The Tower and the Hive (5 page)

While most Humans met Mrdini on equal terms, not all Humans and not all Mrdini were in favor of continued close association now that the enemy—the Hivers—had received a major setback. Matters closer to home and divisive individual concerns often received more attention and publicity than the problem that still faced the Allies: finding Hiver-occupied worlds and somehow restricting the alien creatures to them.

Masses of details needed to be gathered by elements of both Navies: discovering which worlds the Hivers occupied, how full they were, which M-type planets ignored by the spheres trying to find a new homeworld would be suitable for Mrdini or Human occupation.

One loud group didn't want any further Human expansion. A more virulent sect wanted to control FT&T because FT&T were “weasel lovers” and should not be trusted to conduct the Towers in strict accordance with its original Charter. This ominously growing group took note of the most minute variation, discrepancy or minor modification undertaken by Towers or emanating from the Blundell Building, the main FT&T headquarters on Earth. Some of the dissidents were medium to low Talents, dissatisfied by their assignments or claiming professional partisanship.

- “Everyone knows that the Towers are dominated by a few families,” was the most frequently lodged, and unfortunately accurate, accusation. The fact that Primes were rare enough did not apparently enter into the complaints. In the matter of Tower Primes, nepotism was far more benign than malignant or inefficient. In reality, the responsibilities and duties of a Prime far outweighed any reward: remuneration was strictly controlled, although a Prime could, by virtue of his or her ability, live anywhere he or she chose. Genetics played a critical part in providing more high Talents, though some emerged from unexpected sources, as had the Rowan, Callisto Prime, reared on Altair, and Jeff Raven, Earth Prime, who had come—rather reluctantly—from Deneb to assume the responsibilities which had been Peter Reidinger's until his death. Children on every Human world were now routinely tested at puberty for any vestige of trainable Talent. Every scrap of latent Talent was carefully nurtured, developed and trained to make the best possible use of it. If some had delusions of strength, they were soon ineluctably placed in the category appropriate to their real abilities. Oftentimes, a minor Talent increased with usage, and FT&T was only too pleased to reassess and upgrade that person.

It had been a matter of necessity that four of the five children born to the Rowan and Jeff had been encouraged to produce large families. Jeran, Cera and Damia were T-1's, Ezro was a T-3 physician, while the deceased Larak had been a T-2. Even his one child, Grayhan, was a T-2. All of the offspring in the Raven-Lyon marriage were T-1's, though for some time it was thought that Zara, the second daughter, might be a dysfunctional T-1. She was now fully trained in a medically oriented Talent, so it was unlikely that she'd be asked to assume the responsibilities of a Tower.

David of Betelgeuse had three T-1 children: Perry, Morgelle and Xahra. Jeran, now Denebian Prime, had four, Barry being of an age with Rojer, while Cera had three, also potential high Talents. The Bastianmajani couple from Altair had produced a T-1 in Flavia, though her brothers and sisters were lesser Talents. They were completely unrelated to the Gwyn-Raven-Lyon group. Rather more Denebians had latent Talents than other first-generation colonial worlds. They were lazy about using them, though the Eagleses, Ravens, Sparrows and other clans supplied many of the high 4, 3 and 2 Talents—when they chose to move off-planet. No one could be forced, against personal inclination, to make use of Talent. The Denebians, as a group, were far more interested in developing their world. Unfortunately, Talents were still an elite and limited group and their abilities were more and more in demand now that Humans and Mrdinis were spreading ever outward from their homeworlds. The plain facts, of course, rarely figured in the complaints of nepotism that were lodged.

Any good news?
the Rowan asked, so pointedly her daughter winced.

If you mean great-grandchildren, no,
Damia said with a sigh. She had so hoped that Laria would be able to win Vanteer's constant affection. The T-6 engineer at Clarf Tower had one failing: he couldn't settle to just one woman and already had several offspring from different women, Humans living on Clarf. That two of the infants seemed to have Talented minds augured well for any children he might give Laria.

What's the problem?
the Rowan asked.

I think—the
reply came from Afra—
that Laria intimidates him.
A T-6 would have no defense against a mental invasion by a determined Prime. Damia was pleased that Laria had not resorted to that in her wish to become pleasing to Vanteer.

What?
The Rowan found that hard to believe.
She's not aggressive.

Like some you could name,
Damia put in, referring to her own teenage experiments in finding a partner.

But you sorted yourself out,
her mother said.

For which we are grateful, said
Jeff, teasing again, but his touch was fond.

So don't you two meddle,
Damia said sharply.

We have our ethics,
Jeff said,
though there are some who do not believe it.

Father, of course you do. I'm sorry I said that.
Damia was once again contrite.

We might shift some more willing prospects to Clarf now that we have some breathing space,
Jeff suggested.

I can't think who would be suitable,
Damia said with another sigh.

Well, this latent T-2 kinetic, the one Gollee Gren's been training, is an attractive person,
the Rowan said.
I think he's also related to Yoshuk at Sef Tower, a younger brother.

Yoshuk's a good man,
Damia said with a lift of hope in her voice. There was a hint in her mind that she found Vanteer's reluctance to ally
her
daughter an insult to the entire family.

She's twenty-six and a bit,
Afra reminded them.
Give her time to settle on someone who is compatible. And no need to remind us, Damia m'love, that you'd had four children at Laria's age.

I was lucky.
The deep love and affection she had for Afra was a vibrant note in her voice.

You were!
the Rowan said softly.

I was the lucky one,
Afra said firmly.
Worth waiting for, and let us give Laria that option too.

Agreed,
said Jeff, and on that comment he and the Rowan left the merge.

“How can Vanteer say that Laria intimidates him?” Damia asked, sliding upright and swinging her legs to the side of her couch. “Zara might, but not Laria. She's very careful with relationships. Look how well she and Kincaid get along...” She made a face. “I so wish he was interested in women.” She gave a gusty sigh. “As a T-2, he'd be an ideal match.”

Afra sat up too, his expression thoughtful. “Kincaid is so good with our younger ones when he visits.” Damia gave him a sharp look. But he shrugged. “Just an observation. She and Kincaid have a very good rapport.”

“Not that good...”

“At least as far as it goes.”

Then she said briskly. “If Gollee has someone to send to Clarf for training, it might even make Vanteer jealous. After all, there'll be a lot of activity from that planet once colonization starts. Another Talent might be needed.”

“Kincaid's certain that Clarf has already started provisioning colony ships, choosing specialists and color groups, ready to go the moment First Fleet—I rather like that new designation—”

“So do I,” Damia agreed, standing up and arching her back in a stretch.

“That Clarf will be overworked, sending off personnel carriers, message tubes and cargo drones. Up, up and away.” He grinned at her over such eagerness.

“Well, the 'Dinis need the room to spread out in, that's certainly true. I just hope the Hivers haven't ruined other, perfectly good worlds as they did Talavera.” She frowned, having heard from Zara in detail about the ecological damage wreaked on that planet. She put on her coat and prepared to leave.

Putting an affectionate arm about his wife's shoulders, Afra guided her to the Tower steps. They met Keylarion on her way up.

“Oh, you haven't gone,” their T-6 station manager said, surprised.

“Oh yes, we have and you haven't seen us,” Damia said.

“Unless it's urgent,” Afra appended, giving his wife a reproving look. She made a face at him.

“Xexo and me are set to do some recalibrations, that's all,” Keylarion said, and as if on cue, the T-8 engineer arrived from his section of the Tower, diagnostic equipment hanging from both arms and down his back.

“Ah, you're finished. Good,” Xexo said as he went past them on the stairs, grunting at the weight he was carrying.

“Anything serious?” Damia asked, since Afra's reproof had recalled her sense of duty.

“No, just to be sure,” Xexo said, and Keylarion winked as she followed him.

Damia grinned back at her, knowing how particular the engineer was about his beloved generators.

Outside in the brisk late-winter air of Iota Aurigae, Damia folded her coat about her and huddled against Afra's long frame, to shield herself from the worst of the wind.

Their 'Dinis came rushing out of the house, chattering as if their friends had been gone for weeks instead of a few hours. Tri caught Afra's free hand while Fok took Damia's and escorted them the rest of the way.

Rojer joined the
Columbia
in the middle of ship night, just before the dogwatch came on.

Sorry, Flavia. Should have checked to be sure it was convenient,
he said.
We'd just finished hauling the drones and Grandfather was ready to ship me out, so it seemed silly to waste the ride.

“I'm here, I'm here,” said Flavia, appearing in the boat bay and nearly colliding with the duty officer, Lieutenant Sad-ler Ismail, who was on his way to the personnel carrier. “Zara went back to bed.”

“Oops, sorry about that, Prime.” He took Flavia's arm to steady her precipitous arrival. “Good to see you, sir,” Ismail said, belatedly saluting as he remembered that Prime Talents had the honorary rank of captain while on Fleet maneuvers. “Need some help there, Gil, Kat?” he added as the 'Dinis emerged.

No, I didn't know. Grandfather just whisked me away from the
Washington.

Just then various items dropped into the personnel carrier just vacated: one soft-soled boot, a cascade of disks and two worn, obviously dirty shipsuits.

“I left the suits behind for a reason,” Rojer said, making a face in the general direction of his previous ship. He pointed to a shoulder patch that displayed a clearly printed “A.S.S.
Washington.”

Flavia grabbed the offending suits and they disappeared: a disposal hatch hissed receipt. She gave him an affectionate hug, touching his mind with warm greetings.

“You needn't have come down yourself, Flavia.” He returned her embrace. “But I'm glad you did.” Despite the hour, she felt as vibrant and self-assured as ever. He could wish, feeling her very womanly body against his, that she wasn't already attached to Jesper Ornigo, T-6 from Betelgeuse.

I know. It's sad we can't replicate ourselves and share the wealth,
she said, half teasing. “C'mon, I'll take you to your quarters. Thanks, Sadler. He's my problem now.”

“Yes ma'am.” Ismail signaled for one of the yeomen on duty to take Rojer's luggage.

“No need to disturb your watch,” Flavia said airily, and with a gesture the duffels disappeared, including the ship shoe and the disks.

“We'll go the easy way,” she said. Turning to say good night to officer and watch, she took his hand and 'ported him to the passageway outside his assigned quarters.

“You go on back to bed now, Flavia. I'll settle myself in.” He gave her a mental push.

“I'm just two doors down,” she said, and walked away. “G'night!”

“Night,” he responded with an airy kiss for her cheek. He put his hand on the doorplate and it slid open, showing him a room that contained both bed alcove and a lounge. Not as luxurious as the specially designed quarters for the Talents on the
Washington,
but larger than his original accommodations on the
Genesee
and Phobos Moon Base.
You wanted the change of assignment,
he muttered to himself.

He had indeed half hoped that Asia would be there to welcome him. That was the trouble with Primes. Always launching people when it was convenient for
them.
He glanced at his duffels, wincing because of the speed with which he had stuffed them. Ah well, he could sort them out tomorrow. Right now he'd follow Flavia's example and get some sleep. He took off his ship shoes, loosened the top cover of his bunk and slid under it. With a mild suggestion to his diurnal self, he was asleep in moments.

 

Is that all, Van?
Laria asked as Clarf Tower's generators hit an even pitch after the latest drone launch.

Yup!
was the relieved response.
I told you we were going to get busier.

It's toing-and-froing freight,
Laria said, somewhat disgusted.

Throwing freight, you mean,
Lionasha, Tower's T-7 expediter, corrected.
It's much more fun froing 'Dinis about.