Chapter 23
“Is that any good?” Garret asked the woman who was stuffing a bright-green box into her shopping basket. She looked up at him with an irritated stare for a moment before responding. The woman looked to be in her eighties, a grandmother dressed in a simple brown dress that while perfectly clean looked like it had been in her wardrobe for years.
“It’s too sweet for my tastes, young man, but the grandkids like it.” She said as Garret looked at several similar boxes on the shelves. They were labeled “Apple-Rings” and had cartoonish images of children smacking them down.
“Thank you.” Garret replied and her eyes went wide as she recognized him. So far she was the first in this grocery store, but then she was also the first he had spoken to here. He was dressed in brown work pants and a gray cotton shirt with a long brown duster that helped take the edge off of the cool weather. Even in these great big ‘towers’, the market levels often had ‘natural’ circulation that let in the cold outside air.
“You!” She exclaimed excitedly, garnering the attention of several other nearby shoppers as she pointed a crooked finger at him. “You… you’re… I recognize you!”
“My name’s Garret.” He replied with a charming smile and nod of his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Madame…?”
“Mona, Mona Liandre, but you don’t need to concern yourself with the likes of me.” She said with a slight blush. “What would the likes of you be doing here?”
“I eat food like everyone else, Madame Liandre.” Garret said with a smile. “What better way to get it than to go to the grocery store?”
“But can’t you have it delivered?” She asked with a crinkling of her eyes.
“I could, but then I wouldn’t know that Apple-Rings are sweet.” He replied and she laughed.
“Yes, but shouldn’t you be doing something more important?” She asked with a laugh.
“I need to know more about Calos, and what better way to do that than to do things that everyone else on Calos does?” Garret asked. “How often do you shop for groceries?”
“As much as money allows.” She said with a hint of bitterness. “But don’t concern yourself with my problems.”
“Why not?” Garret asked. “Why is money so tight for you?”
“Well, you know about the economy and all…” She muttered, suddenly looking uncomfortable. When she looked around at the people who were watching them while murmuring amongst themselves, she shifted on her feet a bit.
“Aren’t you receiving a pension?” Garret asked her, ignoring the other people for a moment. “I was told by President Cartwright that the average government pension for retired citizens was more than enough to cover their expenses.”
“To be honest, he was quite right; my pension covers me just fine.” She said with a nod of her head, but she was still frowning. “Except, well, I’ve got my daughter and her husband living with me and their four kids. You should see my grandkids, they’re right splendid little tykes let me tell you. Joshua, he’s barely ten and getting fine marks at school while Monique is getting ready for her ninth birthday. I don’t usually splurge on stuff like this cereal, but she loves the stuff and doesn’t get it now but on special occasions and…”
“I take it they’re staying with you because they are unable to find jobs and you’re struggling to make your pension cover all of you?” Garret interrupted her and she stared at him for a moment before nodding cautiously.
“I get a good pension because I worked for a real good man, he owned a construction company right up until he was run out of business two years ago.” Mona answered with a wistful tone. Her eyes held a far-off look as if she was reliving things. “I guess it’s safe to admit it now, but Madame Richter, she got me the job in those last days when her husband was taking the family of his workers to safety. I wasn’t anything special, just a house secretary so they were pretty sure I wouldn’t be hunted by the damn Imperials like their important staffers. She called in a favor with Monsieur De La Court and he took me on right away. I tell you, that woman was a fine lady, like your little fiancée seems to be. She cared for all her people, no matter how little they were as compared to the big important folks. ‘Tis a shame what those Imperials did to them!”
“Mona!” A lady who looked to be of an age with Mona exclaimed in a horrified tone. “You watch yourself! You know what talk like that can do!”
“Adelaide, them days be long gone!” Mona spat back with fire in her eyes. “We be a Republic world again for a good time now, and the Republic ain’t gonna be ignoring us again. Why else you think this boy is here? He’s here to show us that we’re well and true a part of the Republic again the way we belong!”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Adelaide shot back with a glance askance at Garret. “If it was so certain, why do ya think they sent him here. You of all people should remember how they kept their little lists and came knocking on people’s door at night to drag them off for ‘re-training’ and all that crap. They came back like zombies and would rather spit at ya than hold their tongue if they caught ya breaking the laws. You remember my boy Darenn? He came back and didn’t live but ten years after they did what they did to him! A woman your age shouldn’t be risking her neck like this!”
“The Republic don’t work that way, woman, and you dern well know that.” Mona said with a real bit of fire in her eyes. By far this was the most illuminating conversation he’d at least been a witness to on Calos. “Do ya think them Great Houses would have sent one of their own out here if they ever meant to let the bad times come again? Besides he’s a good military man from what I hear, and he’s got that fleet in orbit so it don’t matter that the Earthers sent themselves a pretty Bishop out here. That man’s got no fleet with him and he ain’t going to be taking over our planet again all by his lonesome unless he be making enough of us so afraid that we bow down and kiss his rings.”
“You better hope so or your name be on the top of the list when they come back!” Adelaide said with a sniff before pushing her cart off without even a glance at Garret.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to start a fight between you and your friends.” Garret said to Mona who actually burst out laughing.
“There ain’t nothing for you to be sorry about, milord.” She said and Garret winced.
“Please, that sort of title isn’t right.” He told her. “If you want to be formal, Speaker is fine, but please, just call me Garret.”
“You really are different than what I thought you might be like.” She said with a smile forming on her face. “Them Earthers, they sent their government people to ‘show us the way’ and they were all snooty. People’d get sent off to some camp or another just for forgetting to say ‘milord’ or ‘your Excellency’ or some other crap like that. They was real sticklers for ‘class’ and all that.”
“You know, I’d like to hear more about stuff like that.” Garret said as a few pieces of the Calos puzzle clicked in his head. “I’ve been finding myself confused at times trying to figure out when something is just how Calos has always been and when things were forced on our people by the Imperials.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty of experts you can talk to at one of the Universities.” She said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “No need to come to my door and ask.”
“But if I go to them, I’ll have to sit through hours of boring lectures on sociological impetus and all that claptrap.” Garret said just as dismissively. “I’m more interested in hearing real facts, and real stories. I’ll tell you what, you see that young man standing with the basket behind me?”
“Yes.” She said cautiously, a wary look suddenly appearing in her eyes.
“He’s a darn good cook.” Garret said in a low voice leaning in towards her. No one was close enough to hear when he talked this quietly. “I take it your granddaughter’s birthday is tomorrow?”
“How do you know that?” She asked in a startled, but low voice.
“Well, why else would be buying the cereal today?” He asked her and she chuckled. “I figured you’d be serving it to her in the morning as a wake-up treat.”
“You figured rightly.” She responded. He was happy to see that Mona was smiling now.
“Good, then how about you tell Aaron there what you’d like to serve her for dinner, if you don’t mind me inviting myself, Aaron, and my fiancée for tomorrow night?” Garret asked her conspiratorially and she smiled for a second before scowling.
“I don’t know about that.” She said softly. “You know the media people follow you everywhere, and well, my daughter and the kids, it ain’t exactly legal them staying with me. I could lose my lease if it got out.”
“I wouldn’t want that.” Garret admitted with a frown. “How about if I promise that if there’s any trouble, I’ll take care of you and your family?”
“What do mean by that?” She asked with another frown.
“I mean if you get kicked out, I’ll find another place for you to stay and pay the difference if it’s more expensive.” Garret said. “The place you’re in now has to be crowded if you got it on your pensioner’s salary, so that means if you lose it, we’ll also make sure it’s big enough for all of you to live in comfortably.”
“Hmmph.” She groused before looking him in the eyes. “If you’re half the man you put out to be on the holo, you’ll probably keep that promise.”
“I will.” Garret said and she nodded slowly.
“I guess it’ll be okay.” She said with a frown.
“Thank you, Madame.” Garret said with a slight bow of his head. “Now, just tell Aaron here what you want for dinner tomorrow night, and where you live and we’ll be there. I’m going to go see what’s on the next aisle.”
“Canned goods.” She said with chuckle as she went to talk with Aaron.
The visit to the grocery store proved to be the high point of his day, as things continually grew worse. He’d been on Calos for a week now, and while he was making progress on several fronts, not everything was going perfectly or as smoothly as he could have desired. The Earther bishop was proving that he could be a pain for Garret, and that he was every bit as intelligent as Garret had presumed from their first meeting.
Calos itself was also proving too annoying in several little ways, all tied to its long occupation by the Sol Empire. The entire Republic operated off of a standard calendar that kept many of the original aspects of earth’s dominant calendar system. The rotation of Calos was exactly twenty-four hours, seventeen minutes and fourteen point twenty-nine seconds. Calos stuck to a very strict twenty-four hour day, and unlike the rest of the Republic kept the original names for each of the days of the week. Each and every Sunday, Calos observed a two-hour ‘rest’ period that during the Occupation was officially called the ‘worship’ time. It began at ten hundred hours every morning, lasted exactly two hours, and ended at precisely twelve hundred hours. That made each Sunday two hours longer than any other day of the week, and it also represented the time when all the local religious groups held their regular worship hours.
As the officially mandated ‘rest’ period, the Calosian Congress had outlawed almost all forms of working during that period, and it was generally considered a crime for stores to be opened, or for any other ‘non-vital’ work to be performed. About the only major difference Garret could find between the Occupation’s ‘worship’ period and the ‘rest’ period was that during the Occupation, attendance at the local Jordanite temple had been mandatory. Now, at least officially, Calosians could choose to stay home and rest, although they couldn’t watch broadcast holo shows because it was illegal to broadcast during those two hours.
Another developing problem was the Calosian power grid. They still used Earth’s voltage and amperage power systems, which meant most Republic-made electronics could not work with local power supplies without some type of transformer. Ostensibly, the Republic had funded millions of credits into revamping the power grid, but the Calosian government had used the funds to build more power-producing reactors that produced Imperial voltages. The one saving grace was that each reactor had supposedly been fitted with transformers that could send out power on Republic voltages, but none of them were ever utilized, and at least one engineer Garret had spoken to had told him that he doubted they’d even work.
The plans for Garret’s new home weren’t going all that well either. Someone had leaked part of the design plans that showed Garret and Masako each having separate quarters and a few of the local priests had already latched onto that with yesterday’s Sunday worship services. They had declared that Garret was like any other clone; incapable of naturally producing children and that his upcoming marriage to Masako was really a sham, since he’d never be a true husband to her.
Lelaine had developed a plan to counter that, and had booked Masako with a bunch of the morning talk shows while Garret visited the grocery store (and before Masako was scheduled to visit several local schools). Supposedly her appearances, where she’d constantly rub her stomach, reminding people she was pregnant, would give her the opportunity to tell people that she and Garret were very happy together. She’d even explain how her parents had always kept their own quarters, even if they always spent every evening together in one or the other of the quarters, and she wanted to continue that family tradition. If she was asked directly on whether Garret ever shared her bed, she’d blush and say ‘Isn’t that a little bit private? I wouldn’t want to explain such a question or answer to my children.’
Next week, the first construction crews would begin digging the foundations of their proposed home. Already work had begun on the landing pads, garages, and customs buildings that would then connect to the main house by an enclosed walkway that included a moving sidewalk. Calosians were fond of their moving sidewalks. All the connecting bridges between the New Edinburgh towers had moving sidewalks in each direction. Some of the larger bridges even had multiple lanes in each direction, with each lane moving at a different speed. Watching children play, jumping from faster to slower and then back to the faster walks had made Garret worried they’d lose their balance and fall, but it seemed such accidents were rare.
His mind drifted back to the power generation problem and he let out a sigh as he reviewed his final solution. He was purchasing a locally produced fusion power plant that would be installed underground near his new home. The power plant would produce more than enough power for everything on that plateau including the house, the landing pad, the garages, the gondolas, the hotel, and all the various spaces for restaurants and shops. In fact, it’d have plenty of power left over. The hotel and all the other existing buildings were wired for the earther-style voltages while his house and all the other new buildings going in would be wired by Republic standards.
He’d get to test these ‘transformers’ out first hand, and find out if they really did work or not.
The work on the hotel, which would be his temporary residence over the next year, was almost complete. After the power generator was installed, they would be able to move into the hotel and finally have room for all the staff that they were now hiring. So far they had forty-six people on staff, and not enough room within the boundaries of the spaces they were renting in New Edinburgh.
“What is it, Mika?” Garret asked his Chief of Staff as the man’s image appeared on one of the screens in Garret’s rather small office. This room was about a third of the size of his office back on Peladon and cost nearly twice as much in rent. At least it had a fair-sized desk with a full array of communications equipment as well as a decent built-in computer.
“Speaker, I need to see you immediately.” Mika said tersely and Garret frowned. What was going wrong now?
“Come on in.” Garret said. In the cramped offices that were being rented, Mika’s office was just a few short steps away, and sure enough the man walked into Garret’s office just twenty-six seconds later.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you again, but the Calosian Shipyards Chief Operations Officer called a few minutes ago.” Mika said with a frown.
“What is it?” Garret asked without letting out a sigh, although he did want to do either that or yell.
“The Shipyard Worker’s Guild informed him today that a number of their workers had filed ‘intent to not appear’ paperwork.” Mika said gravely and Garret shook his head.
“What does that mean?” Garret asked, not wanting to have to pull the information up on his computer. Sure, he’d studied a lot and downloaded more about Calosian laws and practices, but he hadn’t committed everything to memory just yet. Even with the implants it wasn’t like he could just plug in a disk and instantly know everything. The information had to be downloaded, absorbed, reviewed, or at the very least catalogued and it seemed like the damn Calosian Office of Records didn’t understand how to properly catalogue their disks for implants.
“The contract between the Shipyard and the Guild allows workers to file paperwork for missing work.” Mika answered. “Most of the time it’s for stuff like pre-planned doctor’s appointments, vacation, things like that.”
“You mean a number of workers ask for a day off and it is suddenly my problem?” Garret’s voice held equal parts scorn and confusion. Seeing the uncomfortable look on Mika’s face, Garret took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He had to expect problems and the like to pop up, but all of them happening on one day was a little much for him to handle. “Mika, sorry, please have a seat.”
“Thank you.” Mika said as he sat down. “The problem, Speaker, isn’t that a few workers are asking for a day off. The form can be used for other things, and are usually used en masse by the Guild as part of their preparations for a strike.”
“The Shipyard just hired over two thousand laid off employees!” Garret exclaimed in amazement at the gall of the workers. “I reviewed the contract they negotiated with the Guild! It’s more than fair with a damn good wage, good amounts of sick and vacation time, generous payments into the planetary health care system for the workers and their families, and the bonus program is downright generous. I insisted on that, adding nearly twenty million credits to the payments I’m making to the Shipyard to cover the added costs!”
“I know that sir, but in your review of the contracts did you perhaps look over the section regarding religious observances?” Mika asked and Garret frowned. It took just a moment to pull it up from his implant’s memory core, and his frown deepened as he re-read the passage. He’d skimmed over it after seeing it would allow workers to take time off for the observance of their religious holidays.
“I’m re-reading it now.” Garret told the man. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on.”
“The Intents being filed all relate specifically to the projects for your civilian ships.” Mika finally began to explain. “They stated they would refuse to work on any project for House Atrix based on the fact that it would violate their deeply held religious beliefs. They’re demanding full pay for the missed days of work. So far nearly twenty-six percent of the re-hired workforce has filed the paperwork.”
“That bastitche!” Garret fumed. “I’m going to find that bishop and wring his neck. Davin gave me a report on his Sunday sermon, reminding people that working for, or taking money from sinners, or abominations is a sin in and of itself! This was what he was aiming at doing!”
“Well, not just this, but it’s the first pebbles falling in front of a rock about ready to roll downhill.” Mika said with a shake of his head. “Four of our new employees have quit before they even started work. The construction companies doing the work on the house and landing pad are also reporting several of their guild employees not showing up for work and filing Intent papers. Finally, twenty-six grant applicants have withdrawn their applications for economic development funds.”
“They’re hitting us on all fronts.” Garret murmured, more for his own benefit than for Mika’s. He closed his eyes for a moment and took several deep, calming breaths. “What about those who have already received the funds?”
“None have returned the money yet.” Mika gave him a little bit of good news. Most of those who had already received funds had likely already started spending the money to set up their businesses. They wouldn’t want to return the monies because they’d already spent a good part of them and had incurred financial responsibilities. Under the various guild contracts, the guild employees would likely receive their regular paycheck paid out under the…
“They’re allowed twenty days of pay for religious holidays each year.” Garret said as he reached the end of the section on religious observances. “Even a liberal reading of the contracts showed that after twenty days, the various companies had no obligation to pay the employees their daily salaries.” Granted, they could not fire the employees for this, but they didn’t have to pay them, and they didn’t have to pay into the state health program. That would mean added costs to those families for health care. Instead of just jumping at this angle, he reviewed it in his head. “I think I have an idea Mika, but I want to go over it with a few people.”
“Who?” Mika asked with a slight smile.
“Let’s call a general staff meeting of our civilian Department Heads.” Garret replied. “Also, let’s invite Jean Vierre.”
“The Minority Leader?” Mika almost sounded confused.
“Yes, the Equality Party has the closest ties to the Guilds.” Garret explained. “He’ll know their leadership better than any of us. Another thing, has my Shipmaster’s Guild membership been transferred to the Calosian office yet?”
“Yes, that was done before we even arrived.” Mika answered.
“Good, see if Vierre can attend a meeting tonight.” Garret ordered. “Oh, and try to keep him being invited as quiet as possible. Make it sound like a minor dinner or something like that. In fact, call Majority Leader’s office and arrange a dinner with him for later in the week. Not tomorrow, though, I’ve already made arrangements…”
“With the woman you met in the supermarket, I know.” Mika said with a chuckle. “Davin, or Devin – I can never tell which is which – came storming into my office before you got back complaining about her apartment not being a secure location.”
“If they had their way I’d be wrapped in a protective cocoon and never let out.” Garret griped, something he was quite certain most leaders had been griping about since the time of Abraham Lincoln back on Earth. “They’ll just have to cope like security people have since time immemorial.”
“I’m sure they’ll manage.” Mika said.
“Any other bad news for the day?” Garret asked and Mika chuckled.
“Not yet, but the day’s barely half over.” He responded before Garret waved at him to leave. The man was still chuckling as he left.
Garret was supposed to be going over the final list of grant and loan awards, but he spent the next half-hour looking through Calosian laws and customs that might give him some clues to problems with his plan. During that time, a chime sounded on his desk computer showing that Mika had scheduled the meeting and that Jean Vierre would be there. The Calosian Congress was a year-round government, something Garret found odd. Most governments, including the Deliberatorium, only met a few months of the year. The Deliberatorium had one four-month session each year. The regular business of running the government was left to a group of appointed administrators and Ministers who handled the day-to-day business.
Most Republic scholars agreed that a government that met all year long had too much time to mess with the laws, and generally caused more trouble than they were worth. Even at the height of the war, the Deliberatorium rarely spent more than the regular four months in session. Occasionally they had held short one or two month special sessions, but those had only been to deal with extreme emergencies.
The problem with Garret’s schedule was that he was trying to do too much at one time. Running the operation of a Great House was normally an intensive affair, but he had several other duties added that were taking up a lot of his time. He remembered the lessons from his mother that she had given to both Billy and him with all the little details of how she ran House Lars. At the time he’d thought he was just being included as Billy’s playmate, but now he had to wonder if she’d had some inkling of her husband’s having designed him as a replacement clone instead of the expected 10-11 MX Garret was supposed to have been.
He was the CEO off BGL, which was now a House Atrix company. Then he was the Speaker of House Atrix with all the various responsibilities that entailed from the Republic governance aspects to the disbursement of Calosian and Republic-wide economic development grants and loans. Garret was also trying to establish his house on a planet that had not known a Great House in over five decades. One of his goals was to really understand the people of this planet, but it seemed like as he peeled back a layer, there were more there to learn and no amount of data disks or books could give him the understanding he needed. On top of everything else, the Republic was in the early stages of what could be a prolonged civil war, and he was the military commander of a small fleet of ships bordering an Empire they had been at war with just shy of two years ago.
“Monsieur Speaker, Speaker Tremere is calling for you.” The voice of his female Calosian secretary came through the intercom, reminding Garret of another ball he was trying to juggle at the moment: a fellow Speaker whose motives and friendship was tenuous at best.
“Put him through Jacinth.” Garret said to his secretary and less than a second later, Davlan Tremere’s image appeared on his screen. There was an impressive view of the ocean through a window behind Davlan, and Garret wondered how he’d managed to get an office with such a tremendous view while Garret was stuck with a view of the skyscraper next to his. “Davlan, what a pleasure.”
“You are learning to play the game, aren’t you?” Davlan responded with a chuckle and Garret noticed the little symbol in the bottom corner of the screen that indicated this transmission was being encrypted. “I’d ask how you’re doing, but my staff has told me you’re not having the best of days.”
“You might say that.” Garret responded ruefully. “How is your day going?”
“Slightly better than yours, but not perfectly.” Davlan answered. “I just finished a meeting with the local representative to the Calosian Congress.”
“Oh?” Garret asked while he felt like a sword was beginning to fall on his neck.
“Yes, he’s a member of Cartwright’s Liberty Party.” Davlan explained a little more. “I noticed that we both went down to the local government offices and filled out our planetary citizenship applications on the same day.”
“It’s required by the local laws within seven days, so it wouldn’t surprise me we picked the same day to do the deed.” Garret said with a shrug. Every person intending to make permanent residence had to file affidavits and applications for consideration of citizenship. For Davlan and Garret, as well as their households, it was merely a formality for the most part, but it was an important gesture that they went and filled out the paperwork personally instead of sending staff to do the job.
“I’ve been informed that like me, you failed to fill out their voter registration card.” Tremere stated with a wry grin that still managed to make Garret feel uneasy. He’d seen that grin a couple of times when the man still believed he could use Deci to blackmail Garret. He wondered at that moment just how much he was going to regret trusting Tremere.
“They require a declaration of alignment with one of their political parties when registering to vote in their plebiscites.” Garret said with a slight shrug. “For either of us to show allegiance to one party or another would be a mistake.”
“That was my reasoning for not registering as well.” Tremere noted. “Still, I received the visit today from Representative Holdwell. He was quite a curious fellow.”
“Really?” Garret asked.
“Oh, not that he was physically abnormal, but I’ve rarely seen a man so intent on using political leverage and publicity.” Tremere said with a slight shudder. “It reminded me of why men who must stand in popular elections shouldn’t be trusted. Monsieur Holdwell was quite transparent in the end. The Liberal Party is quite eager to drive a wedge between Tremere and Atrix. My reputation seems to have preceded me, and they intend to use this little dispute forming between you and the Jordanites as leverage to force you off-planet. They believe I will be more amenable to being a pampered figurehead, my coffers filled with their monies and no interference to the daily lives of the Calosian government.”
“You didn’t take their offer?” Garret asked, totally unable to hide the surprise in his voice.
“They might think I have for now, but I know my coffers will fill more, and faster, by staying at your side.” Tremere said with a shrug. “They also are hoping to be able to use this as a wedge between the Equality Party and their primary supporters, the Guilds. There is another election coming up in a little more than a year, and they are gearing up for that. It seems the Liberal Party has been very supportive of certain cliques within Calosian society. Many of the big on-planet manufacturies and businesses grew under the rule of the Empire, and since the Republic reclaimed this world, they have not been able to rape and pillage the average citizen as much as they once did.”
“It comes down to greed, doesn’t it?” Garret asked and Tremere showed his teeth in a hungry smile.
“I really do like these people. I can understand them a lot easier.” Tremere admitted before cutting off the transmission on his end. Garret leaned back in his chair and sat there, musing both on the information Tremere had given him and the underlying principles they represented. He realized the Calosian culture had really been corrupted by the occupation of Earth, and to truly return to the planet to the Republic fold, it would take more than economic development grants or solving a manufactured strike by space yard workers.
“I hope your day has been going better than mine, but I doubt it from what I’ve heard so far.” Masako said as she glided into his office a little while later. She was dressed in a sparkling silver robe today, with midnight blue swallows and little red lizards imprinted on the material. Her dark hair was done up in a bun and she looked tired as she sat down in a chair across from Garret. He spun in his chair to face her and tried to smile.
“I heard you had a good appearance on the morning shows.” Garret offered and she snorted.
“Those were fine.” She said with a shrug. “These so-called journalists haven’t figured out yet the right mixture of deference or how to address me, so they fluctuate so much they look foolish. Besides, they are all men and seem to think women do not have brains of their own. Lelaine is quite contemptuous of their skills as journalists. What is a problem are these so-called schools the government is running. Did you know they don’t even allow children to receive implants until their thirteenth year?”
“I’ve read that, yes.” Garret admitted with a frown. Sure, implants given to younger children have to be replaced as the child grows into puberty and beyond, but it was normal for a person to receive their final implant by age fifteen. The older implants could be removed, sanitized, and ‘re-used’ for first implants into younger children. At least, that was how most of the worlds of the Republic handled that problem. Here, though, implants were frowned upon as ‘lessening the purity of the human soul’ and there had been several restrictions placed on their use by the Congress. A restriction like reusing an implant was illegal, as was implanting anyone younger than thirteen.
“How do they expect their children to keep up with the rest of the Republic when they must learn in the ordinary way until they reach thirteen?” Masako’s voice held a great deal of contempt. “I swear these perverted religious beliefs of theirs will set this planet far back amongst the population of the other Republic worlds!”
“I agree.” Garret said with a sigh. “We just can’t let them hear us referring to their deeply held beliefs as ‘perverted’. They would likely take great offense.”
“Meanwhile, they can run around and call you an abomination?” Masako countered with anger showing in her voice.
“They have that right, and I do not wish to lose a battle on their chosen ground.” Garret reminded her and she shook her head.
“You need to visit a few of these schools yourself.” Masako told him as she took a deep breath to calm down a bit. “They do not teach the history of the Republic until Year Ten of their education system, and even then they do no more than a cursory explanation of the purpose of the Great Houses. They are woefully ignorant of our real reason for existence and there is a decidedly pro-Earth flavor to their early education. They can name every Prophet of the Empire since it’s founding, but cannot even name the current Chief Speaker of the Republic when his daughter sits in front of them!”
“You’re serious?” Garret asked in amazement.
“Nor can they name the Great Houses that formed the Great Charter of the Republic.” Masako said with more contempt and Garret shook his head. He’d been able to name those Houses since before he’d been sent to House Lars. It was something children learned on Peladon before they reached Year Six of education (Year One usually beginning when a child reached the age of five).
“How old were these children?” Garret asked.
“These were the Year Nine students.” She snorted and Garret shook his head. Even here children of that age had received their implants and should have been able to learn that much.
“There’s not much we can do directly about their education standards.” Garret reminded her, but she gave him a glare in response. “Then again, that’s why you want me to visit these schools, probably with cameras following me to make a scene.”
“You must.” She demanded. He nodded his agreement and she sat back in her chair. “Now tell me about these ‘strikes’ that are forming in the shipyards.
“They are not forming yet, but I have a plan.” Garret said and began to review it with her before the big meeting. She nodded after he was finished, and he waited while she thought it over. It would be good to get her input before the meeting, so the plan was further refined before he presented it to his people for their input. While she was thinking, Aaron entered the office with a tray of tea and some snacks for the both of them. Garret shared a secretive smile with him since Aaron was wearing a particularly tight-fitting pair of pants and a dark-blue lomex shirt that was more like a second skin. When Aaron had left without saying a word, and with Garret’s gaze firmly fixed on his rear end, Garret let out a sigh only to find Masako frowning at him.
“You know Deci has satisfactorily finished his training and can return to your bed if you wish.” She said and Garret wondered at the distaste in her mouth.
“Aaron’s filling my bed just fine.” Garret said defensively and she shook her head.
“I do not like that young man being in your bed.” Masako said and Garret felt dizzy for a moment. Hadn’t they agreed that as long as there were no problems with publicity that they would not comment on each other’s bed partners?
“What do you mean?” Garret’s voice was sharp. He did not need more problems now.
“After he shares your bed, you are different in attitude.” She said with a frown, almost as if she was picking her way through a minefield. “You are more domineering, you listen less to others, and you are often angrier in your reactions to unexpected things than you should be. He does something to you that is not totally healthy. When you have had others in your bed, you do not act the same way. It is as if he brings out the bad things in you and they remain after you have sated your desires with him.”
“You don’t see me commenting on what you and Lelaine do all night, and you’re pregnant!” Garret shot back defensively but she only raised an eyebrow.
“Why have you not taken either Davin or Devin to your bed in the last month?” She asked him and he frowned. “You use to enjoy whoever wished to share your bed.”
“Aaron doesn’t like to share.” Garret murmured.
“Does it matter what Aaron likes or dislikes in this regard?” She asked. “Are you wishing to enter into a secret marriage with him so that he is yours exclusively in that regard, and you are his?”
“I… nothing like that.” Garret shook his head and she frowned.
“Remember you have others who would enjoy sharing your bed.” Masako reminded him, but then she frowned. “Does this have to do with the death of Gary? You seemed attached to him. Does having sex with Davin and Devin remind you of him? Is that also why you haven’t expressed interest in Deci again, because he too reminds you of Gary?”
“Sometimes it seems like I’m the only one who remembers him.” Garret said with some surprise at the tears forming in his eyes. As much as he might think that he had gotten over losing Gary, there were moments like this that he was reminded that he missed the man.
“I remember him too, although I only knew him briefly.” Masako said with a gentle smile as she got up and came around the desk to give Garret a brief hug. Her face was stern though as she pulled back and loomed over him. “Do not let your grief over him, or your enjoyment of the domination Aaron desires cloud your judgment. Aaron is not a clone, raised with the attitudes about sex that clones have. He is a True Born, with all the sentiments about love and happiness that most children are raised with in these days, and he is starting to think that you love him in that way and will maybe one day run away with him so you two can live happily ever after.”
“How do you know that?” Garret frowned at the idea he would forsake his duties for any person. He knew that deep down there was a love inside of him for his brother still, but they’d both known that their duties would always come first, and when push came to shove, they’d both chosen duty and honor over a physical relationship together.
“He talks too much.” Masako frowned again. “Luckily he only talks over such things with staff from Peladon. Hades only knows what would happen if any of the local staff overheard him.
“I will… speak to him about what he shares with others.” Garret said with a frown, disappointed in the young man he’d allowed into his bed. Some things just weren’t meant to be shared.
“Speaker, your staff meeting is preparing to start and Minority Leader Vierre has arrived.” His secretary said over the intercom.
“Send the Minority Leader back to my office.” Garret said while Masako stepped to the side before he motioned her to stay. Jean Vierre entered a few minutes later and Garret moved to shake his hand in accordance with local customs.
“I must say I’m surprised to have received your summons, Speaker.” Vierre said as they sat down with Masako moving around the desk to sit in a chair near the Minority Leader.
“I’m sorry if there was a miscommunication, but it was an invitation, not a summons.” Garret said quickly with a frown. “I have no right to ‘summon’ you or any other member of government…”
“Forgive me, it was a bad choice of words.” Vierre said quickly. “Being in the minority party since the last election has made me use to being ‘summoned’ whenever the Majority Leader or President get upset about some noise we are making. They hold a large enough majority to push through anything they want no matter what we do, but the laws instilled by the Republic Charter require that our voice cannot be stifled and they occasionally get upset with what we have to say.”
“Your party lost a great many seats in the last election, didn’t you?” Garret said and Vierre frowned.
“Yes, and to be honest we’ll be lucky if we don’t lose a couple more seats.” He said with a shake of his head. “Cartwright’s party has the backing of most of the major businesses and so they receive massive campaign donations. We have only limited funds for our campaign, mostly small donations from individuals or donations from the different Guilds. Even those are being threatened now as Cartwright is courting the Guilds.”
“You know neither I nor House Tremere will make donations to political campaigns.” Garret said and Vierre nodded.
“Nor would we accept them.” Vierre said. “I’m sorry, Speaker, but the Equality Party stands for fairness, and having the Houses involved so heavily in local elections would be disastrous. We believe not only in the laws of the Republic, but the spirit behind it as well.”
“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” Garret said as he felt a knot in the back of his neck unwind with the man’s words. “What is your opinion on a political party attempting to use a Great House in their electioneering schemes?”
“I am opposed to that as much as I would imagine that you would be.” Vierre responded.
“How about a Great House taking steps to equalize the playing field in that regard?” Garret asked and slow smile formed on Vierre’s face.
“Equality is important to the Equality Party.” He replied. “As long as it is true equalization, and not tipping the field in favor one way or the other.”
“Would you care to observe a staff meeting?” Garret asked as he stood up. Masako stood with a smile as Vierre also stood, now with a broad smile on his face.
“I would be honored, Speaker, to observe the workings of your House.” Vierre said.
Garret smiled, feeling like something was finally going right.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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