A Forest of Stars - Kevin J. Anderson [202]
Before facing Robb’s mother and father, Tasia put on her dress uniform. Robb Brindle would no doubt receive a fistful of posthumous commendations and medals for his voluntary heroism. As if that mattered…
Robb’s mother, Natalie Brindle, seemed washed-out, her face emotionless. His father, Conrad, was angry and impatient, though he did not direct his annoyance at Tasia. Nevertheless, Conrad Brindle tried to take control of the situation. “You’ve wasted a trip, Commander Tamblyn. We’ve already been informed that our son was one of the soldiers who fell at Osquivel.”
Natalie pushed her hands into her pockets. “Yes, we received a message signed by General Lanyan himself.”
“I didn’t come here in any official capacity. It’s just that…Robb was a close friend,” Tasia said. “My closest friend.”
Without allowing herself to be interrupted, she told how he had insisted on accepting a dangerous mission on the minuscule chance that he could convince the aliens to listen. “What he saw down there…His last words were that it was beautiful, very beautiful. No one knows what Robb witnessed or what else he tried to tell us.”
“It’s not the first tragedy any military family has suffered,” mumbled Conrad Brindle. “And it certainly won’t be the last. Our son did his duty. He volunteered, and he wasn’t afraid. He’s made us proud.”
“Robb always wanted to join the EDF,” said his mother. “He felt honored to serve.”
“Yes, he did,” Tasia said. “I just wanted you both to know.”
Back in her private quarters at the Mars EDF base, Tasia was troubled to learn that EA had not yet returned from her secret mission to Rendezvous. Obviously, since the Roamer shipyards at Osquivel had been hidden from the battlegroup, EA must have delivered her message to Speaker Peroni. But apparently the compy had never come back.
A prominent Roamer trader, Denn Peroni, had recently arrived on a quick supply run to the Earth’s moon. According to the logs and flight plans he had filed, Peroni intended to leave promptly, so Tasia didn’t have much time. She signed out a fast Remora from Mars and used the last few hours of her furlough to intercept him.
She found Denn Peroni fuming in the dark-side crater spaceport. He stood inside the layered dome, pacing back and forth in front of his ship as if searching for something to kick or someone to strangle.
Tasia came up to him wearing informal EDF fatigues, and Peroni scowled when he saw her uniform. She raised her hand in a placating gesture. “I’m Tasia Tamblyn, daughter of Bram Tamblyn.”
Peroni suddenly blinked with recognition. “Yes, Ross’s sister! I’d heard you’d joined the Eddies. You’d better stand clear, because I’m ready to shoot someone right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
Peroni shook his head. “Some foul-up. I submitted all the right paperwork, but it didn’t get processed properly. Now I have to stay here with my ship impounded, until the matter can be ‘reviewed.’ They won’t even give me an estimate of how long that’ll take.”
Tasia commiserated with him. “Big Goose, big bureaucracy. I wish I could help, but the military doesn’t have anything to do with trade policies.”
Peroni waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
“I need to ask you a question.” Tasia lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I sent my personal compy, EA, to Rendezvous with a warning for Del Kellum at Osquivel.”
Peroni smiled. “You did a great service to all the clans. After what happened there with the drogues, I wouldn’t want to give the Eddies any other excuse to be angry with us.”
Tasia frowned. “But my compy never returned from her mission.”
The merchant didn’t look overly troubled. “Compies aren’t too flexible, you know. Can’t handle complicated problems, not even the best ones. Still, I got the impression EA wasn’t supposed to be away from her assignment for long. She would have followed instructions.”
“Exactly. But she’s not