Victory Conditions Read online

  Stella, doing her best to see past the people ahead of her, spoke to the Security headquarters. “What’s going on?”

  “Someone entered a multi-emergency call right where we were going. We’ve got units of fire, medical, and pressure on the way out there…”

  “You see this crowd…why aren’t they moving?”

  “There’s someone from Security at—oh. He’s not Secur—”

  “Toby!” Stella yelled as loud as she could. He might be where he could hear her…she felt Rascal squirm in her arms.

  “Aunt Stella!” At Toby’s voice, Rascal scratched and squirmed free of Stella’s arms, yanked the leash out of her hand, then disappeared into the back of the crowd, where excited exclamations of Dog—there’s the dog! marked his progress. Stella elbowed her way forward, ignoring Cascadia’s standards of courtesy.

  An amplified voice from ahead spoke then. “Don’t anyone move—I’ve got him and if you move he’s dead.”

  Stella could just see, between the people still in front of her, Toby held with an arm around his neck, a weapon pointed at his ear. It would be a tricky shot—her hand slid into her clothes…but a black-and-white flash dashed across the scant open space. Toby said “Rascal” in a strangled voice just as Rascal jumped up in his usual way…but the man struck at Rascal with the weapon. Toby twisted out of the choke hold, kicked him in the knee, and Rascal latched onto the man’s wrist, snarling.

  Stella said, “Excuse me,” in her politest voice. The front row parted and gave her a perfect shot. Chemstun and tangle-tie both, and without a touch on either Toby or Rascal.

  “There’s more of them,” Toby said. Stella looked at him. Not much of the gangly schoolboy at that moment; he looked as dangerous as she felt.

  “Then we’d best get away and let Station Security—the real ones—take care of them,” she said. “I’ve got our team, somewhat augmented.” He might not know that one of his detail had been killed; this was not the time to land that on him. “We’ve got a safe conveyance.”

  “I knew you’d be coming,” Toby said, once they were inside it, Rascal now in his arms. He ignored the others, talking only to Stella. “But I didn’t know how long it would take and I thought I should do something, in case—”

  “You were brilliant,” Stella said. “I’m so relieved—the last I heard you were being carried out as if paralyzed.”

  “I was,” Toby said. “It was the implant that saved me—if I’d had the student-level I’d have been sunk. Did…did Zori ever show up?” All too obvious in that was his fear that Zori had been part of the plot.

  “Not only showed up, but was crucial to our finding you,” Stella said. “She’s quite a young woman, Toby. I knew that before, but I didn’t know…well. We’ll talk more about this when we get home. I know Station Security will want to talk with you, but they’ve agreed that you need to have medical evaluation and some rest beforehand.”

  “Is Zori safe? If her family finds out…”

  “She’s as safe as we can make her. She thinks her father was implicated in your abduction, and possibly more…”

  “She’s right,” Toby said. “That trade tongue is the pirates’ language, and her father gave the orders for my abduction. I overheard things…”

  “Medical first, then home,” Stella said. “Then we’ll talk.” Toby was entirely too bright-eyed; something besides natural excitement was working in his system. “I’ll call and let Zori know you’re alive and well,” she said.

  “Can I talk to—”

  “Not now. You’ll see her later.”

  They were in the medical center—the staff had drawn blood to analyze for any dangerous residuals from his implant’s deconstruction of the paralytic drug, and they were awaiting the results of the tests in a guarded room—when Stella got a call from someone who introduced himself as the Moscoe Confederation Assistant Minister of Defense.

  “Excuse me?” Stella checked the origination codes; the call had originated onplanet, near if not in Cascadia’s capital city of Holme.

  “I know it is after business hours, but I felt this matter could not wait,” he said. “It’s about the accusations that some in the Nexus government have made—”

  “Unless we’re under imminent attack,” Stella said, risking an accusation of rudeness, “I’m afraid it will have to wait until morning. I’m at the medical center here on Cascadia Station with my ward Toby, after his rescue from an abduction attempt; I have another child at home; I need sleep to think clearly.”

  “Oh.” A long pause. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”

  “So I will contact you in the morning, shall I?” Stella said. “I have your contact numbers.”

  “Well…yes. That will be soon enough…” The voice trailed off; Stella shook her head. When Toby’s tests came back indicating it was safe for him to leave, she ordered a secure conveyance and took him back to the apartment.

  Zori met them at the door and flung her arms around Toby, burying her face in his shoulder for an instant, then pushing away. “Forgive me—that was very rude.”

  “I didn’t mind,” Toby said, red to the tips of his ears. He reached up to pat her back but she had already backed out of reach.

  “I am sorry,” Zori said, looking at Stella. “It is very bad—not just hugging Toby without permission, but what I have translated.”

  “I thought it might be,” Stella said.

  “My father taught me some words…he said it was our secret trade tongue. I told you that, but now I know it was not true. Not our secret family trade tongue, but the secret language of…of pirates. I didn’t know—”

  “Do you think he knew?” Stella asked, in as neutral a tone as she could manage.

  “Yes.” Zori’s voice wavered. “He…his company…is mentioned. And his private com code.”

  “Are you sure?” Toby asked.

  “Entirely.” Zori looked away. “I’m sorry, Toby. I have become an embarrassment…”

  “You’re not—!”

  “Yes. My father is…must be…involved in a criminal enterprise. He will be adjudged a criminal. We do not have attainder here, legally—at least, I’m underage—but it is a disgrace and I will no longer be a suitable acquaintance for you—”

  “I don’t care,” Toby said. Patches of color stood out on his cheeks, and his hands trembled.

  “You’re under my protection,” Stella put in before Toby lost it completely. “Toby, you may need to ask your implant to normalize your chemistry—you’re still hyper from your ordeal. I suggest a hot drink and a snack. Zori, you and I do need to talk. Your room?”

  Zori nodded; Stella gave Toby a quelling look and he glared before turning abruptly toward the kitchen. Stella ushered Zori into the spare room, which she realized would be Zori’s until…whatever happened, happened. When Stella shut the door and engaged the privacy shield, Zori pulled a data cube from her pocket and held it out to Stella.

  “Here. This is as complete as I could make it. I don’t understand everything; there were words I didn’t know. I…I sent a copy to Station Security. I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

  “Zori, why would it offend me?” Stella could wish Zori had waited, so Stella could have sent it to the person she’d contacted before, but it did show Zori’s essential innocence.

  “I don’t know, I just…” Tears welled in her eyes. “I am so ashamed. I wanted to do the right thing—”

  Stella sighed. Adolescent guilt…just as difficult to handle as adolescent lust. And if Zori was anything like her own adolescent self, she could never believe that Stella really knew what she was feeling. She had thrown herself on the floor of her closet, wishing to die, when…for a moment she could not even remember his name…had made off with the contents of the house safe, and she had realized how stupid she’d been.

  “It’s not your fault, Zori,” Stella said. Should she offer a hug? But local customs required asking permission, and that seemed ridiculous at such a time. “You didn�
�t pick your parents.” She did not fully understand the belief system Zori’s family followed. There were belief systems in which a child was presumed to have chosen its parents…she was damn sure she hadn’t chosen hers.

  “No, but—” Zori looked away. “I know you probably think I’ve always been too rebellious, the way I schemed to spend time with Toby even though you knew my mother didn’t approve, but really…I was brought up to be a good girl, and I’ve never been in any real trouble before. Now—the station police know that I refused to do what my parents told me—”

  “And the police agreed you shouldn’t go home to them,” Stella said, trying to interrupt what looked like a dive off the guilt cliff.

  “But they’ll still think I’m a rude, disobedient child,” Zori said. “I didn’t ask them permission first.”

  “Zori, you may have saved millions of people—billions—from death and brutality. I think your not asking permission doesn’t loom very large against that.”

  “My grandmama won’t think so,” Zori said. “Or my uncles…” Her voice trailed off.

  Families. There was always someone ready to dump on the young one who made a mistake.

  “You don’t suppose,” Zori said, “that they’re all in it?”

  “All?” Stella said.

  “My uncles. His brothers. His mother. I can’t believe my mother’s family…they never really liked him…” For a moment in those dark eyes, Stella saw knowledge of family pain no young person should have.

  “I think you’ll have to leave that up to the authorities,” Stella said. “The important thing for you is to know that you’re safe here, and you have people who care about you.”

  “They shouldn’t care about me,” Zori said. “My father is a monster—a traitor.”

  “Your father is not you,” Stella said.

  “My mother…they say she’s an accessory…but I don’t think she is…I don’t think she knew.”

  “You can’t know what she knew,” Stella said. She had both liked and pitied Zori’s mother, and hoped for the best, but she could not promise anything. Cascadian authorities would do whatever they would.

  “I can’t…Toby…it would be bad for him. I should go somewhere. Somewhere far away.” She burst into tears again.

  Stella sighed. In a fit of frustration she now recognized as justified, her own mother had once told her that if she ever had children of her own, she would deserve whatever trouble they brought her. Apparently that bit of universal balance was going to land on her even though the child wasn’t actually hers.

  “Zori, you know Toby loves you.”

  An agitated jerk of a shoulder; Zori was curled into a ball now, face buried in a pillow. “He shouldn’t,” she said, her voice muffled by tears and the pillow both. “I loved him—”

  Stella parsed this as referring to Ser Louarri, not Toby. “You were a child; children love their parents unless the parents are brutal.”

  At that Zori shivered. “I thought he loved me. He said—”

  “He probably did…which is more than my father did.”

  “You—I thought you had a good family! Toby said—” Zori’s tear-stained face came out of the pillow.

  “I meant my birth-father, Zori. Didn’t you hear about that, shortly after I first arrived? My connection to the pirates is even closer than yours. My birth-father was one.”

  “Really?” That had her attention. “Toby didn’t tell me that.”

  “Yes. The people I thought were my parents adopted me. And they were good parents…” Even if she was still angry with them for not telling her the truth. “Now,” she said, pushing that memory away. “You need to wash your face and go have a hot mug of something so you can sleep.” Could she slip something into Zori’s mug? Probably not. “You and Toby both need rest.”

  “I can’t possibly sleep,” Zori said, then yawned widely.

  “I think perhaps you will,” Stella said. “Let me get you something to sleep in…” Zori had come with only the clothes on her back. Stella went to fetch one of her own night shifts, and when she came back, Zori was already asleep. One down, she thought, and pulled the cover up over the girl, who barely stirred.

  Toby, in the living room, wasn’t tired at all. “Is she all right? Can I help?”

  “She’s finally gone to sleep, Toby. The most help you can be is to be quiet.” Stella yawned. “I don’t suppose you feel like going to bed.”

  “No…when I metabolized the drug—”

  “Can you explain how you did that?” Stella had heard Toby’s first version, given to the medics who’d examined him, but it didn’t make sense to her.

  “Not…really. I mean, I can recite the chemistry for you, but you said you didn’t know much chemistry. But what it amounted to was I found a way to convert the drug to increased alertness and strength.”

  “I had no idea that implant had so much functionality,” Stella said.

  “It kind of surprised me,” Toby said. His face shifted into the concentrated, thoughtful look Stella had come to recognize. “You know…there ought to be a way to miniaturize ansible function enough to link it to the skullphone…the problem would be the power draw, but if you could hook it into a power source…”

  Stella opened her mouth and shut it again. It had to be a healthy sign that he was having ideas, but she was not ready to deal with yet another technological outburst. “That’s nice,” she said finally. “You can work on that after you deal with your schoolwork.”

  “Schoolwork? I’m just missing tomorrow…”

  “No. You and Zori both, by order of Station Security, are not returning to class until they’re certain you’ll be safe. I’ll contact the school, have them send over your assignments.”

  “At least we’ll be together,” Toby said, brightening.

  “Toby, I need to talk to you about her—”

  His jaw hardened. “I’m not going to stay away—”

  “Don’t be silly,” Stella said. “No one’s asking you to stay away from your own home. If she’s staying here, of course you’ll see her all the time. No, this is to help her.” Stella outlined the problem as she saw it, ending with, “She’s a Cascadian; she can’t blow up about it. She can’t yell or use bad language without violating her sense of morality. And that very sense of being a good person is under attack because of her father.”

  “So…what should I do?”

  “You said she was more relaxed around you—that she dared to use a few bad words—”

  “Yes…”

  “Just be the young man she loves and trusts—keep letting her know you respect her. And if she blows up, try not to be too shocked at what comes out.”

  “Oh. All right, I can do that.”

  “I know, Toby. You put up with me when I was so upset after finding out about Osman—so I know you will be what she needs right now.”

  “You’re tired,” Toby said, looking at her.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I should go to bed. I should at least go in my room and be quiet.” That courtesy, after what he had been through, almost brought tears to her eyes. He was so damned decent, and she had almost lost him.

  “If you can,” Stella said, fighting for calmness. “But if you want to stay up—you’re right, I must go, because there’s a government agency that wants my brain awake in the morning.”

  “C’mon, Rascal,” Toby said; the dog butted its head into his chest. “See you in the morning, Stella.”

  He hadn’t called her cousin, or aunt…well, it wasn’t the right time to call him on manners. “Sleep well,” she said.

  The call came halfway through breakfast the next morning; Toby had wakened early and hungry, and Stella had set him to cooking eggs. Anyone, she’d told him, could cook eggs. Stella answered, one hand full of plates.

  “I’m so sorry,” the same man said. “I didn’t know, last night—I’ve been given all the details now—”

  “I quite understand,” Stella said. To Toby she sai
d, “They’re done when the whites go opaque, Toby.”

  “You’re cooking breakfast?”

  “My ward is cooking breakfast. I’m setting the table. Don’t let it bother you.”

  “Er…right. The Minister wanted me to set up a call today, if possible at 1400, and give you a briefing databurst first. Can you answer now on that, or should I call later, at your office?”

  “No, this is fine.” Stella felt a certain wicked glee at his discomfort. She let the forks clatter to the table while querying her implant for today’s schedule. “Shall I initiate the call at 1400, or will the Minister?”

  “The Minister will. Thank you.”

  “And can you give me a clue?”

  “Is this a secure line?”

  “I certainly hope so,” Stella said. “But for absolute security, I should use the office equipment. I’ll call you in one—no, I’m sorry, two hours, will that be convenient?”

  “Er…yes, Sera Vatta, that will be quite sufficient, and I will have transmitted the supporting data. You might wish to look at it…”

  Stella called the school while Toby devoured four eggs and a stack of toast, and explained what she needed, then put in a call to Station Security. As she’d expected, Zori’s parents were both in custody, and the house was under guard, Security personnel plowing through it looking for evidence.

  “I need some clothes for the girl,” Stella said when she was transferred to the officer in charge. “I’ll be sending someone over to pick them up—”

  “I can’t let anyone come in,” the woman said.

  “Well, pack her a bag then. It ought to be obvious which is her room. At least a week’s worth of underwear and outerwear.”

  “I can’t do that. That room’s not cleared yet. It’s against protocol—”

  “The girl slept in her clothes last night. I don’t have anything her size, and if you check with your superior, you’ll find she’s not supposed to leave my apartment. She needs clothes. She needs things for school, too.”

  “Why didn’t she pick them up last night?”

  Stella rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you don’t know the whole story. She did not intend to come here when she left home. She was going to meet a friend for ice cream, and then go home. Then things happened, and your people—Security—asked me to take her in temporarily. And before you ask, I had no opportunity to send for her things.”