It's going so fast, Kea thought. So fast and so well. In ten years, what I've built will easily double again. In fifty more... who knows? Pity I won't live to see it. A great yearning pit opened in Kea's stomach. A yearning as deep as the one that had clutched at him when Fazlur first proposed that they enter another universe. God, he wished he could see how it would all play out.
He heard a thundering from the far side of the hill. Kea hurried to the hilltop. He saw an official Federation ship settle into its berth. Around it was the enormous raw wound of the new spaceport being hurled up on Port Richards. It was the official delegation from the Federation's electoral college. Come to tell him that the people had begged him to stay on us as president. Not just for a third term. Not for another five years.
Kea Richards had been elected President For Life.
Surprise.
The boys in the back room had come through.
But that had been the deal.
On Ganymede—ten years before—the guy from labor had gawped. "Whaddya mean, for life?"
The businesswoman had hissed at him. "Until he's dead, stupid. Or wants to retire." She had turned to Kea. "Right?"
"That's the deal," Kea had said. "If I'm going to run it... I want to run it like my own company. Elections every five years will tie my hands. I'll always be forced to take the short view."
"What'd the other side say?" Big Money had asked.
"They weren't happy," Kea had answered.
"Because they couldn't swing it?" Labor'd guessed.
"Yeah," Kea had said. "They said they couldn't swing it."
"I don't see the problem," the businesswoman had said. "Not for us, anyway."
"We couldn't do it all at once," the prime minister had said. "We would have to smooth the way. Prepare the groundwork."
"We could do it by the end of his second term for sure," Labor had said. "He's pretty damned popular. If you get my drift."
"If we agreed to this..." Big Money had ventured. "As your loyal supporters... and dearest friends..."
Kea had bowed... almost kingly... "and soon to be trusted advisers..." he had added.
Big Money had smiled... acknowledging... "Yes. We would. And as your advisers, could we presume you would listen if we had a word or two about your policies on AM2?"
"Absolutely," Kea had said. "As a matter of fact, I have been discussing my long-range strategy with my managers. It has become time for what people have termed a monopoly to end. We're presently arranging a plan to license sales of AM2, Impe-rium X, and the modified drive engines to... the proper concerns." He'd given them a meaningful look. "I'd be happy to listen to your suggestions... for individual cases."
The room had brightened immensely. Aglow in the vision of new private fortunes to be won.
"Let me be the first to call you Mister President," Labor had said. He stuck out a hand. Kea shook it.
That had been it. A presidency conferred with a handshake. Details to be filled in later by constitutional lawyers. It was the first time Kea had really tugged on the AM2 line and reeled in the fish. And as time had gone by, he had gotten better and better at it.
Kea watched the delegation descend from the ship. A gravlighter was waiting to take them to his encampment with formal word of his new title. Tonight they would all celebrate. Tomorrow he would pay off a few more lOUs.
Then it would all be his.
It was like an old-fashioned marriage, really. The monarchs of old had understood. A kingdom was the source of your greatest grief and happiness. You were wedded to it. For life. Kea was Emperor, now, in all but name. He didn't have even a niggling of guilt for having bought and paid for it by keeping one of the greatest discoveries in history to himself. The Chinese emperors had kept the secret of the workings of time for centuries. What would the people do with it? they asked their court scholars. They do not have the skills or fortitude to take responsibility for its appointment. This should be left for us to decide. This should be our burden, and our burden alone.
Kea remembered a line from his early childhood. "What's time to a damned hog?"
He thought of the piggish greed aboard Destiny I. Ruth murdering Fazlur and the Osiran. Her murder at Murph's hands. Murph's intentions on his own life. Kea had vastly refigured his concept of evil since that time. He had drawn up his own scale, and found civilization wanting. But shouldn't these things be left to a Higher Authority? To God? Maybe. But Kea had been to another universe... and returned. And found no god in either place. Perhaps there was Something. A god on his throne far beyond the stars. But until that god was found, this world would have to make do with Kea Richards.
He started back down the hill. If he hurried, he would have time to change before he greeted the delegation. Kea picked up the pace. The guard beside him looked surprised. And began to lope. Kea ran faster. Feeling young... and lightheaded.
Suddenly, there was a sound in his ear of a thunderclap. Distant, but somehow very close. A red haze fell before his eyes.
His mind shouted, "Not yet! I'm not... done."
Kea was unconscious before he hit the ground.
A panicked guard knelt beside him. Tumbled him over. Clumsily felt for signs of life. Found the faint hammer of the pulse. Frantically she keyed her com unit. In moments, the hillside was thick with frantically rushing vehicles and people— fighting to save the life of their new President For Life.
"Your doctors made no mistake," the great physician said. "It was a stroke." Her name was Imbrociano. In the field of anatomical damage and regeneration, she had no peers.
Kea unconsciously gripped the numbness that was his left arm. Remembered his helplessness on Destiny I when it had been bound to him. This time, however, it was his whole left side that was useless. Imbrociano nodded at his arm. "We can get that going again," she said. "Nerve implants will do the trick. Some rather complicated rewiring should take care of the rest. Although I should warn... you will be definitely weakened."
Kea steadied himself. He needed courage now. "That was not my greatest concern," he said. "What about the remainder of their diagnosis?"
The physician sighed. "Unfortunately for you, I have no quarrel with that either," she said. "There is a good chance it will happen again. There's no telling when. A week? A year?
More? I can't say. But I can say... it is unlikely you will survive a second attack."
Kea laughed. Harsh. "You're not much on bedside manner," he said.
Imbrociano shrugged. "Lies are time consuming," she said. "And time is something you are definitely lacking."
Kea laughed again. This time, it was a full-bodied chortle. The joke was on him. Hadn't one of his last thoughts been about the emperors who held dominance over time? But not all time, he thought. Not biological time.
Imbrociano peered at him, then nodded, satisfied. "You're taking it well," she said. "No hysteria."
"I'm not the type," Kea answered.
"No. I guess you wouldn't be... Mr. President." She rose to go. Kea raised a hand to stop her. "My staff spoke to you about the need for secrecy?"
Imbrociano shuddered. "They stressed it... quite intensely. Really, sir. There was no need for threats. President or not, you are my patient. I have my oath."
"Forgive their enthusiasm," Kea said. Dry. Thinking that if his enemies got wind of Kea's illness, they could soon change her mind. "I'd be in your debt," he said, "if you stayed on... until I decide what to do next."