The Recollection Read Online Free PDF

month’s wages, at full captain’s salary.”
    Kat eyed him as he slipped the whiskey bottle back into his desk. Sitting there, he looked every inch the young and ambitious bureaucrat, working to earn the promotion that would take him away from this provincial posting, back to the family’s head office on Strauli. And young as he was, he doubtless saw her expulsion from the family as an old quarrel, a dry and dusty fragment of folklore from before his time as a family rep.
    To her, the wounds were still fresh.
    “I’m doing pretty well on my own, you know.”
    “I’m sure you are. But this isn’t about you, Katherine. Not really.”
    “Then what is it about?”
    Ezra swivelled his chair to face the window. Looking out over the landing field, he steepled his fingers against the tip of his nose.
    “The truth is, we’re short on ships and we need you. In fact, I’m forwarding you a contract right now.” He tapped the arm of his chair and immediately, in her right eye, her implant flashed an icon to indicate receipt of the file.
    “And what happens if I refuse?”
    Ezra turned his chair to face her again. He spread his hands on the desk.
    “I’m offering you a way back, Katherine. What more do you want?”
    “An apology might help.”
    Ezra shook his head ruefully, as if he’d been expecting her to say that. Then he tapped his fingertips on the table.
    “Katherine, I grew up hearing stories about you and the way you turned your back on us. I was at school when they took away your commission. But for what it’s worth, I’ve read the files, and I am sorry for the way you were treated.”
    He bowed his head.
    Kat leaned back in her chair and frowned. She hadn’t expected him to sound so sincere.
    “Do my parents know about this?”
    “Your mother and father are on Strauli Quay.”
    “So this isn’t an official apology? They won’t hear about any of this for another seven years, at least?”
    Ezra smiled bravely. “I assure you, I have full autonomy to act in the family’s best interests. If you sign that contract, I’ll provide you with a letter of introduction explaining everything, and they’ll have to accept it.”
    He straightened his tie. “Look the fact is, your family needs you, Katherine. It’s a matter of honour.”
    “And all I have to do is beat Victor to Djatt?”
    “Yes.”
    She licked her swollen lip. Despite her pride and lingering resentment, it was a tempting offer, and would give her the funds to fly again. More than that, it would piss Victor off.
    A grin tugged one corner of her mouth. She used her neural implant to access the contract and run it through a standard legal filter. It all seemed in order.
    “Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it.”
    She stamped the contract with her personal encrypted seal and fired it back to the young man on the other side of the desk. She saw his gaze flicker as he confirmed receipt. Then he rose and held out his hand.
    “Welcome home,” he said.
     
    When Kat got to the commercial shuttle terminal an hour later, she found the Acolyte waiting by the departure gate, and he wasn’t alone.
    “This is Toby Drake,” the old man said.
    Kat nodded. Drake was a tall, dark-skinned young man with a chocolate-coloured leather coat and a cumbersome suitcase.
    “It’s mostly books,” he said shyly, as he shook her hand.
    “Books?” Kat’s neural implant contained a hundred million words of electronic text, and hyperlinks connecting it to the ship’s memory, which held at least a hundred million more. Using modern data storage solutions, you could fit every book ever written onto a crystal the size of a human fist. Why would anyone need a whole suitcase just to carry that?
    “Uh-huh, lots of books in the suitcase. I hope that’s okay? Only Mr Hind here thought there might be a weight restriction?”
    Kat tapped the side of the case with the toe of her boot.
    “What kind of books?” she asked.
    Drake unclipped the lid and extracted a cloth-bound