Chapter 14

How does one describe a headache that ebbs and flows, but never quite recedes?

"Ferro, what about..."

"Ferro, did you consider..."

"Ferro, why haven't you..."

The constant demands and continuous interruptions were keeping Ferro from his designs. His real job, as far as he was concerned, was sitting at his design board and working through the blueprints. However, he wasn't able find a few hours of uninterrupted concentration to work. His frustrations continued to grow day by the day.

"Ferro!" someone whose voice he didn't recognize called from his doorway. For Ferro it was the final interruption. He whipped out his knife from his forearm sheath and threw it with all of his might into the wall behind him, near to the door.

Whoever it was yelped and ran. Ferro caught a fleeting glimpse of the back of her head and fashionable clothes that marked her as a station resident. Then again, running instead of facing a knife marked her as an outsider and not Family. He was satisfied.

He returned to his board and settled onto his stool.

"You really don't like administrative assistants, do you?" Torrin said as he touched his index finger to the still vibrating blade. Their offices shared a common wall. He must have heard everything.

"She pissed me off," Ferro said as he rolled his head, trying to work out the kinks in his neck and perhaps ease the dull throb in his left temple. "Now I can understand why Volentin doesn't tolerate paper-pushing outsiders well. By the Mother, they are some of the most annoying people with whom I've ever had to work."

Ferro picked a crumb from between his teeth. "Those six months on the Volentin cruiser were hard, but I got a lot of work done. Now, with everyone clamoring at me for this and for that, I'm accomplishing nothing. We've got two secretaries out front with pretty nails and nothing between their ears."

"If you throw your knives at them, you can probably get rid of them too," Torrin said.

Xerba pushed past Torrin, glanced at the knife and gave Ferro a fisheye. "Maybe giving you your own knives wasn't the best idea. Is your story going to be a complaint, or full-throttle rant?" Xerba said.

"We need new help and I need to be left alone," Ferro said.

"More families arrived yesterday and another ship is docking today," Xerba said. "What do you need?"

"First, I need those two bubbleheads out front gone and replaced with Family who know how the filter information and reroute people," Ferro said.

Xerba gave his words some thought. "Joyda of Family Khan has a former fuck bunny whose daughter needs suitable employment. The young woman is Khan and she would be good in the position,"

"Are you trying to give your fuck bunny a present by placing a stepdaughter?" Ferro said.

"Who I choose as my fuck bunny is no concern of yours, youngling," Xerba snapped.

"I'm outta here," Torrin said.

"Stay!" Xerba and Ferro both said.

"Now I have juicy gossip to take back to Ree tonight," Ferro said, smiling for the first time in days. "I'm sure the rest of the Family will be relieved that you have a new friend."

Ferro would do anything to irritate Xerba. Finding ways to aggravate his overseer was one of his favorite minor pastimes when the hours were long. Ferro knew it was petty but he couldn't help himself, especially when he got a reaction out of the man.

Xerba looked as if he wanted to strangle him. Seeing the violent intent of the older man's face, Ferro savored his success. He had accomplished his paltry mission for another day.

Ferro returned to business. "Second, Torrin is getting resistance to opening the workshops. We have three structures that have to be built off satellite. Their frames are being retrieved from storage as we speak. The problem is that we can't convince the Callisto workers to do the space walks," Ferro said. "The supervisors keep bypassing Torrin to complain to me, which lengthen the delays. Their real agenda is to get out of doing the work while collecting a paycheck."

"The Family Gijrath docked yesterday," Xerba said. "I can ask Benni to negotiate a vacuum-walking contract with them. If Benni agrees, then Torrin will have to work with Gijrath without being intimidated by them."

"I'm right here," Torrin said, waving his hand. "You can speak directly to me."

"Good start," Xerba said to Torrin. "Gijrath is about 500 adults. They haven't found a niche yet in the human sector of space and they are looking for a way to prove themselves and as their supervisor, they will be looking to you for direction. If you agree, then the negotiation become's Benni's problem."

"What's my problem?" Benni said as he stepped into Ferro's office. "Nice wall decoration, Ferro," Benni said as he looked at the knife. "Is this why my new courier came running back to my offices shrieking?"

"I missed. It won't happen again, patriarch," Ferro said, not missing a beat.

"Humph. Xerba, tell me what I need to hear," Benni turned back to the older man.

Xerba filled him in on the two immediate problems and his suggested solutions. Benni nodded, making a note on his computer, which dangled from a clip on his belt like the engineers.

"You and Joyda are fuck bunnies," Benni guessed, relishing Xerba's immediate discomfort with a slight smile. "I've got someone else in mind for these offices."

Benni stared directly at Xerba as if waiting for the man to say something. Ferro wondered if Xerba would challenge the patriarch. Xerba remained silent.

"When I first left my birth Family and joined Volentin as a young man, I asked Joyda to be my fuck bunny," Benni said. "She turned me down. What have you got that I don't?"

"Good looks and bigger cock," Xerba said without a smile, and then both men starting laughing and patting each other on the shoulder.

Ferro saw two old friends enjoying a moment of renewed friendship and he was envious. He thought about his future, wondering what his personal life would be like in the intervening years. He wanted what these two men had but he wasn't sure how to get it.

When the two men had finished their round, Benni turned to Ferro, "I understand you have two new ships in the design phase, both based on Volentin tactics. My courier would have explained that I want to see them now rather than sit through another long-winded presentation."

Ferro brought him over to his drawing board and queried the schematics. Torrin and Xerba joined him. There was no respectful silence as Ferro took them through his designs. He was forced to defend each new concept point by point with constant interruption. Once or twice, he had to make a change on the fly.