I collected Kade from the canteen where I’d left him and took him to the administration section. There was a wide room with rows of desks that people used as temporary office space when they needed them, so I sat him at a terminal and got him reading through the latest terraforming reports on the area west of Hon, before turning my attention to catching up on my own reports and filtering through the various updates on military activity that I’d missed while I’d been on mission.
We stopped for lunch, and just as we were finishing up, Henderson pinged my comm. I led Kade back to his office, finding the door open and Henderson waiting at his desk.
“You’re going to have an interview with Colonel Henderson,” I told Kade, watching him closely for any kind of reaction, either positive or negative. “He’s working through the formal enrolment process to sign you up for the Alliance military. We haven’t had a dimari enlist before, so we’re largely going through the normal recruitment process, albeit that we’re cutting a few corners, given that you’ve already had extensive training. Henderson is going to ask you a series of questions on a range of topics; your training, your abilities, your loyalties, your understanding of Alliance politics. Don’t worry if you don’t know some of the answers. That’s to be expected. But I want you to answer him honestly at all times, and provide any information that you believe is relevant to the various questions. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Kade answered me promptly.
“Very good. I’ll be in the office. Come and find me when you’ve finished.”
“Yes, sir.”
I walked away, feeling unexpectedly anxious about leaving him there alone. Would he respect Henderson’s authority? Would he answer the questions appropriately? What if he got overwhelmed by the intense scrutiny? What if he actually turned out to be some kind of spy?
The likelihood of that was minimal. The ship he’d been on had been shot down and he’d landed in a random part of the jungle. The chances of him having been designed to spy on this base in particular, or even on this planet, were slim.
But not impossible.
I did my best to concentrate on my work, always keeping half an ear out for a ping on my comm; Colonel Henderson letting me know he was finished, or calling me to come and console a distraught dimari.
Neither happened, and about two hours later, Kade found me still at my computer, struggling to take in an incredibly boring report on the distribution of aquifers beneath the western desert.
I looked up as he sat down in the chair next to mine. “How did it go?” I asked him, bracing myself for all manner of answers. In all honesty, what I expected most was for Kade to just say ‘Fine’. So far, he hadn’t demonstrated much in the way of independent conversation capabilities.
“It was interesting,” he said. “Your hierarchy is more complex than the Eumadians’ military. But Henderson is dubious about my ability to follow anyone’s orders other than yours. I tried to assure him that so long as there was no obvious conflict between your orders and theirs, there wouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not sure he believed me.”
That was the most I’d heard Kade say in one sitting since I’d met him. And his assessment of Henderson was unexpectedly insightful.
But he wasn’t finished. “He was also very concerned that I was sent here as a spy.”
“Were you?” I asked, not sure what sort of response I was expecting.
“No. My orders were to bond to you and to protect you. Everything else is just… whatever you tell me to do.”
That sounded like the perfectly ordinary purpose of every other dimari in the galaxy. “So the Eumadians don’t have any particular interest in Rendol 4? Or in the Alliance in general?”
“If they do, then I’m not aware of it.”
“Fair enough. Do you think you can tolerate more terraforming reports, or are you sick of those yet?”
Kade blinked, and the unusually carefree expression on his face vanished. “I am here to serve your needs. I will read whatever you feel should be my priority.”
So now we were back to rote answers. I really wasn’t sure whether that answer was a closeted declaration of boredom, or simply a statement of obedience. I decided to err on the side of caution. “Well, how about we mix it up a bit and you can read some info on the local wildlife. There’s not a whole lot of it around, but some of the lizards can give you a nasty bite if you’re not careful.”
With Kade suitably occupied, I got back to work, and by the time I’d finished my reports, it was five o’clock.
Henderson caught us as we were crossing the canteen on the way to the train station and pulled me aside, out of earshot of Kade.
“Sorry I couldn’t catch up with you earlier. I’ve been putting out fires all afternoon. But I don’t see any issues with security, so far as Kade is concerned,” he said, summing up the interview. “His loyalty is to you, but he’s aware that you’re part of a much larger organisation. He’s prepared to work within our rules and regulations, for as long as that doesn’t directly conflict with any order you give him. I’ll have to wrangle a few things with the higher-ups and put certain restrictions on his service. He’d have to be permanently assigned to your team, for example, and any infraction on his part would be considered your responsibility. If you’re willing to take that on, then I’ll see what I can do.”
I nodded. “I honestly think this is for the best,” I said. “If I find any new information that says otherwise, I’ll discuss it with you, but until then, I’d like to see where this goes.” Having meaningful work was certainly not the only piece of the dimari happiness puzzle, but if it kept him stable for long enough for me to figure out the rest, I’d take it.
“Fair enough,” Henderson said. “Enjoy your break. I’ll see you in a week.” Most of the planet-based military staff ran on a three week schedule;two weeks on, one week off. And thankfully, after nearly a full week stomping about in the jungle, I was due for some time off.
We collected Kade’s weapons from the security locker where we’d finally decided to store them and headed for the train station on the western side of the base. I had only a small backpack myself, since most of my equipment was stored here. My dirty uniforms would be laundered and sent back to my room, my weapons were kept in the armoury, and the camping supplies I’d taken into the jungle had been returned to the supply desk to be cleaned and replenished as needed.
The train ride home took about twenty minutes. Hon was a well-designed city, arranged in a spider-web-like design, with local hubs connecting residents to essential services, and fast transport networks linking to other hubs in a streamlined fashion.
We stopped at a small supermarket outside the train station to pick up some food for dinner, and then it took only five minutes to walk to my home; a small but comfortable villa in a neat complex. “This is mine,” I told Kade, leading him to the door. On the way home, I’d told him more about the city and my work rotations, along with the detail that we had a week off. He’d seemed oddly apprehensive about that, but I hadn’t been able to figure out why.
