Victory Conditions Read Online Free Page A

shouldn’t be eating this,” she said first, taking a small mouthful of berry pie. “My husband—and I do not wish to become plump, you understand.”
    Stella, already halfway through her own pie, thought Sera Louarri was already overthin. Did her husband like her that way? And what, in Cascadian custom, was the polite response?
    Sera Louarri did not wait for a response. “I am reassured by what you tell me of your family, and having met you, by you yourself. It did bother us that you were only Toby’s guardian, not his mother. I understand the events that made that necessary. And I apologize for being influenced by the unfortunate revelations in that legal matter.”
    A tactful way of saying that Stella was a notorious criminal’s bastard. Stella admired the woman’s euphemistic skirting of brutal fact. “It certainly came as a surprise to me,” she said.
    “Of course. And your adoptive family was, both from what you say and by the evidence of your own behavior, what we could hope for in one of Zori’s companions. I hope you do not find our concern too offensive.”
    “Not at all,” Stella said. “Your daughter is a lovely girl, and any responsible parent would be concerned.” Should she add that she was equally concerned that Zori be suitable for Toby? Probably not; it might be construed as an insufficiently veiled insult.
    “We would very much like to have Toby visit us at home,” Sera Louarri said. “When my husband is there, perhaps for lunch? Not a school day, of course.”
    “I’m sure he would be delighted,” Stella said. Sera Louarri suggested the next nonschool day, and Stella accepted on Toby’s behalf. She returned to the office refreshed; though there were monsters loose in the universe, boys and girls still fell in love, and parents and guardians still schemed to keep them safe.

 
    CHAPTER
TWO

    T oby picked up slang as easily as any other information, and Zori Louarri, out of class, had a colorful collection of words that sounded like nothing else. “Bistim gai,” she said, nudging him with an elbow and glancing at a schoolmate neither of them much liked. Bortan asked questions just to delay the class.
    “Prot,” Toby said. It was like a secret language, Zori’s slang, a way around Cascadia’s fussy formality. And so far no one had complained about it. Everyone had been on edge anyway, with more to worry about than adolescents using slang that might—if understood—be rude.
    “E-prot,” she said, grinning. It was rude, very rude indeed, but it was also funny. Toby grinned back. She switched to normal language. “My parents will be pleased to meet you, I’m sure. I know Mother has been—” She paused, clearly thinking how to say it; they both knew that her mother and Toby’s aunt had locked horns with the utmost courtesy and determination. “—less than understanding of your family’s position back home. Now that the Slotter Key ansible is back up—”
    “They’ll find out the family was nearly destroyed. That should definitely help.” Toby felt worse the closer they got to Zori’s parents. They lived in Cascadia Station’s most exclusive neighborhood, The Cone, with live trees along both sides of the pedestrian-only street. Cone Park, outside the gates, was the station’s largest, and held a small grove of pines. If Zori’s parents wouldn’t listen to Stella, why would they listen to a boy under legal age? He felt much older than his official age, but he knew that did not matter. He was Stella’s ward, and too young to plead his own case.
    “Something helped, or they wouldn’t have invited you to meet them,” Zori said. She glanced back over her shoulder. “Your cousin is still mistrustful, I see.”
    Toby could think of nothing polite to say. Stella had told him, over and over, why he must have security along on this social occasion. Clearly she did not trust either Station Security or Zori’s parents, and that was a form of insult. But he was her ward;