Chapter 9

Callisto looked like every other space station as far Qi could tell from the outside. However, he was not accustomed to the backdoor entrance that he was expected to use. For reasons that he could probably guess, the ship didn't dock at the ring surrounding the central spindle of the station. Instead he was ferried across to the service entrance next to the giant maw of the dry dock entrance at the bottom of the spindle.

Whatever dignity Qi hoped to retain evaporated in the vacuum of space as he clung tightly to his ride, scared shitless again. He was now certain that the certification course for spacewalks that he received at the Leonides complex thoroughly sucked, it left out huge chunks of important information and several basic skills. He was praying the entire trip that he didn't shit in his pants.

At the same time, the only question that kept running through his head during his entire journey was "Why do these people always have to do things the hard way?" He figured he would be waiting a long, long time for that answer.

The pants and blouse were the same but the boots were sturdier aboard Callisto. With an ever-present escort who was not Quiyo, he was marched to the lifts. He was given two minutes to use the head and then he was whisked to the command level to meet the Uncle. Qi shook his head, trying to separate the past and the present. He was going to meet the patriarch.

The command level was a hive of activity. Qi noticed that everyone was wearing a necklace like him with various tags dangling from them. He had one tag. It made him feel like a poor beggar again. He swallowed his anxiety and stood up straight. His escort passed him off to another who had a nasty energy weapon slung over his shoulder. Without a word, Qi was led to a small office where he took a seat, alone. The door closed and he sat back to wait in silence.

After ten minutes of waiting, he became impatient. Qi began to explore the room. He sat at the desk chair and poked through the drawers. There was nothing exciting just the usual odds and ends that were always in an office desk. The comp looked old and the key input was so worn that the symbols were almost all rubbed off. If the comp was any indication, Callisto was a worn out station, probably a victim of the economic downturn that was afflicting many of the outer sectors of human space.

The station would have been a target for a corporate takeover if the Families hadn't found it first. Who knows? Qi conjectured. He could have ended up on Callisto in a number of possible scenarios, working for somebody else.

The door was flung open and a short man with salt and pepper hair burst into the room. He was followed by assistants who carried hand comps and security who carried comps and small energy weapons. They were all staring at him in silence.

"What?" Qi said, staring them down. His hands were out in front of him as if he was waiting for them to dump something in his hands.

"You are the data troubleshooter," the man said.

"Yes, I'm Qi."

"Oh no! Qi and Quiyo: this is so sickeningly cute I'm going to step back in the hallway and vomit," said a tall woman in back.

Qi did a double-take and his eyes went wide. With his finger pointing at the tall woman, he said, "What is she doing here? I was told there were no Farendass on Calisto."

There was a beat of silence and then a roar of laughter ripped through Benni's entourage. The woman's face blossomed red as Qi scratched his head in confusion.

"I'll castrate that bastard father of mine," the woman said.

"Hush, Riata," the man said, never taking his eyes off of Qi. "I think that we can confirm that you met Riata's half-sister. Let us continue with introductions." The man had to forcibly stop himself from chuckling again. "I'm Benni and I'm patriarch of Family Volentin. You negotiated a preliminary contract with Kayetti, yes?"

"Yes, Un-, Partriarch," Qi said. "Quiyo suggested that I keep the recompense flexible, that I can trust Volentin to offer a fair return for good work."

"Better than a Tagway-Shinar contract, I bet," Benni said. "You will work out of this office. You found a simple fix for our new destroyer-class ship and you did it using your brains. Most of the normals seem to have a problem using their brain, like a form of constipation. Solve my problems Qi, and Volentin will be in your debt.

"I'm told you're a 50-50 bet in the fighting ring for a game of tag. What is your family name?"

"Roaniki," Qi said. "It was given to me when I started school."

"Family Roaniki?" Benni said. "Kayetti said you were from the Shadowlands of Earth."

"I didn't know my family," Qi said. "I was traded from uncle to uncle to do work for them."

"Ah, so you did do an apprenticeship in the Shadowlands and learned how to fight," Benni said.

Qi wanted to correct the misunderstanding that working for uncles was apprenticeships but he decided against it. He liked the Volentin word for the "good people" as he called them, "normals." As long as the patriarch didn't lump him with the normals, Qi was fine with whatever rewrites of his history this man wanted.

"Roaniki means nothing to us and I doubt it means much to you; however, this Shadowlands does mean something significant," Benni said. "Perhaps you should consider Shadowlands as your family name. The origin of your fighting skills brings you honor within our Family."

"It's a term of derision on Earth," Qi said, trying to explain rather than protest.

"So is Volentin," Benni said. "Normals' condescension is a badge of honor to us. Wear your name with pride."

With that final statement, the patriarch strode out of the room taking most of his people with him. The room, which had seemed completely full of people a moment ago, seemed as empty the next. Qi wondered how the patriarch pulled off that bit of theatrics. One older woman remained.

"Someone will be by to explain to you your duties, our security, and all the other stuff you need to know," she said. "Do you need anything immediately?"

"An up-to-date comp and 'ware," Qi said immediately. "This stuff in front of me isn't even worth the recycle fee."