Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [143]
"Yreka? What's on Yreka?" Beside him, KR and GU began to recite the vital statistics of the Hansa colony on the edge of Ildiran space, but Kotto shushed them.
"Biggest swap meet in the Spiral Arm," said the one-armed man. "Closest thing to free trade since before the drogues showed up."
"Then that's where I'll go." Maybe he would find his mother, or Speaker Peroni. Kotto thanked the man, took his two compies, and flew away from Sunshine.
He immediately spotted Denn Peroni's Dogged Persistence on Yreka's landing field. The locals had made a thriving business of their new marketplace, setting up full-fledged restaurants and food stalls to cater to the influx of visitors. Now that new ekti was flowing in from Golgen, transportation between orphaned colonies had become commonplace again.
When Kotto stepped out into the bustle, Denn was among the crowd waiting to greet him. Speaker Peroni's father laughed at the bewildered engineer. "I've never seen such a grin! You look like you just found buried treasure."
"Better--I've found people again. It was getting lonely out there."
Surrounded by the hodgepodge of ships and the drone of haggling voices, Denn and Kotto strolled among the vendors. Kotto saw unusual musical instruments, colorful woven sculptures, and gaudily embroidered garments that were obviously more for show than for practicality. With a chuckle, Denn said, "A good indicator of a healthy economy is when people buy completely useless things."
He introduced Kotto to Yreka's Grand Governor. Her long dark hair was streaked with a few threads of silver and hung down to her waist. Her health and mood were thriving with all the business that had come to Yreka. "I have heard much about you, Kotto Okiah. You're the Roamer equivalent of Einstein."
He blushed. "I wouldn't go that far, considering all the mistakes in my track record. I just tried to visit my operations on Jonah 12--it's been wiped out. Reactor overload, or something. I couldn't find any survivors, so I hope they managed to evacuate."
Denn blinked in alarm. "Jonah 12? That's where Cesca was hiding after the destruction of Rendezvous."
Kotto had never considered that. "But why would Speaker Peroni go to a place like that?"
"Hiding from the Eddies. We all were." Clearly disturbed, Denn ran a hand across his long brown hair, fidgeting as he tried to deal with the news.
Kotto swallowed. "Do you . . . um, have you any word about my mother?"
"I thought she was with Cesca, helping out." Denn rubbed his temples. "Shizz, I wish we had decent communications! Nobody knows anything."
"A few green priests would sure come in handy."
The Grand Governor looked at both of them. "Considering how your people are dispersed, Yreka is probably the best place to get information. People come here all the time with fresh news."
As if to prove her point, two more Roamer trading ships arrived. Their captains seemed to be racing each other to display their wares. A stocky woman came forward in a mismatched combination of old work clothes and a beautiful newly bought scarf. Yreka's provisional trade minister handed a datapad to the Grand Governor. "A summary of all the new arrivals, Governor Sarhi. If you want dibs on any particular item, you better hurry. Everyone else is anxious to buy."
"Tell them to go ahead. I've got enough to keep me happy for now."
The people were lighthearted, negotiating prices with good-natured bravado. It seemed like old times. Kotto, however, was distracted by nagging worry. "Aren't you concerned about the Eddies? They'll stomp on all this the moment they find out about it. They don't like Roamers much."
"The Eddies can suck on a radioactive exhaust pipe," Denn said, his voice edgy now. "We're not afraid of them."
The Grand Governor was calmer. "We've put up with enough bullying from the Earth Defense Forces. They embargoed this planet just because we saved a little ekti for ourselves, and then they never answered when we called for help. Now they've written us