Island in a Sea of Stars Read Online Free Page A

sloppy in front of one group of people, then dress in fine clothes and act like an esteemed leader in front of others. He had worked so hard at his persona that he had forgotten how to do otherwise. When people looked at him, they would think of a Speaker for the clans. Considering his credentials, there really wasn’t any doubt that he would be elected. Still, he wouldn’t assume.
    As he entered the colorful turmoil of Newstation, Iswander made a point of greeting everyone he encountered, station personnel and visitors alike. Some of them gave him a sidelong glance and a cold shoulder, though most acted professional. Others seemed pleased to have a Roamer celebrity among them.
    He took a rail shuttle that traveled along the circumference of the station, and though the rail was straight, the curvature of the torus made it look as if the rail shuttle were constantly heading up a steep hill. He checked into his rooms, found them adequate and comfortable.
    His wife and son wanted to travel to Newstation for a vacation, but Iswander had always been too busy. Men like him didn’t take vacations. Still, there was only so much fire and lava a person could look at. If he was elected Speaker for the clans, then Londa and their thirteen-year-old son Arden would move to Newstation and spend all the time here they liked.
    In the room’s cleansing cubicle he took a mist shower. The convocation would not happen until the next morning, and he intended to be well-rested and well-rehearsed. He had to convince these people that he was far superior to his opponent Sam Ricks, a man who had little fire in him. Sam Ricks didn’t know business, didn’t know how to interact with the Confederation. He thought he wanted to be the Speaker merely because it seemed like something to do.
    Lee Iswander, however, wanted it. This was the next natural step in the progression of his career. His mindset and his business acumen was the right Guiding Star for the future of the Roamers.
    In his quarters, Iswander sat reviewing his datapad. He looked through the windowport as the view slowly changed from stars to the fleeting lights of space traffic, the cracked surface of the planet below, then to the open field of stars again.
    He called up his concise presentation, though he knew the clan representatives were familiar with his biography. (And if they didn’t know who he was, what business did they have choosing leaders?) Some might call him pushy, abrasive … but he liked to think of it as being daring, unapologetic about his drive to succeed. Why should that be a thing to be ashamed of? He worked hard and wanted everybody to work hard, to exceed expectations, to seize opportunities that arose. The Roamers needed a bold man with an exuberant can-do attitude.
    He could have spent the night in the shops, restaurants, or drinking establishments on Newstation, buying items he didn’t want in order to earn goodwill from certain clan members, but he preferred to be alone. Rubbing elbows and smiling, and being everyone’s friend—that was the hard part, much more difficult than envisioning spectacular projects.
    In his quarters, he practiced his speech and wished he could have reviewed it with Elisa Reeves, because she was supportive as well as intelligent. She could give him that objective read and tell him what he needed to fix, whereas his wife would merely smile and applaud whatever he said. That was good for his ego, but not necessarily instructive.…
    He rested, rose early, practiced his speech again, and found that the rehearsing only made him feel less natural, so he scrapped it all. He put on the suit that Elisa said made him look like a leader, and traveled to Newstation’s primary meeting chamber.
    It was a big room with lines of seats that extended up the curvature of the walls so that the attendees in the outer rows looked as if they might fall forward into the speaking area, but the station’s