Dining Hall, Archon's Residence, Triad, Tharkad, 2000 hours, three weeks later...
"Your Highnesses." Elizabeth offered blankly, "I seem to be feeling under the weather, may I be dismissed, for some air please?"
It was a fairly strange greeting, Victor shot Katherine a questioning look.
"Yes, of course. The west balcony is fairly private, Duchess, no one will disturb you there." Katherine Steiner-Davion's tone was both gracious, and commanding.
"Thank you." the young Lady of Kowloon hurried away.
"Okay, Kat, I'm confused, who is that, and why is she here?" Victor asked.
"that is the Duchess of Kowloon-the same one that made a stir a few months ago by nailing four of Hopper Morrison's men to crosses." Katherine told him.
"And she is not-in-prison why?" he asked.
"She's underage." Katherine told him, "At least, that's what Luvon thinks. Mother decided to pardon her...she is the main reason your ammunition shipments have been arriving on-time."
"and why does she need privacy?" he asked.
"Because it is rude to shoot up in the royal bathroom." Katherine told him bluntly, "and certainly worse to do it in the dining hall-she's sick-she has already been rejected by every military academy in both the Federated Suns, and the Lyran Commonwealth, and I do not think anyone will take her now that we are the Federated Commonwealth."
"and she's here why?" he asked, "Why isn't she in a hospital if she's that ill?"
"She won't get better." Katherine told him, "Ever. She is, however, extremely useful to the realm-she makes supplies MOVE, and she has a gift for getting other industrialists to work for the good of the nation over their own profits. She has been...remarkably useful to me while you were on the front."
"wait, you put a sick, under-aged-"
"No, She is not in charge of anything, I simply suggest to her that someone is being a problem, and she solves the problem." Katherine told him.
Victor mulled this over. "HOw?"
"She is very convincing." Katherine told him, "I think it helps that she personally executed two men for embezzlement on her homeworld, including one that was a long-time friend of her father's." Kate mimed a handgun, "bang. Right between the eyes at about one meter. She televised it, I think Curiatis may even have a copy..."
Victor put his drink down, nodded to his bodyguard, "Excuse me, Katherine." he said, and hurried across the floor to the north balcony exit.
In the pale light, he found her sitting on the railing, looking down the hundred fifty meter drop to the street below.
"you're not going to jump, are you?" he asked.
"nope." she answered, "not going to jump-the poor bastard that would have to clean up the mess doesn't deserve that."
"So...Katherine tells me you're 'useful'...how can my rule manage to uphold it's ideals, if you're out there threatening to shoot people?" he demanded.
"I don't." Elizabeth told him, "Instead, I threaten to put their orders on account delays, or threaten not to renew service contracts, or threaten their priority status. It's what you do, when you're the only option that isn't comstar for factory technologies...I had to threaten to drop Bradford's account entirely if he didn't stop trying to gouge the AFFC...and he still owes me fifteen billion Kroner from the updates to his plants two years ago."
she looked over her shoulder at the First Prince, "I only shoot people when they deserve it, when reason doesn't penetrate, or they let their greed get so out of control that it imperils the whole rest of my business. They won't let me shoot Clanners, so I make sure the guys they DO let shoot them, have enough ammo and guns to shoot them."
She reached into her jacket pocket, and pulled out a flat metal case and a match. "I'd offer you one, Highness, but you need to be in top form for killing the invaders...and these things will give you cancer."
'I'll take one anyway." He said.
she offered the case, and he took one of the cigarettes out. she lit hers, and offered him the flame.
"I'll save it." he said, "For later. How old are you?"
"Sixteen." she said, "yeah, that's supposedly too young, but the Regent Dad left in charge when he went out to fight the invaders was crooked and had to go."
"I've heard the story." victor said, leaning on the railing, "At least, the part where you televised shooting him in the head."
"Two guys." She said, "him, and the local executive who was supposed to be watching the store. One was stealing from taxpayers, the other was stealing from me." she took a drag. "Had to make it public so the riots would stop. I had to show my folks I was serious about not letting that happen again."
"and the pirates?" he asked.
"Green Machine was deployed in dribs and drabs half way across the province, Regulars were tied up fighting on the Clan front..." she shrugged, "so I made us look scary-crucify four of them, send one back to Hopper with his colleagues' heads in a bag, and a note that said 'do not come back'. I even paid his freight to make sure the delivery would get there...also, I only put one on a cross, the other three were rapists-I put them on Elbar Toothpicks and sent a home video of their trial and execution...if I remember right, you were mucking about on Combine worlds when that went down...but I could be wrong."
Victor made a disgusted face, "how did someone like you get in that position?" he demanded.
"Dad died in '50, Both brothers dead by '52, Mom tried to murder-suicide me when the rescue op for Henry failed." she listed off, "that left me as sole heir, my inheritance-which I wasn't ever supposed to be in charge of, was being squandered by appointed Regents and crooked executives, so I took action, threw the bums out, and got to fixing what had been broken. I don't see why you'd have a problem with that." her tone was level through the entire thing, "It's not like people like me are that important to the grand schemes here in the core...besides, I've got twenty-four years tops before I have to decide whether to eat a bullet, or die screaming."
"Katherine mentioned you were ill." he said, "What is it?"
"Cholmann's Syndrome-it's a nasty combo of recessives, three documented stages, I've been stage one for about four years." she said, "means I can control the pain with prescriptions. Stage two and it's needing Narcotics and antiseizure meds. Stage three? nobody's invented a drug that can let you stay rational and sane by stage three, the only thing anyone can do for you, is end it." she smiled at him, and mimed a pistol shot to her temple, "it's amazing how much you can accomplish, when you don't have to plan to get old, and it's also amazing what you can live with, when you know the pain isn't going to ever stop, or get better. you really find out what is important to you when you have that...and what you can afford to not care about because you'll never have time to regret."
He felt a chill, "What's important to you?" he asked.
"In order of precedence? my People, my business, the Commonwealth. Everything else is unimportant." she said, "Me especially. when I finish what I've set out to do, and when I die, nobody will have to care-MY people will be able to go on without someone like me..." she cocked her head, took a drag, "can you say the same?"
Victor sighed. "I don't know what you mean." he told her.
"Right now, while I'm here, I've got the best experts I could hire back home, rebuilding the pre-Amaris constitutional government of Kowloon." she told him, "I've got the best experts I could hire re-building a civil service system so that it works, I imported teachers and historians and Legal experts, Economists and businessmen, to rebuild the economy. If all that expense is borne out, when I die, nobody will be impacted-life will go on, prosperous, free life...assuming you keep the ****** Clans out, and Tharkad doesn't meddle until we're done...they won't need a liege-lord, a ducal family, none of that-it'll be ceremonial and that's it. There are other worlds in the Lyran Commonwealth that do just fine without a noble family or dynasty."
"no plans for heirs or successors?" he asked.
"Are you Kidding? look at me-I'm a ****** defect." she shook her head, "There is no way in hell I will ever have time to get pregnant, squirt out a couple of babies, and raise them. I'm dead by forty, and maybe not having kids is what my ancestors should have done. They didn't, but that just means I have work to be doing, and instead of doing it, I'm stuck here, doing busywork and reading reports that are weeks late, because I can't leave without permission."
He gave her a serious look, then said, "You really believe that."
"Can't lift without clearance, can't ditch the Estates until I'm sworn in and recognized, can't get sworn in and recognized until the government's 'official period of mourning' is concluded and you've been through your coronation." she counted it off on her fingers, "I'm stuck here, Your Highness, but I have a LOT of work to be doing, and not a lot of time to do it-and that time's getting shorter every hour of every day that I'm stuck on Tharkad instead of doing my job."
