“Okay, Akwe, what are you doing?” Vwokhu said, hands on hips, as she looked up at her husband.

“This panel’s been reading offline for a month now. Figured I’d test the line, and I was right, it needed to be replaced, and I’m almost done.”

Vwokhu shook her head. “I’m not asking why you felt the need to fix the solar array, I’m asking why you’re on the roof when you’re supposed to be resting your knee.”

“You married me because I didn’t like sitting around when there was work to be done.”

“I married you because I loved you, but if your knee goes out again, I am not going to be able to carry you around.”

Akwe snapped the line into place and nodded at the readings. “Well, okay, you’ve got a point. I figure this is why Titans marry humans, you know. Easy to carry if they get hurt.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t explain why humans would marry Titans. Now, carefully, Aka. You’re 70, you’re not a kid anymore.”

“Neither are you,” Akwe said, as he carefully descended the ladder. When he got to the ground, he winced.

“I saw that,” Vwokhu said.

“Yes, dear, you are right as always. It’ll be okay after I cryotreat it, but it is still healing, and I’ll try to remember that.”

“No you won’t,” Vwokhu said, letting him lean on her a bit for support. “You’re stubborn and carba-headed and that’s why I married you.”

“That’s why I married you!” Akwe replied. “So that’s good. Vwokie…I love you.”

“I know,” Vwokhu said. She and Akwe were in some ways an odd-looking couple; she stood a half-head taller than him, and while they were both quite fit for their age, Vwokhu’s build was strong and sinewy, while Akwe was more lithe and supple. Vwokhu was slightly tanned, but still relatively pale; Akwe’s skin was dark. He wore a stocking cap over his balding pate; she wore her hair long with a couple of braids. And of course, she was Jotnar, and he was an Archavian from Melpomene Reef.

But none of that had ever mattered to either of them. What mattered to both was their three loves – the wilderness, their son, and each other.

Akwe got in the door and shed his jacket; though it was approaching autumn, it was still pleasant for anyone who wasn’t born on the equator of their world, but of course, that’s where Akwe had been born. He loved Sininentavas, loved their home – and so he endured the temperature to stay there. He sat down in a chair and put his leg on a stool.

“I do worry,” he said, as Vwokhu lifted his pantleg to expose his knee, “that we’re getting too old to run this place.”

“I don’t worry,” Vwokhu said, wrapping the cryounit around his knee. “We are. And while I love that Namø and Katri and the kids came to help, I know that they don’t want to settle down here. All right, turning it on.”

Akwe winced briefly as the jolt of cold hit him, but it numbed almost immediately, and the pain drifted away. “Thank you, sweetness. Do you think we can find someone to take it on? Run it? I mean, we can pass it to Namø, but….”

“I know, he’ll feel like he has to run it,” Vwokhu said. “And that’s not what we want. I’m worried about selling it though. If we sell to Winziker Resorts….”

“We won’t sell to Winziker Resorts, no matter how many times they offer,” Akwe said with a grin. “I’d rather lock the gate shut and let the cabins rot.”

“Well, if I die tomorrow, that’s what I want you to do.”

“You won’t die. I might die tomorrow, beloved. You’ll live forever.”

Vwokhu shook her head. “I don’t know, Akwe. I’m…worried.”

“Oh? Are you okay? You aren’t ill, are you? If you’ve been tending to me while you needed a doctor, Vwokie, I swear….”

“No, no, it’s…I’m fine. But….”

She looked around to make sure none of her family had wandered in.

“Akwe, I have told you about my…my daughter.”

“Yes, you have, and I’d like it if you stopped looking like a little girl who’s confessing her mistakes when you mention her. You were a girl, you made a mistake, and so did the boy you were with, and you made a tough decision and did what was right for the kid. She’s probably 50 now, and hopefully has had a grand life. She’s your daughter, she was bound to be tough and resilient and pretty and smart, I’m sure she’s happy.”

“I’ve never told you the name of the boy,” Vwokhu said. “And I should have.”

“Eh, doesn’t matter. You aren’t married to him, you’re married to me. I win in the end.”

“Yes, well…the boy was Kullervo Throden.”

That caused Akwe’s eyes to open wide as saucers. “Kullervo…you mean Prince Kullervo?”

“Yes,” Vwokhu said. “There was never any question that I would have to give our daughter up…but I did not want to terminate the pregnancy, Dronung Hirera very much wanted me to. It’s…we came to an arrangement. And I don’t…I don’t regret that, I was just fifteen when she was born, I couldn’t have been a mother to her, I wasn’t old enough to live on my own. But….”

“Gods, that must…that must have been awful,” Akwe said, filling in the blanks. “That’s why your mom left Jutuneim.”

“Yup. I managed to get my mom fired in everything else I did. Of course, in the end they got my mom a job here. Gave me money for school, but I didn’t want to go to school. I found this plot of land when I was nineteen and I bought it and I don’t regret it for a second, because eventually, you made your way here.”

“It was the longest and best vacation I’ve ever taken,” Akwe said. “Why didn’t you tell me it was Kullervo?”

“I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, ever. For obvious reasons. Wasn’t to seek out my daughter, was basically told to forget it, as if I could. And I’ve done my best. Kullervo came here, not long after you and I had started dating. We talked it out – he felt awful about it, he actually had been seventeen and I was just shy of fifteen when we were together, so he felt like he’d committed a crime. And I guess technically he did, but it’s not like he was even twenty, he was a kid too. We’d both been stupid and full of hormones and carelessness. But I thought it was resolved, I thought we were done with it. And while I’d never know my daughter…at least it wouldn’t come back to hurt me.”

“Beloved…do you think it would? After all these years?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think so. But you see….”

Vwokhu wrung her hands. “There aren’t many Jotnar Hoplites, you know. And so, maybe thirty years ago or so, I began to search to see if I could find her. Not to approach or meet her, I knew that was out. But just to…to know. To know that she was okay, that she was alive. And…I did. At least, I think I did.”

“If I didn’t know why you didn’t tell me, I’d smack you for not telling me. Beloved…I would have borne this with you, you know that.”

“You would have. But I didn’t want to risk you, or Namø, or the camp. If somehow it came back to hurt me….”

“Then it would have hurt me,” Akwe said.

“I fear it may have anyhow. The woman…I’ve followed her. She was in the Tam caste, became an Imperator of some note. Eventually, she went to work for Lady Tarsuss as her director of security. She…she married a human, they adopted a human son, who went on to become Lord Carey.”

“Your daughter is…your daughter is Sen. Carey’s wife?!”

“I hope so. She looks a bit like me. And she’s had…she’s had a life that makes ours look sad, and we’ve had wonderful lives. I hope it’s her. And that’s all. I just hope it’s her.”

“That’s why you made us watch his swearing-in then.”

“Yes,” Vwokhu said. “And he spent his time praising her, and….”

“And that’s why you started crying,” Akwe said. “It wasn’t just because it was so sweet; it was because…oh, beloved, I wish I’d known! Come here,” Akwe said, pulling her tight. “I hope you’re right. I hope it’s her too. It would be wonderful to know that she was safe. And strong. And that she had a family that loved her, even if a human partner is unusual.”

“You married a Jotnar, remember,” Vwokhu said.

“I do not say that to criticize. Love knows what it wants. But all of this…why are you worried about this?”

“We had a party check in, renting two cabins. A family in one, a human-titan couple in the other.”

“It…it isn’t….”

“No, it’s not her. But the family…it’s Karral and Xele Vilum. He runs a security firm that’s tied to Lady Tarsuss, and she…she’s Jota Cesil’s daughter.”

“You didn’t kick her out yet?”

“Oh, she hated Cesil, even served in the loyalist government, but that’s not the point. She’s also a computer security expert, who also has ties to Tarsuss. The titan-human couple…the Titan is Liss Peten, who runs a shipping company that has done business with Lady Tarsuss for years – she lives on Avalon. In Tarsuss’s compound. And her boyfriend, the human, was in the Avalonian Guard. They’re…they’re all tied directly to Tarsuss. She sent them here, it has to be.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Akwe said. “I mean, it’s possible they just wanted a vacation on Sininentavas. Vilum is Jotnar, right?”

“So’s Peten. And you’re right, it’s possible, but…it’s pretty unlikely, don’t you think?”

“It’s entirely possible Tarsuss did send them,” Akwe said. “You looked up your daughter. You wanted to know what she was up to. This woman, Sen. Carey’s wife, she’s worked for Tarsuss for decades, right?”

“Yes, she has.”

“And she lives on Avalon too? Also in Lady Tarsuss’s compound?”

“What are you getting at?” Vwokhu asked.

“Perhaps this is Lady Tarsuss looking up her friend’s mother, to see who she is. Not necessarily for any reason but to satisfy curiosity. Or perhaps your daughter asked Lady Tarsuss to relay what information about her mother she could, not even so she can meet you, but so that she can know a bit about who you are, who she is. She may just want to know that, well…that you’re safe. And happy. And a halfway decent person. And for Pryvani Tarsuss, sending a few trusted people to Sininentavas to scout you, well, that’s basically like a few minutes doing a net search for anyone else.”

“Maybe,” Vwokhu said. “Or maybe it’s because it would be awkward if I talked. Tarsuss is close to the Empress. It could very well be that they’re here to determine if I’m a threat, and if there’s an easy way to eliminate me if I am.”

Akwe shook his head. “Perhaps, but honestly…they have had decades to kill you. You always have been a pessimist; what if this is good?”

“What if the Empress wants me dead?”

“Well, she’ll probably kill you then, and me as well. But Rajenlif seems like a decent sort of leader, I doubt very much that she’d want to get rid of you, and I’m quite certain that if she did, she wouldn’t have Lady Tarsuss send allies who could be traced back to her to do it.”

“You’re right,” Vwokhu said, sitting up.

“I need to note this day, it’s a momentous one,” Akwe said.

“I’ve told you that you’re right at least four times in our lives. No, Akwe, you’re right, Tarsuss wanted me to find out. Or at least, she didn’t care if I found out. I know what I need to do.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” Vwokhu said. “I need to go have a chat with our guests.”

* * *

Pryvani Tarsuss has seventeen executive offices spread across eleven planets and ten star systems. Yes, it’s true that there are some, like her office in the Tarsussdordna on Jutuneim, that she may only occupy once every few years, for a week or two at most. But the offices are hers, and as such, they have always inspired a great deal of reverence by the many career-minded professionals in her employ. Getting an office within a floor of hers was considered a coup; getting one on the same floor was almost impossible, especially as her smallest office took up a full third of its level, and reserved for the best of the best.

Of course, the most coveted office space was on Avalon, in the relatively small (by Titan reckoning) office building on Tayas Mons. But that space was about two-thirds unassigned by design – Tarsuss would bring large groups of staffers to her, and they would come, but it was not their space. They simply borrowed it. A few people did have offices on Avalon; a good many of them were humans, and of course, there was almost unlimited space for them.

There were a very few, very important people who had offices not just on Avalon, but who shared the floor with Pryvani on other worlds. Riane Onthapethe, her CFO, had an office on Avalon, as well as offices in New Trantor, Naesavarna, and Tuaut. Damuse Lustass, the CEO of Grelau Cybertainment, obviously worked out of New Trantor, and also had an office in Tremarla and Avalon. And the CEO of Tremarla Lumodynamics, Myona Barreda, had offices in Tremarla and Avalon, though that was partly because Pryvani really liked Myona, and Avalon was essentially a test bed for holographic innovations.

These officials had a few offices. But only one official, in all the Tarsuss Corporation, shared an office on the same floor as Pryvani in all seventeen cities, on all eleven worlds, in all ten star systems. Her title was reasonably important within the company, but not dazzlingly so. But titles have never been a good measure of true power and influence, and Rixie Carey did not need an impressive one to invoke respect.

The Senior Vice President for Security and Compliance, Corporate Division was currently poking at a pad while looking down on Suste, Sevapol from the thirty-seventh floor. The Tarsuss Building was only the third-tallest in Antara, Logana, and Sevapol Province; Rixie had joked, more than once, that she was surprised Pryvani hadn’t bought one of the other buildings in the city and welded it to the top. But while the Tarsuss Corporation had significant investments in the mines on Logana by any rational measure, this was something of a sleepy backwater of the company. Indeed, the main reason for their brief two-week visit here was simply to remind the folks working in the building that Pryvani was paying attention to them; there had been a minor embezzlement scandal that both Rixie and Pryvani knew could have developed into a major scandal if the SVP of Operations here hadn’t been on his toes, and Pryvani wanted to show him support, while showing everyone else that she was showing him support.

The workday was approaching its end, and Rixie’s desk intercom beeped. “Ms. Carey, the CEO is here to see you.”

Rixie smiled at that; on Avalon, Pryvani would just pop in to any office that pleased her, and of course, she could have called Rixie to her office at any point. But her boss was purposeful in her actions, and she knew Pryvani would want everyone here to know that Rixie was someone that she would visit.

Rixie didn’t need her ego stroked, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it sometimes.

“Send her in,” Rixie said, turning as the door opened. “Boss, you know I would have come by if you needed something.”

“Yes, well…I felt I should bring this to you directly. Your office is secure, obviously.”

Rixie raised an eyebrow. “Obviously,” she said, hitting two buttons on her desk. “Active measures are on. An Imperator wouldn’t be able to get through the signal interference I just activated.”

“Very good,” Pryvani said, sitting down. “Rixie, I’ve spoken to your family. And I have permission from your father’s family to tell you who he is.”

Rixie set her pad down. She had been wrong; Pryvani hadn’t come to her to remind people that the SVP of Security was watching. She had come to break the news to a friend, and break it gently.

“Do you want to know?” Pryvani asked, when Rixie did not immediately respond.

“What? Yes. Of course. Yes!” Rixie said. “I just didn’t think we’d get to here this quickly. I wasn’t…who is it?”

Prvyani looked carefully at her friend. “Rixie…I want you to be sure. Once I tell you, I can’t take it back. If you don’t want to know….”

“If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked.”

Pryvani nodded. “Very well. Your father is Kullervo Throden, Prince of Jutuneim.”

Rixie was briefly nonplussed, before saying, “That’s not funny, Pryvani.”

“I wouldn’t joke about this, dear.” Pryvani responded patiently.

“Are you sure?” Rixie sighed as she collapsed into the chair across from where Pryvani sat. “Because this sure sounds like the set-up for a punchline. It’s the kind of thing Hoplites tease each other about when we’re kids. The secret origins of the little lost orphans. Each of us was a long lost Tarsuss heir, or some legendary prophetic hero, the direct descendant of Wyndiss Ro…or secretly royalty. We’d compete over who could come up with the most outlandish backstory. Lem, believe it or not, used to go with ‘raised by wild humans until the age of three.’”

Pryvani’s lip twitched, but she did not otherwise react to Rixie’s diatribe.

“But no story I ever made up as a kid could possibly compete with being the illegitimate daughter of Prince Kullervo. Don’t get me wrong, I assumed I must have been connected to one of the powerful families – not growing up, but now, I mean. Nobody would have gone to that kind of trouble to hide me if my parents had been schoolteachers or maggot-heads…but hells I would have guessed being Syon Fand’s daughter before… that.”

“Probably for the best that wasn’t the case, dear.” Pryvani interjected mildly. “It would certainly make some of our past interactions…somewhat awkward.”

Despite herself Rixie laughed. “That is true. And adopted or not, it’s probably better that Ryan isn’t married to my sister.”

Rixie was silent for a long moment, but Pryvani was more than willing to wait for her to continue.

“Did Rajenlif know? I mean, of course she did, she obviously told you, but I mean…how long has she known? Did she….Oh….Oh the wedding! Oh hells, it all makes sense now. That’s why she did it….Wait a minute…when I was a kid.. She visited the Hoplite facility…she talked to me…did she know then?”

Pryvani blinked. “I–”

“Did she?!”

“I don’t know.” Pryvani admitted. “She told me I could inform you, and that was the extent of our conversation. I didn’t exactly get the opportunity to interrogate her about the situation.”

“Fair point.” Rixie winced.

There was another long silence. This time it was Pryvani who broke it. “Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Rixie shook her head in frustration. “I have to see them. Not that I wanted to, but the time to quit would have been before I found out, it’s too late now.”

“You don’t quit easily. Not even when I ask you to. But you don’t have to do any more than you’ve done. You’ve found out where you come from. That was your goal.”

“Not entirely,” Rixie said. “I know who my father was. You haven’t said anything about my mother.”

“Your mother was not from a noble family, she was not famous. Which means that on balance, she was probably somewhat more noble than the average member of the 79 Families. I am gathering information on her – but for obvious reasons, Rajenlif wants to confirm that your discovery of her will not open up old family wounds. So I am having her observed before Rajenlif approaches her.”

“Oh good,” Rixie said. “I’m an old family wound.”

“No,” Pryvani said. “You are Her Excellency, the Honorable and Renowned Magister-Imperator Rixie Carey, wife of The Honorable and Noble Senator Alex Carey, mother of His Excellency, the Honorable and Noble Lord Capt. Ryan Carey, and of Asteria Carey, who is one of the most adorable children alive. And you are my sister’s mother-in-law, and my best friend. Any family would improve by your presence in it. Mine certainly has.”

* * *

Karral and Xele were enjoying this assignment. To be exact, their children were enjoying the camp, and as parents, they were enjoying that. Granted, there would be reconnaissance to do fairly soon, but for now, they were enjoying watching the kids try to catch some sort of little furry animals that looked like a cross between mice and frogs.

“What are they ydni?” Lissa asked her mom, bringing one over.

“I’ve never seen one before,” Xele said, doing a good motherly job at feigning interest. They were cute, in a weird way, but Xele was a city girl at heart, and while she was thrilled her daughter and son were enjoying themselves, she didn’t share their curiosity in nature.

“I remember these things,” Karral added. “Saw them at a zoo in Naesavarna. What are they called, um….”

“They’re rikzids,” an unfamiliar voice chimed in. “They come out this time of night. They eat the bugs, which is quite nice of them; if they didn’t, there would be arthropods everywhere.”

“Nobody wants that,” Xele said.

The older woman knelt down by Reyan, who was studying the little animals closely. “They’re mammalic, which is unusual for this type of creature. On most worlds like this, these type of hopping, bug-eating creatures are amphibiic. But Sininentavas is a bit cooler than most worlds, and so they did well to have a bit of fur on them for the long winter.”

“It’d be cold without fur,” Lissa said.

“It would be,” the woman said. “Hello, I’m Vwokhu Skamøld. I understand you folks have come quite some distance to see me.”

“Well, we’ve been bouncing around a lot,” Karral said. “We usually live on Granav, but my wife’s work took us to the Federation to help rebuild there.”

“I’m from there,” Xele said, “but trust me, I’m as appalled as anyone. There’s a reason I left. But still…it was my home. I was hoping to try to help put things right. But once that was done…well, Karral is from Jotnarherath, and we thought it would be nice to vacation here.”

“I have a feeling you’ve used the first part of that speech a number of times, Ms. Vilum. But really, you should be proud; not many people would be willing to work with loyalists who were trying to topple their own father from power. And given who your father was…that was noble work indeed.”

Xele was momentarily nonplussed, so Vwokhu continued.

“But while I’m very glad you brought your children to this camp, and that you’re exposing them to nature…let us be direct. You came here,” Vwokhu said, rising and taking a few steps toward the couple, “to see me.”

Karral noted that in taking those steps, she had moved out of the line between Xele and the children. He didn’t know if it was deliberate or simply instinct, but he knew what it was demonstrating. She wasn’t threatening them, nor did she seem angry. But she was being very clear: she had made them.

Now, Karral had Imperial military training, and over a decade working security-related jobs for Pryvani Tarsuss under his belt. He knew that there were two things you could do when your cover was blown. The first and most common reaction is to deny it, stall for a chance to escape, and do just that, hopefully without hurting too many people in the process.

But there was another tactic that you could use, and in some situations, it was not only easier, but more rewarding in the end.

“When we report back to the person who hired us for this job,” Karral said, “the first thing I’ll tell them is that you’re quite clever.”

Vwokhu cracked a grin at that, and Karral couldn’t help feeling it was somewhat familiar. “So you’re not here to assassinate me, then.”

“Certainly not!” Xele said. “And I don’t think…we were simply told to gather some information, that’s all. We weren’t expecting you….”

“You weren’t expecting me to search the folks who showed up randomly at my camp? I’m surprised Lady Tarsuss didn’t hire more competent spies.”

Karral laughed out loud at that. “Good sense of humor too. I like you.”

“Honestly, we weren’t trying to hide,” Xele said. “We weren’t going to announce ourselves. But…I can assure you that this is just Pryvani wanting to know a bit about you.”

“And did she tell you why she would want to know?” Vwokhu asked.

“Do you expect us to share every bit of information we have?” Karral asked.

Vwokhu looked carefully at him, and nodded. “Like I said, nobody came here to assassinate me, and it certainly doesn’t sound like Lady Tarsuss is interested in hurting me or my family.”

“Lady Tarsuss doesn’t hurt people who don’t threaten her or her friends,” a small voice said. “At least, I’ve never known her to.”

It took Vwokhu a moment to localize the slight whir of gravitics, and the small man riding the grav-scooter at roughly eye-level. “Well then, Palemst Themego! It is nice to meet you. You’re the first human to visit our camp here. I hope you won’t be the last.”

“Look, ’wantlo Nest! They’re rizkidders!” Reyan said, carrying the frog-mouse over to show Nesteu, not particularly caring about what the adults were on about.

“That is…one weird looking frog,” Nest said. “But cool! You and Lissa stay close, okay?”

“Kay!” Reyan said, going off to search for more wildlife.

“And thank you for your hospitality, and apparently, for not shooting us,” Nest added, turning the scooter toward Vwokhu. “I heard what Xele was saying, and yeah, as far as I know, Sen. Tarsuss just wanted some information. Not sure why, and I was a soldier; I don’t ask questions.”

“I do,” the last member of the party said, “but it’s certainly sounding like you know more about why we’re here than we do.”

“Well, I think that’s apparent. But I am much less concerned then I was an hour ago,” Vwokhu said. “You must be Ms. Peten. Or do you prefer Captain Peten?”

“Liss is fine,” Liss said. “And I’m pretty sure we’ll all answer to first names. And I’m definitely sure that I wasn’t sent to grease the skids for you to be harmed. But if you don’t mind me asking….”

“Suffice to say that long ago, I crossed paths with someone, some things happened, and if I was the kind of person who wanted to make money quickly I could flame up like a supernova and get a lot of attention. But if I’d wanted to do that….”

Vwokhu looked around, and smiled. “This is all I wanted. And I have it. I won’t be used against anyone, and I won’t be used for anyone, either. Hopefully, that’s what Lady Tarsuss wanted to know.”

“Almost certainly,” Liss said. “But I do hope you’re not going to kick us out. I really do like the cabin, and the kids seem to love the place.”

“Kick you out? You paid for four days! I wouldn’t dream of it. The only thing I ask is that I might get some of Palemst Themego’s time.”

“First, as Liss said, it’s Nest, and why me?”

“Well, you’re all welcome, but you’re Avalonian, and though it may sound silly…I’m quite impressed by and interested in your world. I’ve read quite a bit since the Tarsuss Committee hearings, it sounds like a fascinating place. And not just your people, but the Titans who live on it, too – all working to try to help make humans full citizens. I’d just like to hear a bit about the planet, and them.”

“Well I’ll be happy to brag on my homeworld, and since that’s the closest thing to a home Liss has, I’m sure she will too. And don’t worry. Like I said, Pryvani doesn’t go out of her way to hurt people who aren’t a threat to her. Even if she was looking to use your information to blackmail someone, I can’t imagine she’d press it.”

“Well, I certainly hope so. And I would like to hear a bit about Lady Tarsuss. You must know her well, Liss, if you live on Avalon?”

“I know her,” Liss said, “but I wouldn’t say I know her well. Not many people do. I guess I know some people who know her well – Brinn, Zara, Rixie and Alex….”

“Rixie and Alex…you mean Sen. Carey and his wife?”

Liss snorted. “Don’t let the title fool you, he’s a barkeep. Not that he’s a bad one; he’s great at it. But he’ll be the first one to tell you that ‘senator’ is weird.”

“Liss is completely wrong,” Nest said. “Alex Carey is one of the founders of the Avalonian Republic, and a national hero. And Rixie Carey…Rixie helped train the Jacks, so I got to work with her a fair amount. They both deserve titles in my book.”

“Well,” Vwokhu said, keeping her face as impassive as she could, “I look forward to hearing about them. And your world,” she added.

She hoped she had not added the last sentence too hastily.