Arguing the Basics (2 page)

Koara’s mind was reeling. She had just adjusted to life at Thoola, and now, she was going to have to start all over. It was hard to see her own future when she had to keep moving. Ironic that she could see up to fifteen years into the future of any world she looked at, but she couldn’t figure out what would be happening within a week in her own life.

Koara finished her reports and sent them out to the concerned parties before tidying up and heading to the barn. She took her leave of Halwen, made her way to the barn and said a clumsy goodbye in l’nal to the weaving master before she returned to her quarters to pack.

When the ship arrived, she was ready to go.

A final round of hugs and she climbed onto the ship that was taking her to Lowel.

“Please strap in.” The Kozue with blonde hair gave her a sideways smile.

“Um, you don’t look like a Citadel representative.”

He grinned. “I am not. I am transporting you as a favour to my sister. I am Ioko Hanikada, brother to the Citadel Lowel Master, Iara.”

“Oh. Well, I am Koara Ulings. Long-range planner or societal seer.” She settled in and strapped the harness on for takeoff. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Very polite. You will have to explain to me how that works. The planning, I mean.”

He sealed the ship, and they lifted off with a smooth move of metal controlled by man.

Koara tried to keep her breathing calm, but she was nervous about what happened next.

To focus on something else, she stared at Ioko and took in his neatly arranged braids, the small metal bands clasping certain ones in the front that probably had some sort of significance. His skin was a rich brown that contrasted nicely with his bright eyes.

She used what she knew of the Kozue and asked, “What is your position in your clan?”

“I am a warrior under one of my brothers. As the youngest son, it is my duty to serve the needs of my family.”

His future outlined itself rapidly. He would attain modest success, have a family and remain with the clan, unable to get a warship of his own.

She kept silent.

He pulled them out of the grip of Thoola’s gravity and programmed their direction into the navigation station.

“Your silence speaks volumes. What is your conclusion?”

“That you are wedged in by your honour.” She quirked her lips.

“That was not all of it.”

“It is close enough. If you adhere to the traditions of your people, you will live out your life as a second in command, have at least three children and your mate will die giving birth to the last child.”

“How do you know that?”

“Law of averages. One in four Kozue brides dies in childbirth at some point. With three pregnancies, the likelihood increases.”

“How do you know about three or more children?”

“Again, Kozue averages. That is what I do. My talent, if you will. I assess a society—or in your case, a person—and make my guesses based on projected changes or likelihood of things remaining static. Kozue are in the static setting.”

He cocked his head. “But if I was in the static setting you have just described, would I be here running an errand for my sister?”

“Um, no. But that indicates that you are not currently mated and that alters the number of children you could safely have. If we take the number down to two, you will have several exciting years with your partner before you are killed in battle.”

He looked at her with amusement in his bright blue eyes. “You are a cheerful little thing, aren’t you?”

She sighed. “Apologies. I have been gouged for assessments and just had to rush a report. My sense of decorum and my sense of humour are in dire need of recuperation.”

“Then, rest and I look forward to more conversation when you wake. This trip will take a few jumps and nearly a full standard day. Rations are in the dispenser, and you can simply dial them up as you need them.”

Koara nodded. “I will sleep if I may. I do not have an excellent constitution for space travel. Sleeping through it keeps my mind from trying to imagine the future of the stars.”

She unclipped her harness and got out of her seat. Her legs wobbled, and she reached out, touching Ioko on the shoulder. She jerked her hand back and blinked, smiling weakly. “See? I said I was pathetic when it came to star travel.”

Before he could reply, she moved swiftly through the ship to the berth and curled up on the bed, pulling the blanket up and over her head.

She had seen Ioko laughing, smiling, and then, the image had spun away to show him kissing her. They were both older, and she had a weird pink animal on her shoulder. The raptor had stretched its wings and chuckled approvingly as Ioko kissed her.

Koara rubbed the hand that had touched him. She had lived fifteen years in that moment of contact, and she had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.

* * * *

Ioko ran his hand across his forehead. The soft pink cloud of hair refused to leave his mind. Koara had bewitched him, and it had only been by a single touch and a wobbly walk.

He glanced back into the ship and focused forward. With quick motions, he placed the call to Citadel Lowel.

“Iara, I am glad I caught you.”

“Hiya, Ioko. Is everything going well?” Iara rocked her baby on her shoulder.

“Yes. I have picked up your talent from Thoola.”

“Excellent. Maybe this little man will be satisfied by the news and get some sleep.” Iara stroked her son’s head.

“Is that why you were up?”

“I was chatting with Rion. He is off on assignment, and I wanted to hear his voice. The baby just added to the insomnia.”

Ioko sighed. “I feel stupid contacting you about this.”

“What?”

“What species is Koara Ulings?”

Iara smirked. “Trimelic. Why do you want to know?”

“I am drawn to her. If she was Kozue, I would be calling her family, not you.” Ioko grimaced.

“Wow. Well, whether you are drawn to her or not, she is a member of the Citadel and will never be Kozue.”

Ioko blinked at his sister’s blunt tone. “That is harsh.”

“Realistic. There would be no place for her with your family. Our family. You know what I mean. She has one chance at life and that is via the Citadel, not the warships.”

Iara let loose a jaw-cracking yawn. “I apologise. I am not normally this blunt.”

“You have made some good points. I have just met her, but I am drawn to her. Does that make sense?”

“It does. See how long the clan will let you remain on Lowel. For now, get to Udell and zip over here. I want to see this woman.”

“She is coming to work for you. You will see her anytime you like.”

His sister yawned again.

“Go to bed, Iara. We will arrive in a standard day.”

“Good night, brother. See you soon. Fly carefully.” Iara waved at him and disconnected the link.

Ioko looked at the console, verified that everything was in order and picked up his data tablet, playing back the last lecture he attended at Citadel Lowel on emergency medical treatment of unknown aliens.

It was gory enough to keep him up for hours.

* * * *

Koara woke after a few hours of sleep and headed out to the galley. She heated some rations, ate what she could and prepared some tea.

With a mug in each hand, she headed up to the control deck.

“Ioko, I have made you some tea.”

He jerked his head up, and he gave her a dazed smile. “Thank you. Medical research isn’t stimulating for the appetite, but it does do wonders for keeping your attention.”

She snorted. “It is definitely something that I know very little about. I am better at analysing the illness of a society than of the population.”

“What is your species classification?”

Koara blew on her tea before sipping. “Class Rec.”

“Charming. I presume that you know the Kozue class.”

“Class Nem.”

“Correct and well done.”

She smiled. “I am impressed with knowing that myself.”

He closed his eyes. “Class Rec, you have three lungs, a large heart and exceptionally efficient muscle mass.”

“So I have been told. I have the same physiology as everybody I grew up with. We were bred for labour generations ago, and the breeding remains true to this day. Even the upper classes can lift their body weight if they choose to. They will be sore the next day, but they can still do it.” She grinned. “All of those vids with women dangling off cliffs make me laugh. No Tremil woman would be stuck; we would haul ourselves up and get on with our day.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. Thanks for the tea. I am going to crash for a bit. Did you want the data pad? I have several lectures from Citadel Lowel on it. They are very informative, if a little gory. The medical ones are especially vivid. Enjoy.”

He handed her the data pad, patted her on the shoulder and took his tea back to the rear of the ship.

Alone with the stars, she took to education in an effort at distraction. She was really hoping it would work. That small touch on her shoulder had spun her mind through all possible futures, and the possibilities were endless.

Gory was an accurate description of the vids. She took in three of the medical lectures before changing to etiquette and the subtleties of body language.

Ioko returned when she was watching a display of hand-to-hand combat in a primitive weapons lecture. Apparently, a fist was sometimes the best means of attack.

She smiled at him as he settled in the command chair. “Interesting stuff.”

“It really is. My family has sent me to three dozen of those lectures, and each one has taught me something.”

She extended his data pad to him. “Thank you for the distraction.”

“Keep it for the trip. The Citadel will issue you another one.” He smiled.

“Did you get enough rest?”

“I did. Thank you. When you live in space, you learn to adapt your sleep patterns. I sleep when it is safe to do so and can stay up for thirty-six hours.”

Koara listened to her mind translate the measure of time and nodded. Kozue measured time in heartbeats. Her mind translated the unit of measure he was using into hours. His culture defined his measure of time.

She didn’t mention that her own sleep pattern wasn’t all that different from his. With the Tremil being raised to work and little else, sleep was sudden, heavy and taken whenever it was feasible.

“How did you come to be at Thoola?”

Koara smiled. “I was ordered to go by the Avatar of Trimel. He simply told me I was going, so I went.”

“Why did he order you to leave?”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “Some of the changes that I suggested in our societal structure resulted in some unhappy people who had begun to threaten my life. I learned of this after I was on Thoola. My parents were relocated and their names changed, and I had to be taken off world. My face was too recognizable.”

“What did you recommend?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Breaking apart the high class and going to a merit-based social elevation system with equal opportunity for education.”

He winced and checked the navigation computer. “I can understand the hostility. That is quite a change. How long has the shift been going on?”

“A decade. I wrote a report on how to make the change when I was in my last week of school, and it took me to the high council and got me into a debate with the master councillor. He managed to deride my point by harping on my class, but the Avatar was listening and he wanted change. We came up with a plan and change started happening.”

“You helped reshape your world.”

She grimaced. “And a vocal minority thought that killing me would stop it from happening. They couldn’t go after the Avatar, so they went after me.”

“You had attempts on your life?”

“Over the years? Sure. About seven. I even have the scars to prove it. Folks don’t like change, and they really hate it coming from within.”

Ioko stared at her. “They tried to kill you?”

“Yeah, but the attacks were growing more violent. It was time for me to leave. The last attack was planned at one of the primary schools where I was supposed to speak. It didn’t just focus on me; it was going to be aimed at the entire school. That was when Trimel hauled me out and mailed me to Thoola.”

“Your family?”

“They were taken away that same night, and I still have no idea where they are; I just know they are still on Trimel. We are not allowed to discuss their location when I call them.”

“How long have you been away from them?”

“Less than a year and more than I wanted.” She chuckled. “When Trimel sent me away, I was sure that I was supposed to come home as soon as things calmed down. Now, I realise that things will never calm down, and to some of my people, I am a monster.”

Knowing that her parents could not even have an image of her in their home was a little hard to take, but their lives were improving rapidly, and she had to accept that it was better that things went on without her than having her back home with unrest following her around. It was just safer for all of them.

“I cannot imagine being away from my family or clan for that long.”

“I wish I could not imagine it.” She shrugged. “Ah well. There are so many more worlds who want me to tamper with them.”

He blinked slowly. “Seriously?”

“Yes, social analysis is my talent. Devising plans to execute and implement change is what I am paid for. I see approximately one generation into the future, and I design the plan to the benefit of that generation.”

“Why?”

She chuckled. “Because most species want their children to have a more stable economic and social base than that which they had growing up in. I make the plans to make it happen. At this point, only my own world has proved my theories, and there is a price to pay for it.”

He asked her about the price, and they continued to discuss it for hours. All of the reactions from the various social layers were examined, and by the time they landed on Udell, Ioko had a working knowledge of Trimel social structure.

He settled the shuttle next to a tunnel that fastened to the hull of the ship over the door. Koara unbuckled her harness and got to her feet, colliding with Ioko as they tried to leave the command area.