Port Casper

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grace sat in her apartment, barely awake and wrapped in a blanket on the couch. It was ten in the morning, but this was her first day off after a week of constant assignments. Maud had kept her busy, working both alone and with other operatives in the unending quest for business intelligence. Today, there was no looking over her shoulder, trying not to shine so Maud wouldn't notice her. Her only assignment was relaxation.

The incoming call alert sounded. The wall display read: Donner, Dan, Cloister Eleven.

"Pick up." She trembled, excited to talk to her father for the first time since her ouster.

The display came alive to a familiar scene. Dad sat in his favorite recliner in the common room of their big ranch house. Grace saw a pitcher of mango lemonade next to an ice-filled glass. He balanced a plate of bacon and eggs on his lap.

"Dad!"

"Hey, kid. How's it?"

"Good, Dad. I got an apartment. I'm sending you the multi-view so you can see the whole place, okay?" She tapped the screen on her ptenda and sent an internal security vid directly into her father's display.

"Gracie! Nice. Sort of a big place, huh?" Grace saw the fleeting excitement in his face: he was shocked and proud to see the luxury in which his ranch girl lived.

"It's not bad at all," she said. "There's a computer in it. You mostly just talk and it follows orders."

"You were always good at giving orders," her father said, grinning.

"I don't spend that much time here, though. The job is keeping me busy." She tried to be general, and not too chatty or positive. Pragmatic and full of work. That's how conversation unwound in cloister, especially in the Donner family.

"Tell me about your job, Gracie." He poured himself a drink, took a sip, and crunched down a piece of bacon. "Not too much danger and intrigue, I hope."

"No shots fired worth talking about yet, Dad. But you never can tell. And don't worry. I'm only beginning my probation. I plan on living until I'm old and gray."

"I've already accepted your career, baby. I know what you are. What you do." Her father leaned in closer to the display. "I'm proud of you. You are the best of them, and that's all I have to say."

It felt good to hear him say it. She caught herself reaching toward the screen to touch him.

"Thanks, Dad."

"So what do they have you doing?"

"I've been running security for compstate officials as they visit companies here in Port."

"Really? I thought they'd have you patrolling the streets."

"No, Dad. Some protectors do that, but I'm mostly corporation covert ops."

"That seems complicated for a first job, Gracie."

"It is." She couldn't understate that. She was walking a complicated web spun by other people.

"How's Raj and his family?"

"They're fine, Dad. I saw Raj a week ago." She wondered if Tim had planted the speech yet.

"He's got a new dog," she continued. "His brothers aren't here. I saw an image of Kyran at some outpost in space. I haven't asked about Tanish."

Dad nodded. "I have to get back out for the morning roam, kid. Is Ronnie clean and ready?"

"You know it."

"Remember rule one, kid?"

"High ground, moral or strategic, is where you want to be when a situation becomes serious." Grace spoke with a smile of remembrance.

"That's my--"

There was an abrupt click and his voice cut off. Her father's image froze on-screen.

"Dad?"