Read Online One's Aspect to the Sun by Sherry D. Ramsey - Free Book Online

chair. “Information exchange is what I'm after, not a one-way transfer. Come in, let us take some samples, and I'll give you open access to the file on the most recent verified sighting of your mother.”
    I sighed. “Well, I'll think about it. We ship out tomorrow. I don't know if I can fit it in.”
    “Before you go,” Sedmamin said, leaning forward slightly in his chair, “I'd like you to meet some one.”
    This was unusual. Generally it was just me and Sedmamin in not-so-cozy privacy. “Certainly,” I said.
    Sedmamin gestured to someone off-screen and a woman moved in to my field of view to stand just behind him. It was difficult to tell, but she seemed tall, and looked fit in a sleek black pantsuit with the PrimeCorp logo embroidered tastefully on one lapel. Dark blonde hair was pulled back from her face, except for a few tendrils that curled around it, softening her angular features. She wasn't exactly smiling, but had arranged her face in a pleasantly neutral expression.
    “Luta Paixon, this is one of my administrative assistants, Dores Amadoro,” Sedmamin said. Dores nodded politely. It could have been just the video feed, but her eyes seemed cold and appraising as they surveyed me, like I was an interesting specimen of something.
    “Nice to meet you, Ms. Amadoro,” I said.
    “Likewise, Captain Paixon,” she said. I didn't get the impression she thought it was very nice at all.
    “Ms. Amadoro will be your liaison with PrimeCorp for the next while,” Sedmamin said, smiling as if we were all good business partners. “She's very ambitious. Any questions or concerns, you can bring to her, and she'll be speaking to you for me. Anything that comes from her, you can assume has my approval.”
    Not that I really cared, but I asked anyway. “Are you going somewhere, Chairman? Not unwell yourself, I hope.”
    He kept smiling. “No, nothing of the sort. I simply have other matters to attend to, so I'm, well, delegating. Something I'm sure I should do more of.”
    Ha , I thought. Downloading me to some poor sucker because I'm a pain in your azeno. I would have felt sorry for Dores Amadoro if she'd seemed like a person with any feelings. Then I wondered if she'd been the one to spot my mother somewhere, and this was her reward—a step up the administrative ladder. Any hint of warmth I might have felt for her dissipated immediately.
    I plastered on a smile, however. “I'm sure we'll get along just fine, then. I don't expect to be in Sol System much for the next while, however, so I guess we won't have the chance to get to know each other very well.”
    “Captain,” Sedmamin said, leaning forward and trying to look solicitous, “I don't mind telling you that there are some members of the Board who feel that we've been too . . . accommodating in our dealings with you. I've done my best to convince them that polite discourse will eventually lead to a satisfactory conclusion for all of us, but they're growing restless.”
    “Sending a virus in a notebug is your idea of 'polite discourse,' Chairman? It's not exactly the best way to earn my trust. And I'm within my rights under the Genetic Materials Privacy Act.”
    He shrugged again. “Laws are meant to be challenged, and as I said, there are some who think we've been polite enough. As for trust, you may want to give some thought to where you've already placed it, Captain.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    Dores Amadoro still stood half-behind Sedmamin's chair with that neutral look on her face. I wondered if she knew what he was talking about, or if she was just too well-trained to show any reaction.
    “Call it free advice. You may not know as much as you should about that crew of yours.” He smiled in a knowing way that infuriated me.
    “My crew is no concern of yours.”
    “Of course it isn't. But one more thing, Captain Paixon,” he said seriously. “I like you, although we've had our differences. So here's a warning. There are changes in the wind,