Chapter 2
Having expected some totally insincere declaration of romantic interest, Kira found herself thrown off balance. "Why not?"
"They want to cheat you," Jason said in a rush. "Don't look at me! Keep looking forward! I have to say this fast because I don't know how long it will take for the ship's monitoring routines to suspect the feed from me isn't real. It's like this. Universal Life Systems is the biggest outfit in Earth's solar system, with major influence on Earth and Mars, all the colonized moons, and every orbital habitat. They sell designer genetic packages so parents can be sure their kids are free of defects and look like whatever the latest trends are."
"Wh-what?" Kira demanded. "You can design children?"
"Yeah, of course we can. The important thing is, getting something new to sell has become pretty hard." Jason glanced at her again. "You, this planet, your mother and father, are all new. Mom wants you to agree to something that will look like no big deal, but in the fine print it will grant full control of all of your genetic material to ULS."
"Full control of our genetic material?" Kira asked. "Why?"
"So they could put it into designer packages. Especially cosmetic genes. They're going to want girls that look like your mother. I mean, lots of people back on Earth are interested in colony-world blood because they think it's going to be more pure and strong and other nonsense. They'd pay my mom's company to create kids for them that have mostly their genes, but are nearly identical external copies of your mom, and you I guess, cleaned up internally with some colonial genes left in to make it look cool."
Kira stared straight ahead, feeling both horrified and confused. "Girls on Urth. Babies. Made to look like my mother? And me?"
"It would be a thing," Jason said, sounding disgusted. "Really fashionable. That's why Mom was so happy to see that you and your mom looked exotic. That'll increase demand. There'd be hundreds of thousands of people paying for their babies to match you, even at the huge prices ULS would charge."
"Hundreds of thousands?" Kira inhaled deeply, calling on her father's Mage teachings to calm her mind. "Who look like me and my mother?" The idea was too weird.
"And they're not only going to get the rights to your genetic material, they're going to cheat you," Jason continued. "You won't get money or knowledge out of the deal, just some cheap toys that they think will really impress you."
"But we thought your ship would bring us some devices and information to help our world recover from what was lost," Kira said.
"No," Jason said, looking unhappy. "We know you've got the survival technology manuals from the colony ship, but even if my mom and her company wanted to provide extra stuff, they couldn't because we're legally restricted from giving you anything important."
"What? Why?"
"There are a lot of people back home who think you need to be protected because you've got this unique culture that shouldn't be 'disrupted.' Nobody asked you whether or not you wanted to be disrupted, right? But my mom and her company don't plan on giving you anything worthwhile anyway. They just want to cheat you."
Kira put her hands to her mouth, trying to think, her mind focusing on one word. "What exactly does exotic mean?"
"Uh, unusual, different, exciting. You know."
"My mother? Me? You think we're…beautiful?"
"No," Jason insisted. "Exotic. That's not the same thing. Beautiful is easy. Just select for widely admired appearance traits. Exotic is a sort of random thing, where features come together in unexpected ways."
Features coming together in unexpected ways. That didn't sound like a compliment, even though Jason apparently thought it was. "Why would anyone want to look just like me?"
"Uh, not like you," Jason said, sounding apologetic. "Your mom. Lady Mari. Back on Earth there have been vids and books and stuff. I'm sure the details are all wrong, but the basic thing is, your mom is really famous and sort of a folk hero."
Kira heard someone laughing and realized it was her. "My mother is so famous on Urth that people want to make their children copies of her?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, that's just so…awful." Kira managed to stop her bitter laughter. She had spent her life worrying how she could ever live up to being the daughter of the daughter. But her mother's shadow extended out to the stars. Even on Urth people would look at Kira and see simply a copy of Lady Mari, a copy who could never match the original.
She had to fight off the urge to scream.
"They want your dad's genetic material, too," Jason continued, unaware of Kira's internal turmoil. "That Mage stuff has them stumped, if it's true, but there must be some genetic component. There's something about the Mage thing that has them excited, but I don't know what it is."
Kira's felt an odd tingle cut through her distress as if trying to focus her attention. "They want to know a lot about Mages?"
"Yeah. And they figure that you're a hybrid," Jason said, "so they want your genetic material as well. That's why she asked if you could do Mage stuff."
"A hybrid?" Kira asked, hoping that her voice wasn't trembling. "Like a farm animal?"
"Well, genetically, sort of. The term just means—"
"I know what the term means!" Think, Kira. What would Mother and Father be doing now? Trying to learn more. "Why are you telling me this? Why are you working against your mother and her company?"
"I don't want her to win," Jason said, hostility simmering in his voice. "Not her company, which I think is way too big and too powerful but hey I'm just a kid so what do I know, and especially not her."
"You don't like your mother?"
"Don't like? Yeah." Jason stopped walking, gazing into the sky. "I don't want to bore you with my hard life story. But I guess I have to explain. My parents got divorced even before I was born. They decided they hated each other before their honeymoon was over," Jason said, trying to sound sarcastic. Kira heard something else in his voice, something sad and deep, but didn't interrupt. "That's why I look different. They couldn't agree on a genetic package, so to spite each other they mix-and-matched me."
She barely managed not to look at him in horror. "How could anyone—"
"I'm just a weapon for them to use against each other," Jason continued. "They only keep me for the visitation periods because they think it bothers the other one. And they constantly tell me how messed up I am because I supposedly take after the other one. Just a useless, worthless parasite, that's me."
"Jason, I am so sorry—"
"Hey, I don't need pity. It's my life. I'm just explaining," Jason said. "Why do you think I'm here? Because I was on a six-month visitation with my mom. So, technically, she could take me on this trip and be gone for twenty years Earth time, but only have me with her for about four months on the ship. What a great way to mess up my ties with my dad, huh? Actually my dad would be really happy not to have to deal with me for twenty years, except that he never wants her to win, so he's probably raising a big legal fuss back on Earth." Jason inhaled slowly. "Yeah. It's great to be wanted."
"You're telling me all this to get revenge on your mother?" Kira asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, I made up my mind when you were nice to me. But what they want to do to you sucks." His glance at her was challenging. "That matters. I mean, not wanting you guys to get messed over. There's nothing wrong with that. I can worry about it and want to help, can't I?"
"Of course you can," Kira said, wondering why Jason sounded like he thought he had to defend caring about what happened to others. "What about—"
"The app!" Jason was looking at the space in front of his face, his fingers moving before him. "I've got to kill it. Don't say anything about what I said. Just talk about dumb stuff from now on. Okay?"
"All right." Kira waited until Jason made a small, unhappy hand gesture toward his ears. "Uh, I've been wondering. A lot of us have. What exactly does oh-kay mean?"
"Huh?"
"Does it stand for something?"
"I don't know." Jason squinted at her as if trying to see if she was serious. "It means okay. Like, uh, good, fine, sure, all right…"
"It means all right?" Kira managed to smile naturally at Jason despite her inner turmoil. "That's what I guessed."
"Okay." Jason turned and began walking back toward the ship, very awkward now that his burst of information had been exhausted. He had seemed lively and engaged for a brief while, but once again appeared sullen and unhappy.
Based on what he had told her, Kira wondered if Jason was ever happy. "What's Urth like?"
"Boring. You people have funny accents, you know."
"How nice of you to point that out," Kira said, trying not to sound too resentful.
He must have picked up on her tone, though, giving Kira a worried glance. "I say stupid things like that all the time. I'm not too smart, I guess."
"You seem smart enough to me," Kira said, wondering if Jason was now making excuses or seeking sympathy. "When are people going to get to see the inside of your ship?"
He shook his head, his unhappiness deepening. "They're not. We were told none of you get to go into the ship. Too dangerous and, uh, disruptive."
Disruptive. There it was again. Kira, too shocked at the disrespect toward everyone on this planet to be angry right away, fumbled for something to say.
Jason looked over at the cavalry, standing next to their mounts in a long row, the horses shifting position slightly and occasionally trying to nip at each other. "Those are cool. Are they real?"
"Nothing is real," Kira said, unable to resist the chance to lighten the mood.
"Uh…what?"
"That's what my father says. Everything we see is an illusion created by our minds. But those cavalry are part of the illusion, yes."
To her surprise, Jason laughed. "You got me. Yeah, the observer effect and all that. From what we've heard of your, uh, Mages, scientists on Earth have speculated that their magic involves some sort of quantum-level manipulation."
Kira shrugged. "My uncle Mechanic Calu figured that out twenty years ago."
"He did? That's not in any of the background materials. Oh." Jason snorted disdainfully. "It figures that some person back on Earth would claim credit for the idea. 'Plagiarize! Let no one else's work evade your eyes!' " he said, singing the words. "Anyway, the soldiers there with their horses. Are they reenactors of some kind? Or would they actually go to war like that?"
"Sure they would," Kira said. "What's a reenactor?"
"It's somebody who dresses up like someone from history," Jason explained. "Like, a hobby."
"Someone from history?" Kira shook her head, puzzled. "But that's just like somebody now. Except for the new Mechanic weapons. The uniforms and the armor haven't ever changed."
Jason looked baffled. "Huh? I mean, like, centuries ago."
"Yeah. That's how soldiers have always looked."
He got upset, for no reason that Kira could understand. "If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to."
"I did talk about it. What's your problem?"
"Everybody knows that things don't—" Jason paused, frowning. "They've always looked like that? For centuries?"
"That's what I said." Kira glared at him. "Why is that confusing you?"
"Wow." Jason stared around as if he had just stepped from the ship for the first time. "No change. That stuff about the, uh, Guilds? That controlled your world?"
"Yeah, the Great Guilds," Kira said, not understanding what he was getting at but hoping that she wouldn't have to talk about Her Mother The Hero.
"They didn't allow change. That's what you guys have told us." Jason stared at the cavalry again. "But I didn't realize— What's that like?"
"What's what like?" Kira demanded.
Jason looked away. Was he embarrassed by something? "I'm not making fun of you," he mumbled.
"Then what?"
"It's just…on Earth, and everywhere else, things change. All the time. The uniforms soldiers wear are different from century to century and even decade to decade. But you guys were frozen. Not your fault! I'm just having trouble getting my head around the idea."
Kira decided it wasn't worth getting her back up over, especially since Jason seemed genuinely worried that he had said something wrong. "That was how things were. We don't know anything different. The world is changing now, but it all takes time."
Jason nodded quickly. "So, those guys would really fight? With those weapons?"
"Yes," Kira said. "If Tiae went to war, the cavalry would scout and fight. You see they've got my Aunt Alli's carbines at their saddles, but we also still carry lances and swords."
"We?"
She shrugged, trying to sound as if it was no big deal. "I'm an honorary officer in the Queen's Own Lancers. I train and drill with them sometimes."
"Really?" Jason was surprised enough to drop his attitude, gazing at her with open admiration. "You mean you ride the horse and use the sword and everything?"
"Yeah," Kira said, smiling despite herself. "I've got a uniform just like that."
"No way." He stared at the cavalry. "The armor, too? Real armor to use in real fighting?"
"Yeah. The cuirass is sort of heavy but most of the weight is carried on your shoulders, so the part that feels the heaviest is usually the helm."
Jason, from a world where designing children was apparently no big deal, seemed astounded by the sight of working steel armor. "There's this junk called MORGs. Sims using VR and stuff. I've played those, but it's not real. No matter how good it is, it's not real." He looked at her, puzzled. "But you are."
"Why do you think that's weird?" Kira asked, not having understood most of what he had said.
Jason didn't answer for a moment, looking back down at the grass as they walked. "Back on Earth, a lot of stuff isn't face to face. You meet people and do things through links, and on the links it's easy to look like whatever you want to be. Most people spend a lot of time trying to look like something different than what they are. I mean, I know guys who show themselves in uniforms with swords and all, but it's just an act."
"You're not used to people who really are what they look like?" Kira asked, perplexed.
"Yeah." He shrugged. "It's how people on Earth do things."
"What are you really, then?"
He smiled crookedly. "A jerk."
"Why do you do that?" Kira asked. "It's like you want to insult yourself."
"Saves time," Jason said with another shrug. "Can I ask you something else? Why are you just an honorary officer in the cavalry? Is it because you're a kid?"
"A kid?" Kira asked, offended until she realized that Jason must also consider himself a "kid." "No. I mean, partly. But even when I get older I can't join Tiae's military. It's because of my mother."
"She won't let you," Jason said sourly, as if confirming his own worst suspicions.
"No," Kira insisted. "It's because of who she is. Lady Mari is supposed to be as impartial as possible, not favoring any group or country. If I became part of Tiae's army, people would think she was favoring Tiae. They already worry about that because everyone knows what good friends my mother and Queen Sien are."
"How do you know that's the real reason they won't let you?"
"Because Mother and Father sat down with me and explained it several years ago," Kira said.
"And you believed them?" Jason said with an edge of scorn in his voice.
"My parents have never lied to me," Kira said. "Never."
He stared at her, then at the ground. "I should hate you."
"It's a free world now. Go ahead," Kira invited him.
"I don't want to." They had reached the vicinity of the ship again. "Um…see you."
"Yeah," Kira replied in a noncommittal voice. She watched him shamble away, shoulders hunched, head down. It made her want to call a better goodbye, but she decided not to. Jason's problems weren't any of her business.
She looked around, seeing that Talese Groveen, from her expression and body language, was apparently saying something harsh to a group of her "people." Where were Mari and Alain? She finally spotted her mother talking to the Imperials again. Why did it have to be the Imperials? Gritting her teeth, Kira walked to them, trying not to look like she was in any hurry.
"Kira?" her mother said, not completely hiding her surprise that she had joined the group. From the looks of everyone, the conversation they had been having was not a happy one.
Kira feigned embarrassment. "There was something I needed to, uh…" She leaned close to her mother's ear, cupping her hands around her mouth as she quickly summarized what Jason had told her, including the warning about the ship being able to read lips. She saw Mari's eyes widen when she got to the part about thousands of copies of her, but otherwise her mother didn't reveal that anything unusual was being said.
Her mother nodded at Kira when she was done. "I'm sorry you don't feel well, dearest. Maybe if you sit in the coach for a little while you'll feel better. I'll send some people over there to keep you company. Your father is over that way speaking with other Mages. Tell him…I need him back over here."
One of the Imperials appeared ready to speak to Kira, but Camber stopped him, eyeing Mari and her with an appraising gaze. "I hope it is nothing serious," he said, adding extra meaning and a veiled extra question to his words.
"Hopefully nothing we can't handle," Mari said. "I'll let you know confidentially, for her privacy."
Kira walked toward the coach, now trying to look like someone who didn't feel well. She glanced back, seeing her mother in a huddle with Camber to pass on the warning as the other Imperials formed a protective wall around them.
Kira found her father and gave him the same message, earning herself a measured look and a nod of approval. She reached the coach and paused before getting inside, looking back. The Talese woman was in the act of brusquely waving Jason into the ship.
"Are you all right, Lieutenant?" a cavalry trooper asked, riding up.
Kira smiled at her. "Yes. Thank you, Sergeant Bete. You can let the others know I'm fine. Just, um, a little lightheaded."
"Next time, wear your helm when the sun's out," Bete advised with a grin, turning her mount to ride back to the rest of the lancers.
Kira sat in the coach, out of sight of the ship, as various people came by, expressing authentic-sounding condolences and then being told Kira's warning. Asha, Mage-solemn, touched Kira's hand in thanks as Mechanic Dav shook his head ruefully. "Uncle Dav? Can I ask a hard question?"
"You? Of course."
"Do you blame my mother for your limp?"
Dav smiled at her. "If not for your mother, my bones would have been resting on the bottom of the Sea of Bakre for the last twenty years. I've never felt anything but gratitude toward her. The one responsible for this," he tapped his hip, "is the legionary who fired a crossbow at me. And whoever he or she was, they were just doing their job."
"You don't even blame the Imperials?"
"I would if they tried again. Hey, our girls Devi and Ashira are wondering when you'll visit. You're always welcome in Tiaesun."
"I need to get down there again," Kira said. "Sien wants me to visit, too."
A long time passed, the slant of the sunbeams through the windows of the coach shifting down and toward the west, before her mother finally joined Kira in the coach. "Ugh," Mari said, checking to be sure she couldn't be seen from the ship. "That Talese woman kept pressuring us to approve things, and saying none of them were all that important but we should go ahead and say yes. Thank you for your warning, Kira."
"I just did what you asked me to do," Kira said, uncomfortable with the praise. "What did the Imperials say?"
"Camber was expecting that sort of thing. The Imperials see the Urth people not as welcome visitors but as rivals. And Sien badly wants to hurt that Talese woman, but she restrained herself. Everyone was warned, and even the Syndaris appear to be worried so much about being taken that they'll refrain from trying to make their own deals with the Urth people."
Kira realized that her mother was sharing diplomatic details with her just as if she was one of those who had worked with Mari ever since the war. The realization emboldened her to ask a question. "Mother, why didn't you ever tell me where the scar on your arm came from?"
Mari gave her a surprised look that shaded into guilt. "There never seemed to be a good time."
"Was it really bad?"
"No. Your father wrapped a bandage around it to stop the bleeding. When we made it to the Pride the healer stitched it up. Hurt for a while, that's all. Um, I did have trouble using that arm for…part of the battle in Landfall's harbor."
"Were you scared?"
Her mother met her gaze. "A little. We were all exhausted. Physically and emotionally numb. At the time I was mainly worried that we'd lose the tech manuals."
"Have you ever been scared?"
Mari looked away. "Sometimes I've been so scared I couldn't breathe."
Kira didn't ask any more questions, thinking her mother's answer couldn't be true, that no one could be scared and do the things her mother had done.
Mari also didn't say anything else until Kira's father entered the coach. "Is everything all right, Alain?"
"Perhaps." He sat down, frowning slightly. "Before I received Kira's warning, I did demonstrate a small spell at the request of some of the Urth people. All I did was create the illusion of mild heat above my hand. I did not agree to anything, even though they did ask for approval for something. I only demonstrated."
"Hopefully that's all right. Kira, did you actually say the Urth people were planning on making thousands of girls who were…me?"
"Hundreds of thousands," Kira said.
"Truly a frightening idea," her father said.
To Kira's surprise, her mother started laughing. "Yes, it is. I'm not exactly an easy person and I wasn't easy growing up. Think of all those poor mothers!" Mari sobered, still looking slightly dazed. "But I'm more worried about something else. What exactly did that boy tell you about Mages, Kira?"
She concentrated, trying to remember the words. "He said some of the people on the ship from Urth were very interested in Mages. He didn't know why, but he thought it was important enough to bring up while warning me about the genetic things."
Her father looked closely at Kira. "Was there something else?"
"No, I…" Kira paused. "When Jason mentioned the Mage thing, I felt an odd sort of tingle. It was weird."
"A tingle? As if something was trying to get your attention?"
"Yes." Kira stared at her father. "How did you know?"
"Foresight, in its simplest form." Alain looked at Mari. "The talent has emerged in Kira. It tells us the interest of the Urth people in Mages is what we have been warned against."
"Foresight." Looking distressed, Mari leaned forward to hold Kira's chin and gaze into her eyes. "So your Mage talents are getting stronger. Are you having any problems with Mechanic tasks?"
"No." Upset at her mother's reaction, Kira leaned back and away. "I'm fine."
"Can you—"
"I'm fine!"
Mari sat back as well and gave Kira's father an exasperated look.
Alain leaned forward slightly, his eyes on Kira. "I was once taught to forget that the idea of help even existed. I was once badly punished for helping another in need."
Kira gritted her teeth. "I know."
"Just as you would help those you love, do not reject help when it is offered by those who love you."
"This one understands," Kira mumbled, using the traditional Mage response in part to admit to her father that she knew he was right and in part to provoke her mother a little for making such a big deal out of things. "I'm sorry. But I'm fine."
Mari closed her eyes, moved her lips as she counted to ten, then looked at Kira again. "All right. We'd better get moving." She signaled to the driver and the coach surged into motion, the cavalry once more escorting it.
Kira hunched back again as the coach passed through the crowd of onlookers who were calling out to the daughter. Mari always insisted that Kira's father had been her equal in all things, had been right there beside Kira's mother the whole way in changing the world. But to the people Lady Mari was the daughter, the leader, the one who trailed myths and legends like a brilliant garment. And Kira, measuring herself against her mother, had long ago miserably realized that the myths and legends were not far short of reality.
Her mother, after taking some deep breaths to brace herself, leaned out the window and waved and touched hands with people as the coach passed them, the crowd calling her name over and over again. Mari kept it up until they had cleared the crowd, then sagged back into her seat.
"Why do you do it?" Kira asked her mother. "I've always been able to tell it's hard on you."
"It's important to them," Mari replied, looking worn out. "They deserve attention and concern. Just like everyone. Except this world, apparently. The people from Urth aren't going to share anything with us?"
"Nothing important. Just stuff that Jason called toys. Partly because they want to cheat us, and partly because of some law to keep our culture from being disrupted."
Her mother glared out the window of the coach. "At least now we know why the technical questions we ask Urth rarely get answered in any useful way. Yet these people seem very interested in learning our secrets."
Alain nodded. "You showed Mechanics and Mages what could be done when they worked together."
"We showed that," Mari corrected him. "When we survived all of those attempts to kill one or both of us. But if the Great Guilds had ever cooperated that way, this world could never have been freed. We're being warned that Urth's pursuit of knowledge about Mages holds danger. We have to find out why. Especially since they're withholding their own secrets from us. The Great Guilds kept us from changing so they'd remain in control. Why is Urth doing it?"
"From the way Jason talked, it sounded like they think they're protecting us or something," Kira said.
"As if we're children?" Her mother looked at Kira. "And, yes, I know how much you've chafed against the limits put on you in the name of protecting you. But the goal wasn't to keep you unchanging. It was to help you grow, with the certainty that the day would come when you would make all of your own decisions."
Kira sighed. "Mother, I'm sorry about earlier. Even though we've argued sometimes—"
"Sometimes?" her father asked, keeping his voice even.
"Sometimes," Kira repeated, "you haven't been cruel to me like Jason's parents have. I know I complain about things. But I can tell the difference in how he has been treated. Jason was pretending to be all tough about it, but he's not all that good at hiding how he feels. I heard some real hurt."
Mari wrinkled her face in revulsion. "How can parents do that to a child?"
Alain gazed at Kira. "The boy Jason only wanted to get back at his mother? He did not have any other motivation?"
"He said something about it not being right, about wanting to help. But he wouldn't talk much about that." Kira made a face. "It was like he expected me to make fun of him for it. Just like he expected me to insult him. It was sort of sad. I hope he's all right."
Her mother glanced at Kira. "You care what happens to him?"
Kira felt suddenly awkward and uncomfortable . "Yes. A little. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing's wrong with that. From the way you described him the boy doesn't seem like he has a lot of friends."
"I'm not his friend," Kira muttered.
"I didn't say you were. I just think it's nice that you care about him."
"Mother! I don't care about him! Not that way!"
Mari held her hands up in a calming gesture. "I'm not implying anything. I just wanted your impression of him."
"He's a teenage boy," Kira said. "He doesn't seem to like himself, so how could I like him? I don't care whether I ever seen him again. Maybe he'll be all right when he gets older. But he's not my responsibility. I don't have any interest in trying to fix everything that's wrong with him."
Neither of her parents managed to completely hide their relief at her words, which irritated Kira enough that she spent most of the rest of the trip staring out her window and saying little.
* * *
Master Mechanic Mari, once "of Caer Lyn" and now simply "of Dematr," stood in her home looking out of a south-facing window toward the distant shoreline. She had wanted a place closer to the water, but that would have also been close to assassins trying to reach her or her family by sea. Queen Sien had been understanding of Mari's desires to hear the ocean, but also insistent on the need for safety, and Tiae did after all supply most of the troops that guarded Mari's home. Besides which, Sien was one of the few people on Dematr who could be more stubborn than Mari.
"You are there again," Alain said.
Smiling sadly and apologetically, she turned her head to see him. "I'm always there. Part of me will never leave Dorcastle. But, yes, standing here, looking out at the water, I remember that talk we had on the sixth wall."
"It should be a good memory," he said, coming to stand by her. "You were certain you would die, but you are here with me."
"I try never to forget how lucky I am." She grimaced. "But right now I need to be thinking about other people. Like our daughter."
"I did not expect foresight to develop," Alain admitted, his brow barely wrinkling in thought.
"She should be like Asha and Dav's kids," Mari said. "Devi is doing fine with Mechanic training and Ashira is showing signs of Mage talents. But Kira can somehow do both. How can one mind hold two such incompatible visions of the world? Alain, I keep hoping one of the talents will fade. I don't care if Kira ends up a Mechanic or a Mage, as long as she's one of those. But if both sets of skills keep strengthening…" Her voice trailed off.
"We do not know what will happen," Alain finished.
"And now this mess with the ship from Urth." Mari sighed, feeling anger and disappointment mingled. "We had such hopes. But Urth turns out to be not all that much different from our world."
"The people of Urth do look different," Alain said.
She shuddered. "Designing children. How do we find out more about what they intend? The only one of them who gave us any real information was that boy who talked to Kira."
"If he will speak to Kira—" Alain began.
"I will not use our daughter as bait! I know a little bit about how that feels, remember?"
He took a moment to reply. "We could ask Kira. She said he was unhappy. Suppose that Kira asked him to come out here, so she could speak with him again? There would be no risk to Kira with us nearby."
"What if that boy tried to kidnap her? To force us to agree to those genetic things?"
"I think he would find that Kira is not easily forced to do anything," Alain said. "She is much like her mother."
"That's your fault! You're the one who wished for a girl who took after me!" Mari exhaled slowly, thinking. "I hate doing this, but…I'll ask Kira."
"I can—"
"No. I have to be the one who asks." Mari shook her head. "I complain about how hard it is being the daughter, trying to keep this world from blowing up, but raising my own daughter is a bigger challenge than that."
"Before you speak to her," Alain said, "we should talk of foresight. I have spoken with other Mages, and there is something we are all beginning to sense."
* * *
"Kira?"
Working at her desk in her room, Kira heard the tentative note in her mother's voice and braced herself for either bad news or being told to do something that she didn't want to do. "Yes?" Kira replied, trying to mimic her mother's tone.
From the look on her mother's face, she must have succeeded a little too well. "This is hard enough, Kira. I have to ask a big favor of you."
"This isn't about the Imperials again, is it?"
"No. It's about that boy you met. The one from Urth."
"Jason?"
Mari gazed steadily at Kira long enough to make her nervous. "Yes. Jason is the only person from that ship who has told us anything. We need to know a lot more."
"I told you everything that he told me," Kira said.
Her mother took a deep breath. "Maybe he would tell you more if he had another opportunity. To talk to you. Here."
"Why would he come here?" Kira asked, confused.
"If you asked him to visit—"
"What?" Kira leaned back abruptly in her chair, staring at her mother. "You want me to ask an insufferable boy from Urth to…go on a date with me?"
Mari spoke with forced calm. "Kira, it's not a date. You won't have to go anywhere. We'd have him come to this house, give you two some time alone—"
"Some time alone? I cannot be hearing this! Why should I agree to that?" Kira demanded.
"Because he told you some very important things the last time you saw him," her mother said. "But we need to know more."
"I am not—" Kira began, her temper flaring.
"Listen!" When her mother used that daughter voice, even Kira stopped talking. "Your father has been talking to other Mages. The foresight about the ship from Urth is increasingly warning of great danger to this world and to Urth. Whatever they are doing or planning to do could cause great harm." Mari paused again, looking at Kira. "I can't tell you to do this. But I am asking you."
She looked back at her mother, guilt flooding her. Kira knew of the sacrifices her mother had made for others. What was this compared to what her mother had gone through? "All right," Kira said. "It's not like you're sending me to slay a dragon."
"Thank you, dearest," Mari said, smiling at her. Kira felt her face warming from embarrassment as her mother continued. "You know that you didn't have to."
Kira looked at the floor. "You didn't have to save the world. This isn't anything like that, and you need me to do it. So it's sort of like a job, isn't it? And, judging by my mother and my father, people in this family aren't very good at saying no when they're needed to do a job."
"No, we're not. I'm proud of you."
"Why? I'm not… I haven't…"
"Kira." Her mother leaned close, gently touching Kira's face. "I know how hard it is living with…that person who is also me. The daughter of Jules. I can never get away from her, either. Don't let that make you think less of who you are."
Kira looked back at Mari, staring into her mother's eyes. "I don't know who I am."
"Who do you want to be?"
Kira sat at her desk after her mother left, frowning at her reflection in the room's mirror. Who did she want to be? She'd never be her mother. Just like now. Her big, important job was a date with a very awkward boy. Her mother had slain dragons, and she went on difficult dates. "That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?" she asked her reflection. "Mother saves the world, and I try to be nice to an obnoxious guy so he'll tell us a few more things."
Kira spun her chair about, gazing out the window, wishing that she could fly away to some place that had never heard of Lady Mari or the daughter.
How could Urth be in danger from something on Dematr? What kind of danger did the strange people on the ship pose to this world?
If she could help answer those questions, she'd have to try. Kira realized that in that much, at least, she was her mother's daughter.