Well, make sure you dont do anything stupid when they do turn up, Ione said. Leave it to the serjeants.
Tranquillitys serjeants were an addition to the usual habitat servitor genealogy, hulking exoskeleton-clad humanoids that served as a police force.
Yes, he groused. An unpleasant thought intruded. You do believe it was them who attacked me, dont you?
Her cheeks dimpled as she smiled. Oh, yes, we checked as best we could. There have been eight scavengers lost in the past five years. In six cases, Neeves and Sipika were out in the Ring at the same time, and in each instance they auctioned a larger than usual number of Laymil artefacts after they docked.
Despite the warm weight of her pressing down on him, that eerie chill returned. It was the casual way she said it, the supreme confidence in her tone. Who checked, Ione? Whos we?
She giggled again. Oh, Joshua! Havent you worked it out yet? Perhaps I was wrong about you, although I admit you have been distracted with other matters since we arrived.
Worked what out?
Me. Who I am, of course.
The intimation of disaster rose through him like a tidal wave. No, he said hoarsely. I dont know.
She smiled, and raised herself on her elbows, head held ten centimetres above his, taunting. Im the Lord of Ruin.
He laughed, a sort of nervous choke which trailed off. Jesus, you mean it.
Absolutely. She rubbed her nose against his. Look at my nose, Joshua.
He did. It was a thin nose, with a down-turned end. The Saldana nose, that famous trademark which the Kulu royal family had kept through every genetic modification for the last ten generations. Some said the characteristic had deliberately been turned into a dominant gene by the geneticists.
What she said was true, he knew it was. Intuition yammered in his mind, as strong as the day he found the Laymil electronics. Oh shit.
She kissed him, and sat back, arms folded in her lap, looking smug.
But why? he asked.
Why what?
Jesus! His arms waved about in exasperated agitation. Why not let people know youre running things? Show them who you are. Why ... why carry on with this charade of the research project? And your fathers dead; whos been looking after you for the last eight years? And why me? What did you mean, being wrong about me?
Which order do you want them in? Actually, theyre all connected, but Ill start at the beginning for you. Im an eighteen-year-old girl, Joshua. Im also a Saldana, or at least I have their genetic super-heritage, which means Ill live for damn near two centuries, my IQ is way above normal, and Ive got the same kind of internal strengthening you have, among other improvements. Oh, were a breed above, us Saldanas. Just right to rule you common mortals.
So why dont you? Why spend your time skulking around parties picking up people like me to screw?
Its an image thing which makes me a shrinking violet for the moment. Maybe you dont realize just how much authority the habitat personality has in Tranquillity. It is omnipotent, Joshua, it runs the whole shebang, there is no need for a court, for civil servants, it enforces the constitution with perfect impartiality. It provides the most stable political environment in the Confederation outside Edenism and the Kulu Kingdom. Thats why it is such a successful haven; not just a tax haven either, but economically and financially. Youll always be safe living in Tranquillity. You cant corrupt it, you cant bribe it, you cant get it to change its laws even through logical argument. You cant. I can. It takes orders from me, and only me, the Lord of Ruin. Thats the way grandfather Michael wanted it, one ruler, dedicated to one job: government. My father had a lot of children by quite a number of women, and they all had the affinity gene, but they all left to become Edenists. All but me, because I was gestated in a womb-analogue set-up similar to the voidhawks and their captains. Were bonded, you see, little me and a sixty-five-kilometre-long coral-armoured beastie, mind-mated for life.
Then come forward publicly, let people know you exist. Weve been living on rumours for eight years.
And that was the best thing for you. Like I said, Im eighteen. Would you trust me to run a nation of three million people? To make alterations to the constitution, tinker with the investment laws, put up the price of the He3 the starships use, which Lady Macbeth uses? Thats what I can do, change anything I want. You see, unlike Kulu with its court politics, and the Edenists with their communal consensus, I have no one to guide me, or more importantly, to restrain me. What I say goes, and anyone who argues is flung out of an airlock. Thats the law, my law.
Trust, he said, realizing. Nobody would trust you. Everything works smoothly because we thought the habitat personality was carrying on your fathers policies.
Thats right. No billionaire like Parris Vasilkovsky, who has spent seventy years building up his commercial empire, is going to deposit his entire fortune in a nation which has a dizzy teenage girl as absolute ruler. I mean, hes only got to look at the way his daughter behaves, and shes a lot older than I am.
Joshua grinned. Point taken. He remembered the crack about watching; of course Ione would be able to receive Tranquillitys sensory images through her affinity bond, she could watch anything and anybody she wanted. A slight flush warmed his face. So thats why you keep on wasting money on the Laymil research project, so people will think its business as usual. Not that Im complaining. Jesus! That last bid right youve got, seven and a half million fuseodollars. His smile faded at the expression of disapproval registering on her face.
You couldnt be further from the truth, Joshua. I consider research into the Laymil to be the single most important issue in my life.
Oh, come on! Ive spent years grubbing round in the Ruin Ring. Sure, its a mystery. Why did they do it? But dont you see, it doesnt matter. Not to the degree which the research team pursue it. The Laymil are xenocs, for Christs sake, who cares how weird their psychology was, or that they found some fruitcake death-cult religion.
Ione exhaled, shaking her head in consternation. Some people refuse to see the problem, I accept that, but I never thought youd be one of them.
Refuse to see what problem?
Its like that sometimes, something so big, so frightening, staring you right in the face, and you just block it out. Planet dwellers live in earthquake zones and on the side of volcanoes, yet they cant see anything crazy about it, how stupid theyre being. The reason is all important, Joshua, vitally important. Why do you think my grandfather did what he did?
I havent got a clue. I thought that was supposed to be the universes second greatest mystery.
No, Joshua, no mystery. Michael Saldana established the Laymil research project because he thought it was his duty, not just to the kingdom but to all humanity. He could see just how long a project it would be. Thats why he alienated his family and endured the wrath of the Christian Church to grow Tranquillity. So that there would always be someone who shared the need, and had the resources to continue the research. He could have ordered Kulus xenoc-research institutions to perform the investigation. But how long would that have lasted? His reign, certainly. Maurices reign, too. Possibly even for that of Maurices eldest son. But he was worried sick that wouldnt be long enough. Its such a colossal task; you know that more than most. Even the Kings of Kulu couldnt keep a project like this going on a priority budget for more than two or three centuries. He had to be free of his heritage and obligations in order to ensure the most important undertaking in human history wasnt allowed to waste away and die.