Solace saw her eyes widen, and knew the Colonial woman could denounce her to the entire establishment. It was time for her soldier routine, whether Solace wanted to go there or not.
‘Your friends are in trouble,’ she said, to forestall a scene. ‘Your captain and navigator. They need you.’ Of all the crew, this woman’s particular civilian talents were required right now. But because Roshu was that kind of place, and the uniforms had seemed that kind of people, she added, ‘and you need me.’
4.
Idris
Magda was an Earth-like planet, cold but with a relatable biochemistry. Back Before, the colony had already been expanding, the original founders becoming an overclass above a mass of new colonists – introduced to run the expanding agricultural industry. Magda was the largest exporter of foodstuffs to overburdened Earth.
After, refugees had fled to Magda in their millions, knowing only that here was a planet with room for them. And the planet’s landowners, the Boyarin, had taken in everyone, turned not one ship away. Which sounded grand until you understood that to set foot on Magda was to accept the life they gave you, one of service in the factories or fields. It was never quite slavery under Hugh definitions, but then Magda was one of the big dogs of Hugh. Remarkable how the authorities there could end up ‘not quite’ any number of bad things. The word most enlightened outsiders applied to Magdan society was ‘serfdom’。 The Boyarin themselves called the system the ‘robot’， which seemed to adequately sum up how they regarded the mass of their people.
It was one of the Boyarin themselves who came to look in on Rollo and Idris, shortly after they were consigned to one of Roshu Admin’s holding cells.
He looked young, although the Boyarin were certainly amongst those few with the wherewithal for a long life. His clothes were flamboyant: a loose-sleeved shirt of shimmering orange, hand-embroidered at the throat and cuffs; tight trousers and tight boots; a black half-cloak ornamented with gold. His body was lean and fit, his coldly handsome features graced with a small upwards-tilted moustache and a neat scar that curved from the corner of his mouth to his ear. The Magdan elite liked their duels, Idris had heard. His heavies – presumably Voyenni, house guards – stood impassively after announcing him as ‘The Boyarin Piter Tchever Uskaro.’
Piter Uskaro was all skin-deep smiles, and he had eyes for Idris alone. ‘What fortune attends our meeting,’ he announced. It was as if his ‘guests’ weren’t stuck in a cramped, oven-hot metal box with one clear plastic wall. His tones, heavy with the Magdan accent, came to them through a speaker in the ceiling.
‘Your Grandness, there’s been some mistake,’ Rollo tried. ‘We’re just salvagers. We’re no criminals. I can provide references, work history.’
Uskaro waved the virtual paperwork aside, still grotesquely pleasant, as though just waiting for a servant to turn up with wine. ‘Deep void work, yes. Which means you have in your possession a rare gem, a commercial Intermediary. Yet imagine my surprise when I asked after the details of your leash contract with the Liaison Board. And, alas, none is filed!’ He rolled his eyes as though they were all just victims of Hugh bureaucracy. ‘Which can only mean that your man here is a fugitive from his contract, and you have been abetting him. I’m sure it’s witless, Captain Rostand. Do I mean witless? Innocent, maybe, is the word. I’m sure you had no idea your man here was a dangerous renegade fleeing the service he owes to his people. Bad trouble, Captain. Very bad. You will of course be grateful when I take him off your hands. It is not the first time such a one has been apprehended by the Boyarin’s tireless efforts in our drive for justice. We spearhead the advancement of our species, Captain. Our tireless navigators seek out Throughways as yet undiscovered, that we may open up a wealth of planets hitherto hidden from us. The future of humanity, Captain! Fresh colonies, perhaps even new Originator sites. Treasures beyond imagining!’ His teeth were blinding white and perfectly even when he smiled.
Idris squinted into the sun of that expression and wasn’t fooled. His fight-or-flight response was screwing his body into overdrive. Awkward, given he could do neither.
‘What,’ he managed, ‘did your last Int die of?’
That perfect smile didn’t falter. ‘It so happened that my family’s best navigator suffered a mishap. How lucky for me that we were able to locate a replacement so swiftly. I am just concluding the legalities with Roshu kybernet, after which we shall be off. And then I shall decide whether charges should be filed against your captain here, as your accomplice. Perhaps a residual concern for his wellbeing will encourage you to accept your rightful lot. It’s time you served the species that made you what you are.’