Mary Rosenblum (12 page)

Ahni studied his face, struck again by the feeling that she was a stranger here, an outsider, meeting these people for the first time.

Punishment, she thought. And humiliation. The krill fleet was a mainstay of the Huang Family fishing business. For him to send her, a novice, to manage the operation and remove the experienced manager at the same stroke, ensured failure on her part. And a siggnificant injury to the family income if she failed spectacularly.

“May I be excused to go prepare?” she murmured in formal Mandarin.

At her father’s curt nod, she rose from the table and left the bannquet hall, passing the carefully averted gaze of the servant who was bringing in a plate of fresh melon, on the way out.

Tania waited at the door to her chamber, her face expectant. “I am sent to ruin our krill fishery,” she said.

“Don’t worry.” Tania put an arm around her. “He is angry and needed to hurt someone. Your mother will change his mind when he calms down.” She smiled. “She has had a lot of practice at that, remember?”

Ahni dropped onto the low couch with its embroidered silk cushions. “Tania, I need time … to think.”

“I understand. You are exhausted.” Tania leaned down to kiss the top of Ahni’s head lightly. “Sleep well, and don’t worry.”

Ahni listened to her steps fade. She could read Tania, Easily. And she had read … triumph. A battle won?
What war is this
? she thought. She was a player, like it or not. She remembered the nested boxes her grandmother had had. Each time you opened one, you found a smaller one inside. And the battlefield for this war seemed to be NYUp. What would Xai destroy before it played out?
You are right, Dane
, she thought bitterly.
We brought a war up to your world
. “I do not know enough to play your role, Mother,” she whispered.

Ahni stood. “Room, video record,” she said. A silvery chime told her that the room was recording.

“Honored father.” She bowed. “Before I gratefully undertake the task you have set me, your lowly daughter, I must fulfill my duty. To fail in this would be to further fail the Huang family honor. I will return when I have carried out that duty. Room, end record. Email to The Huang at 9 AM local time tomorrow.”

Tania’s wet clothes lay tangled on the floor beside the pool. Automatically, Ahni picked them up.

Something metallic clattered on the tiles. Ahni picked it up. Xai’s medallion. She stared at the silver oval inscribed with her brother’s success. How had Tania entered Xai’s room?

And why take
this
?

Frowning, she pocketed it, less certain than before of what lay behind this day’s events. “Security,” she murmured over her private link. “I want a skimmer at the service dock immediately. Private departure.”

Security affirmed. Only The Huang himself would be able to access the log to determine when she had left and how. If she was a player in this war, so be it. She would not play from the sidelines. The battlefield lay in NYUp. This was her war, too, even if she had no idea whose side she was on, or what the sides were.

MEETING TIME WAS SCHEDULED FOR THE FOURTH sixhour, this day. They rotated the times so that everyone could make some of the meetings, no matter what shift they worked. Dane drifted near Elevator 3B, watching the swift rise of the car on his handheld security link. Already a half dozen NOW

members talked or watched the Con on their com links, keeping up with the flow of NYUp’s conversation with itself. Beside him, Kyros yawned, his odd eyes, one brown, one green, speculative.

“Politics.” He ran a freeze-scarred hand across his naked scalp. “Good reason to stay out in the Belt.

Got to say though, would be more fun to drop rocks down here than balloons full of ice. Ain’t gonna happen, though, Dane.”

“You might be surprised,” Dane said mildly. He scanned the two men and two women who kicked out of the ‘vator and drifted toward the thickly planted tubes that surrounded the column. “Ripe tomatoes a couple of tubes that way.” He raised his voice, pointed with a subtle jut of his chin that barely stirred him.

“Help yourselves. No strawberries right now. The harvesters went through yesterday.”

”You’re a good host, Dane.” One of the women, Kani, a small business owner with a square, blunt, russky face and the long skinny body of a native, flashed him a grin. “That’s why we keep electing you.”

“For you, I have a few strawberries.” He led her down an aisle, plucked a huge, ruby berry.

“Lovely.” Kani bit into it. “Sweet, Dane.”

“You know, Jaret’s complaining that your juice sellers are squeezing him. He’s a solo operation.”

“Hey, Dane, that’s commerce.” Kani shrugged, stilled her drift on a tube. “If I can sell cheaper … too bad.”

“You’re not selling cheaper in other neighborhoods.” Dane seelected another berry. “Just in his turf.”

Kani shrugged.

“If we’re gonna make this work, we have to keep our backs together, Kani. Your business is making a good profit. You don’t need the few credits you’re squeezing out of Jaret.”

“Look, Dane, it’s not your business.” But she looked worried. He examined the fat strawberry. “I heard Sheila might have some money troubles. She might have to call in that note of yours she holds. How much do you still owe her?”

Kani flushed, looked away. “I’m not pulling my sellers out of Jaret’s neighborhood.”

“Just keep the price fair.” He held out the berry.

Kani glared at it, snatched it from his hand. Bit into it. “This one’s sour.”

“Sometimes they are.” Dane followed her back to the elevator.

“Keeping the population in line?” Kyros eyed him.

“You might call it that.” The elevator sighed open on its final trip and Dane narrowed his eyes as Raj and Kurt, two fringers, kicked out, followed by a small, taut man with a narrow, mixedeuro face followed them.

The troublemaker. Good. He’d gotten the word he was invited, then.

Dane nodded to him, received a grudging tilt of the man’s head and a quick, challenging stare in return.

The man had kicked off a bit too hard and had to spill his forward with both hands on the nearby tube.

Shredded leaves drifted and frog-flies darted from the surrounding foliage, scooping the ragged bits of drifting leaves from the air.

“Shit.” The newcomer recoiled. “What kind of bugs are those?”

“They don’t bite.” Dane lifted one shoulder. “Nice to meet you stranger. Name’s Dane.”

“Sharn.”

Dane faced the loose scatter of NOW members. Some of them sucked on tomatoes, catching drips of juice with the ease of practice, others hung in the bright, humid air, waiting. “This is Kyros. Belt miner.

Ice.” Dane nodded in Kyros’s direction. “He’s been around a long time, knows folk out there. He’s been asking around, keeping his ear to the ground.” He hooked himself backward, giving Kyros space.

“Yeah, I talked around some, listened a lot.” Kyros scanned the scattered group of drifting natives with his mismatched eyes. “Ain’t no re-pre-sent-ta-tive ya’ know.” He drawled the word out. “You repr’sent yerself out there mostly. But yeah, sure, most of us’d be happy to sling rocks down to ya. Long as you catch ‘em and pay us for throwin’ ‘em.”

“You want pay, you ride ‘em down.” Kani, the juice seller, lifted her chin at him. “Hand ‘em to us.”

“Then you pay for our climb back out, sweetlips.” Kyros smiled at her, his grafted-in teeth gleaming neon blue in the harsh light.

Kani didn’t lower her chin. “Catching’s the hard part.”

“You got rock jocks. They stupid, or what?”

“Look, we’ll work out the numbers and who does what when the time comes.” Dane kicked forward just enough to end the confrontation. “What you’re saying is the miner’s will back us on this?”

“Some of ‘em.” Kyros’s shrug didn’t move him a millimeter. “Most don’t care who pays. You, Darkside, or the mudball. Doesn’t matter to us.”

“We’ve got plenty of rock jocks out there sweeping for the spitballs,” Dane swept the crowd with his eyes. “We can increase the teams, get the rocks into stable orbits, then do the refining close to home here.” He grinned. “Darkside doesn’t field rock jocks with all that nice protective moonscape for a shield, so they can buy from us. That’ll pay for the extra teams. I finally got the last of the numbers from Maria and Florez,” he nodded his thanks. ”We crossed the line a month ago. We got the numbers, we got enough supplies tucked away thanks to our network of hoarders to make it for two years if we live lean and work our butts off. By then, our economy should begin to balance. We’ve got refined metals, some local microG manufacturing that should be well competitive with the big corps that lease space here–after we impose our tariffs.” Dane grinned. “Add in the luxury and art trade and even before tourism gets going again, we can get by.” He let his eye travel from one to the other. “We can do it,” he said quietly. “It’s just a matter of
when
. We need to focus on that, now.”

“What about the other three platforms?” Sean, small and moonnfaced, downside born, twined his fingers together nervously. “Dragon Home dances to China’s tune. Heck, the Admin over there, or Chairman or whatever you call him, is the son of the Chairman of the People’s Republic. He’s not going to do anything he’s not told to. New Singapore is nothing but a prison and a bunch of tenant farmers.” He lifted both shoulders in disapproval. ”They won’t join us.”

“You’re probably right about New Singapore,” Dane said thoughtfully. “We left them out of the equation.

Dragon Home is a guess.” He frowned. “We need three of the four platforms going in on this.” He paused. “But we’ve made some overtures to Li Zhen and he hasn’t said no.”

“Con in Dragon Home is all over the place.” Zero, a random amer-mix, bone thin and a druid of an info wizard, spoke up. “Euro Two is a sure starter, just waiting for us to do the leap. If they get impatient, they might start the show first. They know our numbers and their own are better than ours for supplies.”

He made a face. “The euros stuff extra into every crevice in their can. Squirrels.”

“We may have to carry New Singapore for awhile, if it comes along after all.” Dane shook his head.

”That’ll make things real tight, but we can do it.”

“I don’t think they’ll come along.” Zero looked down his long dark nose, on the verge of insulted. “I told you seventy-three prrcent probability they wouldn’t.”

“Three out of four orients to me,” Kani said. “I’m betting Dragon’s gonna be right on our heels. My cuz has been skimming their Con and compiling for me.” She tilted her head at Zero. ”You’re not the only info wizard around.”

Zero lifted one shoulder a milimeter.

From the comer of his eye Dane caught Sharn, the agitator, shoot Raj a glance.

“So we’re all set up here, and we’re gonna do what?” Sharn pushed himself away from the tube he had anchored to, leaving bruised leaves in his wake. “I guess maybe you need to spell this out for me, cause I think I’m lost. We’re waiting for what?” He wore arched eyebrows, a face of innocent confusion.

“Permission? I mean … so who tells us that we’re allowed to say we’re on our own?”

”Nobody said anything about permission,” Zero snapped. ”You got four platforms to coordinate. Well, three without the Malays.” Kani retreated a hair as Sharn pushed into her space. ”Yeah, I mean, we can’t just say we’re on our own.” Raj threw this in. Out of character. Dane looked at Sharn, because this was a set-up and Raj had just tossed Sharn the ball.

“Why not?” Behind his mask of confusion, Sharn’s eyes gleamed. “I mean, we could hold our butts for what … years? Waiting for the ‘right time’? Who benefits from that?” He faced Dane directly, chin up, his stare direct. “Our Admin is busy skimming a little sweetness for himself up here. Any chance you’re getting a taste of that cream?”

Silence. A frog-fiy made a tiny creak that seemed loud in the sudden stillness. Dane smiled, because yeah, this creep or somebody working for him, had tried real hard to plant just that, the way they’d planted the fish farm purchase that had scorched Laif. But Koi had spotted it and Noah had fixed it. “If I was doing that, I bet you’d have found it by now.” He made his lips smile, locked his glance with Sharn’s.

“You want to show us that link?”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not there.” But Sharn’s glance faltered just a hair.

“Get out of the way.” Kani made a rude noise. “Admin migh skim, not Dane. You want me to believe that, you better show me something that Zero here couldn’t do himself. Then I’ll believe it.”

“I’d have found it first.” Zero was looking hard at Sharn. “Wondered how come you got to that little game of Admin’s when I missed it.” He pushed forward, into Sharn’s space. “You scammed that? You’re not bad.”

“Get off.” Sharn flexed, pushing off the tube behind him, stiffened fingers aiming for Zero’s groin. But Dane had been waitting for that. He shot forward, caught the agitator just off his center, killed his forward as he spun him. Kyros, silent in the shadows, arrowed forward just right to deflect Sharn’s spin, sent the man spiraling, flailing gracelessly for control. Gently, precisely, Kyros drifted back to his place in the shadow of the leaves. Dane drifted less than thirty centimeters from where he had kicked off.

Kani snickered.

Zero raised an eyebrow, nodded at Dane.

Smiles, and quiet chuckles wave-fronted across the group. Sharn had finally halted his tumble, kicked back to the group, wearing a tight smile. “Nice schoolyard trick.” He nodded deeply to Dane. “I’ll watch my back.”

And with that act of humility, with tone, and his words, he … changed … the actions of the past moments. Suddenly, he was the victim and Dane the bully. Dane watched derisive smiles falter and grow thoughtful.

He was a pro, Dane thought sourly. He realized suddenly that Sharn had set him up for just this. “So what do you think we should do.” Dane retreated slightly because he had to now, gave him space. “What is your take on our next step?”

“You don’t ask the downsiders, that’s my take.” Sharn gave Dane a measured look that didn’t quite conceal the glint of his triumph. “We throw everyone of ‘em off the platform, rough some of ‘em up, tell