maybe they are not.” Masako shrugged. “Or it could be that some are, as are some of the Great Houses. Think, if democracy were the rule of law, those with great money can sway the minds of the people as they did on Old Earth. If the Houses were no longer constrained by their ethical commitment to serving the needs of the Republic first, they no longer would have to pay such high taxes, or spend so much of their remaining profits on others.”
“What does your father think of this?” He asked her.
“He thinks I need to do some more research.” She said with a frown. “My father does not believe I am right, but he is mistaken. Ito and the Houses of Shinawa support our people the way we should, but many of the other Houses have begun breaking faith or have become too poor to keep the faith. That is why we have no rebellion on Shinawa now. What my father does not hear is what I do when I visit the taverns and teahouses. People are content now, but they look at other worlds, like Calos with its empty shipyards, and they wonder when that will happen to us.”
“He does not think it will?” Garret asked with another frown.
“My father believes that things will be resolved by that time.” She shrugged as if dismissing the idea. Garret stared at her for several long moments as a small smile began to form on his face. She watched him as he looked at her, and a matching smile formed on his face.
“I think I will enjoy knowing you, and having you at my side.” Garret said at last with a very real fondness for this woman.
“I see many enjoyable conversations, and a few disagreements in our future.” She replied coyly. “My father could do much worse in helping me choose a husband. Are we satisfied that we might live together the rest of our lives?”
“I trust you mean that in the broader sense, not the literal.” Garret joked and she giggled softly, lifting a hand to cover her mouth for a moment before nodding.
“I will accept you as a husband.” She agreed verbally.
“I will be happy to call you wife.” Garret said with a nod, sealing the decision that this woman would be his wife, the mother of his children, even if she never shared his bed.
This was the Republic, after all.
“Would you care to join me for dinner, tonight?” Garret asked as he rose from the table, depositing the linen napkin on his half-empty plate. She took his hand as he offered it and stood as well. “I’d like to discuss the Republic’s economy some more, and what we might be able to do when the claim to House Atrix is completed.”
“I would be honored.” She said softly as they moved out of the room together. Their first stop would be Speaker Ito, for the formal presentation and discussion. Then there’d be so much more to do…
