Ms. Grimes looked up from her reading. “There is more boilerplate, obligatory disclaimers, and signatures. This will, in this form, was signed and notarized on May 15, 2369. I’m required to ask if anyone has any disputes with the will as written?”
Genevieve shook her head and held the tissue in front of her mouth. “No.”
Konstantin shook his head. “Thank you, Ms. Grimes. I have no dispute.”
“Zoya?” Ms. Grimes asked.
Zoya sat still as a statue for several long moments. “She used that phrase? Whatever is necessary?”
Ms. Grimes looked down at the document. “Yes. Those exact words.”
“Thank you, Ms. Grimes. I have no dispute.”
Natalya felt dazed. When Ms. Grimes looked at her, she shook her head. “I have no dispute.”
“Thank you,” Grimes said with a pleasant nod to each. “We’re almost done.”
She pulled an envelope from her desk and handed it to Genevieve. “The access codes for your account. Ms. Usoko placed the funds in escrow. These codes will give you access to that account.”
Genevieve took the envelope gingerly, as if it might explode. “Thank you,” she said, her voice barely audible. She looked at Konstantin. “How soon do you need me to leave?”
He shook his head. “You can leave whenever you want as far as I’m concerned but you need to ask the boss.” He looked at Zoya.
Zoya gave herself a shake. “If you could stay for at least a couple of weeks, maybe a month? We can iron this all out back at Big Rock. We’ll work it out.”
Genevieve nodded. “Sure. Of course. I’m just a little unsettled.”
Zoya laughed. “Unsettled? I knew this was all coming and I’m still poleaxed. You don’t have to go anywhere until you’re ready.”
“Thank you.”
Zoya took a deep breath and blew it out. Natalya watched her straighten, watched her eyes moving as she sorted through something in her brain. Every so often she’d nod as if ticking off a list.
“Ms. Usoko?” Ms. Grimes asked. “Are you all right?”
Zoya blinked a couple of times before replying. “Yes, sorry. Just thinking about what I need to do. It’s one thing to know something is in your future and quite another to find out you’re in the future already.”
Her grandfather wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “You’ve got good people to help you. Pietro has the turnover documents ready. He started ... ” Konstantin stopped for a heartbeat and cleared his throat. “He started right away.”
Zoya clasped a hand over her grandfather’s at her shoulder and gave it a pat. “Thank you, Pop-pop. I’ll be fine.”
“Ms. Regyri? Would you like to receive this in private?” Ms. Grimes held up a tablet.
“A tablet?” Natalya said. “I think the cat’s out of the bag already, isn’t it?”
Ms. Grimes laughed. “It’s what’s on the tablet.”
Natalya looked at Zoya and Konstantin. She leaned forward to look at Genevieve before looking back at Ms. Grimes. “Is it something embarrassing?”
Ms. Grimes laughed. “No.”
“I already know,” Genevieve said.
“So do I,” Konstantin smiled over Zoya’s head. “I don’t think it’s embarrassing but we can leave if you’d prefer.”
Natalya shook her head. “All right then.” She held out a hand. “I’m fine with them staying.”
Ms. Grimes put the tablet in Natalya’s hand and crossed her palms over each other on her desk.
The tablet looked like any commercial grade device so she powered it on. A fingerprint scanner appeared and she pressed her thumb to the surface.
“That just registered the device to your thumbprint,” Ms. Grimes said. “The device is yours now.”
Natalya nodded and looked back at the screen. It read “Welcome to Regyri Transport.”
“I have the paperwork prepared to register any name change you might like and the company has no registered trademarks or logos. We can file those at the same time, when you’re ready,” Ms. Grimes said.
Natalya looked at the screen trying to make sense of too many unexpected things. She looked over at Zoya who looked as puzzled as Natalya felt. Natalya swiped the screen and a new document filled the view. “Dearest Natalya. You’ve given me more than I could have dreamed by being Zoya’s friend through the academy and into Toe-Hold space. Not only did you help her survive, you gave of yourself to be the sister she never had. There are not enough credits in the annex to repay that gift and I won’t try.
“After much consideration, I decided to give you the one thing I know you want—a path to becoming a chief engineer. Of course, the only way I could assure myself that it would happen is to give you a ship and the company to run it. You’ll need to crew it with people you trust. You’ll be the only CEO in the Western Annex who’s also an engineering third officer in her own company.
“If you are reading this, there is a ship on order at the Manchester Yards. You’ll need to contact them to verify the order and choose the model you want. The newest Manchester Eighty-eights are lovely but as yet untried. No one would argue against a Barbell. The decision is yours.
“As CEO all the decisions are yours. I am sure you know all this. You can do whatever you decide with this bequest including liquidate the assets.
“Know that I have a selfish motive. We need a regular run from home office in Margary through all of our holdings around the Western Annex. Since your excellent work in taking production vertical at Zvezda Moya, I’ve known we needed to expand into distribution ourselves. In you, I’ve found the perfect candidate to see this germ of an idea to fruition.
“I can’t promise what might come but I have every confidence that there will always be a place for you—and your company—with Usoko Mining.
“Thank you, dearest Natalya. Think of me when you make Chief Engineer.”
Natalya stared at the last line, blinking back the stinging in her eyes. She remembered to breathe eventually and looked up at Zoya. “She gave me a company.”
“I was reading over your shoulder.” Zoya’s eyes had a liquid look. Maybe not enough to spill, but close.
“Do you understand what she’s done?” Natalya asked, looking around Zoya at Konstantin who seemed to have recovered some of his spirit.
“I do,” he said. “The rest is up to you.”
“Will you accept the company, then?” Ms. Grimes asked.
“Of course.” The words were out of Natalya’s mouth before she knew it. “I mean, yes, thank you.”
Ms. Grimes laughed and shook her head. “Don’t thank me. It was Madoka’s idea.”
Konstantin stood and offered Natalya his hand with a grin. “Congratulations on your new pain in the ass.”
Natalya stood and shook his hand. The enormity of it struck her like a right-cross in a bar fight, and she sat back down with a thump. “Wait. No. This is ... ” She tried to breathe and couldn’t seem to get the air in right. “This has to be billions of credits. The ship alone. I don’t even know what a new Barbell would cost. It’s billions, isn’t it?”
Ms. Grimes nodded. “You have an open credit balance with Manchester Yard Holdings of just under five billion. Your company balance sheet shows available cash reserves of another billion. You’ll need to hire a lawyer and an accountant before you do much else.”
Natalya looked at Ms. Grimes, her head spinning but her brain already sorting out priorities. “Your firm? Is it taking new clients?”
“Yes, but you’ll want to find representation with a company that specializes in corporate finance, ideally one with a strong presence in shipping. I can give you some recommendations.” She smiled. “We deal primarily with estates.”
“Billions,” Natalya said. “I was just getting used to being a millionaire.”
She looked up at Konstantin who seemed much more his old self. “You’ve got a lot of decisions to make, but I’m sure you’ll make the right ones.”
&nbs
p; Zoya smiled at her. “Rounding error for Usoko,” she said. “And it’s not yours. It’s the company’s.”
Natalya looked at Ms. Grimes. “Basically true,” she said. “If it makes it easier for you to think about it that way?” She shrugged.
Natalya stood, clutching the tablet to her chest, and held out her hand to Ms. Grimes. “Thank you, Ms. Grimes. I accept. Did you win the bet?”
Ms. Grimes stood to shake Natalya’s hand. “Not yet. You’ll know when I do.”
Chapter 68
Margary Orbital:
2369, May 17
Natalya wanted to get Zoya aside for a little quiet chat, but Konstantin blocked the door to Grimes’s office. “I propose we have a nice dinner out before we return to Big Rock,” he said, his back to the door.
“Don’t be silly, Konstantin. I can have something on the table almost as soon as we get back.”
He took her shoulder and lowered his head to look into her eyes. “You’re going to do no such thing. What you’re going to do is actually sit at the table with us and have a meal. I’m going to pay for it. It will be delicious and we will enjoy it—and the company—and then we’ll all decide where we go from there.”
“But—” she said.
“Am I the most stubborn man you know?” Konstantin asked, cutting her off.
“Well, yes, but—”
“Then you know I can out-stubborn you.”
“Yes,” she said. “But you’ve forgotten one thing.”
“What have I forgotten?” he asked, a small smile on his lips. The first one Natalya had seen since they’d arrived in the system.
Genevieve pointed to the door, or more precisely to the tribe of newsies camped out on the other side. Occasional flashes strobed through the glass.
“Blasted people,” Konstantin reached for the door, a storm on his face and blood in his eye.
“Wait,” Zoya said.
Konstantin turned on her. “What?” He practically bellowed the syllable.
Genevieve stepped between Konstantin and the door, effectively blocking the view in, and keeping Konstantin from getting free access. She grinned at Natalya.
“They followed us from the dock,” Zoya said. “At least one of them did. I saw him when we came out of the small ship bay. He must have called the rest.”
“And?” Konstantin asked, the color rising in his neck.
“And they must know we’re here for the reading. They probably know I’m going to be the next Usoko CEO. I’d bet you a bagel they’ve already dug up the Furtner story and how you vile Usokos practice child labor in your mines because you forced me to captain one of your haulers.”
“They wouldn’t dare.” He turned towards the door but bumped into Genevieve, who held her hands up to his chest.
“Pop-pop.” Zoya’s voice sounded tired.
He turned back to face her.
“Pop-pop. I’m not twelve anymore.”
He seemed to deflate. “I know that, Zajka, but these people—”
“These people are just doing their jobs.” Zoya’s quiet words cut him off. “Now, do you want to cause a scene and give them what they want? A fresh headline? Maybe ‘Kon Job!’ or ‘Rising Star Rises Again!’”
“That last one’s pretty good,” Natalya said.
Zoya nodded. “It’s not bad but they’d make it a question and the story would be whether or not I was really going to be able to take control of a centuries-old company with a record of whatever horrible thing they think we’re doing now.”
Natalya laughed.
Konstantin glowered. “This isn’t funny.”
Zoya put a hand on his chest. “No, Pop-pop. It’s not. I already miss her, too.” She paused to look into his eyes. “Please. Let me handle this?”
He pulled in a deep breath and practically growled as he let it out. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m going to step out and answer some questions. You three are going to stand behind me. I want you right behind me, with Natalya on your left and Genevieve on your right. I want you to be quiet. I will answer questions. You will not answer questions.” She looked at Natalya. “If he starts to speak, elbow in the ribs. He’s tough so don’t go easy on him.”
Natalya bit back the laugh she felt building in her belly. She nodded.
“Genevieve, I don’t know how to protect you,” Zoya said.
“I do.” Ms. Grimes spoke from her office door. “There’s a private entrance to the back corridor. You can all go that way if you’d prefer.”
Zoya nodded. “Great idea. Thank you, Ms. Grimes.” She looked at Genevieve. “If you wouldn’t mind, would you take this poor grieving man out the back way and get him back to the boat dock?”
Konstantin’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “What are you talking about?”
Genevieve said, “Of course, dear. It would be my pleasure.” She linked her arm in Konstantin’s and started down the passage toward Ms. Grimes.
Natalya had to bite the inside of her lip at the sudden vision of the bearlike Konstantin being led along by his arm by the small, rounded figure of Genevieve. He looked like a grizzly being led by a teddy bear.
Zoya looked at Natalya. “You know they’re going to make an issue of two women.”
“Well, we are, aren’t we? Two women?” Natalya grinned. “Wanna blow them away?”
“You mean physically?” Zoya’s eyes grew wider and the color drained away from her face.
“No. Too easy.” Natalya peeked out the window at the growing crowd. “I’m talking about the new freight line.”
“Freight line?” Zoya frowned. “You think they’re going to want to know about business when there’s a corporate empire hanging in the wind?”
“You said it yourself. They’re just doing their jobs. They’d prefer red meat but maybe they’ll settle for actual news.”
Zoya glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t suppose we have much to lose.”
“That’s my thinking.”
“Before we go out? You are going to run that company, aren’t you?”
“Of course, but we need to change the name to something better than Regyri Transport or whatever it was.”
“Agreed.”
Natalya shrugged. “Well, let’s do it.”
Zoya grabbed the handle, pulled the door open, and stepped out into the crowd, Natalya on her heels.
The questions started flying, fast and loud. So loud Natalya felt like she was being blasted back against the bulkhead.
Zoya held up both hands, palms out. She repeated the word “Please?” several times. “I can’t answer you if I can’t hear you and I can’t understand what you’re asking.”
She stood there, just holding her hands up until the throng quieted down. “Let me make a statement. Please let those with recorders get an arm in here.” She stared pointedly at a pair of burly-looking men in rumpled suits near the front. “Let them get an arm in and you can have the first question.”
The two men parted and half a dozen arms thrust through the gap. As far as Natalya could tell the second line of newsies must have been sitting on each other’s laps.
“Your question,” Zoya said, pointing to the newsie. “Just one.”
“Are you home for good, Ms. Usoko?” he asked.
Zoya blinked at him a couple of times. “You get one question and that’s the one you asked? Everything going on with the company, in the system, and around the Western Annex and you ask if I’m home for good?”
The man’s jaw went slack for a moment but before he could speak, Zoya said. “No. I’m taking over a multi-system mining company with operations around the Western Annex. I can’t commit to staying here with that kind of business to run.” She pointed to the other man. “You? Do you have a better question?”
He paused. “I don’t know,” he said and then clamped his jaw shut as the other reporters in the crowd laughed at him.
Zoya smiled. “Go ahead. Ask.”
“Are you ready to
step into your grandmother’s shoes?”
Zoya looked at him. “What makes you think I’m not stepping into my grandfather’s shoes?”
The newsie’s face blanked for a moment. “He wasn’t the one who died?”
Zoya pursed her lips and grinned at him. “You’re correct. My grandmother is the one who passed away and I’m the heir apparent.” A rustling swept the crowd. “But,” Zoya said. “My grandfather is stepping down from his position in operations. He’ll be retiring as soon as we can effect a transition.” She looked at the newsie who’d asked the question. “So I could have been stepping into my grandfather’s shoes. I don’t think you thought the situation through.”
A woman in the second row waved a hand.
Zoya nodded. “Yes?”
“Can you tell us where you’ve been since you graduated from the academy?”
“I banged around the Western Annex for a while. For the last stanyer and a bit, I’ve been working on a new operation. I can’t tell you the location or any particulars other than to say, it might be the largest, most complex operation Usoko Mining has undertaken to date.”
“Why can’t you tell us?” she asked.
“I could be coy and say I don’t know but I’m sure you wouldn’t believe me.” That got a laugh. “The boring answer is that it’s protected information under CPJCT Trade Secrets rules. I could tell you but I’d claim trade secret and then you’d never be able to publish it, even if you found out on your own? Right?”