Read Online Offspring by Steven Harper - Free Book Online

then nodded.
    “I’ll go along with what you say,” he said. “But I have a few conditions of my own.”
    Petrie looked doubtful. “What kind of conditions?”
    “Ben and I are trying to start a family,” he said. “That comes first with me. This means I can’t do multi-day trips, and family business will take precedence over fundraising, speeches, and commercials. I also reserve the right to modify speeches—with the help of your speech writers, of course. This is because I won’t publicly state a position I don’t agree with.”
    “The last part is easy,” Petrie said. “The first—I don’t know. Long-range flits get expensive, and we’ll definitely need you to speak in Othertown and Rangeway and other places. We can probably handle it, but I’ll have to check with the Senator.”
    “And speaking of expenses,” Kendi continued, “how are mine going to be met? The monastery is generous, but I don’t think they’ll give me paid leave for a political campaign, even one they support.”
    “Stipend from us.” Petrie took another sip of coffee. “Indirect, of course.”
    “How so?” Kendi asked.
    “The campaign can’t pay you a direct salary,” Petrie explained. “It would destroy your credibility. Instead, we’ll set up a foundation, then ask some of our contributors to give money to it. The contributors pay the foundation, the foundation pays you. The campaign never touches the money.”
    “And I thought I was a con artist,” Kendi said happily. “This is going to be fun.”
    They continued to talk about the campaign and work on Kendi’s schedule. Ben sat at the table, toying with his coffee and growing restless. Kendi and Petrie filled the kitchen with their presence, and Ben felt pushed aside. He had been prepared to tell Kendi about his biological parents all afternoon and evening, and this latest delay was grating on him. Petrie stabbed at a date on the holographic calendar and it changed from blue to green, indicating another speech. She was a black hole, sucking up Kendi’s time and energy. Ben grew more and more restless as the coffee in his cup grew cold. The words built inside him like a volcano. Abruptly he stood up.
    “It’s late,” he said. “Could we finish this later?”
    Wanda Petrie looked a bit taken aback. “If Father Kendi—”
    “It’s been a long day,” Ben said, “and Father Kendi and I still have things to do. Thank you for coming by.”
    “Of course.” Petrie snapped off her data pad and withdrew from her pocket a brand new one. “Here, Kendi—a thank-you gift from Salman. All the people in the campaign are using this version, and it’s half again as powerful as what’s available on the civilian market. You’ll like the holographics—twice as many pixies per cubic centimeter. Makes holos crisp and clear like you’ve never seen.”
    “Nice,” Kendi said with pleasure. “Tell her I said thanks.”
    Petrie shook hands all around. “I’ll be at the workshop in the afternoon, Father,” she said. “If you have questions or an emergency arises, you can call me night or day.”
    “Thank you,” Kendi said with a hard look at Ben. “I’ll escort you to the door.”
    They left. Petrie’s shoes made more clipped clicks on the hardwood floor. Ben felt suddenly nervous. He dumped his cold coffee down the drain and began cleaning up the kitchen, more out of a need to do something than any real desire for tidiness.
    “That was rude,” Kendi said in the doorway. He set the new data pad on the table. “And unlike you. What the heck is—”
    “Daniel Vik and Irfan Qasad are my parents,” Ben blurted.
    Kendi burst out laughing. “That’s a good one,” he said. “No really—what’s bothering you?”
    “It’s the truth,” Ben said in a hoarse voice. His heart was pounding, but he didn’t know why. “Harenn confirmed it.”
    “What?”
    “She ran the gene scan three times on the Poltergeist and twice more after we got home from SA Station.