The being clicked the key into a large control panel. Lights flashed. Circuits began to whirr. The being said, “Because her awakening is already paid for. The others are debtors and cannot be awakened until their debts are paid.”
Clara’s mouth dropped open. Renall had never told her he had paid for the awakening, which was expensive. She looked at Joshua and Benson. They both looked back at her steadily.They must think I paid it off.She decided not to mention it had been Renall. If she did, they would want to know why, and there was no way she wanted to admit to them that she had fallen in love again, and been betrayed and wounded yet again for her trouble.
The being said, “Ah there we are,” as an arc of blue light ran over the cryo box. The box took on a hazy glow and then Megda, Clara’s mother, sat up, her slim hands clutching the sides of the box and her mouth hanging open as she coughed hard, expelling the cryo fluid from her mouth. Her hair hung damp and tangled, and her face wore a fine misty coating of nitrolen, the chemical used to help prevent cryo-thaw.
Benson whispered, “Oh my…” then he rushed forward, all words forgotten in his haste to get his wife out of that box and hold her again.
Tears sprang into Clara’s eyes, but they were happy tears. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Her mother tottered and stumbled, her legs unsteady. That was normal. It would take her a little while to readjust. They all stood there hugging each other and talking softly for a few minutes while Megda got her bearings. The being eventually announced Megda could depart the bay.
They had to pay the credits at the door again. Megda asked, “What is that about?”
Joshua said, “This is the worst coin grubber place I have ever seen.”
Megda was clearly confused but willing to accept that at face value. They made their way along the hall. Joshua led the way to the chamber he and Benson shared. As they stepped inside, Magda’s stomach let out a low grumble. She slapped a hand to it with a wince. “Sorry.”
Clara wrapped an arm around her mother’s frail shoulders. “It’s okay. There is plenty of food here.”
“Not cheap, is it?” Megda gave her a small smile.
Clara shook her head. “We have credits; don’t worry.”
Joshua ordered food for all of them. Clara sat down next to her mother and father. They all looked at each other but didn’t speak for long minutes while Megda tried to get her bearings.
The food came. Clara picked at her tray. Megda finished her food and then Clara’s. Color came to her face, and eventually, she sat back and spoke in her old brisk tone. “So, where are we and how did we get here?”
Clara said, “Joshua and Father escaped the serio-max and used the hidden stash of credits to follow us. I was put on what was supposed to be a bride ship but wasn’t. Wreckers, who, as it turned out, were using their stripping profits to fund this hall and other business ventures, took it. The man who was on the wrecking crew discovered I was a carder when he got my file. He gave me a job here and had you body smuggled out of the prison. Father and Joshua had already escaped by then, though I didn’t know it. Once they found out where we were, they came here.”
Megda said, “I see. And where is here exactly?”
“It’s Orbitary. It’s a business planet. The halls are legal here as are tables. I have made a good deal of credits in my time here, and Joshua and Father have been busy accruing many more.”
Megda sipped at the water. Her eyes roved the chamber. “I see. I take it going back to Old Toronto or anywhere on our planet is not a good thing.”
“No.” Joshua shifted in the chair.
Benson said, “I think that is lost to us now. There is no way, even with the genetic lifts, that we can do that.”
Megda smiled. “I must admit that at first, I could not figure out who the two men with my daughter were. But then you touched me, and I knew.”
Clara’s heart gave another throb. That was what she wanted. A love so great that not even a change in facial features could hide the person she loved from her sight. She said, “But we have all already agreed that it is too expensive here.”
Just then, the credit due kiosk whirred, delivering the bill for their dinners. Megda said, “I see that. So where do we go?”
There was a tap on the door. Joshua stood and went to it. He opened the door and stepped back. “Clara, you have a visitor it seems.”
Her heart dropped. Her pulse sped up as Renall entered the room slowly. His handsome face wore a determined expression. His eyes fastened on hers and she swallowed hard. “I was going to the tables, but there was a game…”
“I am not here about that.”
Megda asked, “Who are you?”
“He’s Renall,” Clare said miserably. “He owns the hall. He is the one who had you smuggled here.”
Her heart ached as Renall came closer. He said, “I broke the pact between Morilan and myself. I…I know I am asking a lot but…I wanted to ask you again, and in private, but since this involves your family too now, here is a good time and place I believe. I want you to wed me, Clara. I realize that I am asking a lot. You would have to live on a primitive planet outside the Federation’s reach, but also outside their assistance. There is no hall there and will never be. There is—”
He didn’t get to say anything else. Clara’s chair hit the floor. Hope hit her so hard she nearly doubled over. She spoke in a trembling voice. “You broke the pact? What about the defense of the planet?”
“I will defend it myself if I have to.” His chin came up. “I have forgotten too much of my own history, it seems. I have been a warrior before, and I can be one again.”
