“Disagreements between clan members cause trouble for the whole clan,” said Asante. “I’m surprised your clan council didn’t talk to you both about it.”
“They did,” I said grimly. “I admitted everything was my fault. Gemelle was generous enough not to say exactly what I’d done, and fortunately clan council didn’t insist on hearing the details. We agreed that I’d stay away from Gemelle whenever possible, and she wouldn’t cause a scene when we were forced to be together by something like a clan gathering.”
“She never got back together with the boyfriend?” asked Asante.
“No.” I sighed. “Gemelle finally started seeing someone else, and things have improved between us to the point where we have brief and awkwardly polite conversations at clan gatherings, but she still doesn’t trust me. When she got married, she made me swear never to talk to her husband except when she was with him.”
I paused. “Only Jaxon ever heard the full story of what happened between me and Gemelle. My first posting after leaving the Military Academy was as a member of his fighter team. Gemelle stopped visiting him, because she didn’t want to risk meeting me. He thought she was over-reacting to some trivial disagreement, so I had to tell him everything.”
“What did he think about it?”
“I thought for a moment that he’d break my nose too, but he didn’t. Of course he was my team leader at the time, which limited his options. The Military doesn’t approve of its officers fighting, and Military Regulations are especially forceful about not punching officers who are directly under your command. As it turned out, Jaxon had done something himself that he deeply regretted. Like me, he’d never been able to make things right. We ended up getting drunk, and making some extremely incoherent vows about becoming better people and putting the happiness of others ahead of our own.”
We sat in silence for a while. “Have you made a decision yet?” I asked at last.
“About what?” asked Asante.
“Whether I’m allowed to keep coming to your MeetUp after what I did. I know you have strict standards on behaviour.”
“I don’t allow troublemakers in my MeetUp,” said Asante. “If I ever see the boy you’ve described in here, then I’ll throw him out, but I don’t think he exists any longer. You’ve been coming to my MeetUp for eight years, you’ve never tried to push your company on anyone, never been ungracious turning down unwelcome advances, and never made anyone unhappy.”
He picked up the bottle and poured more wine into our glasses. “You’re telling me that your last marriage proposal was a total disaster, so now you’re scared to propose marriage to your Marlise in case it ends just as badly.”
“Exactly. People constantly tease me, saying I’m irresistible, but the truth is that after my disaster with Gemelle I stopped taking risks. I don’t chase after anyone who hasn’t already offered me an unmistakeable invitation, like Clarinda did earlier, so I’m never turned down. I don’t have a relationship that lasts for longer than a few weeks, so it can’t develop into anything serious. I don’t get emotionally involved, so I can’t get hurt.”
I paused. “The situation with Marlise is different in every way. She hasn’t given me the faintest sign she’s interested in me. We’ve been friends for over a year. I’m already emotionally involved.”
Asante thought for a moment. “Even if you proposed and Marlise turned you down, it couldn’t possibly cause as much trouble as last time. Marlise isn’t a member of your clan, is she?”
Marlise wasn’t a member of my clan, she wasn’t even Betan, but she was Military which was what really mattered. Sometimes marriage with a civilian could work, my own mother was a civilian, but part of my attraction to Marlise came from our shared love of the Military life.
Given Asante’s views on people from other sectors, I thought I’d better not mention that Marlise wasn’t Betan. I wanted him advising me on how best to court Marlise, not trying to talk me into accepting Clarinda’s invitation instead.
“No,” I said, “Marlise isn’t a clan member, but making a mess of things with her would still cause a lot of trouble. I’m the leader of a fighter team, and Marlise is my deputy. If we’re on bad terms, it’s not just awkward for everyone in the team, but positively dangerous. We wouldn’t be getting lectures from clan council but from our commanding officer, and one of us would probably have to be reassigned.”
I shook my head. “What happened with Gemelle was dreadful enough, but the idea of Marlise hating me and leaving my team is hideous. I’d have lost someone who’s very important to me as both a deputy and a friend.”
“But you won’t be making a mess of things this time. You aren’t the same person now, Drago. You’re older and wiser, and Marlise doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Asante gave me a questioning look. “Or does she?”
“She did when she first joined my team to replace my previous deputy, but she decided to end that relationship a few months later. I swear that was absolutely nothing to do with me.” I lifted both hands to proclaim my innocence. “Once I was sure the relationship was over, I tried hinting that I’d like us to be more than friends, but Marlise just told me not to play my Betan flirting games with her.”
“So you gave up?” Asante shook his head in disbelief.
“I didn’t give up exactly. Planet K21228 was nearly ready to be handed over to its first colonists, so I decided that the safest thing would be to wait until the handover party before doing anything drastic. When the Military hand over a new world to its first colonists, there’s a big party for all the officers who’ve helped made the world safe, with a point at the start of the party where people traditionally propose to each other. I thought it would be much easier for me to say something then, and if Marlise rejected me then the whole team would be going on leave for months. That would give Marlise and me time to sort things out between us, and get back to being friends, before we were all together again.”
“So what happened at this party?” asked Asante. “Did you propose, or just ask her to tumble you?”
“I sort of proposed.”
“You sort of proposed?” Asante waved both hands. “What does that mean?”
“I was trying to be a little … ambiguous about it. I thought if Marlise didn’t like the idea, then it would make life easier if we could pretend I hadn’t really been talking about marriage but friendship. Anyway, Marlise stared at me and asked how much I’d had to drink to make me turn so sentimental. I still can’t work out if she realized I was talking about marriage at all.”
I shrugged. “At the end of the party, everyone headed off on leave, and I came to beg you for your expert advice, Asante.”
He poured the last of the wine into our glasses, picked up the empty bottle, and put it on the metal disc in the centre of the table. “Furniture command table cleanup.”
The metal disc obediently swivelled aside, letting the bottle drop into the cleanser chute below. A mechanical arm extended to wipe the table with a cloth, before the metal disc closed again. Traditionally, tables made a noise to indicate that cleanup was complete. In Asante’s MeetUp, the noise was a loud, self-satisfied burp.
“What is Marlise like?” asked Asante.
“She’s incredible.” I grinned. “I always have a flight simulator duel with a new team member to assess their flying ability, and Marlise was the first one to ever …”
Asante lifted a hand to stop me. “Yes, but what does she look like? Can you show me an image?”
I tapped at the lookup on my left sleeve, and projected a holo image in midair above the table. “This is Marlise standing next to her fighter. The dead thing on the ground is …”
“The dead thing on the ground is messy and irrelevant.” Asante studied the holo for a moment then nodded. “Marlise isn’t beautiful.”
I glared at him. “Yes, she is.”
“No, she isn’t. We can ask everyone in the MeetUp to vote on the question if you like, they’re all nosily staring at your holo, but they’l
l all say the same. Marlise is just a moderately attractive girl.”
I shut down the holo. “Her looks don’t matter. I didn’t fall in love with them, I fell in love with her adventurous soul, and the way she …”
Asante raised his imperious hand again. “But her looks do matter. Given you’re so handsome, the fact she isn’t beautiful is the key to your relationship dynamics. I suspect Marlise finds you as irresistible as everyone else, and that influenced her decision to split up with her boyfriend.”
I frowned. “You’re saying I ruined things for Marlise exactly the same way that I ruined things for Gemelle?”
“I’m not saying that at all,” said Asante. “You tricked Gemelle into splitting up with a boyfriend that she cared for, but your Marlise made a free choice to end a relationship she didn’t want. That’s entirely different.”
I hoped he was right.
“If you have anything like the same eager, dumb-struck expression on your face when you talk to Marlise as when you talk about her,” continued Asante, “then the girl should have realized you’re in love with her. If you aren’t getting any response from her, then I think it’s because of her own lack of confidence. She can’t believe you could be seriously interested in someone who isn’t beautiful. You’re scared to propose to her without an indication that she’s interested, and she’s scared to give you that indication because she thinks it will embarrass you and make her look a fool.”
“So what do I do? Propose again?”
“No,” said Asante. “If you want marriage rather than a quick tumble, then you don’t just need to convince your Marlise that you’re interested in her, but that you’ll stay interested in her when other people keep throwing themselves at you in the future. You have to build a proper foundation before you propose again. Talk to Marlise and tell her what you said to me earlier. Say that she’s very important to you as both a deputy and a friend. Do you think you can say that coherently?”
“I hope I can, but she’s on a different planet at the moment.”
Asante gave me a pitying look. “You have a perfectly functioning lookup, Drago. You can use it to call the girl.”
I realized he was right. A proposal had to be made in person, but I could call Marlise to tell her she was important to me. I started mentally planning the conversation. Could I start by saying I was calling to check she’d arrived safely? It was preposterous to call a Military officer to check she’d managed to safely walk through a few interstellar portals, but …
My lookup chose that moment to start chiming.
“Chaos take it!” said Asante in despairing tones. “I hate those things disturbing the ambiance of my MeetUp. Have you been away so long that you’ve forgotten I insist on people keeping their lookups set to only receive emergency calls?”
“My lookup is in emergency mode!” I stood up and stared down at the call information on my lookup. General Hiraga was calling me and that meant …
I bit my lip and stabbed a finger at my lookup to take the call. “Yes, sir.”
“Sorry to disturb you when you’re on leave, Major Tell Dramis, but I need to discuss a possible future posting with you.” General Hiraga paused. “I see you’re not alone. This matter is highly confidential, so I’ll put this call on hold until you find a suitably private location.”
Her image froze on the screen. I kept staring at it for a few seconds longer, then sagged back down into my chair, letting myself flop across the table so my head rested on my arms.
“Are you all right, Drago?” asked Asante.
I needed a moment longer to get myself under control before I could risk lifting my head. I discovered everyone in the MeetUp was staring at me.
“I’m sorry I acted a little oddly then, but when you get a personal emergency call from a General …” I had to break off for a moment because my voice was shaking. “Well, it usually means someone very close to you has been killed.”
Asante patted me on the shoulder. “That’s all right, Drago.”
I rubbed a hand across my forehead. “I don’t understand why General Hiraga scared me to death by calling me directly herself, instead of getting Command Support to put through the call. I’d better go and see what she wants.”
I headed out of the MeetUp to a square paved area with a huge central laser light sculpture. The square was surrounded by eating places and entertainment venues, so there were plenty of people wandering to and fro, while others sat on benches admiring the dazzling light strands of the sculpture that lit up the night sky. I needed somewhere far more private than this.
There were half a dozen portals scattered round the square. I headed for the nearest one, pausing to think when I reached it. If I portalled home to my clan hall, then I’d probably meet a dozen members of the clan on my way to my room. They’d all stop to either welcome me home because they hadn’t seen me since my return, or ask why I was back so early from my evening out. Where did I know that would be totally deserted after dark?
I finally remembered the place where my clan went to celebrate the birthday of our clan founder, checked the code on my lookup, and dialled the portal. As soon as it established, I stepped through to a beach that was lit only by the stars and the twin moons of Zeus, and walked across to the familiar statue made of glittering diamine.
It was too dark to read the neat inscription about how a boy of 17 had tragically drowned on this beach, but my hand could trace the outline of the larger letters below that had been carved roughly by hand with a laser pen, and I knew exactly what they said. “Of course I didn’t drown, you idiots. I can swim like a fish!”
I saluted the statue, took a last look round to check the beach was empty, and could see no sign of life except for the shadowy shape of a nocturnal Zeus hawk swooping low above me. I tapped my lookup to reactivate General Hiraga’s call. “I’m now totally alone on a beach, sir.”
“Excellent,” said General Hiraga. “I’m talking to you on a secure link, Major Tell Dramis, because this information is being strictly restricted to key personnel. We don’t want the news channels getting hold of it before the official announcement.”
I blinked. That explained why she’d made this call herself, instead of getting Command Support to make it for her, but why would my future posting interest the newzies?
“Humanity founded far too many colony worlds far too fast during Exodus century,” said General Hiraga. “The strain of that reckless overexpansion led to the near total collapse of civilization, a situation that must not be repeated, so now expansion proceeds at a carefully judged, sustainable pace. For the colonization of Delta sector, the Military were set the target of opening about two hundred worlds to match the number in each of the existing sectors, at a rate of two worlds a year.”
I’d no idea why I was being given a history lesson, but I daren’t interrupt the formidable General Hiraga to ask questions. The most terrifying creatures humanity had ever encountered were the chimera of Thetis, but in my opinion General Hiraga was a close second when she lost her temper.
“That meant it took a century for the colonization of Delta sector to be completed,” continued General Hiraga. “When the Planet First teams moved on from Delta sector to Epsilon sector, it was decided that the number of worlds opening for colonization each year should increase from two to three. That rate of expansion is now being maintained as we colonize Kappa sector.”
She paused. “The final Kappa sector worlds should open for colonization in about forty years from now. We’ll need Planet First operations to be well advanced in the next sector, Zeta, by then. Since the stellar survey and selection of prospective colony worlds in Zeta sector will take decades, the General Marshal and representatives of Joint Sector High Congress Committee have authorized work to begin on the initial stellar survey of Zeta sector at the beginning of next year.”
Chaos, now I understood why the newzies would be interested. The merest hint that the Military were starting work in Zeta sector would have every newzie
channel screaming in excitement about a new sector for humanity.
General Hiraga gave me a thin-lipped smile. “The current portal relay network will have to be extended into the heart of Zeta sector, to allow Planet First Stellar Survey to set up their base there. When the Military first extended the portal relay network into Kappa sector, the news channels were told about it in advance, and reported every unexpected difficulty and delay. We don’t want that happening again, so this time there’ll be no official announcement until the Stellar Survey base is actually operational.”
By now I’d worked out what she must be going to say next, what assignment I was going to be offered. I had an odd breathless moment.
“We need a fighter team to go into Zeta sector and set up those portal relays, Major,” said General Hiraga. “You have a very experienced team, glowing recommendations from your last commanding officer, and a reputation for responding rapidly and effectively to unexpected dangers. I realize your team has only just completed a long and arduous Planet First assignment, but there’s time for you all to have two months of leave before you head into Zeta sector.”
Her voice took on a heavily formal note. “Major Tell Dramis, I must warn you that this assignment will involve using drop portals to reach uncharted star systems that may contain extreme hazards. You are under no pressure to volunteer for this mission, and you may take a reasonable amount of time to consider your decision.”
I didn’t need time to consider this. There’d obviously be risks portalling into the total unknown, but I couldn’t turn down a chance like this. “I wish to volunteer, sir. Should I start contacting my team immediately?”
General Hiraga nodded. “We’ll want to know which of them are volunteering as soon as possible, so we have plenty of time to select any necessary substitutes. You must make sure they understand the need for absolute secrecy, Major, and formally warn them of the potential danger involved before asking if they wish to volunteer.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
She ended the call, and I took a deep breath. This wasn’t exactly the conversation I’d been thinking of having with Marlise, but …