Edward (18 page)

Lunchtime
was soon upon them, and Ivy took that time to sit down at the piano with
Zoë.  Ivy’s fingers danced up and down the keyboard as she warmed
up.  Even her warm up exercises seemed delightful to Zoë as she sat
blissfully beside her.  “
Für Elise
” and other staples of piano quickly
followed as the entire concert hall was filled.  Everyone, even if they
didn’t care for the style of music, could appreciate a master at work. 
Soon Ivy was baiting Zoë along with common duets as well, and the pair of them
danced away on the piano.  Lunch break ran long, very long, but no one,
least of all Gillian, seemed to mind.  All could appreciate the rare show
at hand. Finally, Ivy closed the piano’s lid and admonished Zoë for not having
eaten a thing all break.  A short burst of applause, a quick hug later,
and Zoë was happily wolfing down lunch as Ivy returned to the chairs with her
husband, Llewellyn.

Gillian
smiled and nodded to the hungry Zoë, and gave her a brief respite as they started
rehearsal again, but with the fourth number, freeing Zoë long enough to eat a
bit more.

Ivy
grinned to Edward. “She is quite good at that.  Well, actually, they are
both quite good at what they do.  I just speak more to Zoë’s strengths as
they are what I know best.”

“Yeah,
Zoë has a scholarship to the local university.  She put off starting one
semester so she could do this concert series and help raise money to support
her brother.  They kind of have some problems there.”

“Talented
and responsible, she seems like an excellent young lady.  Tatiana seems
like a joy to be around.  Full of life and energy and comes across as
friendly and sincere.  They are both wonderful people.  How serious
are you three?”

Edward
shifted nervously, “Serious enough to be confused?”

Ivy
laughed, “That is a perfectly reasonable answer!  Just keep talking to
each other.  So long as you are talking openly, things will work out.”

Edward
nodded.  He didn’t know what to say really.  He was just happy that
“confusion” was an acceptable state of mind.  Hard answers were hard to
come by right now.

Edward
noticed Lucas talking to Llewellyn.  He never noticed how similar those
two looked; both had sleek and elegant coats like snow leopards.  Lucas
was obviously younger and a bit squarer but shorter.  They could easily
pass for siblings on their own!  Maybe now was a good time to learn about
Lucas.  At least
some
questions might get answered today. 

 “Here
comes trouble,” joked Llewellyn as Edward approached.

“Trouble
compared to whom?” asked Edward as he cocked an eyebrow.

Llewellyn
just grinned, “Fair enough!  Who you after, him or me?”

Edward
nodded to Lucas, “If you have a moment of course.”

“Of course! 
What’s up?” grinned Lucas as Llewellyn returned his attention to Ivy.

“Just kind of embarrassed.  We were in a hot situation the other night and I
hardly know a thing about you short of your name.  Well that and obviously
you are a Silver and a Highlander.”

Lucas
grinned as his fur coat softly rippled in color, “Yeah, the Silver part does
stick out a bit.  I was with the 519
^th
for two years.  We
almost ran into each other at Ramidar after your sister Helen was killed
there.”

Edward
laughed, “Glad you were there.  Toch called for volunteers and he got quite
a crew.”

“Toch
had to turn people away,” remarked Lucas.  “To say there were a lot of
volunteers was an understatement.  Sorry about
your sister, never got to say that to you properly.”

Edward
shrugged, it hurt, but it was very much in the past, “Thank you…”

Lucas
smiled, “You're welcome.”

“So
you left the 519
^th
to come here?”

Lucas
scratched his head, “Well sort of.  I was rotating out, two years was
enough for me, so I was working with some new kids rotating in.  Toch
called and asked if I’d be willing to take a three to six month extension here
instead.  Toch asked, the assignment looked cool,
so when the other replacements showed up, I came along for the ride.”

“The
assignment looked cool?”

“Let’s
see, I could spend the next month and a half training kids with more
testosterone than good sense, or I could come here and watch half naked girls
run around on stage.”

Edward
laughed, “Well, when you put it
that
way…”

Quitting
time came soon enough; Ivy and Llewellyn were coming along for the ride.  The
Shukurae in the unit suddenly seemed relaxed.  Edward didn’t realize how
different they looked relaxed; it was such a rare sight.  Lucas shook
hands with Llewellyn on the way out the door as did Alex.  All the
Highlanders wanted to meet him; he was a living legend back home. 

Tatiana
tapped Edward nervously on the shoulder, “What’s with the Shukurae.  They
look so weird.”

Edward
tried not to laugh, “That is that most rare and mystical state of Shukurae: the
relaxed Shukurae.”

The
whole party giggled at that.

“Seriously,
Llewellyn has that big of an influence on them?” asked Gillian, genuinely
curious.

“Yep.  For all
practical purposes, the team feels they have a day and a half vacation,”
replied Edward.

Gillian
tapped Llewellyn on the shoulder, “I assume you’ve overheard all of this. 
Doesn’t their cavalier attitude put a lot of stress on you?”

Llewellyn
just grinned, “I’m among friends.  It doesn’t bother me.  I’d much
rather be admired and appreciated than feared.”

“But
they are acting as if you are responsible for the defense of all of us. 
Certainly that’s not fair to you out on a trip on your own time.”

“Eh,
it’s a small price to pay to be able to come out and see my brother.  I
don’t mind,” he replied with a broad grin.

Gillian
nodded, but was still more than a bit taken aback by the whole situation. 
But they soon were in the armored car and from there back to the hotel.

As
they crossed the upper lobby, they ran across a party of three: the young Moira
Gruaer, Victor, and a new person they had not met.  She was a striking
older lady with a solid white coat and white hair, another so called
Auroran.  An easy guess placed her as Moira’s mother.  Gillian nodded
politely to the party as they passed, when the lady stopped and addressed Ivy.

“Ivy
Stratford?” she asked.

“Yes? 
Oh my word!  Fiona Westford!  I haven’t seen you in years!”

The
lady beamed, “Well, they call me Gruaer-Westford nowadays, but it is so good to
see you.  Are you in town long?”

Ivy
shook her head, “No, just today and tomorrow.”

Fiona
wrinkled her nose, “Can you come by for morning tea at least?”

“Of course! 
I’d be delighted to.  So this is little Moira?  My, has she grown!”

Moira
bobbed politely, “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.  And this is?”  she asked of Llewellyn.

Ivy
laughed, “Oh, where are my manners.  This is my husband, Llewellyn of clan
Silverglade.”

Fiona
bobbed politely and Moira’s fur flushed and stood on end.  Fiona and Ivy
both giggled at Moira’s display.

“I’ll
see you at ten o’clock then,” smiled Fiona.

“Delighted,”
beamed Ivy back as the two groups split.

“Wow,
you know Fiona Gruaer-Westford?” asked Tatiana.

“Well,
I knew her when we were both just kids.  I learned piano from her mother,
in fact.  She never took to music so much herself, but she did have a good
ear.  She was several years my senior and she and my older sister were
very good friends.”

“Did
you see the looks Moira was giving Llewellyn?” giggled Zoë.

“Hey,
at least I didn’t get myself in trouble this time,” countered Edward.

“You
get in trouble for noticing her curves?” kidded Llewellyn.

“Hey,”
joked Tatiana, “I thought married men weren’t supposed notice curves on other
women.”

“Eh,
I’m married, not dead.  Besides, I’m a Highlander.  You should have
been giving me grief about how young she is.”

“A point
that Edward failed to notice,” jibed Zoë.

“Is
our elevator here yet?” asked Edward.

As
they reached their apartment, they were greeted with two surprises: Tazo and
Ethan.  Everyone was very happy to see Tazo up and walking around. 
They had been told as much by Trevor, but seeing him upright and mobile in
person was so much better!

“Ethan!”
beamed Zoë as she hugged him.  “What brings you out here?  Not that
you aren’t perfectly welcome to come out here whenever….”

Ethan
held up an official looking letter. “This.  I got it from my school
counselor today.”  He handed the envelope to his sister.

Zoë
looked both nervous and curious as she turned the letter over several times
before opening it.  Her eyes went wide as she read it. “Um!”

Gillian
grinned broadly, “Yes, dear?”

Zoë
cocked an eye as she looked at Gillian, “You are ‘Gillian Evelyn Rose’ yes?”

Gillian
batted her eyelashes, “Yes.  Why do you ask?”

“Care
to fill the rest of us in?” asked Tatiana with no small amount of confusion.

“I’ve
been accepted to the Katwara Prefecture Preparatory School.  My counselor
signed for the academics, and Ms. Gillian Evelyn Rose is my patron with
additional financial support from the 517
^th
and 1212
^th
CSOG.  Um, not that I’m not really appreciative and all, but do you guys
realize how expensive that place is?”

“When
spread across a hundred people, it isn’t that big of a deal.  The current
plan is to sponsor one additional person from your school every year whilst the
1212
^th
CSOG has contracts with the Nedej Consortium here on
planet.  That is currently estimated to be at least twelve years.  We
are negotiating with the new Director of Operations for Nedej Construction to
match our funds so we can sponsor two additional students every year starting
next year,” replied Tazo evenly.

“You
shouldn’t have to spend your money on people like me,” protested Ethan.

“We
have the opportunity to help a gifted student move to a school that more
appropriately challenges his scholastic needs.  It is our money; we spend
it as we see fit.  We see this as an easy assignment.  Since we feel
we are being paid disproportionately, it is only fitting that we give back to
society.”

“This
is an easy assignment?” asked Zoë.  “You were shot with an anti-tank gun
last night!”

“It
was a light anti-armor gun, not anti-tank gun.  I was only wounded, and
yes, it is an easy assignment.  There has been very little actual
conflict.  Most of it is standing around and glaring.  Fortunately,
Shukurae excel at glaring, or so I’ve been told.”

“I
think you just tried to make a joke,” smirked
Zoë. 

Ethan
finally laughed, “Okay then.  I guess this is where I give up and just
say, thank you.  Thank you all very much.”

“I
will be sure to pass that on, Lord Ethan,” replied Tazo with a toothy
smile.  “Come, let me get you a lift back home.”

Ethan
made a quick detour to hug Gillian before heading out the door with Tazo.

“Just
for the record,” began Gillian, “it was Kadu’s idea.  I just did all the
paperwork.”

“Any
problems with his current school?” asked Zoë.

“None at all. 
His counselor was tickled to help, and Ethan more than
had the scores to justify it.  You expected there to be push back from the
school?  Why?”

Zoë
shook her head, “I don’t know.  I just get suspicious of people at
times.”  She paused in thought for a second, “Wait a minute.  This is
why you told me not to sell the necklace!”

Gillian
beamed, “Well no sense in selling such a beautiful thing if your brother’s
schooling was being taken care of another way.”

“I’m
surprised you never made complaints about our host, Peter van der Grauer. 
He could easily pay to put Ethan's entire class in private school,” interjected
Edward.

Zoë
laughed and shook her head, “You don’t know much about this planet’s politics,
do you?  He’s earned his right for his little idiosyncrasies.  Any
peace and prosperity this dirty rock has had can be traced to him.”

Edward
cocked his eye and looked at Tatiana, “Would the daughter of the governor care
to comment on that?”

Tatiana
laughed, “No.  Not hardly.  All but the most blind
sycophant would agree.  Because of him, we have the lowest food prices on
any
of the known colonies.  He has a sliding scale on cost of food, so
actually the fancy restaurants pay more for the same food than others, but even
then, the very highest price tier is still below average for twelve systems
around us.  He uses that to subsidize food to poorer areas.”

“For
a while, clean water was more expensive than food.  That is how cheap food
is.  When he found that out, he bought out the water works and now all
areas have subsidized water as well.  Then there are the hospitals,”
beamed Zoë.

“We
have the best public hospitals of any of the colonies.  Period. 
All because of him.  My father may hem and haw
about what all stupid public works stunts he’s done, but everyone knows Mr. van
der Grauer makes it all possible,” continued Tatiana.

“How
does he do it?  I mean does he hike prices on other planets so things can
be cheaper here?” asked Edward.  He was impressed with the girls’
knowledge and surprised that Tatiana was so open about her father and his
politics, or lack thereof.

“Nope.  Very stable control and very tight margins. He controls all
aspects from field to table.  Other places would try and break him up for
having too much control, but his opinion is always, ‘Let them compete.’ 
There
is
no middle man at every stage of food handling, each wanting a
larger and larger cut.  He has it all on a very,
very
tight
leash.  The only thing anyone is worried about is what happens when he
dies!  Will his heirs continue the same?” replied Tatiana.