Bechimo
En route
There was mail.
Quite a lot of mail, and most of it, Theo saw, as she scrolled down the screen, pertinent. Or possibly pertinent. There were several files, from Val Con and from Jeeves, and a letter from Miri.
Theo opened that first.
Theo, Shan let us know he’s sending you on to Tinsori Light to help out while he finishes up some business. Wanted to let you know it’s not going to just be you and yours. Gordy’s on the way, too—to set up a trade office and be trader-on-the-spot. Gordy’s Shan’s foster-son, so that makes him your cousin. Expect him soon, but behind you.
We’ve already got people in place—Val Con’s putting together a file for you. Real quick, though, so you’ll have the names—Tocohl Lorlin. Jeeves’s daughter, and a cousin. Tocohl’s handling station functions. Jen Sin yos’Phelium, a cousin, is first light keeper. Hazenthull nor’Phelium’s on detached duty from here to there, backing up her partner, Tolly Jones, who you’ll be relieved to hear isn’t a cousin. Seignur Veeoni—Uncle’s sister. Lorith—the last original light keeper, out from the Old Universe, riding the wave in like your Pathfinders. Might be they’ll all three have some things to talk about.
I know you keep your crew informed, so feel free to share the files around. I’m thinking that Bechimo and Joyita could might be useful to Tocohl, who hardly had time to get born before we sent her off to help out with Admiral Bunter.
Theo frowned.
“Is there a problem?” Bechimo murmured for her alone.
“Not a problem, just a list of people on Tinsori Light right now. One of them is Jeeves’s daughter Tocohl—who was sent out to Jemiatha’s Jumble Stop to help out with Admiral Bunter. You remember that, I know.”
“Of course,” Bechimo said, easily. There’d been a time when he would’ve gotten irritated by the insinuation that he might forget something. “She was sent to assist the mentor. I did ask Jeeves the mentor’s name, in case we should have need again. Tollance Berik-Jones, according to Jeeves, is the greatest living practitioner of his art.”
Theo blinked.
“Good to know,” she said, glancing at Miri’s letter. “Could that contract to Tolly Jones for every day?” she asked.
“Perhaps. Why do you ask?”
“Because Miri has him on Tinsori Light, and says he’s Hazenthull nor’Phelium’s partner, but not my cousin.”
“None of these things excludes the other. Is Admiral Bunter also at the Light?”
“Not that Miri mentions. About Tocohl, though. Miri says that you and Joyita could maybe give her some help. She’s taken over station functions, but she’s young…”
“Young, and not born to be a station,” Bechimo said, sharply. “Yes, we will assist. Or, rather, I will assist in any way I am able. Joyita may decide otherwise.”
It would be a wonderful thing if he did, Theo thought, Joyita only being as curious as four dozen kittens.
“I’ll ask him,” she said, and returned to the letter.
We’re told Tinsori Light was an Independent Logic from the Old Universe. We’re also told that it died, more or less at the same time Ren Zel undertook his little trick to save the universe. While that’s good to hear, the station hardware’s Old Tech from the basement to the roof, and everything’s ripe for just going wrong, even without a bad actor behind it.
Now we’ve got the station, we’d naturally like to keep it, especially given where it is. The bright idea there is most of the station’s callers will be Free Ships and their friends, so Scout Commander yos’Phelium will be seen as having put his whole paycheck on the spot to win. Which you’ll understand he figures as being to his benefit.
General home news is that we had a little excitement, but we’re past that now. Ren Zel and Anthora are still stopping with the Healers; Pat Rin won the election; Nova’s working on her legend; Kamele and Kareen are about to publish the first Compiled History of Surebleak, Lizzie’s walking, except when she’s not.
Drop a note every so often to let us know you’re still alive, right?
Miri
Theo sighed, flicked over to the list of files Val Con and Jeeves had sent. Dossiers on everybody Miri’d mentioned as being at the Light. Background on Tinsori Light. History. Goals.
“Joyita,” she said.
The lower left tile on her screen flickered, and he looked out at her from his comm room.
“Captain Theo?”
“Distribute the files from Val Con and Jeeves to all crew, required reading for our next meeting in—”
She glanced at the time.
“Three shifts.”
“Will do. Anything else?”
“N—yes. Jeeves’s daughter Tocohl assumed all functions of Tinsori Light Station when the previous operator died. She’s young, and Miri’s thinking she’d welcome experienced people to talk to and to help her sort her situation out. Are you willing to pitch in on that?”
A grin split Joyita’s brown face, which made him look more piratical than usual.
“I’d be delighted,” he said, so sincere you couldn’t not believe it.
“Good,” Theo said. “That’s all I’ve got.”
“Captain,” he said, and his tile blanked.
Theo sighed, and pushed out of her chair.
She needed to ask Kara if she wanted her new bowli ball to be match-rated or free-play.