RIGHT, BUT WHEN HAVE YOU EVER KNOWN MY GRAMPAS TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF A SIMPLE WORD LIKE “NO”?
Jack didn’t feel compelled to answer so obvious a question.
The rage between the two titans seemed to be winding down.
THEY’RE DEBATING WHO GETS TO USE THE REJUVENATION CLINIC FIRST. HE’S INSISTING SHE IS FIRST IN LINE. SHE’S INSISTING IT BE DONE BY LOTTERY. HE SAID HE DIDN’T BRING THE CLINIC FOR ANY TOM, DICK, OR HARRIET, BUT FOR HER. OOPS, THEY’RE BACK TO THEIR BASIC ARGUMENT. SHE THINKS HE CARES NOTHING FOR REGULAR PEOPLE. IF THEY DON’T HAVE POWER, THEY’RE INVISIBLE TO HIM.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION, NELLY, Kris said.
SORRY. IT’S NOT EASY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS GERMANE TO GENERAL OPERATIONS AND JUST TO THEM. OH, SHE JUST ASKED WHAT A VICEROY IS AND HE TOLD HER IT’S NOTHING. YOU ALREADY REFUSED THE REAL HEART OF THE APPOINTMENT, BECOMING GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE WHOLE SYSTEM. SHE’S GLAD YOU DID. HE SAYS IT’S GOING TO MAKE A MESS, YOUR NOT HAVING TOTAL CONTROL. I’LL SKIP WHAT FOLLOWS, IT’S MORE OF HER TELLING HIM HE’S BOSSY. WELL, YOU’D NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE. OH YEAH, LOOK AT MY COLONY.
KRIS, THESE TWO PEOPLE ARE A HUNDRED YEARS OLD OR MORE, BUT I HEARD MORE COGENT ARGUMENTS IN THE SANDBOX WHEN YOU WERE IN THE FIRST GRADE.
WE MAY GROW OLDER, NELLY, BUT WE DON’T AUTOMATICALLY LEARN BETTER WAYS OF ARGUING OVER THINGS THAT REALLY GET OUR EMOTIONS IN A WRINGER.
Nelly thought on that for a long time, for a computer. MAYBE WE CAN HELP YOU FIND BETTER WAYS TO RESOLVE YOUR DIFFERENCES.
ANY HELP WOULD PROBABLY BE GREATLY RESISTED, Jack said.
PARDON ME.
NELLY, Kris said, THE PROBLEM WITH RESOLVING CONFLICT ISN’T ALWAYS THE HOW WE DO IT. LOOK AT THOSE TWO. THEY ARE AS DIFFERENT AS TWO PEOPLE CAN GET. IT’S NOT THE WAY THEY ARGUE BUT THE HUGE DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM. HOW DO YOU SETTLE THAT? WHO WOULD YOU HAVE GO FIRST FOR REJUVENATION?
THE ONE WHO NEEDED IT THE MOST AND WOULD BENEFIT THE MOST, Nelly said simply.
BUT RAY HAS BEEN CARRYING A TORCH FOR RITA FOR EIGHTY YEARS. THEIR UNRESOLVED ISSUES HAVE BECOME A BASIC PILLAR OF HIS LIFE. HOW WOULD YOU TELL HIM THAT HE SHOULD RISK HER NOT GETTING REJUVENATED BEFORE HE LOSES HER?
The fight was coming to an end only because the two of them were too exhausted to continue. Granny Rita looked as bad as she had when Kris first saw her in the shuttle bay and rushed her to sick bay.
“Captain,” Kris snapped. “Send a runner to Ada. Ask her to get a medical team here stat. Send another runner to get that wheelchair we left behind.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” the Marine officer said, and obeyed.
NELLY, GET CAPTAIN DRAGO.
DRAGO HERE.
GRANNY RITA IS HAVING A CRISIS. HOW SOON CAN YOU LAUNCH A BOAT DOWN WITH THE DUTY DOCTOR?
TEN MINUTES. IT WILL TAKE THIRTY MINUTES TO LAND.
GET YOUR DOC MOVING. ALSO, THAT REJUVENATION CLINIC, GET THEM ON THE HORN AND FIND OUT IF THEY HAVE A STANDBY GERIATRIC SPECIALIST.
WAIT ONE, didn’t take anywhere close to a minute. THEY HAVE A FULL CRITICAL INTERVENTION TEAM ON ALERT. THEY WERE SURPRISED IT WASN’T THE KING. THEY PROMISE TO BE HERE IN FIVE MINUTES.
THANKS, CAPTAIN.
ANYTIME, YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, VICEREINE OF ALWA AND GOVERNOR GENERAL.
FIRST, I’M VICEROY AND THERE’S NO WAY THEY’RE MAKING ME GOVERNOR GENERAL. YOU CAN TELL ANYONE WHO SAYS DIFFERENT YOU GOT IT DIRECT FROM THE PRINCESS HERSELF.
EMERGENCY GERIATRIC INTERVENTION TEAM JUST CROSSED THE QUARTERDECK. ALL SIX OF THEM WERE PUSHING CARTS. THEY’LL BE DOWN THERE ASAP.
19
A quick nod from the captain, and one of the Marines broke rank from her peers and raced for Granny Rita. She pulled a medical kit from her belt and began checking out the elderly woman.
The king eyed his once and apparently not future wife for a long time, then stomped away. As he passed Kris, he growled, “Walk with me.”
Kris obeyed.
He kept stomping as his Marines formed a perimeter around him. That didn’t keep several colonials from walking right through their perimeter as they hurried for Granny Rita. First came Ada, the Chief of Ministries, then Iago, Rita’s gofer, and finally several people whose bags might not have been the traditional medical bags but who nonetheless carried bags and walked with the purposeful look of men and women who fought with death and won as often as possible.
The Marines let them through their ranks and once even the king stepped aside for an elderly doctor type. The doctor scowled at Ray as if he were personally responsible for this crisis and hobbled on as quickly as his old legs would let him.
The king turned to Kris. “Can you get the word out to anyone interested, that all those youngsters wanting to return to human space for an education should report to the landing no later than six hours from now if they want to get a ride back?”
“You’re leaving that soon?”
“Apparently I came on a fool’s errand. That woman has not changed in eighty years. She was a blind idealist then and is just as blind now. How these poor people survived with her in charge . . .” His muttering trailed off.
“Anyway, Kris, can you get the word out about the ride home? I was surprised at the reception at how few mentioned wanting to go home.”
“I’ve been with these people six weeks, sir. They are home.”
“It’s amazing how quickly peasants fall in love with the mud between their toes,” he growled.
Kris had seen a lot of things she wished she could forget. Ships blown to atoms. Friends ripped away and lost forever. Here was another one of those moments she’d likely spend her life trying to unremember.
“Can you put the word out on the net about the lift?” Ray asked.
“They have no net. We offered Granny Rita one of the best computers out of our ship store. She was fascinated by it. However, I think their grapevine is just as fast. I’ll see who I can get started talking.”
“She has a computer? I thought sometimes it was like she’d been listening in on our net. Could she have?”
Kris was saved from having to lie or mumble by the king himself changing the subject.
“She agrees that this place does not need a governor general and that it would only be a waste of your time to try to run it. She says it can’t be run.”
“From what I’ve seen, sir, it sure looks that way.”
“She agrees with you. That’s almost enough to make me change my mind and insist on appointing you.” The king eyed Kris.
“It would be an endless case of herding cats, Your Majesty, and I’m allergic to cats.”
The old man guffawed at that.
“Okay, okay, you win.” He tapped his commlink. “Crossie, we’ve got to change the royal commission I’m leaving my great-granddaughter. Tell the lawyers to take out the parts dealing with the governor general.”
“That will take a couple of hours, sir. Six or eight,” came over the net.
“What do you mean? All the way out here those lawyers didn’t develop a contingency if she balked at the GG slot?”
“Sir, the betting was ten to one that she’d take it, and I was the only one foolish enough to take your bet. I’ll call the ship and get them working. They’ll have to go over every inch of the Commander, Alwa Defense Sector as well as the vicereine’s job.”
“Viceroy,” Kris shouted at her grampa’s commlink.
“Viceroy,” he repeated.
“The feminine is . . .” the admiral started.
“Usually used for the viceroy’s wife,” Kris shot back before he finished. “It’s viceroy or nothing.”
“We’ll change it, sir,” the admiral said, and rang off.
“You’re getting to be a very hard person to deal with,” the king said, stopping to stare hard at Kris.
“You’re dropping a very hot potato in my lap. One that’s all the way on the other side of the galaxy. A potato whose odds of being diced, sliced, and smashed are too high for anyone to risk a penny bet on, and you think I’m getting hard to deal with?”