Whistling Past the Graveyard Read online

  Elisa broke in. “Newstation is almost finished. Won’t that be the Roamer government headquarters? It’s where Speaker Kellum set up his offices.”

  “Newstation appears to be thriving,” Garrison admitted, “but there’s no reason Rendezvous can’t be a headquarters as well.”

  “Or a museum,” Iswander said.

  “Or a museum,” Garrison said, “a heritage site. My father won’t be convinced otherwise, and so I’m here to look for help. If you and I can work out a deal, it would benefit all the Roamer clans.”

  “It would certainly benefit clan Reeves,” Iswander said. “Your father has not said very kind things about me. Because I am a businessman and because I look for industrial opportunities, he compares me to Chairman Wenceslas.” He tugged on his collar, his tie. “Because I wear this instead of a dirty old jumpsuit.”

  “My father says you’re not a Roamer inside anymore. I don’t necessarily agree, but if you do arrange for the modules to go to Rendezvous, that would convince the other clans that your heart is still with us.”

  Iswander snorted and rearranged papers on his desk. “I don’t make business decisions with my heartstrings, Mr. Reeves. If you want me to provide modules, then let’s see what kind of credit and financing you have, what sort of down payment you bring.”

  Garrison smiled. “Good, let’s have a business discussion, then. At Newstation I recently received substantial donations from four clans and even a note of appreciation from Speaker Kellum.” He handed Iswander the note.

  Elisa just watched Garrison, barely blinking. She didn’t seem impressed.

  Iswander skimmed it. “That’s well and good, but I am not Speaker, nor do I ever intend to be. I am a businessman, and the Roamers are part of the Confederation now. I have to look at the bigger picture.”

  Garrison leaned forward, eager. “I agree, let’s look at a big picture. My father taught me to have ambitious plans. I’d just like to be more realistic about accomplishing them.”

  Iswander glanced at the time displayed on his wall and gave a quick nod of dismissal. “You and Elisa can go over the numbers and find a realistic answer, then. I’ll make the deal happen if it makes sense.”

  Chapter Five

  Elisa Enturi

  After Garrison Reeves had presented his case and departed, Lee Iswander had other pressing business concerns. Elisa remained at his side helping to navigate them. When she had begun working for him several years ago, Elisa determined to make herself indispensable, and she had done that quickly enough, but once she achieved that goal, she saw so much more to be done.

  “We must always keep our eyes open for opportunities,” Iswander said. He used the phrase so often it was practically his mantra.

  Now, he looked at her and mused, “I’ve never been impressed with Olaf Reeves and his backward-thinking clan, but young Garrison seems a different sort. He has his sights set firmly on the future. We should encourage that.”

  Elisa nodded. “And the friction between himself and his father is obvious.”

  Iswander gave her a thin smile as he stood from his desk. “If our participation helps nudge Olaf Reeves back into the mainstream, then all the better. Arrange the deal Garrison needs, will you, Elisa?”

  “Of course, sir.” She was already considering how to divert a cluster of surplus, old-model modules that had remained unsold, and she also knew how she could use more of those modules as leverage for a project of her own.…

  We must always keep our eyes open for opportunities.

  She leaned over the desk, called up a new file. “I wanted to show you a report of an extreme new planetary system. Iswander Industries may wish to exploit. Facilities, construction, and maintenance will be a challenge, but I believe it has great potential for metals extraction.”

  Amused, Iswander raised his eyebrows. “I come from Roamer stock, Elisa. ‘Challenging’ is what we do best. What did you have in mind?”

  “Sheol is a binary planet, uninhabited—and uninhabitable, far enough from its sun that it falls within the Goldilocks temperature range, but the two halves orbit so closely together that tidal stresses create great seismic upheaval. The surface is molten, and metals from deep underground churn to the surface.”

  She watched his eyes light up as he saw what she was getting at. “In other words, we don’t have to build a smelting facility or refinery? We don’t have to mine? All we have to do is scoop up the valuable metals floating there?”

  “That’s right, sir—if we can find a way to build reinforced operations.” She displayed orbital and planetary diagrams for the Sheol system, as well as images from unmanned probes. “According to the initial samples, it’s more than plain metals, but also exotic alloys, crystal and metal blends created under extreme conditions, mixed with a liberal dash of fresh radioactive isotopes from below.”

  Iswander skimmed the columns of numbers, graphs of materials found, projections of profits. “Sounds like an industrial paradise, even if the place is named after hell.”

  She controlled her satisfied smile. “Do I have your permission to investigate it as a possible industrial property, sir?”

  He reacted as if she’d asked him a foolish question. “You know you’ve made a convincing case. We must always keep our eyes open for opportunities.”

  She smiled when he said that.

  He went to the rear door of his office. “Come with me. Let’s take a shuttle up to orbit and head out to the lunar operations. I want to see our construction operations there.”

  “Everything’s progressing on schedule, sir,” Elisa said, following him to the rooftop landing platform.

  “Of course it is, but the boss who isn’t fundamentally aware of his major projects is not a good boss.”

  He had told her that before too, and Elisa took it to heart.

  Iswander Industries had contracted to assemble a new base for the Confederation Defense Forces, but he also had plans for commercial and civilian operations in lunar orbit, intending to open a hotel and recreational complex.

  As they rode together in their high-acceleration vehicle, which looped around the planet and transferred to lunar orbit, Elisa searched for a way to propose her own plan. She had no reason to believe Iswander would turn her down, but this was the first genuinely personal idea she had presented, a plan that would increase her importance in Iswander Industries.

  Sitting in the seat, he occupied himself with a datapad, scrolling through summary reports for dozens of allied industrial operations. She leaned closer to him as the ship flew smoothly onward. “Sir, you previously talked about the great benefit of tourism and luxury hotels, even in the lunar rubble belt.”

  He nodded, not yet paying full attention to her. “Yes, tourism is one of the most profitable industries in human civilization.”

  “Then I’d like to try something, sir—a new kind of resort, a new kind of sightseeing in a new place.”

  He let out a good-natured laugh. “From what I’ve seen, there’s no place in the Spiral Arm that hasn’t been tapped by some ambitious, if possibly ill-advised, entrepreneur.”

  She called up images on her own datapad. “Not this place, sir—not since the hydrogues.” That caught his attention. She called up the colorful image of a gas giant striped with swirling cloud bands. “After the hydrogues attacked so many Roamer skymines and drove humans from the gas planets, few people have gone back there. They’re empty, unclaimed. Ready for us.”

  Iswander pursed his lips, studying the images she showed him. “I’ve heard that a handful of Roamer clans have set up skymining operations again. No incidents, as far as I know.”

  “Exactly, sir. I’m considering a prototype ‘sky hotel,’ a drifting resort amid the colorful clouds of some temperate gas giant.”

  “Who would want to go to such a place?”

  Elisa pulled up more images, talking faster now. “It could be marketed as a serene luxury resort, drifting high above the cloud bands. Maybe even find a chemical mixture
in the rising gases with alleged ‘health benefits’—like mineral spas or hot springs—and charge extra.”

  Iswander considered the idea, deep in thought, but she continued, “With your permission, I would use four surplus modules, connect them into a free-floating city above the clouds of a placid gas giant, bring in a small staff. Then we’d offer test lodgings for a handful of people, as a proof of concept.”

  “Sounds hazardous,” Iswander pointed out. “Just because we haven’t seen the hydrogues in years, we know they still live deep in the gas planets. What if they come up and destroy everything? What about the risks?”

  “I intend to make that my selling point,” Elisa said, surprising him. “You’re not looking at the hazard with the right spin. I’d appeal to thrill-seekers and characterize the dangers as assets.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” he said, but there was no sting in his tone. “But I’ve observed quite often that people are ridiculous.”

  “I have already developed a business plan and sent out some feelers, sir. I’ve found four people willing to try the test run—for a reduced rate, of course.”

  Now Iswander was interested.

  Their shuttle approached the glittering lights scattered among the lunar rubble. Illuminated by sunlight reflecting off fresh metals and regolith scars, the swath of new asteroids looked like a miniature version of the Milky Way.

  Iswander mused, “I spend little time with the Roamer clans these days. I try to bring them opportunities, but I also want to make a profit and build my businesses in unorthodox ways. Your sky hotel sounds like a very Roamer thing to do, Elisa.” She maintained a flat expression, not sure that he meant it as a compliment, then he added, “I’m proud of you.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “When we ship sixteen of our surplus modules to Rendezvous so clan Reeves can use them in their reconstruction efforts, let’s make it an even twenty, with the other four allocated to you. Do we have the assets in place?”

  Elisa was surprised. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. We’ll slip those four into the paperwork. Find a couple of volunteers among my employees, then go prove your concept. Build a hotel in the clouds and show me we can turn a profit. Come to me when it’s finished.”

  She felt a flush of excitement. “I won’t let you down, Mr. Iswander. This could be quite lucrative.”

  He looked at her with his wise expression. “All business ventures could be lucrative, Ms. Enturi. Unfortunately, most of them fail. Let this be your way of proving yourself. Demonstrate your vision and your administrative capabilities. But whatever happens, don’t make Iswander Industries look bad. If you manage that, I’ll be satisfied enough.”

  * * *

  After returning home, Elisa felt like celebrating, even as her mind filled with plans for her sky-hotel concept. She accessed the personnel records of local Iswander employees, as well as a winnowed list of possible gas giants.

  She sat alone in a noisy, colorful bar near Iswander Headquarters, sipping a goblet of rich clove-flavored wine imported from New Portugal. It was expensive stuff, and Elisa didn’t normally pamper herself. But tonight she had reason to acknowledge what she had achieved.

  She quickly selected the swollen planet Qhardin, a gas world with a temperate climate and an atmospheric composition that, at the right altitude, was breathable, though cold. Qhardin was a world currently unexploited by Roamer industries, although several cloud harvesters remained adrift, damaged and abandoned after the hydrogue depredations during the War. She decided those wrecks would make interesting “ghost town” tours for her thrillseeker clientele.

  The prefabricated modules would be easily assembled, per design, and would require very little maintenance. Elisa didn’t want to manage a large crew. A competent engineer, as well as cooking and serving staff—two, she decided—would be all she needed for her first test run. She scrolled through employee records and narrowed down her choices. In the past half hour, she had already diverted the four surplus modules and arranged for them to be shipped to Qhardin. They would be launched as soon as she finalized her employee choices.

  “May I join you?” asked a friendly male voice. “We both have something to celebrate.”

  Garrison Reeves no longer wore his Roamer jumpsuit, but instead had changed into normal Earth clothes, probably bought for the occasion. She saw his warm and inviting expression.

  When she worked away from her offices and distractions, she was often able to fade into the background and think. Elisa genuinely wanted to be alone, to concentrate, but she thought better of chasing him away. She nodded toward the empty chair at her small table. “If we’re going to be business partners, we should get to know each other better.”

  He indicated her half-empty goblet of wine. “Can I buy you another drink?”

  “Are you asking whether I will allow you to? Or whether you can actually afford it?”

  “It depends on what you’re drinking,” he said.

  “Expensive stuff.”

  He faltered a little, but then his back straightened. “Yes, I can afford it. Does that mean you will allow it?”

  She smiled. “Of course, Mr. Reeves.”

  “And I’ll have one with you.”

  “Do you have a taste for good wine? I didn’t know Roamers drank the stuff.”

  “If that’s what you’re drinking, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

  “I hope so, otherwise it would be quite the waste.”

  They ordered two more glasses and sat talking. His stories about eking out a living in the empty old clan government complex alarmed her. Garrison didn’t even seem to realize how unnecessarily austere and difficult those years had been. Lee Iswander had told her about the Roamers, but he was a different sort of Roamer.

  “You should come see for yourself,” Garrison said. “In its heyday, Rendezvous really was quite a magnificent place.”

  “It’ll never have the same heyday again. Now that you’ve seen Earth with your own eyes, can you still brag about Rendezvous?”

  His expression fell. “Not really. Are you a Roamer, too? Is that why Iswander hired you?”

  She stiffened. “Not at all. I was born and raised here on Earth to a poor family, but I worked my way up.” She heaved a sigh. “My parents and my brothers didn’t want to make anything of themselves. I worked hard, earned a little more, and my family spent it, as if it was their due. They wanted handouts, not opportunities. When they did have a chance to make extra money or improve their lives, they found excuses, then they complained about other people getting ahead.” She made a disgusted noise.

  She finished her wine, while Garrison nursed his, either because he didn’t like it, or because he wasn’t eager to pay for another round. She stood. “Let’s go out on the observation balcony. According to orbital tracking, we’re due for a good burst of meteors tonight.”

  “I’ve never seen a meteor shower.” To her surprised look, he added, “Remember, I grew up where there was no atmosphere. Is it dangerous? I know about all the cities that were wiped out.”

  “Not tonight. Mapping shows nothing larger than half a meter in diameter and nothing that should survive all the way to the surface.”

  On the outer deck on the bar’s tenth floor, they gathered with other patrons, all of them cradling drinks, chatting calmly as they watched the starry skies suffused with the fog of city lights. It was a slow buildup, but soon bright scratches streaked overhead as fragments of the broken Moon burned up in the atmosphere. The crowd gasped at a particularly bright bolide that sizzled and popped across the sky, followed by a fast-moving screamer that whistled itself into silence as it was incinerated.

  Garrison cheered more than anyone else, delighted like a child.

  Elisa felt her nerves on edge. Yes, this was a beautiful display, but she could not forget those initial terrible nights after the destruction of the Moon. Huge chunks drawn in by Earth’s gravity had plummeted through the sky to smash cities like Madrid and Buenos Aires,
making the human race huddle in terror.

  Those who had the means to do so evacuated Earth, but Elisa’s family was poor. They had squandered their spare money on useless things, and now they had no way to protect themselves. Elisa was trapped with them, dreading that the next roaring sound they heard would be their last. She never wanted to feel so helpless again.

  She left her family after that, abandoning them to their own failures and lack of ambition. She had clawed her way up in Iswander Industries, making herself important. She was no longer poor, but the money didn’t matter to her. She was no longer powerless, and that was what she clung to.

  She and Garrison watched the meteor shower for more than an hour. Elisa slipped inside to buy them both another drink, cautiously beginning to believe that she might have something in common with this Roamer dreamer after all.

  Chapter Six

  Rlinda Kett

  Back at the Earth headquarters of Kett Shipping, Rlinda was glad to settle into her offices again. She was still the magnate of her trading empire, but she couldn’t devote much time to administering the company because she had her duties as Trade Minister. But King Peter and Queen Estarra had made allowances for her. Rlinda was not a politician, nor did she want to be. Hell, she didn’t even want to be the manager of her own company, but certain things couldn’t be avoided.

  After changing her clothes, Rlinda replaced the silver capsule of BeBob’s ashes on its stand on her desk, then she ate a private four-course meal in her penthouse offices. She got ready to meet with her visitors—Tasia Tamblyn and Robb Brindle, who were both extremely competent pilots and who had distinguished themselves during the War.

  “Rlinda, you’re back home,” said Robb. “We missed you.”

  “You missed my cooking, you mean,” Rlinda said.

  “Actually,” Tasia said, “we missed the Voracious Curiosity. We’ve grown so fond of that ship, the other alternatives just aren’t the same. Can we have it back now? We’ve got some runs to make.”

  “The Curiosity is still mine, kids. Just because I let you borrow it, doesn’t mean it belongs to you.” Rlinda got up and walked around her desk to greet the eight-year-old boy who accompanied Tasia and Robb. “And there’s little Xander. Does he have his pilot’s license yet?”