On the High Frontier

3. Unavoidable Business (part 3/6)

The void safety posters and warning all look complete and up to date, and the telltales all seem to be clear. Kimiko ducks through an open hatch and drops down a short ladder to an open dock area. She can see the dock manager waiting near a control console.

"Hi there, stranger." Fee obviously heard her coming and is pleased when she sees who her visitor is. "What are you doing slumming it down here with the proles?"

Kimiko looks slightly confused at her friend. "Excuse me Fee?"

"I naturally assumed that what with your high riding relative in town, you'd be trying to smooch yourself some influence." Ahh, Fee had spotted that she had the same name as the Council Administrator and was teasing her. Unfortunately after lunch that cut a bit near to the bone.

"Not funny Fee." The hurt look on Fee's face make her instantly regret snapping at her. "Look Fee, can you keep a secret?"

"Well, obviously." The amused look on her friend's face confuses her for a moment, but she pushes on regardless.

"Council Administrator Yoshida is not a relative," She takes a deep breath to finish the sentence. "she's my mother." The bemused and then shocked looks on Fee's face actually make the admission worthwhile. "I moved to L4 to escape my family, and now they're following me here."

"Sorry, that was insensitive." Fee has now moved on to mortified.

"No, I'm sorry. I had lunch with her and it's left me frustrated and not a little confused." Kimiko has never figured out why, but she has found that she can always talk to Fee, she doesn't judge and she generally gives good advice. "She was still the same sharp politician, knows everyone, and is everybody's friend. And I still feel invisible next to her. But when we were alone, eating. It was a mother I had never met before." She has to think hard to figure out how to put what she feels into words. "There was an honesty, an openness." Kimiko realises something else. "And she wasn't lecturing me. I think in private my mother might be a real person, and a nice one too. I'm not sure I can handle it." She is only half joking.

"Yeah, parents." Kimiko realises she knows nothing about where Fee comes from. "It was some ancient American who talked about how his parents were so stupid he had to leave home, but when he went back a few years later it was amazing how much they'd learnt. Sawyer or something I think." Kimiko recognises the mangled Twain quote and it makes her smile. "That's better."

Fee works her magic and Kimiko is feeling much more relaxed, but she thinks back to earlier. "Fee, what did you mean by you could obviously keep a secret?"

It's Fee's turn to look awkward. "Well you know, it's a figure of speech."

"I don't think it is. Come on, give." And now Fee is back to mortified.

"Well you see. I have these two friends, They are very different. One is quiet and well mannered, helpful with a caring side. The other is very in your face, takes no quarter, and always with the witty comeback. Thing is they both like to party, and when they do ...." Fee tails off."

"So? Do they get on, do they pretend to hate each other, clandestine lovers, what's this secret?"

"Well that's just it. I've never seen them together, and the more I think about it, the more similarities I see," Kimiko suddenly realises what Fee's talking about. She's never admitted that she is Sayoko, but Fee is probably the only person apart from James who really knows both of her personas. She has wondered about telling her, but the longer it went on the more difficult it became.

"So what are you trying to say?"

"You're not stupid. You know what I'm trying to say Kimiko, or should I say Sayoko?"