“And the specimens here . . . they’re from that seed bank?”
The
chaaz’maha
nodded. “About eight years ago, the Terra Concorde recovered the seeds from the vault and began disseminating them to facilities much like this one. We have similar greenhouses all over the world now, raising plants that were once thought to have been wiped out. In some areas, we’ve already begun widespread farming. A little like what we’re doing at the library, only this time it’s rare herbs instead of books we’re trying to preserve.”
“So eventually these plants will be . . . ?”
“Put back in the world? Yes, that’s the objective.” The
chaaz’maha
shook his head. “It’s going to take some time, though, I’m afraid. First, we have to restore social stability, and there are still too many places like Boston, too many groups like the Provisional Army. But that’s how we’re saving the world . . . incrementally, one step at a time.”
“Makes sense,” Jorge said. “Still, as you say . . . you’ve taken on a lot.”
“Yes, we have . . . and that’s what I wanted to speak to you about.” The
chaaz’maha
raised a hand, gestured toward the middle of the greenhouse. “Come with me. Let’s talk.”
Jorge followed him to the dome’s center. A couple of wooden benches had been placed there as a place for gardeners to take a break; ivy-covered trellises concealed it from the rest of the greenhouse. Taking a seat, the
chaaz’maha
motioned for Jorge to sit down across from him. “I’ve asked Inez to join us,” he began, “but before she gets here, I’d like to speak with you alone about . . . well, your involvement with her.”
Jorge felt his face burn. “I guess she must have told you about . . . ah, what happened.”
“She did, yes . . . but she didn’t need to.” Now it was the
chaaz’maha’s
turn to be embarrassed; Jorge was surprised to see that he seemed to be having trouble meeting his gaze. “I picked up on your feelings for her almost as soon as I saw the two of you, but I didn’t know for sure until I searched your mind in order to block your memory. Inez confirmed what I’d found . . . you love her very much, and last night...”
He stopped, took a deep breath. “Well . . . much of that is none of my business. I may be her father, but the fact remains that, even if Inez hadn’t grown up without me, the decisions she makes are entirely her own, as they should be.” He hesitated. “But both of you are having to deal with your feelings for each other, and in your case, there’s quite a bit of guilt as well.”
Jorge nodded. “Her mother made it clear to me that I’m to stay away from her.” He hesitated. “Our relationship is also illegal . . . or at least it is in the Federation.”
“I think Melissa is being overprotective. From what Inez has told me about the way she was raised in The Sanctuary, that’s the impression I get.” A wry smile. “As for the latter . . . you know why the law against relatives having sexual relations is in place? Even among second cousins?”
“It goes back to the early days of the colonies, when there were concerns about . . .” Reluctant to complete the rest, Jorge’s voice trailed off.
“Inbreeding, yes,” the
chaaz’maha
said, and slowly nodded. “Not really a concern now, though, especially since Coyote’s population has become so large. I’m a little surprised that it hasn’t been repealed, but I suppose old laws and the social concerns behind them take a long time to change. Still, it’s not like she’s your sister. You shouldn’t have to apologize for the way you feel about her.”
“Then you don’t object?” Jorge was stunned.
The
chaaz’maha
shrugged. “Here on Earth, there have been many famous men who married their cousins. Edgar Allan Poe, Albert Einstein . . . in terms of bloodlines, you’re separated from Inez even more than they were from the women they took as their wives.”
The subject had taken an uncomfortable turn. Jorge cleared his throat. “I don’t think marriage is something either of us has in mind. As for what happened last night . . . look, she was frightened, and needed to . . .”
“She wanted comfort.” The
chaaz’maha
raised a hand. “I understand . . . and I’m glad you were there for her. And the last thing I want to do is tell you or Inez what you should or should not do. I only want to point out that you’re on Earth, not Coyote. Here, at least, you don’t need to worry about an obsolete old statute.”
“Thank you.” Jorge felt himself relax a little. “I’m glad you aren’t—”
“Let me finish, please. You two are still going to have to work things out between you. However, there’s something else you should know . . . something that may have some bearing on your situation.” He paused, slowly let out his breath. “I’m not going back with you.”
Jorge stared at him. “You’re not?”
The
chaaz’maha
shook his head. “I know that’s the objective of your mission. Inez also told me that my returning to Coyote was a stipulation imposed upon you by the High Council for their permission to permanently reopen Starbridge Coyote to Earth. However, my role as spiritual advisor to the Terra Concorde is more important than either of those things. I shouldn’t leave . . . in fact, I can’t.”
“But . . . but Coyote needs you . . .”
“Does it?” The
chaaz’maha
raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Judging from what both my daughter and Sergio have told me, my homeworld . . . my former homeworld, really . . . has gotten along just fine without me. Earth needs a
chaaz’maha
to help it discover the wisdom of
Sa’Tong
. Back there I’d be little more than a figurehead.” A wry smile. “And I never wanted to be a messiah, regardless of what Sergio said while he was memory-blocked.”
The smile vanished, and again he shook his head. “So I’m staying here. You’ll be able to report that I’m alive and well but have opted to remain on Earth . . . or at least for the time being, until the Terra Concorde has finished its work. When that happens, I have little doubt the High Council will be willing to allow Coyote to resume direct contact with Earth. I’ll even make the trip to
Talus qua’spah
myself to make the case for doing so. Until then, though . . .”
The
chaaz’maha
spread his hands apart. “Earth and Coyote must pursue separate destinies. For Earth, it’s to recover from the foolish mistakes of the past. For Coyote, it’s to continue its present course of becoming a member of the galactic community.”
“I think I see your point.” Jorge slowly nodded. “It’ll be hard for Inez and me to explain why you haven’t come back with us, but . . .”
“Well . . .” Gazing past him, the
chaaz’maha
paused. “Perhaps this is something my daughter should explain for herself. Inez . . . ?”
Jorge turned to look over his shoulder and found Inez standing behind him.
So involved had he been in conversation with her father, Jorge
hadn’t heard her enter the greenhouse. Like Jorge, she no longer wore her Corps uniform, apparently also having found a fresh change of clothes in her quarters. Even dressed in loose trousers and a baggy woolen sweater, though, she was as attractive as she’d ever been. Seeing her, Jorge felt his heart skip a beat.
“Hello, Papa.” She didn’t seem to notice Jorge as she strolled through the trellises; instead, she walked over to the
chaaz’maha
and bent low to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry . . . am I interrupting?”
“Not at all.” The
chaaz’maha
grinned as he accepted the kiss. “I’m done here, so”—he stood up from the bench—“I’ll leave you two alone. I think you have some things to talk about.”
Inez watched her father walk away, but said nothing until they heard the greenhouse door open and shut. “How long have you been there?” Jorge asked.
“Only a few minutes.” Inez sat down on the bench beside him. “Of course, my father knew I was there long before you did.” An amused smile. “It’s almost impossible to sneak up on a telepath, you know.”
“I suppose.” For the first time, Jorge felt wary in her presence. “So . . . um . . . you must have heard us talking about you. About the two of us, I mean.”
“Uh-huh. I hope you realize that I couldn’t have hidden that from him either, even if I’d wanted to. Oh, I could have shielded my thoughts . . . you can’t grow up in The Sanctuary without learning how to . . . but as soon as I saw him . . .” She looked down at the floor. “Well, that wasn’t something I’d considered. I’m sorry if I caused you any embarrassment.”
“Don’t apologize. He learned it from me, not you.” Jorge let out his breath. “So you also know he’s refusing to come back with us.”
“He’s already told me. I don’t think it was ever an option . . . not for him, at least.” Inez looked up at Jorge again. “If you’re wondering . . . yes, I support his decision. His work here is too important to leave behind. Coyote doesn’t need him anymore, but Earth does.”
“Yeah, well . . .” Jorge couldn’t help but frown. “We’re going to have a hard time explaining this once we get back home. Our mission . . .”
“Jorge . . .” She hesitated, then reached out to lay a hand upon his. “I’m not going back either. I’m staying here, with my father.”
For the second time in as many minutes, Jorge felt as if his heart had suddenly stopped beating. His mouth fell open as he stared at her in mute surprise. “You’re not?” he finally managed to say.
“No.” Inez looked him straight in the eye. “And that’s my choice, not his. He and I have talked it over, but . . . really, I think I’d made my decision the second I saw him.”
“What . . . why?” Jorge struggled to find the right words. “How could you . . . ?”
“Because I need him, and I think he needs me, too.” Inez sighed, shook her head again. “Maybe it’s hard for you to understand, but . . . look, you grew up with both of your parents, so you’ve never known what it’s like, going through your whole life believing that one of them is dead. I had my mother, sure, and I love her very much, but . . .”
“Now that you’ve met your father, you want to spend time with him.”
“That’s it, yes. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and we can’t do that in just a day or two.” Turning her head, Inez gazed around the greenhouse. “Also, I think he could use my help. You said it yourself . . . he’s taken on a big job. Perhaps he could use someone by his side.”
“But back home . . .”
“What’s there for me? The Corps of Exploration?” She looked back at him again. “Do you remember what we talked about, that night when we were flying back to Liberty? About how I’d joined the Corps partly because everyone who knew that I was the
chaaz’maha’s
daughter expected me to follow in his footsteps?”
Jorge nodded, and she went on. “Here, I won’t have that problem. Oh, I’ll still be his daughter, all right . . . but there won’t be quite the same degree of expectation. I won’t have to call myself by another name, or spend my life telling people that I don’t want to be a spiritual leader. And I can use the skills I learned in the Corps. There are a lot of places on Earth that need to be reexplored. Maybe the Terra Concorde has more room for me than the Corps ever did.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“Maybe, but . . . well, there it is.” Inez paused, a slight frown appearing on her face. “Now, there’s something else I want to say to you, and this is going to be a little hard for you to hear, so . . . just wait until I get it all out, all right?”
“Okay.” Sensing that this was bad news, Jorge braced himself.
“All right, then . . .” She took a deep breath. “Look, I know how you feel about me. I’ve known that for a long time. And, to be honest, I love you, too . . . but not the way you want me to.” She slowly let out her breath. “We can be friends, even close ones, but . . . we can never be lovers.”
A cold stone settled itself in the pit of Jorge’s stomach. It was almost the very same thing her mother had said to him; hearing it again, he felt a surge of anger and sought to put a clamp on it. “Great. So last night . . .”
“Please, no . . . don’t be angry.” Her hand tightened upon his as she moved a little closer to him. “Try to understand . . . last night, I thought we were about to die. I needed to reach out to someone, and you were there. I’m glad you were. I have no regrets about what we did, and I hope you don’t either. But . . .”
Inez looked away again. She seemed to be trying to find the right words. “That was last night, and this is today. I simply don’t share the same feelings for you as you do for me, and that’s never going to change.”
“If you gave it a chance, maybe . . .”
“You don’t follow the Codicils of the
Sa’Tong-tas
, but I do . . . and the Second Codicil holds that I must never do anything that will cause harm to myself or to others around me.” When she looked at him again, Jorge was surprised to see tears glimmering in the corners of her eyes. “Jorge, if I tried to love you the way you want me to, I’d only hurt myself . . . and in the end, the situation I’d put you in would inevitably hurt you, too. So I have no choice, really. We can be friends . . . but only that. Do you understand?”
Jorge wanted to argue with her, yet deep inside, he knew that Inez was right. And the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. “Yeah . . . yeah, I guess I do.”
He started to withdraw his hand from hers, but she refused to let it go. “All right, then,” she continued. “Now here’s the other thing I have to say to you. You need to go home. Back to Coyote.”
“I wasn’t . . . I mean, I wasn’t planning to do otherwise.” He shook his head. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You need to go home not because it’s part of your mission, but for the same reason that I’m staying.” Inez hesitated, then went on. “That night on the
Monroe
, when we were talking on the observation deck . . . you said something about knowing what it’s like to have a famous father. Remember?”
“No.” Jorge shook his head. “Your memory must be better than mine.”