Chapter 2

Lloyd Maddox was a past resident of Alabama, a former member of the USNA Space Force, and a deserter. He’d been on ISSII back when April’s bodyguard Tindal was busted out of the USNA module of the satellite by station security. Administration of ISSII rotated, but they had the bad fortune to have snatched Mack Tindal out of the public corridor when the Swiss had a fellow running the place by the name of Jan Hagen. If only they had done it before Jan when the Chinese were taking their turn, they’d have more likely congratulated them on the snatch. Jan took personal offense at it being brazenly done in the common public area.

Lloyd was one of the snatchers in the corridor, and later one of the injured when they depressurized the USNA module, driving everyone out into the corridors to be arrested. Suffering mild vacuum injuries, he’d been hustled off to the station infirmary with a handful of other USNA crew who’d been too slow to evacuate for one reason or another. He’d had the misfortune to be in the shower and took too long to try to dry off and dress. He’d been manhandled into a rescue ball by one of Jan’s men in a vacuum suit though he had mostly succeeded in getting dressed. All of which beats being left behind to die.

His misfortune turned out to be a blessing. In the infirmary, he found out from one of the other injured that they planned on pinning responsibility for the whole episode on him. It was obvious to anyone he didn’t have the rank to initiate the taking of a prisoner, but the little weasel who headed their capture team was well connected. The story concocted was that Lloyd got ahead of his orders and took the fellow down when it was just a surveillance mission to get a positive ID.

The fit ones of his group at ISSII were quickly hustled off station by Jan Hagen. The injured would have been shipped off all together when well enough to release, but he’d missed getting the riot gas and recovered a bit ahead of the others. Considering the charges he’d face, and how he’d seen similar cases go down in the past, he had no desire to go back to face a court-martial. Back home he’d be unemployable and at the very bottom of the list for social services. Fortunately, he had no close family to hold as hostages to his return.

When they released Lloyd from the clinic and gave him a temporary room and cafeteria card, he quickly tested his bank card at a terminal and got enough cash to buy passage to Home. By the time they missed Lloyd on ISSII, he was safely at Home and had a new job, citizenship, and had stripped his Earth bank account of what little it held.

Jan just wanted him gone. He didn’t care where. If Lloyd removed himself voluntarily that was fine. North America could be upset about him not returning Lloyd on top of everything else and Jan regarded it with the same indifference. Jan’s lack of concern for political realities was a mystery he never got to explore. There was something seriously hinky about the man beyond indulging his self-importance. Whatever, it benefited him.

If Lloyd learned anything from Gunny Mack Tindal’s capture and rescue it was that he was never going to visit anywhere the USNA had a legal presence. When the opportunity came to move to Central on the Moon, he was happy to be that much further away and more secure from North America. Going where life extension was available and legal was a plus he wasn’t even thinking about when he first defected. Things worked out very well for Lloyd.

He had a particular pride in the fact he was sworn to Heather Anderson now as his sovereign. Being clearly and permanently alienated from North America wasn’t enough to make Heather want or accept your oath. You had to bring some value to her kingdom. He’d found a niche as a ship handler and eventually an owner and Master.

When North America attacked his country’s allies, he was quick to volunteer his vessel to remove the continuing danger of USNA bases in the stars. The fact it served his long-standing grudge with North America was secondary.

His ship, Lloyd’s Lady, and Huma Bhabha’s Improbable,, were asked to support each other. That was fine. Lloyd knew Huma Bhabha as a competent ship handler with a sense of humor. She wasn’t someone he saw socially often but he counted her a casual friend. He didn’t mind being paired with her at all. They cleared two minor USNA stations. One was a fueling site with a single old frigate that didn’t argue with them at all. The ship could fit all their personnel aboard easily as there were only three active fuelers. Huma put a small cheap antimissile missile into the station after it was evacuated. It wasn’t enough to completely destroy it, but it rendered it unusable without bringing in materials and doing a lot of work.

The second station was orbiting the Elves world. They caught it with no USNA ship in attendance and the station was more a scientific outpost than a military. The station was supposed to have a ship there to protect it, though ships of other flags were welcome. It was missing. The aboriginal natives were as indifferent to their protection as everything else Human. Lloyd and Huma saw no point in making the few naval members of the station take a shuttle down to the world. They could just come back when they left, and the last thing they needed was prisoners. They just left it as no danger to their nation.

After two easy operations, they knew their main objective, Survey System 4803, might be more difficult. It was the furthest North American operation that approached being what one could call a base or a depot. There would be no system scan broadcast for incoming ships like a civilian system. It was strictly military and nothing else was welcome there even if technically they couldn’t keep you from transiting.

The two ships jumped into the outer fringe of system 4803 and listened. There was a low-power radar operating. The power level indicated it was for use local to the base. There was no long-range high-powered search radar in use. What light radio traffic existed was encrypted. They recorded and analyzed for an hour and jumped in deeper ahead of the wavefront of their entry emissions before they became detectable at the base. Base operations were sited on a large moon of a gas giant that supplied the fueling operation. There were no radio or radar emissions from behind them. Lloyd and Huma detected no system picket behind them to warn the base. They still seemed to be safe from detection.

“I’ll go in to a light minute from the base, pop a drone in a couple of light seconds from them to locate everything. If there is anything bigger than a destroyer or frigate I’ll go back in, safely off of my previous position, and hole it through the drive spaces, access the damage, and come back to share it with you.” Lloyd said.

“I don’t like being blind to a cone on the other side of the moon,” Huma said. “This action will be so brief we could have an unseen ship in orbit opposite your drone. I suggest you jump a second drone to the other side of the moon and sweep space there from another angle for any traffic.”

“That’s good thinking,” Lloyd agreed. “After we assess the damage and make sure we have disabled any larger vessels I’ll transmit an order to evacuate the facility to them. You keep an eye out-system behind us and watch for any bolters. Is that agreeable?”

“Works for me. Next stop we reverse roles,” she insisted.

“Absolutely. I don’t intend to hog all the action,” Lloyd assured her.

Lloyd’s Lady jumped in close to the moon and released drones. There were two destroyers in orbit and a heavy cruiser. There was also something that from its size and shape was probably a supply vessel, not a warship.

Lloyd sent a drone back after looking at the radar scan and holed the cruiser. If they had any kind of watch it didn’t respond in the twenty seconds he took to read the scan, make up his mind, and send the drone back to lance the cruiser. The drone emitted radar, shifted location to avoid loitering until it was a target, examined the radar return from the shifted location, and returned to Lloyd.

Lloyd moved his vessel back by Huma’s ship to share the data, before he could become a target too. The last image showed a fan of debris out the other side of the cruiser. The ship couldn’t possibly be operational. He composed a short ultimatum to the base.

“This is the Kingdom of Central vessel “Lloyd’s Lady” acting for our sovereign. A couple of days ago subjective time your nation attempted to destroy the trio of Home habitats. We are serving you notice your military presence outside the Solar System will no longer be tolerated. We have disabled your cruiser. Your smaller vessels remain to you for evacuation to Earth. Reply that you accept these orders and surrender on this frequency with a reasonable timeline to evacuate your base and exit the system. Refusal will result in the destruction of the remaining vessels and facilities on the moon. We have no interest in negotiating or discussing this. Attempts at a delaying discussion and any obstruction will be taken as a refusal.”

After five minutes there was no response. “I take it they are going to be difficult about this,” he told Huma, exasperated. “Perhaps I should hole that freighter to demonstrate we mean business. It isn’t likely they could haul much in the way of passengers on it anyway.”

“There is a bolter!” Huma called, sharing the data from a surveillance drone. “It’s coming out from behind the moon. Look at the track data on him. It looks like a frigate or a system cutter. I swear there was nothing in orbit. He must have been sitting on the surface.”

“Had to be,” Lloyd agreed. “But what in the world is he doing? It doesn’t appear he’s making a run to jump to get away.

“No, he seems to be making a slow long burn to assume an orbit around the gas giant,” Huma said. “Surely he isn’t going to conduct normal mining operations while we are in his sky threatening them?”

“He could have been in the radio shadow of the moon for my transmission,” Lloyd speculated. “They don’t appear to have any relay satellites up. However, they could recall him now. Unless he had no watch set at all he should have seen our radar survey. Even then, he should surely have noticed by now that the normal radio traffic from his base is absent. It makes no sense.”

“I’ll jump ahead of him and inform him the base is being forced to evacuate and order him back to the moon. If he is jump capable, he can take passengers. If he refuses, I’ll lance his engine spaces and leave the burden to rescue him on his mates.”

“OK, I’ll wait to say more to them until you determine what is going on with this rogue ship,” Lloyd said.

When there was no drone back from Huma after thirty seconds Lloyd started getting antsy. At a minute he couldn’t abide sitting any longer with no information. He’d also have to move soon for his safety and Huma wouldn’t know where to send her drone to report to him then. He sent three drones spaced out several light seconds apart in the rotational plane of the gas giant along the path of the fleeing vessel to scan and report.

Lloyd only got two drones back. One found nothing happening in the volume it surveyed. The other recorded the dissipating fireball of the X-head missile that destroyed Huma’s Improbable almost the instant it emerged from jump. The same drone recorded a fresh X-head detonation two and a half seconds after it emerged. That would be the destruction of the drone he didn’t get back. Lloyd sat shocked, his stomach knotted up and he felt sick. He jumped another drone back and confirmed there was only a dispersing cloud of ionized gas where the first detonation occurred.

There was radio traffic too but encrypted. Lloyd could imagine the content. It would be something like: “Good job, you sucked him right in.”

It hadn’t taken Lloyd long to realize what happened. The USNA had never publicly acknowledged the jump ship technology Central used. Their ships and drones could make a static jump without any significant velocity along the jump line. However, they must have seen enough unexplained exit emission bursts and impossible passage times to know it existed. Even if there was no official notice, certain crews must know of it from experience.

There was no way a USNA run-to-jump ship could get close enough to a Central vessel to release weapons. Somebody high up in the line of command on this base had figured out how to position X-head missiles or just their warheads like a minefield and sucker them into jumping right into the middle of it.

Lloyd recorded a new message on a drone and jumped it in near the moon.

“Well, some very bright boy figured out how to set a no lag ambush and destroyed my companion vessel,” Lloyd said with deceptive calm. “Have you thought far enough ahead to figure out that brilliant tactic will only work once? Are you prepared for the consequences?”

There was a pause of dead air time while they absorbed the bad news that he wasn’t dead. Then the reply the drone brought back was in the clear and the speaker didn’t bother to identify himself. He sounded as strained and sick at the revelation as Lloyd felt about Huma.

“You didn’t say you had more than one ship. In that case, I surrender the entirety of my command to you,” he said.

“Too late,” Lloyd said. “That was a one-time offer for which you breached the conditions. It expired.” There was nothing to add to that and the unnamed commander didn’t bother to grovel or beg.

The same drone that delivered that message holed one of the destroyer’s drives rather thoroughly. It jumped to a safe point and perforated the other destroyer as well. A different drone materialized close over the base and kicked out three weapons in a spread pattern over the target. It only lingered a few milliseconds to let each ejected weapon get far enough away from the drone not to be dragged along when it jumped back out. They were only a hundred meters off the surface and didn’t have time to fall very far before they all detonated together. They were relatively small, only ten kilotons each, but entirely sufficient to destroy the installation.

Lloyd considered the Judas goat ship moving away around the gas giant. If it was jump-capable it could return to Earth as Heather intended. Who knew how many warheads they’d laid out from the base depot or in what sort of a pattern? It would be folly to risk everything over such a minor prize. He wasn’t disposed to risk either his ship or even another drone to try to destroy it. He was certain the mind that devised his friend’s death died with the base and wouldn’t be on that lure of a ship. If it wasn’t jump capable, and nobody appeared in this system to rescue them before their life support and supplies ran out, they always had the option of scuttling the ship themselves. The fact they might have some time to reflect on it no longer concerned him at all.

Just to be sure, he sent a drone in close and examined the remains of the base. He was certain all the structures were damaged and pressure breached. If there was some deep bunker surviving or a few survivors who happened to be in suits it was no danger to him. His drones retrieved, Lloyd was about to leave the star system when a yellow icon appeared on his radar screen. There was a burst of exit radiation several light minutes away on a vector unassociated with the base or the direction of the surviving ship. It was barely detectable, especially with the noise the gas giant generated, but there was no target painted by his radar there before or after the burst. There was no chance another Central ship would be in the area unknown to him.

Before leaving the system, he jumped within a light minute of the exit whisper and examined his instruments. There was a trace of other emissions and he jumped in half the remaining distance before the signal had time to disperse. It was the characteristic pattern of a search radar, but strange. It was about the power of a hand-held radio, totally useless as far as having any range. Still, it would go in his report. Heather was death on neglecting to mention any detail even if he couldn’t explain it.

He started setting up his board to jump towards home and the incident was an itch that bothered him even while in his disturbed state from the death of his friend and her ship. If he kicked a drone out right now without making it jump anywhere it would be in a long-term stable orbit far above the gas giant. He set one up to simply listen, record, and respond to an inquiry to find it again before jettisoning it. That removed one problem tickling his brain. Reporting bad news to Heather was the other thing he had to do now.

* * *

“That’s the village a couple of kilometers to the west that I stayed at with Gordon the first time I visited the Mothers,” Lee said. “Let your eye follow the road until you see roofs.”

“I’d have never noticed it if you hadn’t said something,” Jeff admitted. “The road is barely a crease in the trees without much pavement visible, and there aren’t any open areas or things like water towers sticking up.

“It’s almost a tunnel,” Lee agreed, nodding. “We took a taxi there and then stayed at a cute inn overnight. It’s a trade town but it never took off and got very big like Fishtown. There’s nothing very big or special like fishing or mining to do there. The next morning, we rode with the mailman on his route to get to the Keep mailbox. It was still a bit of a hike in from there. It was educational to see how the country people live. We rode along and carried pies from one farm to another. There was even a goat tied up behind the mail truck for a few kilometers going to a new owner.”

“What did they do, slap some stamps on his forehead?” April asked.

“No that’s not official business. It’s a little something on the side. He wears a couple of hats to act for the package delivery companies too. Literal hats. He thinks it’s funny to put one on when he has a box from that carrier. Gordon assures me he gets treated very well once a year when there’s a holiday and he gets a ton of tips and gifts. Good thing, because the far end of the route is just wheel ruts and he can’t run it in the winter.”

“It gets that cold here?” Jeff asked.

“You wouldn’t be aware of it flying, but the land has been rising. Riding in a taxi you are much more aware you keep climbing hills but never go back down. From the village back there to the Keep you see a big difference in the trees and fields. Then, when you hike up from the mailbox to a saddle and look down on the Keep, the trees on the hilltops on each side and around the old fort are bent from the wind and stunted.”

“I’m glad we don’t have to climb those,” Jeff said, sweeping a finger along the far horizon. It was dominated by a wall of mountains still snow-capped this late in the season.

“Red Tree goes to the peaks of those mountains,” Lee told them. “It used to go partway, to a river you can’t see from here. Most Derf clans are defined by natural boundaries. They don’t have borders that are an abstract line across a plain. The river is such a natural line and they put a huge bronze chain across the river anchored to points cast right in the bedrock to symbolize the lands were joined.”

“Was it once wilderness and Red Tree annexed it?” April asked.

“It belonged to another clan. They got into some sort of dispute and Red Tree went to war with them and killed them all. That’s how they did things, though they haven’t had a war for over a thousand years. They eliminated their Keep, let their fields revert to wild, and wiped out every emblem and memory of their name,” Lee said. “They don’t keep trophies like humans who will keep a flag or banner of the defeated. They burn or bury it all. If that hadn’t happened the history of Human contact might be very different.”

“Why is that?” Jeff asked.

“The first Human landing was on the far side of the river. Who knows how the other clan would have received them or if they would have been subjugated like the Hin?”

“I suspect that even if they got a toe in the door early, the Derf might have been a lot more difficult to subjugate than the Hin,” Jeff said.

“True, but they would have destroyed the Keeps which pretty much define the Clan system,” Lee said. “It might still be a long time before you’d want to wander around the woods though. I’ve tracked a hostile Derf through the dark forest. They blend in and don’t make a sound. Imagine the woods full of Derf guerrilla fighters,” Lee said.

“I’d rather not,” Jeff assured her.

“If Red Tree goes clear to those mountain peaks why doesn’t it go all the other way to the ocean?” April asked. “I see no natural barrier like a river.”

“They are on a plateau,” Lee said. “The clan has never favored living in the lowlands. I asked the Mothers pretty much the same thing one time and they said the coast is too hot, full of vermin, and people get sick there more often.”

“Those are complaints I’ve heard about Earth’s tropical regions too,” April agreed.

The aircar got noticeably quieter even though they had ear covers to block the noise and allow them to talk. As the power was eased off, it headed down. a flat valley appeared below the last ridge of hills at which they seemed aimed.

“Hang left and come in over the saddle next to the old watchtower and fort,” Lee told the pilot. They tilted slightly in direction and the power eased on just a hair to make up for their increased drop as they slipped sideways.

“That’s a pretty impressive fortification,” Jeff admitted.

“The Keep is much bigger but it goes way down,” Lee said, “It’s as big on the surface as they ever intend it to be but they keep tunneling.”

“That’s similar to Central,” April said.

The bump in the middle of the plain resolved to terraces and gates in a mound that covered the true form of the structure beneath. It was hard to tell if it was all earth-sheltered and artificial or if it had started as a natural hill. Smaller buildings became visible until finally, they were close enough to see individual Derf. There were paths but no roads or any vehicular traffic.

“Aim for the edge of the big apron in front of the main gate and doors,” Lee instructed.

“Gotcha,” the pilot said in their ear covers and shifted aim a little, the rear of the aircar dipping a little as the glide path steepened. The very few Derf loitering around the plaza looked up and walked away clearing a spot on the stones.

“You don’t have to shut down,” Lee said. “just cut to an idle and you can lift as soon as we are clear. Thanks for a smooth ride.”

“Thanks for the fare,” the pilot acknowledged. They touched down with no jolt and the roar of the fans dropped to a loud hum.

The door that dropped formed a ramp and everybody hurried down with their minimal luggage. When they were fifty meters from the car the pilot cranked the power up again. Lee and her friends stopped, backs to the machine, and put their hands over their ears. A brief gust of wind blew over them from behind and the noise dropped off sharply when the car was a couple of hundred meters up and well away from the landing spot. Then the noise went back up again as the pilot poured on the power. He’d eased away at first out of courtesy for them.

When Jeff and April looked around, Derf everywhere had stopped or come out of the buildings to watch the car depart.

“That’s why I hate to fly in,” Lee said. “It disrupts work for everybody to run and see. Then they all have to talk about it. I’d walk in if we didn’t have time-critical news.”

“And what would that be, Missy Lee?” a huge armored up Derf asked. “And where is Strangelove? He’s supposed to be guarding this one.”

“We refused him coming along because we’d have had to hire a freight flier, and he’ll be right there to pick up guarding Jeff when we return. We’re perfectly safe here,” Lee insisted. “This is Jeff, as you guessed, and April.”

They both nodded politely. “This is the Champion of Red Tree, Garrett.”

He nodded politely too, almost a bow, but his wrinkled snout and flat ears said what he thought of the idea safety could be perfected anywhere. He didn’t bother to verbalize it. Lee got the message.

“Jeff and April are peers and partners to Heather of Central, and if you want to hear the news, come with us and listen while we tell the Mothers,” Lee invited.

“I shall, and to keep an eye on all of you since you dumped Strangelove.”

“Dumped is such a harsh word,” Lee objected. “We’ll be with him again the instant we step off transport back at Derfhome City,” Lee promised.

“From the timing, you stayed overnight in Fishtown, didn’t you?” Garrett asked. “I’d have assigned a couple of soldiers to watch you while you were there if I’d known.”

“We are not without resources,” Jeff said trying to jolly him. “It may not look like it but we have on armor superior to yours, and we’re both survivors of multiple assassination attempts.

“Oh yes, I find that so encouraging,” Garrett said, and turned to lead them in.

It was gloomy inside despite several skylights far overhead. It took the time they walked to the Mother’s table to adjust to it.

“Mum, Mothers, these are April Lewis and Jeffery Singh on the business of the Sovereign of Central. They have news and requests. Jeff came ahead and has shared information with my researchers out of concern for their safety and that of others. We expect it to speed up our understanding of gravitational tech. April joined us yesterday.”

“It’s good to meet allies,” the First Mother said. “You are welcome to our hospitality, and we thank you again for our system protection. Sit and talk with us and share refreshment. What exactly are you here to do that the Foys could not do for your queen?”

Jeff took that as leave to sit right across from the Mothers. He glanced at Lee who didn’t give him any sign he was being presumptuous. She was taking a seat at the table too. Jeff then nodded at April for her to field the question. Soon mugs of beer appeared for them.

“Jeff came ahead of me. He’s the developer of our stardrive and neither of the Foys has the technical background to explain it to Lee’s people. Since he left, the situation in the Solar System has changed. We came under attack again by the nation of North America. I’m surprised the pause in hostilities lasted as long as it did. None of the other Earth nations joined in the attack, but that doesn’t mean they are friendly at all. We had to abandon the location of the three habitats. Beta has gone to Fargone, Gamma at least temporarily has gone to orbit Mars, and Home is going to arrive in your system late today or tomorrow. I’m here to ask if we should stay or move on. If you do want us to stay, where we should locate and how we should comport ourselves in your domain.”

“Comport? Now there’s a word I had to look up,” the First Mother said. “I don’t get many of those in English now. I take it this isn’t a temporary retreat. Do you intend to abandon your places in the Solar System forever?”

“I can’t imagine we’d ever be welcomed back,” April said. “It was a near thing that they failed to kill us all. They made the mistake of declaring a deadline for us to surrender and setting the attack in motion to hit us minutes after, on the assumption we would not yield.”

“So, they bargained in bad faith,” the First Mum said. “We had the experience of that with the same people ourselves. We decided not to destroy them also. There are times I’m still not sure that was the right decision.”

“It is still an option we retain,” April noted. “Our reasons for staying our hand were slightly different. The planet itself is a storehouse of history and biologicals. They still discover new species. It would be a shame to destroy it over the actions of the temporary residents. We’ve removed samples of everything we can in case we are forced to do so.”

“Will they not pursue you to finish their war?” The Third Mother asked.

“That won’t be easy. I cleared Earth orbit of most of the USNA spaceships. Heather has sent her captains to remove all the permanent starbases that nation established. There are other Earth nations with armed vessels but only China has any significant number and a history of hostility to us. They are divided into at least three major factions and some ethnic regions that broke away. Who controls what assets in the heavens is uncertain. They have never established forward bases like the USNA. One suspects they don’t assume they can safely retain control of them the way North America feels theirs will always obey.”

“Then you aren’t bringing trouble to us,” the Third Mum stated as fact.

“I don’t expect that, no. If it does show up it will be of a nature the Foys could handle even without all the assets we bring with Home. I would like to sell you on Home as an asset to the Derf and Derfhome,” April said. “Heather still intends to keep Central on the Moon for the foreseeable future. It is near impervious to attack and gives us a base from which to observe Earth and make sure they don’t surprise us like they might without any eyes there.”

“What will it cost us to acquire this asset?” the Second Mother asked. “I’ve noticed that when merchants tell me how much I can save I often conclude I can save a full hundred percent off their best price by not buying at all.”

“You would have more humans living on your world, I’m sure,” April said carefully. “The Earth has been unsafe to visit and there is pent-up demand to walk under an open sky and see natural things. You of course don’t have to host them at all in any of the clan territories. This is like a private residence in their custom. They would visit the trade towns. There will probably be some who want to live in the trade towns and pursue business here.

“I don’t see them competing with town Derf because the sort of skills they have from living on a hab are very different than planet dwellers. They’ll bring in new skills and quite a bit of money. I wouldn’t blame you for being suspicious of Humans in general, given you had to war with them. The people on Home have gone through a selection process that removed a lot of the undesirables. First when Mitsubishi selected the workers back when M3 was populated. Then, the revolution selected among them further, for those who didn’t run back to Earth. I’m prejudiced, but I fancy they are a different culture. They are smarter, better behaved, and just a bit saner.”

“There will be problems if we allow this,” the First Mother said with certainty. “The question is if it is worth the trouble or within our ability to control by simple decree. You have been trained to command and experienced holding it,” she told April. “Surely, you have been told the principle that it is foolish to issue an order you know won’t be obeyed? We must consider if we will be creating such a hazard.

“I’ve read a great deal about Humans, and watched videos and flat films dating back to the First Atomic War and even some earlier,” the First Mother continued. “I remember there are those of you who dislike crowds and towns. People who yearn for wild places. They go off into the woods, or bush, or jungle. Homesteaders and farmers also, with a desire for land. A lot of your stories romanticize them. I find it hard to believe that has died out entirely. How can we prevent them from going off as far from the trade towns as they can, and soon we’d have hermit shacks and villages following Human custom existing independently? They may encroach on clan territory and become nuisances or worse.”

“Don’t you have Derf who do the same?” April asked her.

“Very few. Those who leave the clan go to town. The few who would choose not to do that are actual outlaws or the handful who are mentally ill and can’t get along with others. I could count the ones I’ve known to do that on two hands with digits unused.

“Each trade town has been free to form local councils and regulate themselves. Mothers make law for all Derf, but towns make their own rules. As long as there is order, neighboring clans leave them to their own devices. None of them have grown to where there is conflict.”

“Perhaps simply make it a law that outside the clans one must work with a trade town to occupy any land,” April suggested. “You can choose to enforce it or not outside your territory, just like you exercise discretion applying your law to the towns.

“Maybe,” the First Mother said. “That would imply we are not merely allowing them to make their own local rules, as we have until now, but approving them and giving them permanence if Humans are to depend on those rules. To step in and void them could be messy and we haven’t had to do so yet.”

“I would not suggest that only applies to Humans,” April clarified. “It should apply equally to Derf. You could make it the specific point of such a law that if anyone finds such town rules oppressive, they can appeal to the Mothers to issue a law to rectify it. That seems to me to be the present situation, you just never formalized it. You should. It’s always better in my opinion to spell things out than to have unspoken rules that supposedly everyone knows. It always amazes those who know and accept such rules when others don’t.”

The First Mother looked surprised.

“This is true. It always seemed heavy-handed to serve them notice we could step in and demand they alter their rules. It would suggest we intended to do so. We’ve never had to, so perhaps there is no point in retaining it as an unspoken right. We rarely take suggestions for declaring new law, but we’ll carefully discuss and consider this one.”

“It’s always good to have a safety valve for pressures short of armed rebellion, I think some might welcome knowing your precise limits instead of guessing,” April said.

“You speak from a different perspective,” the First Mum said. “We think of rebellion in the form of the male’s prerogatives to change leadership within the clan. The trade towns have never had the numbers or organization to present such a hazard. You may very well be correct that it is becoming a possibility. The fact there are already Humans living in the trade towns who share your perspective increases the likelihood of that. You do seem a contrary species. However, it is too late to ban them, because the right to be treated equally is basic to our Treaty with Man.”

“Better to get ahead of it then, before there is a problem,” April said.

“And yet, we could refuse to extend a welcome to this habitat and such a huge number of new Humans in our close heavens without breaking the treaty that speaks to our world. It never thought to address our relations in the heavens. That was an oversight since we didn’t have space ships, but one that may turn out to benefit us. Those who can arrive by ship are far fewer and more easily absorbed. Tell us again why we shouldn’t take that easy way out, by rejecting disruptive changes?”

“Let Jeff address that, please,” April said.

“We did not just scatter in fright without thinking,” Jeff said. “It would have served our purposes better to have stayed together. We had a unified Assembly on all three habs voting the same issues. Now that we are apart, we will naturally change and diverge for each of us to deal with our unique circumstances. We recognized it would be a greater burden to dump all three habs on one populated planet. But we were not prepared to all go together to a planet without a compatible biosphere.

“Home has an older, closer, relationship with Fargone, but we didn’t send it there. Fargone has a mature shipbuilding industry that wouldn’t welcome new competition. Home also has advanced clinics and practitioners of life extension therapies. Derfhome can benefit better from bringing both those businesses here where it is a fresh market.

“Beta being newer has much less industry than Home and will be welcome at Fargone. They will be more of a market for Fargone goods than competitors. They also have a smaller population that is pretty much all life extended. That works better with Fargone’s very restrictive immigration policies. All that depends on Fargone recognizing those benefits and being persuaded.

“Gamma has the most divergent population of all the habs. It has more people who are wealthy refugees wishing to leave Earth’s restrictive governments. That doesn’t mean they favor the same political model Home and Beta followed. Their votes in the Assembly were already diverging from the consensus of the older established habs.

“I predict they will have the greatest exchange of people who want to relocate after this first emergency move to orbiting Mars. They will have people leave to go back to Earth, to the Moon, and other Habs. Some few I expect to come all the way to rejoin Home or Beta. They were placed by Mars as a temporary measure. We’ll move them if they can arrive at a consensus and request it, but I’m not sure where they might pick. I couldn’t start to predict how their Assembly, separate from Home and Beta, would vote on the matter. They may even try to remain there, which I would consider a mistake.”

“And if we say we don’t want you, keep on moving, what would you do?” the Third Mother asked.

“My thinking at the moment is that I would present to the Assembly a motion to seek refuge at New Japan,” Jeff said. “They are isolationist, but Home started as Mitsubishi 3. We have a greater number of residents able to speak Japanese and familiar with their customs. If they don’t want us, I’d suggest moving on to the material rich brown dwarfs Lee discovered, or press on the rest of the way to Far Away if the Badgers would host us. We have several options and maybe somebody else will have a better idea.”

“That last is an audacious plan,” the Third Mother said.

“Is it? I have no idea how our Assembly would receive it. The journey is long, and you’ve made an agreement with them about a frontier. I’d send a delegation ahead to get permission before doing that, However, I think they might very well want us if asked.”

“Why? What do you have to offer them Lee’s Little Fleet didn’t?”

“Protection for one thing. As good as the Little Fleet demonstrated or better. They have the constant problem of the Biters and now they’ve seen other starfaring species exist that should worry them as well. Lee’s fleet didn’t want a mercenary role.”

Jeff shut up, aware he was on the edge of over-sell if he kept babbling.

“Where would you position yourself if you stay?” the First Mother asked.

“Keeping in mind we already have a space station,” the Third chimed in.

“If you embrace the idea of us staying, we would hope to orbit Derfhome rather than off in another part of your system,” Jeff said. “If you want us off in your outer system, I think most Homies would take that as a sign they aren’t really welcome but merely tolerated.

“I’d suggest in a trailing or leading position to your existing station. It would greatly facilitate business between them if they were within line of sight of each other, not around the curve of the planet. Our three habs danced around a common center in a halo orbit, on the far side of the Moon from Earth. That worked very well. There was a dedicated shuttle making cheap circuits of the habs several times a day. They were all close enough to share a common data network with a tolerable lag.”

“We found to our astonishment when we visited the heavens that we have Humans who though not a clan member, consider themselves citizens of Derfhome by residence in a trade town. How would your station dwellers see themselves?” the Second Mother asked.

“I can’t answer how they may like to see themselves,” Jeff replied. “Especially twenty or thirty years from now. Home has its own political system just as you do. We do have those who consider themselves citizens of both Home and Central. One a democracy and one a monarchy. Neither has prohibited dual citizenship. Lee is a citizen of Fargone, I understand. If she can balance her responsibilities to Red Tree and Fargone, how much easier the limited rules of a trade town and Home citizenship?

“I can’t see any great influx of Humans invited to be subjects of the Mothers when their skills are so unsuited to clan life. But your political system isn’t that different from Heather’s Central. She lacks the advantage of three sitting executives, but she does have Peers and others who give her counsel. The biggest difference is that her subjects are free to find their personal advantage in most economic matters without considering if it supports the community. Yet, if most of them manage to thrive by their choices, how could the community suffer for their successes?” Jeff asked. “There will always be a few who fail, self-directed or supervised.”

Lee had never seen all three Mothers blink in astonishment together, struggling to come to terms with such a radical idea. She had to struggle a little not to smile at it. Could they possibly think the vast majority of clan Derf would pick inappropriately to work or live in poverty without their direction? The fact that Jeff went right on talking, oblivious to the damage he was doing to their worldview, made it even funnier.

“Of course, you can simply decree dual citizenship is prohibited if you wish. I don’t think that would be a deal-breaker from our side. April and I intend to buy properties on Beta and perhaps Gamma. I can see a time when between Home, Central, Beta, Gamma, Hawaii, Derfhome, and Fargone we could end up citizens of seven or more states.”

“We’ll discuss these ideas,” the First Mother promised. Jeff looked disappointed because that signaled nothing would be decided today, unaware of how his casual remarks had rattled them. His face was so readable the First Mother added. “We are appreciative and friendly to Central and Home as allies. This is a step closer. It’s a sharing of common territory. We have to consider the past immediate consequences and consider second and third-order effects. We are deciding for other clans who may disagree and challenge us.

“I understand,” Jeff replied. “Home will arrive here later on today, but by no means do we need an immediate decision on whether they can stay. But is it permissible for them to orbit Derfhome while you consider the matter?” Jeff asked.

“Oh yes. Denying that would be like refusing a traveler a safe bed by the hearth. Let them enjoy the hospitality of our space while we consider,” the First Mother said with a very Human expansive wave of her true hand. That made it law. “We’ll inform our people on Derfhome station we are aware of the incoming habitat and speak with you again after supper. Rather than sit there until dinner, with nothing of interest to you happening, go settle into your room and refresh yourselves as desired. We’ll keep these seats open for your return.” She leaned back and thrust a true arm in front of the next worker passing by, reassigning her to guide their guests.

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