All in Good Time Read online

  Her mother looked uncomfortable. Heather didn’t usually invoke the pluralis maiestatis unless she was making official public pronouncements. Fortunately, Heather wasn’t full of herself and didn’t think the girl was challenging her sovereignty.

  “We, in this case, are Myself, April Lewis, and Jeff Singh,” Heather said. “You can always assume we three support each other without reserve.” Her tone and pausing conveyed the distinction of her Royal Self from this particular ‘We’ perfectly.

  “No, I couldn’t assume that,” Laja said. “I just don’t operate on ‘everybody knows’ but now that you have defined it I understand and accept it, thank you.”

  “Heather is closer in age to you than me,” Frymeta told her daughter, “but we are both still products of a different culture that was more circumspect in our personal life than in business, where everything must be documented in black and white. You may think that lingering Earth Think but it was the reality in which we were raised.”

  “While we are defining things, I think the limits of what is considered Earth Think is expanding, and that trend will probably continue,” Laja said.

  “I should have seen that coming. Neither will Earth Think itself stay static, any more than how you regard it. Cultural norms change no matter how authorities try to keep them enforced. Let me explain the background,” Heather told the young woman.

  “When we three declared the revolution on Home we did so in secret, fearful to even put a name to our association. To give something a name is to invite discovery. We were already facing the prospect of banishment to Earth. Being named as criminal conspirators would have just added another thing to overcome to ever get back in space. We kept everything secret as a matter of personal safety. We also avoided any public pledges or legal contracts with each other because the majority of those raised on Earth would disapprove. Our own families were a concern that way. April still feels her grandparents are prejudiced and don’t accept Jeff, and Jeff hasn’t had his Earth-side Indian relatives speak to him since the war.”

  “What about your family?” Laja asked directly, horrifying her mother.

  “My mother is so in your face and unconventional she puts you youngsters to shame,” Heather said. “My brother manages to occasionally shock her.”

  “Then I think I’d like to meet them,” Laja said, with obvious sincerity.

  “I’ll arrange it if I ever can,” Heather promised. “Besides those concerns about our personal relationships, we each already had our own alliances with other people and could not bring in others into dealing with all three of us without asking. Jeff and I had a relationship with several sets of Moon people. April had agreements with Mitsubishi 3 Security and others. April still has her own extensive intelligence network completely separate from the one we share. All three of us still have businesses in which the other two have no interest. Consider this – we owe shares and royalties between companies both ways. Sometimes we have multiple payments both directions and have to add them all up and see how they cancel out. We pretty much just accept what our accountants tell us. It would be a full-time endeavor to try to track it all personally.

  “They are both peers but have a different relationship with my sworn subjects than other peers. It’s a complex mess. If I had to draw a Venn diagram, I don’t know if we could keep it unscrambled for all the overlaps. It’s not exactly like we can or should have to make a public announcement of all those private matters to you or others so that it makes any sense. People find out bits as they need to know them. Consider it an unusual privilege for me to explain the wider picture to you. Your entire family is an important asset to Me.”

  Laja looked off to infinity trying to picture it.

  “Maybe a multilayer Venns with transparency and irregular shapes,” she speculated. “I never wanted to be an accountant either. I’ll try not to be so judgmental.” That seemed a near apology to Heather.

  “What do you want to be?” Heather asked, curious.

  “I want to fly starships, and you are going to need pilots before my mom does. I want to train and fly for you. I’m willing to swear to you to do so,” Laja offered.

  “How old are you?” Heather asked her.

  “I’m sixteen, but I’m still very flexible and trainable,” she hastened to add. “I’m not too old to adapt to big life changes.”

  “Believe it or not, my concern ran the other way,” Heather said. “I’m hesitant to swear people to me who aren’t somewhat further along in their development. They may regret having sworn to me later as their tastes and views change. That would be a mess. So far, I haven’t had anyone ask for release from my service.”

  “I didn’t know you could do that,” Laja admitted.

  “You can ask anything,” Heather said with a dismissive gesture. “I’d rather not worry if somebody wants to leave if they are going to work against me. You do know you can renounce your citizenship in some Earth nations and go elsewhere? Of course, some of them demand a huge fee to do so, if they permit it at all.”

  “I have to say, if I’m too young to judge the matter, I still see that older people I trust and respect are happy with you. You are the only politician I’ve never heard anyone say they want to kill.”

  “They say that about others?” Heather asked, a bit taken aback.

  “Oh my, yes. For example, the USNA President, Wiley, I’ve heard people go on and on about exactly how they would do it. They seem to imagine all sorts of inventive and overly complicated ways to do it. I find it hard to understand how they can dislike somebody that much who they’ve never met.”

  “I’ll take that as a reversed way of saying how beloved I am,” Heather said. She looked at the girl’s mother. “Is Laja healthy and smart enough to do pilot work? Is she disciplined enough from what you have seen of her studies and work?”

  “I wouldn’t have brought her to speak to you if she wasn’t,” Frymeta said.

  “Then this was your employment interview,” Heather said. “You need to get your orbit to orbit ticket and lander license. Once you’ve passed those tests I can get you seat time or call in favors to have other owners get you some hours. You are right in thinking I’m not going to have a hired pilot flying our ships who is not sworn to me, but after you have served your apprenticeship we’ll see how you feel about swearing to me. You could, at that point, have the option to go work elsewhere if you decide you can’t stomach me. You could even go fly for the French who are rumored to have starships. Though the press and Earthie opinion seem to be conflicted on the truth of that,” Heather teased.

  “As if anyone would be considered who isn’t a shining example of Gallic heroism,” Laja said. “Grandfather Blas has told me enough horror stories about how his arm of the family ended up in Australia to ever trust my freedom and livelihood to a fickle European nation. I also don’t see them rushing to send anybody out again even though they have a working ship. That doesn’t impress me and I wonder why not? What’s the problem?”

  “I suspect they don’t have enough Helium3 to do it again right away. They stepped up the size of this new ship quite a bit, and their fuel infrastructure is still very much in the development stages. It’s going to be a long term bottleneck for them,” Heather assured her.

  “Uh-huh, ‘for them’” Laja said. The way Heather said that didn’t slip past her at all. “I believe I’ll stick with you, thank you.”

  “Fine, but this is not a guarantee, it’s a chance at piloting for us. For example, you may be sweet as can be to me today, because I have something you want, and turn out to be impossible for my other people to work with. I’ve seen such incompatibilities revealed more than once. Not that you need to make yourself a doormat, but people jammed together in small ships have to get along. I’ll have one of my people tell you some stories about defective personalities in ships that will leave your hair standing on end.”

  “Satisfied?” Heather asked and looked back and forth between them.

  “That shou
ld satisfy her,” Frymeta said. “I came with some requests of my own.”

  Chapter 3

  April didn’t expect mail from Diana. She usually did a video call or rarely text, but then she saw the header. It was from Hawaii. The lag would drive Diana nuts trying to talk past lag. Diana had no patience at all, and it was a long message. April hadn’t been aware she had returned home.

  Just a quick note to say I am home. I was too rushed to pack and make the shuttle to tell you on Home. Your place next door looks fine. You really should use it some time. The new laws guarantee property rights for Haolas, and they don’t try to tax you for income made off the island. I’ll have news I don’t trust to com when I come back. I deposited another one percent fee for the Life Lotto in your account. Thanks again for the idea. Nick asks your permission to have people outside the secure portions of your house. He never asked until he was certain it was safe for you to be associated with him. His position in the now government is Business minister, which promotes commerce and trade. If you have anybody you need to put up while I am gone feel free to use the cubic I’m leasing from Jeff. I’m going to be down here at least a month. Eric is working on a couple of other lotteries for us and I know Sylvia and Lindsey are too wrapped up in work to say hi to you. Be aware all is well with them. Nick did a triple take on me when I showed up with life extension. I underestimated that advantage. That’s all for now, love ya kiddo. – Diana

  April smiled at being called kiddo, and was surprised Nick still wanted to be her caretaker if he had a responsible position in the new government. If he was still happy why say anything and give him the idea to get his own place? Not that there was that much to do. The house didn’t require much maintenance. With nobody but him living there it was about like keeping an apartment but paid him a bit to do so instead of being an expense. If it needed a repair he’d hire that at her expense and just watch the workman for security. She wondered what Diana could be afraid to trust to com, but she was given to drama. She’d just have to wait to find out what it was, if anything. April replied to her and copied Jeff into the message:

  If he wants to have people in that’s fine. I trust his judgment. Now that there is commercial shuttle service to the islands again I’ll think on visiting sometime. More likely if we can drop unannounced with a freight shipment for security. You be safe. – Kiddo

  * * *

  Irwin Hall had a very productive meeting in Havana with a number of bankers and investment professionals from South America. None of them was interested in provoking the Giant to their north. Irwin assured them the habitat offering was structured in a company totally divorced from any association with the System Trade Bank or other entities subject to North American sanctions.

  Instead of going back to Hawaii, Irwin received a private invitation to have a smaller meeting with some investors in Belgium. They had reasons involving Earth politics for not wanting to be seen with the South Americans with whom he’d just met. That was fine, Irwin didn’t really care about their internal squabbles. He would accommodate them as long as they didn’t require him to publicly disassociate himself from one side and support the other.

  Cuba had heavy traffic in hypersonic connections, forbidden in North America for supposedly environmental reasons. That was a big reason they’d met in Cuba, besides a lovely climate, relatively cheap accommodations compared to Singapore or Tokyo, some of the best duty-free rum and whisky in the world. They still made well-regarded cigars even if they were subject to total tobacco bans in a number of countries.

  He could get a very quick flight to Brussels and probably just keep going east. He could get connections if not a direct flight to Hawaii in that direction and lift for home. The flight to Brussels was Air France and he had one of the twelve first-class seats at the front. There was only one couch to each side of the aisle in first class. The rear had one seat to a side and two to the other in two staggered sections, with the service bay for drinks and such in the middle. First-class had its own attendants and kitchen even as short as the flight was.

  The flight plan had the plane taking off aimed south a bit to avoid the Keys and American airspace. They would build altitude and then turn north past the Keys, accelerating through the transition to a semi-ram engine. The engine intakes closed entirely at about forty thousand meters and ran in rocket mode off internal oxidizers long enough to go ballistic. They would drop back into the atmosphere while passing off the coast of Ireland and make a long gliding supersonic turn to the South East over the North Sea, going subsonic before crossing the coast of the Netherlands lined up to land at Brussels.

  The attendant offered Irwin a mini-quiche and champagne or a freshly prepared sandwich if he was hungrier. He declined and asked for coffee. The eighteen seats in the rear had to make do with pre-mixed drinks or soda, and bag nuts or pretzels.

  The coffee was served in a delicate handled-cup, but its appearance was deceiving. It was a glassy ceramic that would not shatter and produce shards that might injure someone. At least it wouldn’t if you didn’t have a hydraulic press or an anvil and heavy hammer handy.

  Irwin took a sip and was pleased with it when there was a jarring >WHAM<. The cup flew off his serving tray and splashed the coffee up the left bulkhead. The hypersonic slewed clockwise so hard it thrust Irwin’s head went down against his left shoulder and then it decelerated so hard his chin went against his chest and his arms went out straight in front of him. He was belted in securely. The crew made sure the passengers stayed that way until they went ballistic, just in case something like this happened. The cabin crew were not all so fortunate and several of them were injured severely.

  The first-class seats were in pods, and the top of Irwin’s pod came down like a clamshell and locked closed. Emergency lighting from under the seat illuminated it indirectly.

  There were rumblings and pitching motions, then a long hard turn to the left.

  “This is your Captain. We lost our starboard engine and shut both down. We are already cleared to land straight in at Miami, which is easily within our glide range. I’ll announce when we are on approach. We expect an orderly exit without hazard on the ground aided by airport personnel.

  Well, that was interesting. Irwin never intended to so, but he was going to have an opportunity to test the free travel provisions of Home’s on again – off again treaty with North America. He sent a text to Jeff and Eddie, then canceled his Brussels meetings.

  * * *

  Laja did the same thing Heather had when they arrived. She sat back in her seat relaxed now that the part of their meeting she was concerned with was over. It signaled that she wouldn’t interfere with the discussion between Heather and her mother, Frymeta. Heather wondered if she was already that polished and poised at sixteen or if she had learned the trick just now from watching her?

  “Do you have any objection to my engineer, Mo, coming by and talking to your guys about excavating your elevator?” Heather asked.

  “Do you think he’ll have suggestions?” Frymeta asked her.

  “Knowing Mo, he may think of something, but my original thought was actually that he might learn what problems you’ve had to solve so we don’t have to repeat them ourselves.”

  “Sure, send him over. Once we have it built, we might even hire to do them for others if you’d be interested. You’re always saying there’s too much to do for too few people.”

  “Thanks. What did you want to discuss for yourself?” Heather asked Frymeta.

  “Laja wants to fly starships. I want my family to own ships. That’s why the elevator is being made. We wouldn’t consider investing in ships parked in an open field exposed to the sky and attack. If we are limited to local service, we still want ships, and if they must be local we still want to run them under your flag, not Home’s. But, I’m seeking to be in line when you license others to build starships.

  “We’ve never said we have starships,” Heather protested.

  “It’s about the worst kept secret on th
e Moon, and I notice you didn’t deny it. Several Earth governments have a long history of concealing their most advanced generation of aircraft. They refused to talk about them, but people still have eyeballs. They not only saw them but there were inexplicable radar sightings. Their sonic booms even registered on seismographs. Similarly, your ships have requested traffic clearance with no rational destination or flight path but ‘out there’. Then the same craft would be seen coming back on an impossible flight heading far outside the performance envelope of any known ship.”

  “If you say so,” Heather said, noncommittally.

  “I do. I also expect the Earthies not to push recognition of that for their own self-interest. I understand if you wish to avoid making claims to make it easier for them to ignore it. Just don’t expect your subjects to play silly security theatre games when they are talking to you. If there are others ahead of us in line, just tell me so. We’ll drop the matter until you have satisfied any other obligations.”

  “I’m not saying anything yea or nay,” Heather said. “I need to talk with my partners, and they have others they may need to consult about whom to bring into our programs. We don’t have any opposing obligations, but the matter is complex and I’ll have to get back to you. Don’t neglect anything sitting by the com, waiting for a quick reply. Also, be aware that becoming insiders to a lot of our peer programs have as many obligations as privileges. Do you have any other requests?”

  Frymeta nodded acknowledgment of that. “Yes, of course, and very likely you will need to discuss this next request with your partners too. We are aware you are stockpiling the various elements of regolith with good isotopic purity. We’ve given that some thought in light of the published composition of regoliths. When you have sufficient of it separated we’d very much like to purchase as much as one hundred kilograms of both natural uranium isotopes, and a quantity of thorium, with a mind to arming our planned ships. I can satisfy you we have the expertise to be trusted with it. Consider all that as you are able, please. I am aware we are not the only ones making demands on your time.”