Chapter 24: The Storm Approaches

Councillor for Justice Charles Whitman stood at the door to the Chairman of the Arcturus Planetary Council and inhaled nervously. The grandfather clock in the hall chimed ten, and he realized he couldn't put this meeting off any further. He knocked, and at the call of "Enter!", did so.

Chairman Tibbetts stood looking out the enormous windows at the gorgeous view of Arcturus City and the hills beyond, his hands clasped behind his back. The lanky 68-year-old Chairman indicated a plush leather seat before his expansive desk and settled into his throne-like swivel chair. He templed his fingers as he regarded the 38-year-old man before him.

"Charles. I need to send you on a mission."

Charles relaxed a tad at that. He wasn't in trouble.

Jed reached beside him and picked up a bound report. "As you know, the Solaria Federation's Admiralty has been examining the wreck of the SS Bucyrus." Charles nodded obediently. As Councillor for Justice, he'd paid as close attention as possible.

"They've issued their report, and as we're so intimately involved, the Solaria Federation forwarded copies to us. Here's one for your reference. I have a copy, as does the Vice Chairman, the Councillor for Security, and the Councillor for Finance. The rest of the Council will read the report, but only in the Council Chambers and those copies will be destroyed after they've been read. No other copies will be released to anyone."

Charles gulped. Never before had he encountered such security regarding a document. He skimmed it. "This unidentified man, do we know who he is?"

Jed shook his head no. "Brother Henry has his men making enquiries. Whoever this man is, we do NOT want him to be tried in a strange court. He's our citizen, he's our responsibility, and we will handle it. I want you to go to Spica and oversee this case personally." Henry Tibbetts was the Councillor for Security. The police and militia reported to him. Unofficially, so did the Frontiersmen.

"Yes, Chairman."

"You're the lawyer with the most training, and with the most foreign legal experience. I hate to lose your voice on Council, but I suppose I have to. I don't expect this will be wrapped up quickly. Plan for a year's stay." He paused, grimacing. "I suppose you'd better take your family. Bethany is pregnant again, I understand?

"Yes, Chairman, she's due within the month."

"My prayers go with her at this time. My secretary has arranged for a flight on a freighter. It departs tomorrow evening at eight. It will arrive in Spica in three days."

"Yes, Chairman."

Jed grimaced. "This appointment ... we'd better make it more of an ambassadorial role. We'll talk about this again this afternoon at the fourteen-hundred Council meeting. Please have a list of suggested alternates for your position – remember, keep it in the family."

"Yes, Chairman."

"I'll see you at fourteen hundred, then. Be well, Brother Charles"

"Yes, Chairman. Be well." And with that, Charles Whitman exited the office, bound report in hand.

Jed Tibbetts had completely forgotten, and Charles Whitman was entirely unaware of, Spica's dress code. Charles was blissfully unaware that he was in trouble.

When Charles got back to his office on the next lower floor, he called his secretary Elijah Tibbetts in. Like all the Councillors, his secretary was a son of one of the six Founding Families.

"The Chairman has spoken, Brother Elijah. I'm to be the new ambassador to Spica. I leave tomorrow."

Elijah was astonished. "That is quite short notice, Councillor."

Charles very carefully avoided telling Jacob the most important reason he was headed off to Spica. "Yes, it is, but with this issue with SS Bucyrus, he wants someone there as soon as possible. Please call my wife and let her know. I'll lunch with her, but I need to be back by thirteen forty-five."

"Very good, Councillor."

Charles Whitman had married his wife Bethany right after he returned from Harvard Law School, back on Earth. Both were 24 years old at the time. The marriage had been an arranged one, although he could hardly have objected: Bethany was tall and blond and quite gorgeous, and as educated as the Founding Families permitted their women to be. In the intervening 14 years, she'd born him two daughters and then two sons, and was now pregnant with their fifth child.

Charles had picked up what some in the Founding Families would consider "eccentric" ideas, including that his daughters be as educated as those from other star systems; unlike the majority of his brethren, he did not have 12-year-old Felicity or 8-year-old Francis home-schooled but rather sent them to the Arcturus City Girls' Academy, the elite school for girls. Two blocks away sat the Arcturus City Boy's Academy, its brother institution. Neither were part of the government's education system, so their decision caused some raised eyebrows.

His "eccentric" nature meant that when the time came to find someone to take on the role of ambassador and try to rescue Brother Joshua Lawton, he was the perfect patsy.

His wife was, understandably, less than enthusiastic about picking up stakes and heading off to a strange planet. That it would be for "only a year, my dear," did not noticeably placate her. "And who will look after the children?" she demanded.