The building security circuit chimed, pulling Rentap away from his review of the import files. Touching his comm, he answered. “Yes?”

“Name?”

“Rentap Dressiler.”

“Enter code.” Rentap entered his unique security code.

“Identity confirmed. You have a visitor, Councillor De Markus and security escort.”

“You may pass them up. Thank you.”

Both Rentap and Cheaine were at the ornate Visitor’s Door to greet De Markus when he and his security guard arrived. As the hostess, it was the practice for the wife to greet any guest first and Cheaine stepped forward. “Welcome to our residence, Councillor De Markus. Our place is yours.” She gave a small bow.

“Thank you Madam Dressiler, you are too kind.” He gave a small bow.

“You honour our humble dwelling Councillor, please enter.” Rentap gravely bowed his head to his guest, completing the ritual.

Formalities over, De Markus handed his coat to Rentap who hung it, then the two men shook hands in the double handed shake customary between friends. “You are well Councillor, high office is good for you.” Rentap complemented his friend.

“And your business is doing well I see from the reports crossing my desk.” Smiled De Markus. “And my name is Trem. I think that you must have forgotten it!” De Markus was as tall as Rentap and bulkier. A crown of dark hair, slightly grey graced his head and framed his chiselled features. As minister, he had a tendency to talk using his hands.

“Trem, come this way, and you sir.” Rentap included the security guard. His name had not been given of course.

“Mr. Dressiler, Councillor, I must inspect the dwelling. It is procedure.” The guard, who also was a tall and solid man, had the grace to look apologetic. It didn’t diminish his intimating presence.

“Nonsense. Rentap is one of my oldest, if not the oldest, friend I have and his wife is my cousin. Watch at a distance, but give us space for we must discuss sensitive matters. Matters of high security.”

To the surprise of all, Cheaine spoke, women usually did not speak at such times. “If your guard wishes, he may wait in the dining room. The walls are of glass and he can see in all directions.”

Councillor De Markus smiled. “Cousin, you are a woman of grace, beauty and intelligence.” Turning to his guard, he asked, “Would that be satisfactory?” The guard nodded.

With a bow of her head, Cheaine left, signalling to the guard to follow her. Showing him the dining room she asked if it would be satisfactory. He looked around and nodded.

A call brought Jean ne Pator, the Dressiler’s housekeeper. After a brief introduction, Cheaine told the guard, “If you need anything, Jean will provide it to you.” She then left for her study, and after ascertaining that the guard had no immediate needs, Jean returned to the kitchen.

In the living room Rentap first offered a drink to his friend, which was politely accepted, tasted, then put aside. He then pulled out all his hard copies of his last year’s transactions involving the Empire.

“I have been through all these transactions, so has my private secretary and the two policeman you sent to me. They have in common the importation of data in crystalline form. That is all. The data they contain is used by both government and business and performs an important, but not vital role in our business and government computer networks. In other words, we could do without it, but it would not be easy.” Rentap paused to draw breath.

De Markus smiled. “This I already know.” Then, his smile vanished. He sat forward. “Rentap, my friend, it was not for this I visit you.”

At a loss, Rentap stared back at Trem. He put his confusion into words, “Then why did you come?”

Councillor Trem De Markus stood and paced back and forth. Like Rentap, he was wont to do this when troubled. “We are entering dangerous times, my friend. You recall what the member of the secret police told you?” Rentap nodded. “Then you understand, at least in part. The people are troubled, many are unhappy and there are those who would take advantage of this unhappiness.”

“Yes, so much the Grey told me. But there are two questions I have: Why cannot we control this and what, directly, does it have to do with me?”

“As to the first question, there is, as I said, an element that is unsatisfied with their lot in life. They exist in all status levels, even the highest. You know Councillor Leves?”

“Yes, but not well.”

“He wanted the position of Chief Minister and schemed for it. He still wants it.”

Rentap was appalled. This was not the way a man of high status should act. He said so, bluntly. Trem De Markus laughed at the outburst. “That is but one example of which I am aware, and he was rewarded for it. He received the position of Minister in Charge of Sanitation and Allied Services. A fitting post.”

“Is he still angry?” Rentap asked with a laugh.

“I am sure.” Trem looked at his friend soberly. “But that is not the reason I tell you this. It is because of people like Leves that we face this situation.” Trem started to pace again. “He is under intense security and well watched, now. The Secret Police suspect him of being one of the people behind this agitation.”

“Why isn’t he arrested then? Why isn’t he under a lie detector right now?”

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“Because there is no proof my friend. Without the proof we cannot act. These stories may annoy the Empire, but fundamentally it is our problem, not theirs. They will not interfere in a planetary affair without reason.”

Trem took another sip of his drink and looked at it quizzically. “Different, a new product?”

“Yes, made from river water and malt on a distant planet, I don’t know how. Most seem to like it.” He waved his hand. “I begin to see, you suspect but cannot prove or at least have enough evidence to move against the agitators. But what does that have to do with me and my business?”

“The two are tied together. There is anger, but without focus. There are people who want to make the anger work in their favor. They need a focus. They need a reason for the people who are angry to do things for them. They need an event or issue for them to coalesce around.”

“Yes, few have ever left Ti Lepus and seen other planets. Only businessman like me.” Rentap started to pace as well. “It is the Empire that is the focus of these fools, these agitators. They want to make the Empire their issue.”

“There has always been a xenophobic element in the makeup of our people. We don’t like outsiders and tend to shun them. Even the workers in the areas of our planet where the few other outworlders live have to be changed constantly.” He laughed. “See, even I call them outsiders!”

“I see. And because I, and others, work with the Empire, my family and I and my business are now targets.” He sat down again, took a deep breath and looked at his friend. Now we come to it, he thought. “So, what do I do?”

“I knew that I could count on you my friend.”

*********

After dinner, Dinis and Kapat subsided somewhat, but later in the evening, Dinis announced himself at Kapats room. Coming to the door, Kapat looked at her brother, her face a picture of polite interest. As she was getting ready for bed, Kapat was dressed in a comfortable and concealing robe over her night clothes. Dinis however had not yet changed, further evidence of the youths’ inner turmoil.

“I think that we need to talk.” Dinis mumbled in embarrassment, he had not come to his sisters’ door in years. Watching her brother as she strolled to a seat in their personal living room, she hid the amusement she felt at his evident discomfort, shown by his restless movements. Climbing into her favorite, comfortable seat on a couch, she decided not to ask and just waited for him to open the conversation.

Not looking at his sister, Dinis wondered how to do precisely that. He had noted that Kapat was ready for bed and this further disconcerted him as clearly his sister was, at least on the surface, comfortable with the idea of their parents purchasing a contract of a young girl. While he had studied the practise at his school, The Central Academy for Students, facing the reality was different.

“I am not sure how to…, I mean how should I deal with this girl. I don’t know how to react.” He stumbled over his words.

Kapat held her look of polite interest with difficulty. What she wanted to do was fall over onto the couch laughing her head off! Considering several answers she settled on, “Deal with? Dinis, it’s a girl, you don’t have to deal with her, try just talking to her! And remember your status as well as your manners.”

“I know,” Dinis replied, throwing an annoyed look at his sister. “It’s just while I studied all this, well, mother and father are going to bring home an actual girl soon and I am going to have to face her.” He flopped into a well cushioned chair, a frown on his face, a youthful version of his fathers. Dinis was growing and promised to be almost as tall as his father while his head was covered with the same straight, dark hair over a lean face and deep-set eyes.

“Look Dinis, it may not happen. Mother and father may not accept her after the viewing.” Kapat leant forward. “You never know.” She gave a teenager’s version of her mother’s elegant smile. Already at fourteen and a half, she was showing evidence of the same beauty that favoured her mother.

Dinis raised his eyebrows as he returned his sisters look. “Reject a girl selected by mother? I don’t think so!” He replied. “If mother felt that this girl, whoever she is, was worth an option, I think that unless she really messes up the viewing it is almost certain that she will be here by the end of the week.” Kapat nodded in agreement, she also had faith in their mothers’ judgement

“Well, we don’t know when the viewing is going to be so we will just have to wait and see.” Kapat suddenly grinned. “As her mentor I will have to show her how to act and I will be watching you!”

At that sally, Dinis made a face. He knew that he would be under a lot of scrutiny over the next few years. He had no idea how old the girl was whose option his mother had taken, she could be just fourteen or even older than him! With a sigh he realised that he would just have to wait and see.

“I guess that I will just have to work it out when the girl gets here,” Dinis said as he stood. “Good night sister, thanks for listening.”

“Good night brother.” Kapat returned to her room while her brother went to his. Neither had ever entered the others room and they never would.

*********

Kapat was restless as she laid in her comfortable bed. She could not help but wonder about the girl that her parents would likely be viewing in the next few days. What was this girl like? It went without saying that she would be pretty, but would she, Kapat become jealous if the girl was better looking than her? Would the girl be sneaky or conniving? Such girls were present amongst the high status and Kapat had already had a taste of them and didn’t want anyone like that in her home.

Rolling onto her right side, Kapat pulled at her nightclothes. She would have preferred to wear the lighter, summer clothes as she found them more comfortable, but those were still put away and this is what Jean, the housekeeper laid out and therefore that was what she had to wear. She had already asked her mother but that brought only a soft spoken instruction to dress appropriately, even in their dwelling. With a sigh Kapat rolled over to her other side, her thoughts turning back to the option her mother had told them about at the dinner table.

Knowing her mother, she agreed with Dinis that any girl chosen by her would be more than acceptable, at least in looks and no doubt, in attitude. She would be also properly submissive, at least on the surface. From her own actions, Kapat knew that most, if not all girls in her own school knew how to appear, at least on the surface, as proper, well trained and deserving of their status, high status girls. This girl might be the same with an added edge of fighting for everything that she had earned up to now. With a sigh, Kapat knew that whatever happened, she, Kapat would be at the centre of it and she knew that the family’s status, as well as hers, would have to be guarded.

Turning onto her back, Kapat closed her eyes and with a smile went to sleep. Her last thoughts dwelt on her brothers’ turmoil. At least, she thought, Dinis was going to have trouble sleeping tonight!

*********

Dinis laid asleep in his bed, mouth slightly open. Having discussed his problems with his sister, he had changed, gone to bed and was now sleeping the contented sleep of one whose conscience was clear.

*********

In her curtained off alcove, like Kapat, Cami twisted and turned on her bed. The first step had been taken, an option. She wished that she could have called her family but this was not one of the scheduled times for speaking to them. For now, she would just have to wait. Hopefully, she thought, the option won’t be cancelled and I will soon be viewed. Forcing herself to relax, accepting that it was all out of her hands, and that she had taken the precaution of a comm search of the Dressilers and also had spoken to the manager about the potential buyers, she closed her eyes and slipped off to sleep.