CHAPTER
THREE
Ruth and the girls waited in the Company House lobby. They were just where he’d left them, sitting on deep leather sofas beneath a ceiling-height mural that showed three humans with surveying tools, standing at the top of a rocky cliff and looking down on a stream-riven, forested valley. In the valley were creatures that looked like giraffes, and sloths, and something that might have been a bear, if it hadn’t had six legs. John put on his best smile as he exited the lift to meet them.
“Dad-setty!” Ellie charged across the glowing white plastic floor to hurl herself at John’s knees. He scooped her up and hugged her. Ani padded slowly behind Ellie and moved in a slow circle around John, ears cocked forward and tail wagging. “Mom-setty said it was probably taking so long because they wanted to go ahead and make you a director right now!”
“Mom.” Ruth stood. Her eyes were tired; she was surrounded by a mound of luggage on wheels, the handles still extended. She continued to grip the bag containing her mother’s jewelry. Had she let go of that bag once since they had packed up for landing in the starship’s cabin? John didn’t think so.
Sunitha had her multitool open, and her eyes were glued to it; the screen was full of the animated gestures of Doctor Doctor, and earbuds were visible in Sunitha’s ears.
“Actually,” John said, “it took a long time because Director English wanted to fire me and hire my daughters instead, because he heard from the starship crew that they were smarter than I am.”
That got a smile from Ruth, and her eyes relaxed. “IQ isn’t everything, John. I’m not sure either of the girls can analyze a balance sheet like you can.”
“We were singing, Dad-setty!” Ellie told him. “Church songs!”
“Oh, I hope you sang the pirate one,” he said.
“That’s still a hymn, John,” Ruth said.
“I know, and I love it.” He grinned. “It makes me want to clash my ale mug with the other pirates’ mugs, brandish my cutlass, say arrr, and bury my treasure.”
“There might be a limit to how much joking God is willing to take from you.” Ruth smiled, her voice had a slight edge.
“Based on what I know about the universe and how it works,” John replied, “I’d say that God has a really good sense of humor.”
“Where’s our housing?” she asked. “We should go get settled in.”
“Well, speaking of God’s sense of humor,” John said, “our housing is in Arrowhawk.”
“Is that a street name?” Ruth’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s a different post.” Sunitha stood up. She pulled out her earbuds.
Ruth’s shoulders slumped.
“What can you tell us about Arrowhawk?” John asked. “I’m surprised Doctor Doctor even knows anything about it.”
They had asked Doctor Doctor for all the information he had on the Sarovar System during their journey here. It hadn’t been very much. John certainly didn’t remember hearing about Arrowhawk Post. JohnHe hadn’t known the name of Henry Hudson Post, other than from his offer of employment and the orientation materials.
“Old Doctor Doctor didn’t know about Arrowhawk,” Sunitha said. “New Doctor Doctor does. But look, he’s changed.” She held up her multi for John to see, thumbing an icon to change the audio channel.
The Doctor Doctor avatar was the same rumpled, balding, stocky figure John had carefully selected for his avuncular, nonthreatening appearance. He stood in front of a bookshelf, which was his default welcome screen, with a meerschaum pipe in one hand, and the other hand in his pocket.
But now he wore a jacket with the stylized S of the Sarovar Company on its breast, like an old-style letterman’s jacket, except that its body extended down to Doctor Doctor’s knees. The body of the jacket was a rich blue and its sleeves were buff, blue and buff being the Company’s colors, and beneath it hung a blue kilt.
The image sensors of the multi detected John’s presence, and the avatar smiled at him. “Hello,” it said, “I’m Factor Doctor. What’s your name, and what can I tell you today, about the Sarovar System or about the universe in general?”
“What did you do?” John asked Sunitha.
“When we sat down, I connected with the ethernet,” she said. “I thought we might have ethermail from Grandma.”
“Ethermail doesn’t come through the wormhole by itself,” John said, “it comes on starships. So any new ethermail from Grandma could only have come on the ship with us. You’ll get ethermail later, as other ships arrive from Earth. It has to come and go in big batches, or else it would take years to arrive.”
“I know that,” Sunitha said, dropping into Received Pronunciation. “Only, I thought wouldn’t it be neat, if Grandma surprised me with an ethernet message? And that would be just like her, to do something sweet to remind us of her. But when I connected, there was an update for Doctor Doctor instead.”
“Hello,” the multitool said again, “I’m Factor Doctor. What’s your name, and what can I tell you today, about the Sarovar System or about the universe in general?”
“My name is John,” John said. “I don’t want to know anything right now, thank you.”
“Come back anytime!” Factor Doctor lit his pipe.
“Arrowhawk Post is the end of the western maglev line on the largest continent in Sarovar Alpha’s northern hemisphere,” Sunitha said. “The continent is named Wellesley. The largest continent in the southern hemisphere, by the way, is named Bonaparte.”
“Arrowhawk is the end of the maglev line,” John said, “but it’s not on the coast, right?”
Sunitha stood very straight as she declaimed. “The western coast of Wellesley, with its famous Muir Archipelago, is approximately five hundred kilometers west of Arrowhawk. It is reachable by air, by sea, and by land transportation other than maglev train. Factor Doctor says that flyer and all-terrain vehicle are the modes of transportation preferred by traders in western Wellesley, although historically, some traders have used mules and horses.”
“Mules and horses? Not hovercars?” This was all news to John, who had trained as an accountant and committed to the Sarovar Company to make his career because of the opportunities for trade, and because professionals back from Sarovar were so broadly in demand, across industries and territories.
“Start in Sarovar,” Alan Bannister, his professor of Forensic Accounting had urged him. “Once you have Sarovar on your résumé, you can go anywhere.”
Was he going to need forensic accounting in Arrowhawk? It seemed that he might.
Although, revenue . . . if Director English was right, and what was being falsified was revenue, that might not be a forensic question, so much as a matter of going out into the forest or down into the warehouse and counting bales. John didn’t mind the thought of getting his hands dirty—it was kind of an exciting prospect, to get out into the field with the traders—but the farther he got from a calm desk job, the more nervous Ruth would be.
What if, for instance, Audit Chief Keckley was stealing? What if he found out that John was investigating him, and didn’t take kindly to the investigation? If he had stolen a lot, and risked severe punishment . . . how far would the audit chief go to protect himself?
And how much of all this should John tell Ruth? Complete discretion, English had said. Not even around the kitchen table.
John sighed.
“Weavers, by the way,” Sunitha said, “have only been encountered on Wellesley.”
“Okay,” Ruth said, “this is not a problem. God has taken care of us so far, and He will continue to do so. Just because we don’t yet see how this latest development is a blessing doesn’t mean that it isn’t one. One day, we’ll look back and marvel at what a wonderful thing it was that we got to live at Arrowhawk Post.”
She offered John an encouraging smile.
He took a deep breath and smiled back. “Yes. And I’ll be trading directly with Director English, which is great for all kinds of reasons. So we just need to get some cash in and start buying Weave, and before you know it, we’ll own our own businesses in New York. What businesses should we invest in, girls?”
“A cupcake store!” Ellie cried.
“An engineering firm,” Sunitha suggested. “Or medical technology design.”
“Maybe a combination of the two?” John raised his eyebrows.
“So when does our train leave, Dad-setty?” Ellie asked.
“A day and a half.” John smiled at Ruth. “For two nights, we’ll stay at the Sarovar Company Hotel, right across the street from the train station.”
They left Company House, John and Ruth pulling wheeled suitcases and Sunitha dragging her sister’s bag behind her as well as her own. John had a chit that English had given him, a featureless white plastic oval, telling him it would pay for all their transportation and food and lodging for the rest of the day, as well as their train tickets in the morning. On the street, with cool rain splashing down the front of Company House and pooling in depressions in the street, a tall man in Company blue and buff flagged down a wheeled cab for them. They climbed into the back where two broad seats faced each other over a shared space for feet, not unlike the seating on the train. Ani hunkered down among the luggage and closed her eyes.
John pressed the chit against a reader and said, “Sarovar Company Hotel.”
The cabbie saluted and drove into the rain, whistling a tune John didn’t recognize.
The girls were both quickly engaged with their multis; along with Factor Doctor, the local update had a Sedjem Swami app, and they quickly dove into learning the traders’ patois.
“Et,” the Swami said. “Food. Especially, bread.”
“Et,” the girls repeated.
“Where et-setty, mar?” the Swami continued. “Repeat after me: where et-setty, mar?”
“John,” Ruth murmured. “Tell me how you’re really feeling about this.”
“I think the opportunity is good,” he said. “The opportunity is good, and, anyway, it’s the opportunity we have. English is going to help me sell, so that should work in our favor. Hopefully I can quickly move from factor to trader, so I won’t need his help anymore.” Especially if he did a good and quick job of uncovering the truth about Audit Chief Keckley.
“You’re tense,” she whispered.
“Sorry. Tired, maybe. Caught off guard. I thought we’d be in the city, not out in the boonies, doing audit work on the Company’s tiniest post.”
“You think it’s dangerous?” she asked.
“Well, inside the post it’s got to be relatively safe. Hard to say about outside the post. Sounds like we’ll be pretty remote.”
“Our nest egg is gone.”
John felt weighted down. “The amount of energy necessary to open the wormhole is variable. The cost is borne by passengers and shippers pro rata—it was an expensive journey. This will happen to us from time to time when we ship goods back, too.”
“I know.”
She looked out the cab’s windows at the rain. They passed brightly lit signs advertising food and flicks and ATV repair. The stores huddled together more densely as they approached the maglev station.
The cabbie unloaded their bags onto the smooth slab of concrete beneath the plastic awning in front of the hotel. He had a haggard face, features beaten into incongruous crags and crannies by years of weather, but he smiled at them.
John dug into his pocket. “Sorry, I’ve only got a few bucks in cash and it’s U.S., we’re new to the planet.”
The cabbie waved John off. “The Company chit tips at twenty percent automatically.” He handed John a plasticated business card. “You’re not the first new arrival I’ve ferried around. You need a ride in Henry Hudson, give me a call.”
Once they were checked in, to a beige, pink, and avocado green suite with two bedrooms and a kitchenette, the girls took to jumping on the couch. John inflated two large disposable foam beds from the dispenser, the first dialed to a firmness of three for the girls, and the second dialed to a seven for Ruth. For his own weight, John would have chosen a nine, but he preferred to share a bed with his wife. He examined the booklet of available services and entertainment. “There are flicks on the console,” he said. “But there are going to be flicks at Arrowhawk. I think you’ll see lots of flicks, so many you’ll be sick of them. The hotel also has a pool, and I don’t know when the next time will be that you’ll see a swimming pool.”
“And after swimming,” Ruth said, “Dadi Abbott sent a treat for you to have on your first night on Sarovar Alpha.”
“A treat?” John was surprised.
“Jalebi,” she said. “Vacuum-packed, so it should still be good. She also made me pack a can of condensed milk.”
“Yay, Dadi Abbott! Yay, Grandma-setty!” The girls hallooed their way into the bathroom to change into swimsuits.
Ani took the opportunity to claim the couch for her own, curling up where the girls had been jumping moments earlier.
“I want you to take my mother’s jewelry,” Ruth said.
“What?”
“I’ll take the girls swimming. If you want jalebi, we’ll save you some. You take the jewels down to the street and sell them for all you can get.”
“Ruth . . . that’s all you have from your mother.”
“Wrong.” Ruth smiled. “I have all my memories, and all her love, and half her genes, and her two grandchildren. The jewelry is no big deal.”
John sank into a soft chair and buried his head in his hands. “Do you want to buy passage home already?”
“You idiot,” she said gently. “I want you to have cash to invest in trading, right away. This is how we’re going to buy the future for our daughters, and I don’t want to wait until we’ve scraped together enough from your pay packet, I want to jump in now.”
“Maybe I can pawn them,” John mused. “If I can borrow enough to get us started, then I can buy the jewels back in six months or a year.”
“To get our money quickly,” she said, “we’d have to sell to a trader here on-world. Which means a lower return, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he said. “But maybe . . . maybe I can make it work. I’ll have to see the numbers.”
“You look at the numbers, John,” she told him. “But understand this: I’m happy to sell the jewels, not pawn them, if it means we can get started building the business that will pay off our debt, send the girls to school, and eventually buy ourselves a hundred meters of the Oregon coast.”
“And a house,” John said.
“You know I hate tents. And, John . . .” Ruth looked at the bathroom to be sure the door was still shut, and lowered her voice.
He raised his eyebrows.
“If you’re worried about safety, buy a gun.”
“If the post is dangerous,” he said, “they’ll have guards, or they’ll issue me weapons that we need.” But would that be true if the threat was a cornered Audit Chief Keckley? Or would Keckley be able to cut off access to security when John and his family needed it?
But maybe Keckley was innocent anyway, and this was all fretting over nothing.
“I would have brought a gun from Earth, if I’d thought we needed it.” Ruth opened her suitcase, took out the small zipbag that contained her mother’s jewelry, and handed it to John. “All I am saying is, here are the jewels. I don’t need the jewels, I need you and the girls and our future. Things are turning out slightly different than we planned, so I want you to take the jewels, and do what you think is best.”
John nodded, then slowly reached out and took the zipbag.
He gave Ruth three of the four hotel keycards and a kiss, and then he headed back down to the street.
“Save me some jalebi!” he called, just before the hotel door shut.