Kingdom of Cages(82)

Dionte sat up straighter, her eyes bright with anger. “Yes, Pandora survives. Only Pandora survives. Out of all the hundreds of settlements, only Pandora lives and breathes and has a future left to it. Don’t you understand? They are all dying! And if we let them in here, we are going to die with them! All of us! And Old Earth will perhaps one day send out another wave of colonization and they will repeat the same mistakes and they will die, just like we did, because our minds are too small and our lives are too separate to understand the enormity of our own future.” Tam’s throat tightened. He had expected to see wildness in her eyes. Such words should be accompanied by some look beyond reason. But Dionte’s eyes were clear, and her voice stayed firm. “Our understanding, our bond, between each other and our world has allowed us to survive this long. If we don’t strengthen that bond, we are going to die just like the rest of them.” The veneer of calm cracked then and her voice started to shake. “No, it will be worse, because we could have done something and we didn’t. The Authority will be trying to commit murder, but we’ll be committing suicide.”

Oh, Sister. Tam wanted to feel pity, but instead he felt fear, because he heard her words and he understood them, and because for one heartbeat, he saw how she might be right.

Then her eyes skittered sideways, listening to a voice Tam could not hear, and Tam forced himself to focus on his immediate responsibilities.

The taste of Dionte’s anger alerted her Conscience to their argument. It would be working on her, reminding her what a bad thing it was to be angry at her birth brother. Now he had to force it to work hard. Nothing Dionte said had changed the present facts. The Trusts were still being coerced, and they still needed him.

Tam waved his hand dismissively. “That has nothing to do with Helice Trust.”

“Doesn’t it?” Dionte rose slowly, walking through her reports to face him without any barrier. “Without her there will be no Eden Project. Without Eden, the next wave of invasion will drown us completely.”

“You had no right.” He enunciated each word. “And you had no business interfering in how I chose to proceed. You are a Guardian, Dionte, not an experimenter, and not an administrator.”

“I had every right!” Dionte shouted. “You would have us wait until Pandora is torn apart because you care more for the villagers and the Athenians than you do for your own family!” Her hand rubbed agitatedly at her temple.

Which was his cue. Tam let his face slacken. He turned away, rubbing his own temple and hunching his shoulders.

“Are you well, Brother?” Dionte’s voice softened from anger to concern. If he had calculated correctly, her Conscience would be awakening memories from their childhood, when they played together, when they helped each other through small hurts. Better times, simpler times. She would want to help him now.

“No, no, I don’t think I am.” Tam sat down heavily in the chair she had vacated. He smelled aloe and vanilla at the sound of her concern. Soothing reassurance. He was among his family, safe and secure. Nothing could be wrong here that they could not fix together. He wanted to tell her his worries. He hated being alone. But talking openly with Dionte was too great a risk. He knew that with a certainty beyond the feelings of his Conscience and his own weariness. Dionte had picked her own path long ago, and it was not the same as his. He could never forget that. He would see this through.

Dionte laid a hand on his shoulder. “When it is done, the Trusts will be free, and we will have saved Pandora, and we’ll be able to look to our future.” She shook him gently. “If I agree with you that what we’re doing is not fair, will you feel better?”

Tam let a small smile form on his face. “A little, yes,” he said, concentrating on getting his shoulders to relax.

Dionte spread her hands. “Then I admit it. It is not fair. She was bullied into this out of our necessity. As a result, she and her children will be carefully looked after and living in a level of comfort they have never known before. They might actually be able to find productive work for themselves to do.” She brought her hands back together. “A reasonable trade, don’t you think?”

“Reasonable enough.” He rubbed his temple again. “If it stays that way.”

“What are you afraid will change, Brother?”

“I hardly know.” He shook his head, trying to clear away the illusions of scent and emotion. “Maybe I just fear our troubles and what they will make us do.”

Dionte crouched down in front of him, looking up into his eyes with an expression that was all open concern. “And what would you have me do, Brother, to ease your worries?”