Firestar
Copyright© 2009 by Prince von Vlox
Chapter 25
HOME, UNIVERSITY DOCTOR’S CLINIC, FIRST LANDING
Heather tightened the robe she was wearing and tried to find a more comfortable position.
“I see that your only medical entry in the last three years was a sprained wrist,” the doctor said, putting down Heather’s medical records.
“I tripped over a cat on the day of the Raid,” Heather said. “It’s a wonder I didn’t break my arm.”
The doctor nodded and made a mark on a form. “That would have set things back a bit while you healed. No extra vitamins needed, blood sugar, blood pressure, and toxicology, all normal.” She consulted a separate file on her desk. “You’re in the Gene Registry, and your entry says you’re authorized to have children.” She smiled at Heather. “I knew you were, but I’m legally obligated to check.”
“Do you get some who aren’t?” If you weren’t in the Gene Registry, you couldn’t have children. That was one of the ways the Families culled out recessive genes with fatal overtones. In a high radiation environment, that was a necessity.
“From time to time.” The doctor closed the folder and looked up. “Are you ready?”
Heather took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Was she ready? Did she really want to do this? Silly question, of course, she did. She had wanted to do this since the last time Corey had come home on leave.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“If you’ll come with me,” the doctor said. Heather followed her into an examination room painted in warm earth tones. “Get up on the table. I’ll need you to put your feet in the stirrups. I want to make one last examination, and then we’ll proceed.”
What followed took only a few minutes. None of the stories the other girls told: of cold instruments, cold hands, and pain, none of that turned out to be true. Heather felt a momentary discomfort, and then the doctor was straightening up.
“You’ll have to stay there for about 15 minutes,” the doctor said as she pulled a blanket down between Heather’s legs. She took a magazine from a cupboard. “Read this, it’ll explain what I just did. By the time you finish, you’ll be able to get dressed and leave.”
“When will I know?” Heather asked.
“Within a few days,” the doctor said. “It varies from person to person, but most gals say they feel some nausea in two or three days. That’s not conclusive; we’ll know for sure by the end of the month, of course.”
“Of course,” Heather said. “Of course.”
The doctor left, and Heather opened the magazine. It had pictures and drawings and was a lot simpler and more lucid than most of the stories she had heard from the other girls her age. At the end, on the last page, it went right to the heart of the matter. “Congratulations, Mother.”
Home System, Morosini’s Children Home Base
Corey looked at the pile of paperwork that still waited for her attention. The office was dark, except for the light over her desk. She could hear the gentle ticking of the fans in the environment system and the wheezing snore of Ruffles, the cat who had made a nest for himself behind her desk. Elsewhere on the station, people were busy with the final inspection of the last of Morosini’s Children. They were as combat-ready as she could make them.
She leaned back in her chair and stretched. She could hear her joints popping from the effort. Her eyes felt gritty, and the last of the brew in her cup had gone cold and stale. Who would have thought there would be so much paperwork in this organization? She was an experienced fighter pilot, but at the moment, she was fighting the terrible foe of NM-83512/334 (mod 2.1)—Listing of Authorized Combat Spares.
Somebody on Home had listed this base as a Research Installation. As such, it was only authorized enough weapons for self-defense. She was trying to change them into a combat base, which meant they needed a completely different establishment of equipment, with different training, different pay grades, and different policies regarding promotion and transfer. She was trying to justify what she was doing to people who could not be told what she was up to, or why, or just why the Fleet had built this particular base in the depths of the Oort Cloud. It was a long, slow battle that was taking all of her time and energy.
A Tech walked in, carrying a message pouch. “Excuse me, ma’am,” the woman said. “Packet from Home marked Urgent and Official—Commanding Officer Only.”
Corey looked up from the correspondence she was reading and waved at the stack on her desk. “Put it on top, Tammy, and go get some sleep. You look beat.”
“You look pretty beat yourself, ma’am,” Tammy said. “You need sleep worse than I do.”
After six months, Corey no longer felt uncomfortable when someone twice her age addressed her as “ma’am”. “I’ll make it a late morning tomorrow,” she said.
“You said that last time, ma’am, and the time before that.” She waved her hand vaguely at the surrounding void, taking in the ships they had worked so hard on. “They’re going to need you fresh and rested, ma’am, not worn out with this garbage.”
“I owe it to you guys,” Corey said.
“We can look after ourselves,” Tammy said. “You keep forgetting we have a whole bunch of Seniors who are adept in the ways of the Fleet.” She flicked the stack with her hand. “You should let them handle all this junk while you get rested. We’re going into action any day now.”
“But I... “ Corey motioned vaguely at the stack of correspondence.
Tammy shook her head. “Ma’am, don’t make me call in a Marine to carry you to bed.”
Knowing defeat when she saw it, Corey sat back in her chair, chuckling. “This is the grossest insubordination, Tammy.”
“And no Review Board in this gal’s Navy would lift a finger to stop me,” Tammy replied. “Are you going to bed, or not?”
“At least let me look at the packet marked Urgent.”
Tammy hesitated, then sat down on the corner of Janet’s desk. “All right, but I’m staying right here to make sure you don’t start in on the junk again.”
Still chuckling, Corey slit open the pouch and removed a security packet. She pressed the back of her hand to the lock and identified herself to it through her shunt. After a moment, the lock clicked open. There were three envelopes inside, one marked Official Business, the other two marked Private and Personal. Thinking the latter two might be from Heather and Sonia, she received their letters this way as nobody could admit where she was. She opened the smallest one first. It was dated ten days ago.
Dear Corey,
Hi kid. They won’t tell me where you are, but they never have. You’re probably off on the back side of the beyond. Hope you’re well. I’m fine. I spent the day of the Raid in a shelter buried deep in a mountain. Sonia got hurt in the Raid, but don’t worry, it’s just a broken arm. It seems one of those raiders shot up First Landing, and some flying debris broke her arm when the Raider crashed. She won’t tell me what she was doing in that part of town. She should have been at work in downtown First Landing, not running around in the outskirts across the river.
Now the BIG NEWS. We talked it over. We wanted to tell you when we saw you next, but we couldn’t wait. We’re both going to apply to have children, and I have a doctor’s appointment in two days. The Family has been trading heavily in birthrights these last few months and has stocked up a number of them. We thought we’d take advantage of them. I know it’s something all three sibs usually have to discuss and agree on, and we wish you were here so we could. We hope you approve.
So that’s it from us. Take care of yourself and come home soon. Knowing the Navy, we’ll have six nieces to greet you when you do make it back.
All our love
Heather
Corey tried to picture herself as an aunt, and surprised herself by succeeding. It had to be the job, she decided. Two years ago, it would have been different. Two years ago, she had been on Jellicoe, worried about her flight of five other pilots. Two years ago—it seemed like ages. Now she had over 400 technicians, scientists, doctors, officers, and crew to worry about. Now she had 36 ships that were people, too, and yet were people like nobody had ever seen before. Being involved in the lives of nearly 500 people, being responsible for the lives of 500 people, she knew that had changed her. She was no longer the carefree pilot jumping into the middle of a pack of Idenux fighters with only her neck on the line.
She thought of Heather and Sonia and babies. Maybe, if things worked out, the Navy would let her take time off. She had earned three birthrights, and while they were Gran-Marie’s to use for the good of the Family, she felt she should be the one to use them. She looked at the picture of Alan and had a perfectly outrageous idea. She wondered if she could get a genome sample from him. She didn’t remember if they had. It might be worth trying, and that way, the Family wouldn’t be beholden to any other Family. She would have to find a way to bring it up with Gran-Marie.
The idea pleased her. She could picture herself with three daughters who looked like him. Or a son. It was possible she would have a son, not daughters; his family pictures showed a lot of sons. Not likely, but it was possible. Of course, Alan was off somewhere, and she might never see him again. The Families and the PSK were allies in all but name, and the previous packet had carried news of Jellicoe and the squadron Alan was in. It was possible they’d see each other again.
The thought warmed something deep inside her. She looked at the holopic of her two sibs and Alan sitting in the shade of the trees. The three people who were the closest to her in all of the universe were there. She wondered if she dared mention her dream to her sibs. What would they say? It was a radical idea.
With a light heart, she opened the second personal envelope, dated the day before.
Dear Corey,
As Grandmother Marie, our Family Eldest, has assumed the duties as the Eldest on the Executive Council, your Aunt Joanne has assumed day-to-day management of the Family. As such, she has been reviewing the needs of the Family. It is her considered opinion that the Family would best be served if you returned to the loving embrace of your kith and kin.
You have enjoyed your youth at the expense of the needs of the Family. The Family now requires other duties of you. In the past, as Eldest of one of the Septs of the Family, your Aunt Joanne could only suggest it. As Eldest of the Family, she now requires this of you for the good of the Family.
Upon receipt of this, you will return to the Family Compound on Home by the most direct means possible. This is a requirement laid upon you by the blood of the kith and kin of your Family.
Eldest Joanne would be most disappointed if you did not return. She reminds me to tell you that your sib-sisters have submitted applications for parenthood. These applications are dependent upon your return. After you have raised their children, and your own, to maturity, you will be free to pursue whatever tasks you wish outside the bounds of your family.
Do not fail your Family in this.
For Eldest Joanne
Acting Eldest
Family Red Ridges
Ella Burton
Corey read the letter a second time to make sure she had read it correctly. She was being called back home, she was being ordered back home, with any children Sonia or Heather might wish to have dependent upon her.
“This is blackmail,” she whispered. Her sib-sisters: Sonia and Heather. She looked at the holopic of the two of them, and Alan, sitting in that little park. She could hear their voices: Heather hinting that she was considering motherhood, Sonia saying the same thing in her letters, and now, now they were being held hostage to her return.
The Eldest in a Family, even an Acting Eldest, was more than just the administrative head of the Family. She did more than just guide the business side of the Family. The Eldest was intimately involved in the future of the Family, both the children born and unborn. She apportioned the pregnancies, she made the final decision on the genomes used, she directly chose which troubled pregnancies could continue and which could not, she directly chose which children with defects lived, and which did not. The Eldest was the Mother of them all, and you could not dispute her decision. She acted for the benefit of the entire Family, even if her decisions harmed an individual in the short term. This was the way it had been since the First Landing, it was the way things worked.
“Which is more important,” she whispered to herself. “Fleet, or Family?” She served her Family in the Fleet, the Fleet was the servant of all of the Families. The Fleet had trained her, had guided her, had shaped her for what she was doing now, but so had her Family. And now her Family needed her. Aunt Joanne said so, and she was the one who was supposed to know.
Corey looked at the letter in her shaking hands. She wanted to tear it up and throw it away. She wanted to pretend she had never seen it. Custom said Aunt Joanne was doing this only for the best of the family and that she was in the best position to judge what that was. Tradition said she only did this with the greatest reluctance. As a member of the family, Corey had no choice; she had to comply. But her duty was to the Fleet, to all the families, and to Morosini’s children.
“Why are you doing this to me, Aunt Joanne?” she whispered, though she already knew the answer. The woman did not want the family in space. Land on home, that had always been what Aunt Joanne was after. She was afraid of space. She had to be, and now that she was in a position of authority, she would make her fear into policy for the whole family.
“Bad news?” Tammy asked.
“The Eldest in my Family has ordered me to return home for the good of the Family,” Corey said in an empty voice.
“Which one is your Family?” Tammy asked.
“Red Ridges,” Corey said. She stared at the letter, feeling empty. She had to go back, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t. There were too many things happening: the war, Morosini’s children, her responsibilities to all the families. She couldn’t go back, but she had to. Aunt Joanne was wrong, but she was eldest.
Almost dully, Corey pulled over the third envelope, the one marked “ Official Business.” She slit it open. It started with the usual greeting:
You are hereby requested and required to report for a briefing and planning session at Fleet Headquarters on Home. The session will start on Second Monday, Fifth month, 1,428 years after Landing at 0600 Fleet Time.
Morosini’s Children were going into combat. That was the only thing it could mean.
Corey felt drained. Her arms didn’t want to move. They were going to go into combat, and if Eldest Joanne had her way, Corey Andersen was going to be sitting at home inventorying bedding or arranging meals or teaching kids their first lessons in math. She knew Eldest Joanne wasn’t going to let her out of the Family compound.
“I have to go to Fleet Headquarters,” Corey said. She helplessly looked at all of the papers on her desk. She shook her head slightly. Useless, all useless. She went to her quarters and threw a few things in her travel bag. She looked at the few mementos that had followed her around from assignment to assignment. She might as well leave them, seeing them every day would only hurt. What was the use of doing anything else? You couldn’t go against your family. She sat on her bed looking at a picture of her, Svetlana, and Sasha, taken back on Jellicoe. Sasha had the Flight now. She had an older picture, taken back on Auldearn. It was of Lisa, who’d flown as her Second back when she was an Acting Flight Lead. She had just heard that Lisa was posted to Command & Staff School, and rumor from the Seniors said she was going to get a squadron. They were moving on, they were going to take the war to the Idenux while she was going home to wipe noses.
Someone must have passed the word she was headed in-system. Colbert’s shuttle was waiting for her when she finally stirred. She took a seat, staring numbly at the screen in front of her. Wasn’t it only a couple of years ago that she had told her sibs that when it was the Fleet versus the Family, that the Fleet had a prior claim? But did it? Not when the Eldest said it was necessary for the good of the Family. In the end, it was all about Family, and she did not, could not, go against her Family. Without the Fleet, she would be just another person back at Red Ridges, probably piloting aircars and dreaming of Space. But without her Family...
The lander from Colbert entered the atmosphere of Home just over 30 hours later. It was early morning over the cities of the larger continent. First Landing was lit, though not as well as the other cities. She could see the smear of light to the north that was Amber, the largest city on Home. To the east, in the mountains, she could see the lights from a few holdings. To the west were a few splashes of light from the coastal towns. First Landing was like a cluster of stars against the darkness, a cluster with a pair of dark lines through it where the Idenux fighters had strafed. It had been nearly seven months, and the rebuilding was still underway. It had to be a symbol for this war: the Families built, and light appeared; the Idenux attacked, and darkness replaced the light. But she was out of it now. She twisted the controls of the screen so she could see the stars. She might not ever see them from space again.
A junior officer greeted her as she debarked. “Ma’am,” she said, saluting. “The briefing has been postponed by two hours.”
“Any particular reason?” Corey asked, returning the salute. She had to call Red Ridges but didn’t want to. She wanted to cling to these last few minutes of her Navy career.
“Captain Lorensen of Yi Sung Sin is inbound, and her shuttle has entered orbit. And Captain Johnson from Jellicoe and Admiral Crown from the PSK squadron operating with her came out of jump two hours ago. The earliest they can get here is 0730 hours, Fleet Time.”
“I see. Thank you. Can you direct me to an outside comm? I have a call to make.”
“No, Ma’am, I cannot. I am under specific orders from Admiral Carter that there will be no communication from this base today. All travel or communication off the base has to be approved by Admiral Carter in person.”
Was it a reprieve? It meant that for a day or so, she couldn’t go back to her Family; for a day or so, she was still a naval officer.
“Very well. I appear to have some time at my disposal. What do you suggest?”
“Breakfast, Ma’am, and Admiral Carter wishes to see you.”
“Did she say why?”
“No, Ma’am. She only said I was to bring you when you landed.”
“Very well.” She straightened her uniform slightly. “I might as well get that out of the way first.”
“Aye, Ma’am,” the girl said. “I’ll have something to eat brought to the Admiral’s office.”
Admiral Carter’s office was no larger than Corey’s back at the base, except she did not share it with a secretary or an aide. She was reading through a folder when Corey walked in and presented herself. “Have a seat,” Admiral Carter said before Corey could salute.
She closed the folder and put it on a pile. “First Officer Andersen,” she said pleasantly. “How are the Children?”
“Ready, Ma’am, though I won’t be.” Might as well get it out in the open right away.
Admiral Carter paused. “You won’t be?” she said slowly. She searched Corey’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“The Eldest of my Family has ordered me to return to the Family Home for the good of the Family.”
“I see. And this takes precedence over the needs of the Fleet and the United Families?”
Corey spread her hands. “That’s just it, Ma’am. Does it? I’ve been wrestling with that question ever since I got her letter.”
“You are Family Red Ridges, aren’t you?” Corey nodded. “And Eldest Marie Andersen ordered you home?”
“No, Ma’am. Eldest Joanne Burton.”
Admiral Carter looked at her for nearly a minute. Then she pressed a button. A junior officer entered. “Find Jocelyn, and bring me a current listing, as up-to-date as you can make it, of the members of the Council and the Eldests and Sept Leaders of the various Families.”
The junior officer reappeared in less than a minute with Jocelyn right behind her. “Here is the list you requested,” the officer said, laying it on Admiral Carter’s desk.
Admiral Carter nodded. She ran her finger down the list. “Family Red Ridges. The Family Eldest is Marie Andersen.” She put it down. “Who is Eldest Joanne? Could it be Joanne Burton? I see her listed here as Eldest of Sept Burton within Family Red Ridges.” She shook her head. “As of this morning, the Eldest of Family Red Ridges is Marie Andersen. In fact, I spoke with her just a few minutes ago.” She put her elbows on her desk, steepling her fingers. “So who’s giving orders to my officers behind my back, and why do you think those orders are valid?”
Corey suddenly remembered she had forgotten to bring the letter from Eldest Joanne. Well, she would just have to stumble through the explanation herself. “The letter I received was from the Acting Eldest in my Family,” she said. “That would be Great Aunt Joanne, who is Eldest of Sept Burton in Family Red Ridges. She has taken over day-to-day management of the Family when Eldest Marie was elected to the Executive Council.”
“I see,” Admiral Carter said slowly. “Well, we can’t have the Eldest of the Family overriding the orders of the Acting Eldest. It makes the latter look bad and undermines her authority.” She sighed. “These problems don’t come to me if they are easy to solve. That’s one of the joys I get for sitting in this chair.”
She got up and adjusted the curtains on the window, then turned around, her face serious. “Today’s briefing and planning session is because we have established the location of the three main Idenux staging bases, and we are going to move against them with everything we have.” Jocelyn entered the room quietly and sat in the corner. “Morosini’s Children will have a large role in that battle. We will need every skill, every fighter, every ship to do this. I can’t let you go home, but by law and custom, I can’t keep you.”
She looked at Corey for a few seconds in silence before continuing. “This is not the first time the needs of an individual Family have to be weighed against the needs of all the Families, nor will it be the last. That is one of the things the Council was created to resolve. I will not presume to tread upon their prerogatives; I would not even dare. I will ask you to be with us in this attack, but I will give you a choice.” She shoved her comm to the front of her desk. “You can call your Family Home right now, or you can go with Jocelyn and say that I kept you from calling your home.”
Corey’s head spun. This was the sticking point. Was her first duty to her Family, or to all the Families? She got up and walked over to the window. She could see her reflection faintly on the glass. Why did she have to decide? Admiral Carter was right, this was a decision that the Council had to make. That’s why they had a Council. But wasn’t the Fleet an arm of the Council? Well, yes and no, it was, and it wasn’t. The Council set the policy that the Fleet carried out. The Fleet did not make policy. It had declined to do so every time those decisions had been dumped in its lap. Just like Admiral Carter was doing now.
She thought over Eldest Joanne’s letter. Heather and Sonia were being held unwitting hostages to her return. If she went with the Fleet, they would never have children. But if she went with the Fleet and the battle was successful, others could have children. Unbidden, she remembered Svetlana’s words.
“ ... we’re doing this so my sibs and your sibs can have kids and not have to be afraid whenever a ship drops out of the sky... “ Afterwards, she could always go home if she wanted to.
Or not.
There was always the Button.
If she never went home, if she went Mechanical, if she joined Svetlana and the others, Eldest Joanne would have a very hard time preventing Sonia and Heather from having children. Would Eldest Joanne have the nerve to get up in public and tell the world that the Winner of a Certificate of Achievement was not going to be allowed to have children? And if she did let her have children, then how could she deny the same thing to Heather’s only remaining sib?
Corey thought of the button, she thought of the way it felt under her thumb, and knew she had made her decision. Goodbye Heather, goodbye Sonia, she thought. I love you both.
She turned around and looked at Jocelyn. “Shall we go somewhere without a comm?” she asked quietly. She felt calm, as if all her doubts and problems had been washed away.
Jocelyn looked at her boss, who nodded slightly. “You should probably have something to eat, Ma’am. I imagine you’re going to be busy all day.”
Corey took a last look at the morning light on the park next to the building. It was pretty, so pretty, and it was something she wasn’t going to see again with her eyes.
“I suppose,” she said. “If you say so.”
Admiral Carter watched them leave. When the door clicked shut behind them, she sat down behind her desk and closed her eyes. She had seen that look in young Andersen’s face far too many times in the last few years, and she knew what it led to. Oh, Joanne Burton, she thought. If only you knew what you’ve done. And there was nothing she could do about it, not directly. She picked up the comm and punched in a number.
“Marie? Volyn. I need to see you. Yes, before the planning session. I’ll be right over. This won’t take long.”
Hanging up, she opened the desk drawer and removed the envelope Janet daCruz had sent in-system. The letter Joanne Burton had sent her niece had gotten here only because Janet daCruz had bent every rule in the book, presumed upon her position, and sent it in-system on one of Morosini’s Children. At the same time, she had ordered Colbert to take its time. Now, Admiral Carter picked up the letter and called for her aircar.
Fifteen minutes later, she laid the letter on Eldest Marie’s desk. Admiral Carter watched as the Eldest read the contents. She noticed the fingertips turn white. She looked into the Eldest’s eyes, seeing the fury rise, seeing it controlled.
“She came to me a few minutes ago,” Admiral Carter said. “She was all set to resign on the spot. I gave her a way to wiggle out of things for the duration of this mission, and she took it, but I think she has another out in mind.”
“Another out?”
“Do you know about The Button?” Admiral Carter asked quietly. “It disconnects the interface between the shunt and a fighter. You have to actively push it for the disconnect to happen. If you don’t, you become a Mechanical. And if you’re a Mechanical, you are forever beyond the reach of people like Acting Eldest Joanne Burton.”
Alan saw Corey standing next to the entrance to the hall, and his heart gave a little lurch. “Excuse me,” he told Admiral Crown. “There’s someone I’d like to say hello to.”
Admiral Crown nodded. He was talking with Captain Johnson and trying hard not to look around too obviously.
From a distance, Corey looked unchanged. Up close, she looked tired. “Hi there,” Alan said.
She started, turning around, her eyes wide. After a heartbeat, she smiled. “Captain Young,” she said. “I’m pleased you could make it.”
He read her rank tabs. “First Officer, you’ve moved up in the world.”
She half-smiled, half-grimaced. “Oh, that. It’s a dubious distinction that lets me be called the Old Lady by women who are twice my age.”
“I get to hear my crew call me the Old Man,” Alan said.
Corey laughed. “So how are things in the Navy of the People’s Star Kingdom? I heard about what you and Captain Johnson got up to last month. Was it only last month?”
“Closer to forty T-days ago,” Alan said. “I’ve never seen so lop-sided a battle. Did you know we had only three people injured, and none of them seriously? Captain Johnson was ecstatic; she only had two people hurt, and every one of her fighters returned.”
“I heard the Marines had to break a few heads,” Corey replied. She smiled wanly. “Marines like doing that sort of thing, though.”
“With the help of your fighters. So, do you have a command? A squadron, maybe?”
“I have a command,” Corey said, and let the subject drop. “How have you been, Alan? I was thinking about you the other day.”
“Tolerably well. Your doctors were right about the medical effects of being here. We all had to have treatment before we went back on active duty. But it was nothing that diet and rest couldn’t take care of. We’re better prepared now. Your doctors have put together dietary supplements that are helping us today. Of course, we won’t be here long enough to suffer much radiation damage, either.”
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