Venus Rising (35 page)

“I look forward to it.” She put her arms
around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

“This is what I wanted before I have to
leave,” he said, resting his cheek on her hair. “Just a few
peaceful moments with you is refreshment enough to last me through
all the ceremonies ahead.”

They stayed that way, holding each other for
a while, until, after a deep kiss that left her wanting more,
someone called to him and he had to leave with Almaric. But the
warmth of his embrace and the certainty of his love stayed with her
all day long.

* * * * *

Narisa was required to wear formal Service
uniform for the reception, but Kalina had provided new clothing for
her other two guests. Narisa surveyed them as they waited in a
corridor next to the Assembly’s reception room.

Suria wore a particularly grand version of
the costume of her native planet. She shimmered in a glittery green
and purple wrapped top over green trousers. With her flame-red hair
piled on top of her head, and heavy green stone and gold jewelry at
her throat and wrists, she was gorgeously regal in spite of her
short stature.

Gaidar was in formal Demarian costume, the
velvety golden brown of his trousers and jacket highlighting his
golden eyes.

“He is half Demarian,” Kalina explained,
straightening the folds of her own heavy purple and gold robes. “I
thought it best to emphasize that for this day. Besides, I don’t
know what Cetans wear for formal occasions.”

“They don’t have many,” Gaidar told her, “and
when they do, they wear whatever they can steal.”

“You are trying to shock me again, Gaidar,
but you won’t succeed.” Kalina regarded him with fondness. “When
the Cetan worlds are admitted into the Jurisdiction, they will
learn more civilized ways and will soon devise the proper costumes.
Now, Gaidar, I will take your arm, please. Narisa and Suria, I want
you directly behind me. You are all heroes of the Jurisdiction and
you deserve these places of honor.”

They entered a huge, ornate hall that was
draped in the favorite Jurisdiction colors of dark green and deep,
gloomy red enhanced with much gold and silver trim. There they
joined Almaric, Tarik and Halvo. The rest of the day was spent in
greeting all the Assembly Members and their families, who were
admitted to the chambers for this special occasion along with
Service officers and many representatives of the ordinary citizens
of the Jurisdiction. A surprising number of them wanted to speak to
Narisa, to thank her for her part in saving the Capital from Cetan
destruction.

As soon as he could, Tarik drew her apart to
tell her the news that had all those who had been at Almaric’s
presentation buzzing with excitement.

“Admiral of the Fleet Momuri,” Tarik told
her, “sent a message to my father, to congratulate him as the new
Leader.”

“You said once that Momuri is Tyre’s man,”
Narisa interrupted.

“So he is, heart and soul. I suspect he hoped
by his gesture today to escape Tyre’s fate of perpetual
imprisonment. There’s more, Narisa. Momuri has been ill for some
time, so, claiming his health prevents him from carrying out his
duties, he has applied for immediate retirement. He used the
privilege of all retiring admirals to nominate his successor. He
chose Halvo.”

“That’s wonderful! Halvo is just the man the
Service needs,” Narisa exclaimed. “Did Almaric agree to the
suggestion?”

“Indeed he did.” Tarik beamed at her. “Of
course, being Almaric, he very properly noted that the nomination
would have to go through the appropriate Service channels, but he
said if the approved documents come to him, he will be pleased to
sign them.”

Narisa laughed at Tarik’s description. “I can
just hear him saying that and impressing all the Members with how
different he is from Tyre. What will happen to Momuri? He wasn’t a
bad admiral, you know, even if he was Tyre’s man. Most of the
officers I knew respected him.”

“I told Almaric,” Tarik said, “that if Momuri
were harshly punished, Halvo’s appointment would split the Service
into quarreling factions. I thank all the stars my father was
willing to listen to me for once. Momuri will be permitted to
retire with honor, the Service personnel who backed him will thus
be pacified and Halvo will inherit a united Service.”

“Thanks to your good sense,” Narisa
added.

“I believe my father is not without sense,
either,” Tarik said, adding in a voice filled with wonder, “He
listened to me and seriously considered what I said. It’s the first
time that has ever happened.”

Almaric signaled to him then, and Tarik left
her to rejoin his father, but Narisa was not alone for long. There
were still more people who wanted to speak with her, humans and
non-humans alike expressing gratitude for deliverance from the
Cetans and from Tyre’s corrupt rule.

The day ended with an official banquet that
lasted far into the night. By the time they were all finally back
in Almaric’s house, Narisa was so tired she could barely climb the
stairs to her room. She was grateful for Chatta’s help in
undressing, and was asleep even as she fell into bed.

She slept until well after midday, and
awakened completely refreshed with no trace of headache from her
injury.

“You are to join Leader Almaric in his
library,” Chatta informed her as Narisa ate the fresh fruit and
bread the maid-servant had brought. Narisa heard awe in Chatta’s
voice, and knew the girl was deeply honored to be a member of the
Leader’s household.

She found Halvo and Tarik with their father.
Kalina joined them a moment after Narisa arrived.

“You will be interested to hear,” Almaric
told Narisa in his formal way, “that the Assembly has this morning
agreed to accept the Cetan warlords who surrendered to Halvo as
honored guests rather than as prisoners. They will remain in the
Capital while we work out the terms of a treaty with them. We hope
other Cetan leaders, learning how fairly we have dealt with these,
will consent to join their fellows as signers of the treaty.”

“All of the Assembly agreed to this?” Narisa
asked, surprised.

“There were some objectors, those who deal
with space armaments, or who have other profitable reasons for
wanting bad relations with the Cetans to continue. They were
shouted down. The time for war against the Cetans is over.”

“I’m glad,” Narisa said quietly. “There will
be no more dead planets. No more Beltas.” Her own hatred of the
Cetans was gone, wiped away by victory and by her growing
friendship with Gaidar. Cetans were not all monsters, any more than
citizens of the Jurisdiction were all good and honorable.

“However,” Halvo said, breaking into her
thoughts, “we cannot begin to trust such old and crafty enemies as
the Cetans without a certain initial wariness. Tarik has made a
pertinent suggestion for dealing with this problem, which I will
let him explain.”

“I have not heard about this,” Almaric
complained. “Are you taking matters into your own hands again so
soon, Tarik?”

“Perhaps it’s only that you have been too
busy for him to talk with you about it, my dear,” Kalina soothed.
“I haven’t heard Tarik’s idea, either, so let us both listen to him
before we begin criticizing him.”

“I believe,” Tarik said, “that a small,
secret group of colonists should settle where they can keep a watch
on the Cetans. I suggest these people leave the Capital in advance
of serious negotiations. They cannot in the future be counted in
violation of any treaty provisions if they are established in their
new home before the treaty is made.”

“An interesting idea,” Almaric mused. “I will
consider it.”

“Do it now, Father,” Tarik urged. “Let me
lead the colonists.”

“Impossible. I need you here with me.”

“No, you don’t, Father. I’m not a man for the
day-to-day details of administration. That’s Halvo’s talent, not
mine. It’s one reason he’s such a successful admiral. I would never
be content living here at the Capital. You know I’m speaking the
truth. I will not stay here. I have always done what you expected
of me, but now, before it’s too late, I want to choose for myself
the form my life will take.”

“Have you been quarreling with Halvo again?”
Almaric looked at his younger son in irritation. “Is that why you
are so eager to leave us? Let me tell you what I think of your
indifference to Service regulations.”

“No, Father.” Halvo interrupted Almaric’s
imminent tirade. “We have not quarreled. In fact, we are in greater
agreement than we have ever been. I endorse Tarik’s suggestion
completely. Here, he would quickly become useless. As the leader of
such a colony, he would be invaluable to you and of great benefit
to the Jurisdiction. We could trust him as we could trust no one
else.”

Narisa had been listening to this
conversation with growing excitement. She was certain this was the
plan that Tarik had hinted about to her, and she thought she knew
the planet he had in mind. She decided it was time to tell Tarik’s
parents what she planned to do. They had to know sooner or later.
Better now, in private.

“I want to go, too,” she said, “and I want
permission to have Tarik’s child. I am prepared to resign from the
Service immediately.”

There was a quickly smothered gasp from
Kalina. Almaric looked shocked. More importantly to Narisa, Tarik
smiled and nodded his agreement with her statement. She thought he
was going to say something, but his brother spoke first.

“Too bad,” Halvo drawled. “You were about to
be promoted to lieutenant commander. Are you certain you won’t
reconsider?”

“I will,” she told him, “if I am assigned to
Tarik’s expedition and if I am permitted to have his child. Only
then would I consent to remain in the Service.”

“Well done, beloved rebel,” Tarik said, not
caring who heard. “How much you have changed.”

“Remain in the Service and have a child?”
Kalina’s tone revealed her concern and, not surprisingly for that
strong woman, a certain admiration. “Would you defy every custom
and law about motherhood?”

“I care not at all if I remain in the Service
or leave it, so long as I am with the man I love,” Narisa said.
“Where Tarik goes, I will go. You have been by Almaric’s side for
most of your life, Kalina, and you were permitted to have two
children, a rare indulgence for the Jurisdiction. I want to have at
least one.”

“Then, if you are so determined, I will
support you in this.” Kalina’s hand was warm and comforting on
Narisa’s own. “I remember what happened to Suria. I want you to
avoid that fate. You and she are right, my dear, it is time for
change.”

Almaric cleared his throat. Narisa saw bright
moisture in his eyes.

“I wanted my sons with me to lend me their
strength with this difficult burden I have undertaken in my old
age. It grieves me to let Tarik go.” He cleared his throat again,
and his voice became firmer. “Nevertheless, the suggestion Tarik
has made is a valuable one. I think we badly need such an outpost.
Have you a planet in mind?”

“It’s in the Empty Sector,” Tarik said, “and
rather near to the Cetan worlds. It will be easy to stay hidden
there.”

“Ah, your lost planet.” Almaric nodded. “A
dangerous location in that sector, but a necessary risk, no doubt.
When would you leave?”

“As soon as possible. Halvo will have the
Cetan ship we arrived in refitted and provisioned as soon as you
give your official consent.”

“You will have Starthruster.”

“I will leave the plans for it with Halvo.
Jurisdiction engineers can build more. Or our new Cetan allies can
provide some for us to copy. Make that a provision of the
treaty.”

“You will need other colonists. Who will you
ask?”

“Gaidar and Suria,” Narisa suggested.

“Is that all?” Kalina exclaimed. “You need
more people to begin a colony, Tarik, people with diversified
skills.”

“It’s a small planet, Mother.”

“At least eight people, then; possibly
ten.”

“She’s right, as usual.” Halvo laughed,
adding, “I know of a few cadets and some officers who aren’t really
suited to Service life and who would flourish given the
independence and freedom from regulation that you will offer. Why
don’t we begin by asking your first choices and hearing how they
respond? After that, I’ll send for a few likely candidates.”

Gaidar came first, and listened in silence to
Tarik’s explanation of what was intended.

“You may remain here,” Almaric told him when
Tarik had finished. “You could be very useful to me as an
intermediary with the Cetans while we negotiate the treaty. Or you
may go with Tarik. The choice is yours. You are no longer a
prisoner. The Jurisdiction owes you too much to want to punish
you.”

“It’s because of that I’d be no help to you
at all,” Gaidar replied without hesitation. “The Cetans will see me
as a traitor and have nothing to do with me. I could only harm your
efforts to make a lasting peace. I’m neither Cetan nor Demarian; I
don’t belong in either society. I need to find a new world to live
in, where I can make my own place. With my knowledge of Cetans, I
can be useful to Tarik. I will go with him.”

Suria was called into the room next, and the
project explained to her.

“You may rejoin the Service with your former
rank,” Halvo assured her. “You have been unjustly punished,
Suria.”

“I still want to have a child,” she
responded, “so I won’t go back to the Service. I want to go with
Tarik, but I need Narisa’s consent first.”

“Mine?” Narisa was astonished. “Why my
consent?”

“May I speak with you in private?” Suria
asked.

“Use the anteroom,” Kalina suggested.

Suria flashed her a look of gratitude and
rose, Narisa joining her.

“The men would be embarrassed by this,” Suria
said, closing the door so they could not be overheard. “Narisa,
what was between Tarik and me was finished more than a year ago,
but we remain friends and always will be. Can you accept that and
be my friend, too? If I join this colony, we would be living too
closely for angry thoughts or the hatred that comes from jealousy.
In the short time I’ve known you, I have come to admire you. I
believe I could live in close proximity with you, but not if I make
you uncomfortable.”