Wayfarer
Jes dea’Tolin stepped out onto the roof of the Wayfarer and into an oasis.
Immediately, she felt tense muscles relax, and her jaw soften. She stepped onto a graveled path that ran between mounded banks of pink-and-blue flowers, walking beneath arches of flowering vines, past small pockets of greenery, and a pool fed by a dainty waterfall, populated by green, blue, and orange fish, none of them any longer than her longest finger.
Jes was herself an avid gardener. Before she’d taken to ship-work, she had won numerous awards from the Solcintra Garden Association. Lately, her work with plants had been confined to volunteering in the hydroponics departments of the various ships on which she had served as qe’andra. She had been doubly pleased that rotating assignments placed her on Dutiful Passage, which had an atrium—a true flowering garden. She spent much of her off-time there, volunteering, or simply communing.
This little park, now, with its cunningly twisty path, and surprising corners—this park had been designed and built by a master. She would have to find who kept it now, and see if they might welcome an occasional extra pair of hands.
She laughed at herself, softly. You have a whole port inventory ahead of you, she told herself.
Well, yes. She did. A whole port inventory was no minor undertaking, even for a full team of three. She did not doubt her ability to conduct the inventory, and to produce an accurate report. But it was going to be . . . challenging.
And there would surely be no time for gardening.
She strolled on, the path now lined with tall, leafless stalks, each topped with a single, perfectly round white flower. They were nearly as tall as she was, bobbing in the light breeze, as if they were dancing.
Her own steps lighter, she continued beneath spreading branches, as the path turned twice, very quickly, before vanishing into a plush lawn. There were a few shrubberies, a few benches, and a riot of bell-shaped blossoms at the bottom of the space, which, Jes thought, hid the end of the roof.
She crossed the lawn to the flowers, and looked over the edge.
Far below was the street, tiny vehicles and tinier figures moving briskly about their lives.
The bellflowers gave off a peppery scent, which the breeze brought directly to Jes’s nose. She sneezed—then laughed, as her watch vibrated against her wrist.
Yes, well.
She turned and started back to the door.
Æ
Shan put his hand against the door to Padi’s room. The light flashed blue and he entered, walking softly.
The window was unshuttered, allowing Colemeno’s daylight to flood the room, and grace the norbear standing tall on her back feet, nose uplifted, like a portly, furry flower.
It was well, he thought, that Padi’s note had warned him about the nature of the enclosure Tekelia had provided, else he would have been convinced that Lady Selph stood free at the table’s center, with the various accoutrements necessary to a norbear’s comfort placed artfully about her.
“Good morning, my lady,” he said, dropping to one knee by the table.
She remained in communion with the light for a moment more before settling on to all fours to regard him out of bright dark eyes.
An image formed just behind Shan’s eyes—rough black hair pulled back from a round face, and well-opened eyes—one grey and the other green.
“Tekelia-dramliza,” Shan said. “I have had the pleasure, and I see you have made a conquest.”
This sally was greeted with a sense that Tekelia was well mannered and respectful, not at all like some white-haired gadabouts that Lady Selph was too refined to mention.
Shan grinned.
“I am fairly scolded,” he said. “I did not make you perfectly welcome last evening, to my shame. I was—a little unwell, and no fit company for anyone, least of all yourself. At least allow that I saw you into the care of those who could—and did!—attend you properly.”
Lady Selph marched across the sand to the door panel that Padi had described in her note. She looked at him expectantly.
“I will very shortly be wanted elsewhere,” Shan told her.
He received a rather caustic suggestion that it might therefore be to his benefit to open the door quickly.
Half-smiling, he touched the lock, the panel withdrew, and Lady Selph walked out of the enclosure and onto his hand. He arranged himself more comfortably on the rug and brought her to his knee.
“I am not at all certain that this environment will ultimately do you good,” he began, but there was a face forming behind his eyes.
Vanner Higgs.
Shan felt tears start to his eyes, but the image had called its match without his conscious decision to share. Tarona Rusk, glowing with stolen energy, rose to the fore of his mind. He felt Lady Selph accept the connection, and the information that she had murdered Vanner.
Immediately, he felt the firm press of bodies around him, fur warming fur; heard a deep and steady purr, the sound producing contentment. Peace.
Shan took a deep breath, and another, allowing the purr and the peace to sink deep into his core. It occurred to him that Lady Selph had been uncommonly deft in that sharing, even for so old and canny a lady.
But, there—Vanner had many friends among the crew, some of whom would have sought the norbears for comfort. That Lady Selph brought the topic to him, here and now—Priscilla’s small healing had worked considerable benefit, but he was still unsettled by last night’s interview at the guard house, and the necessity of revealing himself as a mass murderer.
He felt as if someone had flicked their finger, not gently, against his cheek. It stung.
He raised an eyebrow at Lady Selph.
“Feeling sorry for myself, am I? I suppose it’s nothing to you that there were innocents among those slaughtered?”
Another image of Vanner formed behind his eyes, followed by Tarona Rusk, Priscilla, Padi, Mar Tyn, Dyoli, and—Tekelia vesterGranz.
The Reavers had come to Colemeno to gather Talents into the web of power Tarona Rusk had wielded in service of her masters. They surely would have taken innocents, and it was no stretch to think that they would have assumed Colemeno to be a resource, its people theirs by right. Certainly, Chief bennaFalm had feared as much.
Shan sighed, and inclined his head.
“I understand,” he said, softly. “You would have me acknowledge that my actions averted a greater tragedy. I did not have the option of doing nothing; and it was necessary to disarm the enemy I faced.”
The imagined touch against his cheek was soft this time, and norbear purrs again filled him with peace.
“Thank you,” he said to Lady Selph. “And now I fear I must leave you.”
He brought her to the tabletop, and she turned, quite docile, and made her way through the door and into her palatial enclosure.
Shan locked the door behind her, and rose. A wistful image formed behind his eyes—a norbear, no one he knew—the idea of a norbear, he thought. Possibly a request for a companion. Norbears could live alone, but Lady Selph had long been part of a cuddle.
“We will send you back to the Passage with Dil Nem,” he told her, projecting the images of Tiny, Delm Briat, and Master Frodo—her accustomed companions. “But I fear you will be a few days largely alone. We will, of course, visit as often as we are able. You will be pleased to know that we are making many new connections, which we will of course share with you.”
She returned no answer to this, but continued her march across the sand to the tiny waterfall and pool. She bent her head to drink, and Shan left her to it.
Æ
“Qe’andra dea’Tolin, have you a moment?”
Jes turned and smiled at Mar Tyn pai’Fortana. A diffident man, and plain in his manner. She had worked with him and Dyoli ven’Deelin on the info-packet that had been produced for Colemenoport. She had learned then that he had a retentive memory, as well as being quick and certain with his figures.
“The master trader has not yet arrived to call us to order,” she said. “Is there something I may do for you?”
He sighed slightly.
“I fear that there is. The master trader . . . ” He paused, as if uncertain quite how to account the master trader. But of course one did not account master traders; every one Jes had met—which numbered a fair half-dozen by now—had been an elemental force, and Master Trader yos’Galan more so than most.
She waited. Mar Tyn looked down, then up, meeting her eyes.
“The master trader was pleased to notice that I am able to do sums,” he said quickly, “and sent me the Accountants Guild basic course, in case I should like to study, and—certify myself as an accountant. I am told that you are qualified to both advise and test me.”
Jes looked at him with renewed interest.
“Have you begun the course?” she asked.
“I read the first two chapters,” he said, diffident once more, “and completed the self-tests.”
“Do you find the material interesting?” she pursued.
He laughed softly.
“In fact, I do. I am no doubt encouraged by the fact that I did well in the self-tests.”
That was perceptive. The course was built to encourage the student. Which did not mean that the first two self-tests would not confound a careless or inattentive scholar.
“I intend to continue,” Mar Tyn pai’Fortana was saying. “However, I fear that I will need assistance as I progress—and also someone to administer the section tests. I do not want to importune you—”
She moved a hand.
“It is true that I will be busy—we will all be busy, I collect! But if you can find time to study, I can find time to assist you and to administer the tests. In fact, if you won’t think me too odd, I believe I will find it . . . soothing to reengage with the basics.”
“I understand, I think,” he said. “Constant challenge is wearying.”
She laughed, surprised.
“Exactly!” she said.
Æ
“Portmaster krogerSlyte has made an office suite available to the qe’andra’s team in the mercantile complex,” Priscilla was saying. “She sent me the room number, and the door code this morning. She also asks that Jes contact her directly, if there’s anything at all needed to make the space as efficient and pleasing as possible.”
“The portmaster is gracious,” Jes murmured.
“The portmaster,” said the master trader, “has been a staunch ally. I note that she speaks in terms of the qe’andra’s team, and while I would very much like to produce two—or two dozen—additional qe’andra to assist you, that is beyond my power.”
“Two dozen would be rather too many,” Jes told him calmly. “I had anticipated the need of tapping local resources. Early this evening, I have an appointment with Fenlix clofElin, who chairs the Colemenoport Business Association. She assures me that she can give me a vetted list of qualified qe’andra on the port.”
That, Padi thought admiringly, was quick work. She did not know Jes dea’Tolin well. The qe’andra kept herself very close. Padi had met her in hydroponics once or twice, and had seen her tending plantings in the atrium, as a volunteer gardener.
As a qe’andra, the accounting and analyses she had completed on Padi’s behalf had been meticulous. The master trader spoke highly of her abilities and accomplishments, but Padi had not been quite prepared for this decisive action.
The master trader inclined his head and reached for his glass. After a moment, Jes spoke again.
“In terms of assistants who are nearer to the mission, I wonder if I might ask Trader ven’Deelin and Master pai’Fortana to come into the qe’andra’s office—perhaps on a rotating half-shift? I know that the master trader’s team is spread very thin—”
The master trader raised his hand.
“The whole port inventory is pivotal; the trade team cannot come to a decision without it. It is my part to be certain that you have the assistance and resources that you need in order to perform the inventory properly and in a timely manner. Indeed, if my assistance on a rotating half-shift will make your work smoother, I will arrange my schedule to accommodate yours.”
Jes blinked, and Padi didn’t blame her. On its face, it seemed preposterous that a master trader would propose that his duties on port were second to . . . anything.
Looked at twice, however, it was perfectly proper. The master trader needed to know if and how this port could serve him. While there were matters of trade for him to pursue on Colemenoport, until the whole port inventory was completed and understood, he could make no commitments, and do very little in the way of business.
All the while Dutiful Passage sat in orbit. Losing profit.
Padi shivered. She had understood that the bid for the Redlands had been . . . a risk. Now, quite suddenly, she realized just how high the stakes were. If Jes’s work revealed a flaw; if the master trader’s leap did not prove a profit . . .
“Thank you, Master Trader,” Jes said. “I will call upon you if necessary. In the meanwhile—”
“In the meanwhile,” Dyoli interrupted, “I propose that I come into your office full-time, if the master trader agrees, and if it will serve you, Jes. As you know, I am nothing like a qe’andra, but I do know how to read ledgers and inventory sheets.”
“Your assistance would be most welcome,” Jes told her, and looked past Dyoli to Mar Tyn. “Master pai’Fortana? This touches upon our earlier discussion, and the study you have recently embarked upon. A ’prentice in a busy office learns much, even if it seems that one’s head will whirl away.”
Mar Tyn smiled his slight smile.
“I had just been thinking how I might ask you to allow me to assist you full-time,” he said.
Jes raised her hand. “You must have time for your studies. Since you have solicited me as a mentor, I will share that I hope to see you complete the second level by the time the master trader makes his decision regarding this port. I insist that this goal is every bit as important as completing the inventory in a timely manner.”
“I agree,” said the master trader, and nodded at Mar Tyn. “Master pai’Fortana, consider yourself ’prenticed to Qe’andra dea’Tolin.”
Mar Tyn looked aghast. Dyoli fairly beamed. Master Trader yos’Galan waited.
After a moment, Mar Tyn cleared his throat, and leaned forward in a seated bow.
“Master dea’Tolin, I stand ready.”
“Excellent,” Jes said calmly. “This evening, you will accompany me to the meeting with Chair clofElin. In the time between the end of this meeting and our departure, I would have you work through as much of the third chapter as you are able. If you complete it, take the self-test, and send it to my screen. Be ready to explain what you have read.”
“Yes,” Mar Tyn said simply.
“That being settled,” said the master trader, “do we have more business?”
“I have information for the whole team and security,” Padi stated.
“Speak, then, Trader Padi.”
“Yes, sir.” She glanced around the table, her eyes lingering on Priscilla, before she brought her attention back to the center of the table.
“We are all informed regarding the ambient conditions of Colemeno, which increase the . . . abilities of those of us who are Gifted. We have recently discovered that it is necessary to refuel with carbohydrates or protein after we have exerted ourselves. The need is so prevalent, that it has left an imprint on society. You will find that cake is always on offer, in order to limit what our liaison Councilor ziaGorn is pleased to style incidents.”
She paused to have a sip from her glass, and looked ’round the table again. Mar Tyn gave her a smile, as if in encouragement.
“This morning, I learned that the ambient does not only interact with us when we use our Gifts. It acts upon us constantly, even when our Gifts are quiescent.”
She looked to the master trader.
“This means that one can be doing nothing more ambitious than taking three meetings of various levels of complexity, and arrive at a caloric deficit. I am told that this looks like exhaustion. It feels like exhaustion, in my experience, with a touch of headache.”
The master trader’s eyebrows rose slightly, but he said nothing.
“Even under the Grid, here at the port, or in the city, those of us who are Gifted—and our friends—must be vigilant, and always have the means to balance our caloric outgo in our pocket, or case.”
She put the fruit and nut bars Bell had given her on the table.
“These were suggested by Bell at the Skywise, who is a medic, as a satisfactory substitute for cake.”
There was a small silence after she had finished. Grad shifted in his seat, glancing around at his teammates.
“Security will watch for signs of exhaustion, and mention it, when noted,” he said.
“That will be most helpful,” the master trader said. He looked to Priscilla, then away. “Trader, will you source those fruit-and-nut bars?”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“Splendid. Have we any other topics of conversation?”
He looked around the table. No one spoke.
“Then I believe we have our tasks laid out before us. Let us adjourn and go to work. Trader Padi, attend me, if you please.”