Chapter 25
Marshia’smain conference room held Captain Phoenix, West, Kwait, Rex, Streemly and Vick. They sat facing the large holoscreen showing the ancient faces of two familiar High Presidium members.Lady Blake on the left and Mrs Peters on the right. Identical, bulbous, dark green bottles of limpid, token gifts from Phoenix, sat to the left of each.
Lady Blakehad just sampled a glass of her gift and was to open the proceedings. But she didn’t. She sat looking vaguely in the general direction of the camera. When it became obvious that Lady Blake had no intention of focusing her eyes, let alone of talking, Mrs Peters said, “Let me be the first to congratulate you all on your successful mission.”
Rex leaned over to Kwait, whispering, “How does she articulate so well with so little lip movement?”
Kwait remained po-faced.
Mrs Peters checked her monitor in the vain hope of spotting some clue as to Lady Blake’s state of mind.
“My honourable friend and I are very pleased at the outcome of your mission. You are all to be commended on your actions. The tragic loss of life, especially that of Commander Apricot and his men, saddens us greatly.”
Lady Blake leaned to her left ever so slightly.
Mrs Peters did the news readers’ thing of looking down at a piece of paper that was not there, touching the edges of it with her little fingers and then clasping her hands together and leaning forward on the desk.
“I believe Mr Bev is not with you,” said Mrs Peters.
“That’s correct,” said Phoenix, looking slightly embarrassed. “He expressed a desire to stay with the colony on Bobbin. I understand he intends to study the colonists and see how their society has evolved to cope with the problems of off-surface living.”
“Bobbin is the colony orbiting ...?” asked Mrs Peters, looking at Phoenix for help.
“ SpwatIII, ma’am,” said Phoenix.
“I see,” said Mrs Peters.“And Mrs Phoenix?”
Phoenix reddened and looked at his shoes. “She, erm ...” Phoenix straightened up and looked directly at the image of Mrs Peters. “She elected to stay with Bev on Bobbin. The attraction of the orbiting shopping malls together with Bev’s more ... attentive nature proved too much. It’s been on the cards for a long time. We think it’s for the best and I wish her and Bev all the luck in the ... world.”
The revelation of Bev and Tracy as an item had stunned all except Bev’s brother, Vick. The whole procedure had been carried out in avery civilised manner. Bev and Tracy had approached Phoenix and, after discussing a few unrelated topics - like how difficult it was to recruit good hairdressers into space, the origin of the high velocity three pinplug that had killed Vick, and so on - had explained the situation. The mutual attraction they felt for one another was just too much to resist. Bev wanted to stay on Bobbin to study the colonists and Tracy was deeply unhappy flying around space. Phoenix had initially been very shocked at Tracy’s news. He had had to sit down while it sunk in. When he could at last bring himself to look at his wife he saw her afresh. He looked at the small figure of Bev. A man he respected and held in awe. Together they looked an odd couple. But somehow it made sense. Bev’s kindness and sensitivity were just what Tracy needed. Her childlike charm and desire to listen and be gently guided through the complex world they lived in would easily satisfy Bev’s needs. Phoenix finally rose, hugged Tracy and shook Bev’s hand. The tears in his eyes were sad-glad tears as he wished them well.
“It was Bev’s wish,” continued Phoenix, addressing Mrs Peters, “that Doctor Kwait Naize should be his representative on Earth.” It was all he could do to ignore Lady Blake, whose smile had become more inane and whose angle had become more precarious.
Mrs Peters looked pleased. “Good,” she said, turning to Kwait. “You will be an extremely valuable ally in the forthcoming resettlement of Earth.”
“I certainly hope so.” Kwait smiled slightly. “Bev and I had a long chat about the future of Earth and I will be taking my duties as his and his brother’s representative very seriously. After all,” said Kwait wryly, “Earth does belong to Bev and Vick.”
Mrs Peters’ smile faded a touch and she looked a little uncomfortable. “It’s good to know we have a solid understanding of a sound basis for a mutually beneficial dialogue and I look forward to discussing our convergent policies at length and in some detail in the very near future,” she said, slipping into politico-speak.
Kwait recognised the sentence for what it was.Noise.
“We’ll get together just as soon as I get back,” said Kwait.
“Get back?” said Mrs Peters.
Kwait took Rex’s hand as she smiled adoringly back at him. “From our honeymoon,” said Kwait. Streemly leaped to her feet as if stung by a bee. “Oh, dad!” she cried, leaping over to him and jumping onto his lap. “I’m so glad!”
Phoenix, West and Vick lined up to pump Kwait’s arm enthusiastically and give Rex a congratulatory kiss on the cheeks. Chaos ruled for a while as Streemly rushed between Kwait and Rex causing havoc with all the hand shaking and kissing. Six people suddenly looked like an unruly crowd of dozens. Mrs Peters waited patiently for the noise of congratulations to subside. As the angle of Lady Blake’s position became impossible to maintain, an arm appeared from the side of the screen and shoved her back into a more or less vertical position.
“There is one other thing,” said Mrs Peters, pausing to let Vick finish blowing his nose and wiping his eyes. “Marshia,” she said meaningfully. “I read a précis of a report submitted by Doctor Streemly Naize and Mr Vick: it seems to be their belief that Marshia is now ... alive?”
“It is my belief too,” said Phoenix.
“Whether Marshia is alive or not will be a subject for discussion for some time,” said Mrs Peters.
“Whatever the outcome, there is one thing which is abundantly plain. Marshia definitely has a will of her own. No one can force her to do anything she does not want to do. The wishes of any beingwho has the capability to wipe out your star system have to be taken into account. Have you any idea what Marshia wants?”
Streemly stepped forward. “Why don’t you ask her for yourself?” she said. Mrs Peters coughed nervously.“Marshia?”
YES, MA’AM?
“What are your thoughts on the matter?”