Inadvertent Adventures (25 page)

Dresden Argo-Commerce Collective Headquarters was housed in a modern skyscraper with anachronistic crenellations around its roof. The grounds were carefully manicured to present a garden-like appearance as visitors approached.

Ann and Sterling were escorted into the building and up to the seventy-sixth floor. Exquisitely polite functionaries took their bags and they were guided to an ornate office with Chairman blazoned across the door in gold letters.

A young man stood and bowed his head sharply. "Countess Alexandra will see you in a moment, Captain and Mister Stevenson. May I offer you refreshments?"

"No, thank you," Ann answered.

The door opened and Countess Alexandra smiled broadly. "Welcome, my friends. Come in and join us. We were just going over the proposal that we wanted to lay before you."

"Thank you, Countess Alexandra," Ann said as she and Sterling accepted the invitation. Eight men and women were arranged around a long table, and Countess Alexandra led Ann and Sterling to a pair of empty seats at one end before returning to her seat at the opposite end.

"Well, it would seem that a simple Tabasco-pear shipment was the beginning of a far more lucrative business association than anyone could have imagined. Let me begin with introductions. To my left is my brother, Brandon. To my right is Sandra Von Daniken. To Brandon's left is Edward Von Hassen. To Sandra's right is Poul Von Anders. To Edward's left is Helga Von Ober. To Poul's right is Ernst Von Habsburg. To Helga's left is Rudolph Von Lowenstein. To Ernst's right is Eva Von Reinhardt."

Ann spoke for both of them when she said, "We are pleased to meet you all."

"Before we begin," Brandon Von Rubenstein said, focusing his gaze on Ann and Sterling, "I would like to know what has happened to my daughter."

Ann looked into his eyes without flinching. "Your daughter is well. She was injured when we first emerged in the Farflung System, but has healed completely without any complications. She has so far completed almost half of the coursework to earn her First Class Spacer Certificate."

"And still she does not wish to come home?"

Ann shook her head. "I have not discussed it with her in recent weeks, but she has not asked to leave the ship while we are in port."

Brandon bit his lips and focused his eyes on the table. He muttered, "She
must
come home."

Countess Alexandra looked at him for a moment, and then turned toward Ann and Sterling. "As you are no doubt aware, DA-CC has interests that stretch well beyond agriculture. Mining, both asteroid and planetary, comprises nearly seventeen percent of our annual gross. We would like to send our assayers to the third planet of your system to see what it can offer. The sensor readings you provided us in the Georgia System indicate that the radiation levels are well within limits for a robotic mining operation so long as the habitat and port are properly shielded. There is the added benefit of the first gas giant showing an abundance of the elements needed for starship fuel. A single refinery ship could provide for all foreseeable fuel needs for several decades."

"What are your terms in exchange for these concessions?" Ann asked.

"For now, we will absorb the expense of the refinery ship," Sandra Von Daniken said when Countess Alexandra looked at her. "In return, we are asking for five years exclusive mining rights for the third planet at no cost, then a five percent net payment schedule after that. Assuming that there is something worth mining there."

"And if the assayers report that there is nothing of interest on the third planet?" Sterling asked, focusing his attention on Sandra.

"Then we write it off on our taxes as a loss. Still, the preliminary information on your habitable planet is promising, so there will be a need for fuel. The refinery ship will provide us with sufficient revenue to justify keeping it there unless a sentient species is discovered. If that happens, then we will have to reassess our options."

Countess Alexandra took over the conversation again. "For reasons that we are all aware of, I am inclined to be generous with this contract. Still, I have stockholders to consider. If your planet turns out to be habitable and does not have a sentient species, then DA-CC will want to establish a presence there as well. The Survey laboratory's conclusions about the edibility and nutritional value of the plants you brought back makes me think that it would be wise to establish our interest now rather than later."

Brandon Von Rubenstein caught his sister's attention and spoke when she nodded. "While there is no way to know if Terran plants will thrive on the planet Frisland, I am almost certain a market for the native plants can be found. Especially with their alcohol content. A plant that is as nutritious as asparagus and loaded with alcohol will probably be much more popular than regular asparagus." There was a ripple of laughter around the table when he finished speaking.

Sterling said, "I agree, Sir, but we have yet to taste-test it. That will be one of those, 'If you die we'll name something after you,' moments."

A few of the board members chuckled.

"There is that," Brandon agreed.

Ann took the floor before anyone else could speak. "Let's table the discussion concerning Frisland until the
Duyfken
makes her report. Until then, it is all speculation."

"Perhaps that is wise," Countess Alexandra agreed, silencing Brandon with a raised finger. "After all, it may be that Frisland will become a protected world and no one will be allowed to exploit it. You are, however, aware of our interest."

"If I may," Helga Von Ober asked, catching Countess Alexandra's eye and receiving a nod to continue, "I would like to know what other companies have made contact concerning these planets. It would be good to know who our competitors are."

Ann bowed her head for a moment. "Germanicus Mining and Minerals has contacted us, but we informed them that we already had an agreement in principal with DA-CC through your manager in the Georgia System." She looked at Brandon and saw a little more life in his expression. "Johan, with a little help from Katrina, convinced us to talk to you first before entering into any discussions with other concerns."

"That was very trusting of you," Ernst Von Habsburg murmured.

Sterling answered. "While several members of our crew, including myself, have a past association with GMM, it is not a close one. And it is nothing like the association we have built with you. We feel that our current agreement with your company merits our trust."

"Well said, Mister Stevenson," Countess Alexandra said as the other board members nodded their agreement.

"I will have the lawyers draw up the contracts and present them to us in the next day or so," Edward Von Hassen said, tapping on his keypad. "In the meantime, we could go ahead and send the
Tivor Carva
to the Farflung System to begin gas mining. I understand from our technical advisors that it will take four months to reach Farflung and another three to produce a usable quantity of fuel once they are there."

Countess Alexandra looked at Ann and raised an eyebrow. Ann answered the unasked question. "We have no objections to that. Just warn your captain that he needs to contact the CSS
Duyfken
and Captain Victoria Janszoon when he arrives. Vicky's ship is doing the survey under the direction of Admiral Elain Carter."

"You know her?" Countess Alexandra asked.

"She and I have a long-standing and unfortunate relationship."
She hates me—and I deserve it.

T
HE CSS
DUYFKEN
LEFT BELOOFTE'S
Jan Smuts Station with full fuel tanks and strap-on auxiliary fuel tanks on either side of her hull. All non-essential crew members, including their Marine Detachment, were being left behind and their living spaces were packed with dry goods for the expected year-long deployment. The only non-watch-standing person on board was Admiral Carter. She had caught up with the
Duyfken
in Beloofte orbit with orders to join the expedition.

Captain Janszoon was in a foul mood when they eased away from the station. "Why the hell did she have to find a planet so damn far away," she snarled under her breath, but the admiral caught her at it.

Admiral Carter smiled and almost laughed. "Vicky, quit bitching about Admiral Stevenson's luck. She damn near died finding this system and planet. Besides, how often do we get to investigate a potentially habitable planet? The last was Trondheim, twenty-eight years ago. Twenty-eight years of rocky bodies, gas giants, and biospheres that would kill any unprotected human that dared to land. I was only a cadet when the
Albertan
made the discovery.
Your
parents hadn't even met."

"They had met, Ma'am. I was five when the news came in."

Admiral Carter smiled again. "Did you get to see them before we left?"

Captain Janszoon smiled in return. "Yes, Ma'am. I left Franzine in charge while I went down to the planet for a day."

"That's good. I knew your father when he was on the
Vinland
. That was part of the reason I was happy that you were assigned this mission. Well, that, and your hard-headed Boer upbringing."

Captain Janszoon ducked her head in embarrassment, but her smile never faded. "The timing was perfect as well, Ma'am. It was Nagmaal, and the whole family was there."

"I'm guessing that's a celebration of some kind?" Admiral Carter asked.

"In ancient times it was like the Mass. The church time, from Earth. The population was so spread out in Old South Africa that they only got together four times a year, and that tradition was carried on for the same reasons on Beloofte. It's not so much about religion, though the Christ is still worshiped. It's more like a family or community get together where friendships and family ties are reaffirmed."

Admiral Carter nodded her understanding just as the Executive Officer, Franzine Schmitz, announced, "We are clear of the station and on course to our insertion point, Ma'am."

"Very well, XO. We're too heavy to give
Duyfken
her head, so maintain our acceleration for a planned point one C insertion just beyond the orbit of De Wet. You have the con. Admiral, would you care to join me in the briefing room?"

Admiral Carter nodded as Commander Schmitz said, "Aye, Ma'am. I have the Con." Then both the admiral and the captain left the bridge.

In the briefing room, Captain Janszoon waved the admiral toward a chair and asked, "Would you like some coffee, Ma'am?"

"I'd prefer tea, if you have any, Vicky. And I'd appreciate your explanation of the problems between you and Ann Stevenson," Admiral Carter said as she took the indicated seat.

"Tea is easy. An explanation of what's between me and Ann isn't," she answered as she poured coffee for herself and made tea for the admiral. She didn't speak again until she had set the refreshments on the table. "Ann was my mentor on my third middy cruise. She wasn't a particularly nice mentor. As a matter of fact, she was a vicious, nasty, mean, sadistic, and downright evil bitch."

"Isn't that what middy-mentors are supposed to be?" Admiral Carter asked with a chuckle.

"Not like her, Ma'am. Oh, I admit it's the duty of real officers to shit on middies. I did my share. But Ann was--she took such joy in it." Captain Janszoon paused and sipped her coffee. "She found my weaknesses and exploited them unmercifully. For three months, there wasn't a night that I didn't cry myself to sleep because of her."

"And you hated her for it."

"And I still hate her for it. She was trying to drive me out of the Navy. She wanted to break my spirit and send me crying home to Beloofte as a failure."

Admiral Carter shook her head slowly. "Have you ever confronted her about it?"

"She was always too far away, and was an admiral up until just a little while ago. Besides, what could I say?
'I hate you!'
That would be professional of me, now wouldn't it?" Captain Janszoon shook her head and frowned at the table.

Admiral Carter pulled a storage chip from her blouse pocket and tossed it on the table. "She put it all in your middy report. Don't ask how I got it. Her orders, which she demanded in writing from Commander Abuto, were ride you until you broke. His assertion was that you were unfit to wear the uniform of a Navy officer because of your rebel heritage. Her tactics, ordered and approved in writing by Commander Abuto, were nearly criminal. She also noted her self-loathing over what she was doing, and her admiration of your spirit."

Captain Janszoon picked up the chip and held it up between two fingers. "The XO ordered it?" she asked in a stunned whisper.

"Yes. He felt that no matter how much time had passed, the rebellion your ancestors staged made you a rebel as well, and unfit to wear the uniform. When he took command of his first ship, he had six Beloofters transferred because he considered them security risks."

"That was over twelve hundred and fifty years ago!"

Admiral Carter nodded. "Yes, but the fact remains that your ancestors rebelled against the United Tribes of Africa and stole a colony ship that was supposed to be going to Ikhaya Elikhulu."

"Admiral, they fled a slaughter. In 2271 President M'buto turned the blacks against the white minority in an effort to find a common enemy to unify the tribes. It worked, but over three million whites were killed in retribution for acts committed hundreds of years before. My ancestors stole the
Ithemba
because none of the other nations on Earth would take them in. It was thought the violence would follow them."

Admiral Carter bowed her head and spoke in a soft voice. "And on Ikhaya Elikhulu, and in the United African Nations on Earth, it is taught that the rebellion by your ancestors against majority rule was what caused that slaughter."

"That's not true, Ma'am," Captain Janszoon said in a firm tone.

"History is written by the victors. Your ancestors vanished for two hundred and fifteen years before a survey ship found you again. In that time, with no one alive willing to dispute it, the UAN historians had written the story to cast your ancestors as the villains. Even in countries and on planets where the truth was known, it was overlooked because you can't force people to believe what they don't want to believe."