Providence – Part 5
Hi everyone!
Woof, what a wait eh? Part 4 was in August, and here we are in very-much-not-August.
Lots of stuff has been happening. Lots of things that I have to juggle in addition to handling the Quill. We’re still young, so these days will happen. Plus, yesterday was a holiday. I don’t work holidays, and many moons in the future when the Quill is my job, neither will my employees. Get used to having no posts on holidays because (SPOILERS!!) that’s not changing.
As for Providence, oh how I have missed writing in this world. I love everything about Janet, whom I view as a female Han Solo, but far more skilled and cunning. She’s got the brash and swagger down though, and I must admit that I love confidence and self-assured swagger in a woman. It’s why I married my wife, who is very much an alpha female. And you know what? That’s just fiiiiine by me.
So, without further ado…
Providence – Part 5
An empty bottle of sherry lay between the two women, and they had both lost count of how many times it had needed replacement. These hours that they spent together were by far the most intense and necessary of all of Clan Inoue’s vast operational umbrella. What had become obvious over the last ten years was that diplomacy and economic surety would no longer be enough to protect them. For almost six hundred years of galactic expanse, the threat of the coalition army wielded by the United Enclave of Humanity had been balanced against the need for the Clans to operate independently and without hostile supervision.
That time was ending, and no matter how deep Clan Inoue dug, a reason refused unearthing. So the two women had been forced to make a choice: Allow Janet to maintain her cover as a carefree playgirl who loved life on the edge, while being the chief adviser and spy for her mother, or do all of that and become the clans only warmaster to boot. Clan Inoue had always prided itself on intelligence. They created and maintained the most expansive scientific minds in all the galaxy. In every Clan, in every lab, Clan Inoue was there. Sometimes unofficially, but there nonetheless. No advancements were made with Inoue’s help or approval, no Clan habitat was constructed without Inoue’s help. While they could not flex their knowledge too openly or risk exposure and immediate dismissal from all their important posts, being able to stay just ever so slightly ahead of the other clans while “whiffing” occasionally on the next big tech helped maintain the fiction that they weren’t completely on top of the game from start to finish.
It wasn’t enough any longer, and no one from the top of the ladder all the way down to it’s base were scrambling to make sense of the new order. It was possible that an escalation of tension was inevitable. There had been no long term systems found along the Tube for nearly twenty years. Gone were the Gold Rush days that had lasted hundreds of years, where each new exploratory mission would bring in news of multiple star systems whose primary (or binaries) would last for hundreds of millions of years. Gone were the times where hundreds of Clans would put in their permits and join the Signitary List. Sure the exploratory parties had always lost one or two expeditions to random chance or accidents or exiting the Tube right into the waiting arms of a supernova, but for almost twelve years now, barely a tithe of the those sent out returned at all let alone with good news of habitable systems and new territory.
It didn’t help that the Tube seemed to have no correlation to real space. Branches which existed next to each other inside would exit hundreds of light years apart. It was anyones guess where the next door would lead, and the tube seemed to go on endlessly. No end had ever been found. The Event Horizon assembly probe was still moving forward. She had long since run out of material to craft marker buoys but her signal continued to arrive as steady as clockwork. As far as anyone could tell, there most likely wasn’t an end at all and it simply kept going as it wove all the stars in the galaxy together.
The meeting was winding down. Octiva and Janet both had stopped talking shop and instead turned to gossiping over the delicious sherry that Octiva continued to produce from the discreet liquor cabinet worked into her office wall.
“I have heard from security” the rosy cheeked Octiva intoned with mock gravitas “that you have allowed four separate security clearances to be generated for you by various…. parties.”
Janet cackled, a gleeful and lusty sound aided by the sherry. The cackle drew on, and eventually Octiva was forced to drop the line of inquiry with a sigh and a roll of the eyes.
“One day my daughter, you will have to actually manage and oversee these individuals. Take care that you do not create an army of those whose affections and lives you have carelessly played with.”
Janet sobered slightly, and a pensive frown replaced the constant confidence which was so casually worn by the younger woman.
“That is actually something I worry about. I know that one day I must confront my sins and tame my demons in order to run Clan Inoue. Yet..”
The winsome grin returned, dazzling as new dawn breaking free of night’s grasp.
“That day hasn’t come yet, and until it does I shall continue to revel in all the pleasures life has to offer.”
Octiva shook her head, but she wore a smile anyway. Janet hadn’t been the only hellion in the Hinshiro family line. In a way, it was almost a desirable trait. One needed to think quickly and calmly under pressure to guide a Clan, and living life on the edge was surely one way to gain that skill.
“Do not fly too close to the sun, young Icarus. We can’t afford you to lose your wings to simple hubris. You’ve too much flying to do, and I don’t think we’ll have long to wait before open war comes ramming down the Tubes. Ancestors help us should that happen.”
No smiles survived the sobering reminder of their duty.
To be continued…
Pensivefully,
The Unsheathed Quill
