Reclamation

"Ross," she corrected him. "The title's for Unifiers and formal occasions, isn't it?"

"As you prefer." Eric stowed his pack under the seat. Ross released the brake and steered the little car into the main traffic lane that crossed the port. Eric kept his eyes on her to avoid having to acknowledge the stretch of empty space around the port or the open sky overhead.

Ross, it turned out, was not one to make small talk. She drove with her gaze on the shifting traffic, projecting an air of intense concentration. It was not from lack of skill, Eric decided. She handled the car well, sliding smoothly in and out of the stew of maintenance, transport, and private vehicles that flowed through the port. She was just extremely single-minded.

They left the port car at the free-standing arch that was the gateway to the main roads and transferred themselves to one of the automatic cars that waited there for hire. While Eric took his seat, Ross punched in her ID code and the address of their destination on the keypad and the car rolled into traffic.

"You have a room reserved at one of the diplomatic hostels, Sar Born," Ross told him. "Once we have you cleared for the networks, you may use it for an hour or a year, if you require."

"You have my thanks, Ross."

"I hope you won't mind if I also have your company for a while yet." She released a catch on her seat so that it swiveled around and let her face him. "There are a few things about the City of Alliances I want to show you, and some questions I'd like to ask you."

"I'll be happy to be of service if I can," Eric said. I'll need new employers, after all, he added to himself, that is if your crowd is even marginally more trustworthy than the Vitae.

The cityscape they moved through struck Eric as highly organized. The low brown-and-green buildings clustered around common courtyards. Ruler-straight streets crisscrossed the plain under the raised tracks carrying the monorail trains that provided most of the public transport.

The place had clearly been designed to provide comfort and convenience for its citizens. Eric couldn't work out why it made him feel so uneasy.

Ross's car had precedence on the streets. The roadway pulled other cars out of the lanes to give the chairman clearance so her transport could breeze through the traffic. Eric guessed they were probably moving five to ten miles an hour faster than the other cars.

Madame Chairman may not go in for formalities, but she's got no problem using her privileges.

"Dorias said you're a friend of his," Eric ventured.

"Select circle, isn't it?" she said in a voice more relaxed than anything Eric had heard from her yet. "I think it's just you and me."

"No, there's a couple of others." She waited for him to name names, but he didn't.

She shook her head. "We're almost to my offices." She glanced at the readouts on the car's dashboard.

"But he is working for you?"

She nodded.

"As a Family member?"

Ross considered this. "Strictly speaking, no. But I'm not a xenophobe, Sar Born. I don't think that the creation of the Human Family means we should become isolated from the other sapient beings who share our galaxy, especially those we have created. Dorias is dedicated to the idea of a stable Human Family and I welcome him into the Alliance."

Well, she certainly speaks dogma fluently, and she knows how to talk without saying much.

He tried another tack. "I got a message from Dorias telling me to contact you."

"Part of a message, you mean," Ross's mouth twitched. "He told me the transmission didn't arrive intact. Yes, I asked him to get in touch with you. We wanted to offer you a contract for your services as a systems handler. Dorias says you're even better than he is." She lowered her eyebrows. "It's difficult to believe anyone could be better than a living piece of netware."

What do you want to hear, Madame Chairman? Eric wondered.

"Dorias has some limitations I don't," he said, watching her face closely. "Then again, I have some limitations he doesn't. Who's better depends on the job you have in mind."

"That will come when I present the formal contract." She pulled her gaze away from his and set her jaw at a different angle.

"Dorias also said it was the Unifiers who originally removed Stone in the Wall from the Realm."

"Stone in the Wall?" Ross repeated the syllables awkwardly. "Is that her name?"

"One of them." Eric ran his hands down his thighs. His palms were itching where his sun tattoos had once been.

Ross turned her bland face toward him. "Yes, we asked her to come to us as an emissary. The Vitae kidnapped her en route."