The Sardonyx Net Part 43

"See Michel? Absolutely not!" said U-Ellen. "It's been years since he communicated with us. Indeed, his rather misplaced sense of duty is part of the reason I am here." Reaching to the cabinet, he lifted a straw fan and fanned himself with languid strokes. His nails were pale green.

Rhani wondered if he knew the value of the information he had just given her. He was so pompous.... But beneath his uxorious facade she sensed intelligence, caution, and malice. She would have to take care with him.

She said, hoping to hear more about Michel A-Rae, "He claims to be very moral. I a.s.sume he finds his family's connection with The Pharmacy repugnant?"

As she said it, she remembered A-Rae describing how he had repudiated his family because they profited from the slave system. Her nerves began to vibrate.

U-Ellen said, "Moral is as moral does. He was an unpleasant child, very bossy and possessive. A charming bully. Perhaps you know the type?"

Domna Sam, Rhani thought. "Yes," she said.

"One man's morality," U-Ellen intoned, "is another's prison." Rhani had heard the dictum before. She wondered if U-Ellen was feeding her a tissue of lies. She did not think so. She sipped the punch again. U-Ellen continued, "It's fascinating you know, how history alters according to who writes the books. Michel now claims he has always hated the slave system. Yet at one time he wanted to be a medic, and to work on the Net. His ambition was quite vigorous, really." He smiled, and stretched his arms. "But I did not come to Chabad to talk about my cousin."

He seemed quite at home in the hot courtyard. Rhani's neck hurt. She wanted badly to shake him up, but could not see how to do it. Isobel would have known, she thought.

"I have a proposal to make," U-Ellen said. "More punch?"

"No."

"Then let me begin by acquainting you with a few simple facts about the drug trade."

Rhani's muscles stiffened. "Citizen," she said tightly, "I doubt there is anything that you can tell a Yago about the drug trade."

He stubbed out his cigarette and looked at her. "Domna, please. I am not insulting you. There are facts that neither you nor any other Chabadese resident knows. Just listen."

Rhani said, "Go on." A sand lizard, impelled by curiosity or perhaps drawn by the smell of the smoke, wriggled through a crack in the stone by U- Ellen's right ankle.

"You know the drug laws," U-Ellen said. The sunlight winked off the jewels on his hands as he brought the tips of his fingers together. "The Federation, in its wisdom, forbids the inter-sector sale of certain drugs, among them dorazine. Many decades ago, a criminal consortium known as The Pharmacy began to manufacture dorazine and transport it to this sector. The dorazine formula is a carefully guarded secret -- so secret, in fact, that chemists working in the Enchanter labs have been unable to a.n.a.lyze the drug or discover how it is made."

"I know this," Rhani said.

"Bear with me, Domna. More wine?" He lifted a decanter. Dana shook his head, declining. "Domna, more punch? No? Well, to continue -- about fifty years ago, The Pharmacy approached us, Pharmaceuticals, Inc., I mean. They were having manufacturing problems. They had started out as a transport network, and had no real idea of efficient production methods. You can imagine how they tried to run a plant! They asked us for advice. We agreed to sell it to them." He lit another cigarette.

Rhani watched the lizard. It had settled next to U-Ellen's discarded gown, and was tasting the green fabric with an orange tongue. Stay detached, she told herself. Don't get excited. Remember what Isobel said...."That's very interesting."

U-Ellen was somewhat nettled. It pleased her that it showed. He sucked hard on the cigarette and blew the smoke out with force. "In exchange for this a.s.sistance, we bought a twenty percent interest in The Pharmacy."

"What?" Dana said.

"Yes," said U-Ellen. "We had hoped to buy the dorazine formula from them, but they adamantly refused to sell it. However, everything we could learn about them convinced us that we would not regret our twenty percent."

"And have you?" Rhani said.

"Our profits have been on the order of thirty million credits per year."

Dana said, "Sweet mother." His lean face was awed.

Rhani scowled. "I would like some more punch, please." She handed U-Ellen her gla.s.s; startled by the movement, the lizard scurried to its hole. U-Ellen refilled her gla.s.s with the sweet, cool liquid, and she sipped it. "Thank you."

She watched him over the rim of the gla.s.s. "How has Michel A-Rae's behavior as captain of the drug detail affected those profits?" U-Ellen studied the fabric of his pants with great interest. After a pause, he said, "Badly. The Pharmacy now wishes to halt the manufacture of dorazine."

Rhani's nerves quivered. "That would be foolish."

"We think so, too," U-Ellen said. "Not that Pharmaceuticals, Inc., would not survive. We would probably do quite well, since we hold the sector manufacturing patent on pentathine." He coughed. "However, our pentathine plant, while adequate for current manufacturing needs, is quite small, and in order to upgrade it we would need to pour money into it, money which we will not get if the present trade restrictions convince The Pharmacy to cease manufacturing dorazine...."

Rhani said, "You have, of course, offered to buy the dorazine formula from them."

"Yes. And this time they agreed to do so." The words should have been triumphant, but there was no joy in U-Ellen's tone.

"And?" Rhani said.

U-Ellen stared at his cigarette tip. "They ask for payment of thirty million credits."

"Fitting," Rhani said.

"You don't understand," U-Ellen muttered. "We don't have it. They want the full amount, you see, and there's no possible way we can liquidate that much capital. Recently members of my family have undertaken certain ventures which have not turned out as well as they expected. A great deal of money was lost."

Rhani said, "I am sorry to hear that you have suffered such vicissitudes."

He scowled. "Therefore," he said, "Pharmaceuticals, Inc. would like to propose that Family Yago join us in purchasing the dorazine formula."

At last, Rhani thought, at last.... She drew a breath. "That's quite an offer, citizen," she said. "Tell me, why did you, in order to reach me, involve yourself and me in this -- charade?" She looked pointedly at her own, and then at U-Ellen's clothes.

Affronted, he said, "Domna, I am wearing usual clothing for _my_ world.

What you are wearing -- well, I a.s.sumed you dressed so by choice."

"I don't mean the clothing," Rhani said. "I mean why not approach me openly? You could have walked to my door and announced yourself. From whom are you hiding, your partners?"

U-Ellen winced. "No, Domna. Though we would rather that they remain unaware of this visit. No, the, uh, people I have been avoiding by living in this rather dispiriting and uncivilized part of town are my dreadful cousin and his henchmen-and-women.

"I see," Rhani said. She rolled the gla.s.s between her palms. U-Ellen picked up the straw fan and waved it. "But A-Rae is no longer powerful, and is being hunted by the Abanat police."

He said, "Until he is located and in custody, I feel I should maintain my current, uh, distance from him, Domna."

Rhani understood his desire to remain unnoticed by his cousin, as well as his unstated lack of confidence in the Abanat police. "I expect he will be in custody soon," she said. She saw Dana grimace, and grinned to herself. She wondered if U-Ellen had heard the rumor which Imre Kyneth had pa.s.sed on to her, and decided to test it. "With A-Rae gone, what do you think will happen on the drug circuit?"

U-Ellen's brown hand whitened on the handle of his fan. "There are rumors that the next captain of the drug detail will be someone from d.i.c.kson's World. I don't know if you know what that means, Domna."

"I know what it means," Rhani said. Well, she thought, if I hear it one more time, I'll know it's true. "So if The Pharmacy does not receive thirty million credits for the dorazine formula from us, they will either cease producing dorazine altogether or possibly sell it elsewhere."

"I doubt anyone would be fool enough to buy it," U-Ellen said. "One could always ask the Federation to legalize it. But the bureaucrats at Nexus Compcenter seem unenthusiastic about drugs now, and by the time the request is received and processed, the drug network will be in jail and there would probably be a major social upheaval on Chabad."

Rhani said, "We do not expect the referendum to take place, citizen, if that's what you mean."

"It isn't. By the time dorazine is made legally importable, Domna, you will have a slaves' revolution on your hands."

"Yes," Rhani said softly. This was the nightmare all Chabadese citizens lived with. U-Ellen was right; only if the manufacture of dorazine could be brought within the sector within the next six months could Chabad, under the current system, survive. History has its own way of protecting the past, she thought. I wonder if Ramas I-Occad will be the revolution's first martyr.

"How much money do you want from me, citizen?" she said.

"Fifteen million credits," he answered. "Fifty percent."

Rhani closed her eyes. Fifteen million credits in liquid a.s.sets: she tried to remember the figures Tak Rafael had shown her.

She might just have it. But to deliver it, without contract or guarantee, to the emissary of a criminal consortium.... She wondered what her mother would say to that. "_Do what you have to do_." That was one of Isobel's favorite sayings. But then there would be expenses of who knew how much for the plant, for workers, for slaves, for all the equipment...."Citizen," she said, "you can hardly expect me to reply to this offer now."

He squirmed. "Domna, I will tell you what The Pharmacy told me. They expect an answer in the next four Standard weeks."

"That's not much time," she said. She rose. "Very well, citizen. I will get back to you. A private letter here will reach you?" He nodded. "Then you will hear from me." She strode to the door. Gathering up his fallen gown, U- Ellen followed her.

"You understand," he said anxiously, "that this offer has not been made?

That if anyone should check, they will find that Loras U-Ellen is in Palaua?"

Rhani smiled sweetly at him. "I understand, citizen," she said. She laid her hand on the door's handle and pulled. Dana stepped out first. He walked up the roadway and back.

"It's clear," he said.

"Good day," Rhani said. She walked into the narrow, dusty street. Fifty percent of thirty million, she thought again. I wonder if Family Yago can indeed come up with fifteen million credits.

Once out of the courtyard and the alley, Dana relaxed. He glanced down the narrow roadway. Two Hypers lounged on a corner, smoking a dopestick, and a woman sat on the steps, but no one was looking at them. He stretched, trying to loosen kinked muscles. Rhani was muttering to herself, face intent. He caught her arm to steer her around a hole. "Where to, Rhani-ka?" he said.

She looked at him. Her eyes were very bright. "You heard nothing of that," she said.

"Nothing of what?" He grinned at her. "Hypers get pretty good at keeping secrets."

As he said it, he thought how stupid it sounded, coming from him. But she did not seem to care, she barely seemed to have heard. "d.a.m.n, I wish I were home," she said.

"You will be," he said. Soon you'll be at the estate, and I'll be gone.

He glanced over his right shoulder at the bright shapes of the shuttlecraft, and a longing hit him for his own s.h.i.+p, for _Zipper_. Resolutely, he shut his mind against it, thinking that if he did not find a way to put a message into the com-unit for Tori Lamonica, he would lose his chance to leave the sector. But Nialle Hamish guarded it like a dragoncat. "Where do you want to go now?" he repeated.

"The Kyneth House," Rhani said. They angled toward the movalong. Dana took her arm as they rode, fearful that in her preoccupation she would lose her balance and fall from the moving strip. He wondered what it would feel like to spend fifteen million credits.

They disembarked the movalong on the Promenade. Suddenly, Rhani stopped dead in her tracks. Dana looked. Waddling toward them, with a dreadful, delighted smile on her face, was Charity Diamos.

"Cousin Rhani!" The squeal turned heads for ten meters in all directions.

"Of course you got my letter so you know how I feel about the destruction of your house, it's a terrible thing, just terrible, and of course the entire city feels for you, such a wonderful house, truly a piece of history: do you know, people are saying the most interesting things? Because of that terrible A-Rae and what he did to you now there won't be a referendum, which I think is best although if we had a referendum I would vote to keep things the way they are, after all they've worked all these years and I always say the old ways are best -- ".

"Charity," Rhani said, "I have an appointment."

Charity Diamos looked from her to Dana, and giggled. "Oh my," she said.

"Yes."

Later, sitting in Imre Kyneth's book-lined study, facing Christina Wu, Rhani wondered what Christina would say if she were asked: "_Should I spend fifteen million credits to buy the dorazine formula_?" But it was too soon to ask for legal advice. She needed to spend several evenings examining her corporate financial records. "Well," she said, "say I want to marry Ferris Dur, can I do it or can't I?"

Christina's good eye blinked. "You could," she said. "The Founders'

Agreement stipulates only that if you do, you and Ferris must both put fifty percent of your Family capital into a trust for the child, or children, that trust to be handled by some third corporate ent.i.ty."

So, Rhani thought, what Ferris told me is true. Rising, she strolled to the bookcase. She had to turn her head to one side to read the t.i.tles of the books. _The Time Machine_, said one. _Last and First Men_, said another. _The Dispossessed_ -- she wondered what that was about. "Would you like a drink?" she asked.

"Thank you, I would," Christina said.

Rhani tugged on the ornate, antique ribbon of tapestry that the Kyneths used to summon their slaves. A slave pushed open the round door. "Wine." she said. "Christina?"

"Wine would be lovely," said the lawyer. The slave bowed and went away.

In a moment he reappeared and came at a crouch through the aperture. Setting it on the desk, he poured wine from a carafe into two gilt-lined gla.s.ses.

"Will that be all, Domna?" he said.

"Thank you, yes," Rhani said. She took one gla.s.s and handed the second to Christina. "And this placing of money in a trust, Christina, would it have to be done immediately, or could it wait, for instance, until a child actually appeared."

Christina frowned. "I don't know. I would have to examine the statutes."

"I see."

They drank in silence. Then Christina said, "Rhani, how long have we known each other?"

Rhani ran her tongue over her lips. "Fifteen years?" she said.

"About that. You returned from Sovka, and then Domna Isobel died. I had only been practicing my profession for a few years." Christina rose. She was truly tiny, about one point three meters tall, and weighed perhaps thirty kilograms. "I like this room; it's almost small enough for me," she said. "I wonder who the architect was. Perhaps I can have it copied, though not, of course, with the books. Rhani, do you _want_ to marry Ferris Dur?"

"It's possible," Rhani said.

Christina said softly, "Despite the fact that while he is Domni Ferris, he is not the chief financial officer of the corporate ent.i.ty that is his Family?"

"He -- isn't?"

Christina shook her head. Her small hands caressed the gilt-edged gla.s.s.

Chabadese gla.s.s, Rhani thought. "No. Family Dur is run by a committee which was formed, before she died, by Domna Sam." She smiled. Her teeth were almost as white as Loras U-Ellen's.

Rhani thought: I wish she had told _me_. She leaned back in the chair.

"You mean," she said, "that Ferris does not control Family Dur's money."

"That's correct," Christina said. "Oh, he has the household accounts, and I believe a fairly extensive private account to pay for his hobbies."

"But why?"

Christina said, "Because Ferris Dur is not quite an adult. Something in him never grew; he mimics maturity but he's not competent in those matters which you, sweetheart, manage by instinct. Why do you think Domna Sam disliked him so?"

"Does Ferris know?" Rhani asked.