Caroline Burgess was ushered into a back room that was halfway between a parlor and an office. She swept herself onto the red couch, neatly arranging the folds of the black silk dress around her. The woman who stood next to the doorway, clearly left as a guard while Petaline was fetched, glared at her. Caroline gave her an exasperated look. She was hardly going to be intimidated by a common whore. It would take a lot more than that to discourage her after having been married to Rance Burgess.
Petaline entered the room, holding a wrapped up bundle Caroline could only assume was the baby whom this entire hurricane of change centered around. She very barely repressed a snort of irritation.
Petaline sat down across from her after instructing the watcher to leave them alone and to shut the door, which surprised Caroline. She wondered if it was showing the other whores she was the leader or showing Caroline they were equals and did not need people backing her to meet with the woman she had personally widowed. Perhaps a mixture of both.
Caroline surveyed the girl cooly. Still quite a lot of pregnancy fat, but other than that Petaline looked like she should still be someone's child, rather than a mother herself.
"Well, why did you want to see me, Mrs. Burgess?" she asked, a mixture of curiosity and hostility.
"I will get straight to my point," said Caroline brusquely, "as soon as my husband learned of the DNA results of that…" she hesitated over what noun to use, "child," she nodded at the bundle, "he rushed to his lawyer and changed his will. Not out of any suspicion of a need for this action, mind you, but merely as another chance to boast and brag and show off. Something I am sure you are aware Rance was prone to do," she added, unable to stop herself from the goading. Petaline nodded slightly, but other than a slight coloring in her checks, refused to show any sign that the shot had hit any marks.
Caroline took a deep breath. "He made that baby in your arms heir to absolutely everything he owned, which is considerable holdings, with myself appointed as his guardian until he came of age. Basically, I am in charge of the Burgess estate until the child turns 18, when he will inherit to use as he pleases."
"You can't have him, I don't care what some gorram piece a paper says-" the girl began babbling, clutching onto her baby.
"I don't want him," snapped Caroline angrily. Then made herself take another deep breath to calm down. She would not play the villain! Despite the fact, a cruel voice whispered in her head, that she genuinely did not want the baby and was probably the only person involved who did not care at all about this child. Hated him, to be honest, for what he stood for.
"Well, what do ya want?" asked the girl, sounding exasperated.
"I'll be crudely blunt – if some whore's bastard is going to come into that kind of inheritance, I want to help manage his upbringing to ensure that he is worthy of it."
"Why do you care? Why don't you just take the money and go back to the Core? Leave us and the rest of the dirt you so obviously despise behind you?" she sneered at her.
Caroline sneered back, "Ever lived on a Core planet? I'd be considered a lowly country bumpkin. A nobody. And worse, the rumors and whispers about what happened here would soon follow me. I would be looked down or out right shunned from whatever social circles I could have managed to get into. I'd rather rule the social circle here on this little moon."
Petaline looked genuinely surprised at the idea of Caroline Burgess being called a country bumpkin.
Caroline paused, wondering how much more to tell the girl. And she really was still just a girl, thought Caroline cynically. She sensed that backbone that let Petaline talk back to her was a result of the baby. Petaline had never tried to play any power games with Rance. Then again, those games hadn't helped Chari. Perhaps Petaline was smarter than she looked. Caroline decided speaking openly would get the best results.
"That bullet you put in my husband's brain did a lot more than protect your baby from abduction," pointed out Caroline. "It has shifted the balance of power dramatically. Everything's been thrown up in the air. I want to make sure everything is in place for the new management before the dust clears. I plan on using this turn of events as a fresh start to make new long range plans for this moon. Different from the way my husband was running this settlement."
"And where does my son come in?"
"Job security, plain and simple. Everyone who worked for my late husband, which is to say, a large percentage of this moon's population, breathes easier at the thought of a son and heir growing up being groomed to take over this place when he comes of age. No need to worry about property being split up and sold to conglomerates or Alliance and end up costing everyone their way of living."
"How do you plan on educating him?"
"I pay for tutors at first, then, when we can agree on him being old enough to leave your sight for a bit, I arrange for him to go off world, hopefully as near the Core as can be arranged, for some formalized schooling." Caroline could tell she'd hit jackpot at the mention of schooling. Petaline's face lost its mulish set and became rather soft as she looked down at her son.
"Well," hesitated Petaline, "when he's old enough he should go to school, but for right now-"
"For right now you are his mother and I understand he is yours to raise." Petaline looked at her sharply, as if checking for sarcasm. "I am not my husband," she said forcefully as she had said earlier.
"Glad to hear it," snapped Petaline, "'cause he sure was a qingwa cao de liumang."
Caroline was honestly shocked for a moment to hear such language coming from the girl's mouth – for about two seconds – then she burst out laughing. "He was at that," she gasped when she finally managed to get herself back under control.
The baby suddenly started crying. "Oh, hush baby," crooned Petaline, rocking him back and forth. "Don't fret, baby, the lady will be going soon." She shot Caroline a significant look.
Caroline ignored the heavy hint to leave. She had a better view of the child now and was somewhat relieved that it wasn't a spitting image of Rance. "What have you decided to name him?" she asked, pushing aside an unacknowledged feeling of jealously.
"Jonah," said Petaline promptly.
Delivered safe from the belly of a whale, thought Caroline, but all she said out loud was, "And when will the christening ceremony be?"
"Uhhh, I haven't thought about that yet," admitted Petaline, caught off guard.
I'll bet there's a lot you haven't thought about yet, thought Caroline scornfully. Out loud she said, "Well, since I no longer have a use for them, as an early christening present I will send over all of the baby things Rance had arranged to be shipped in – on one condition," she added just as she saw Petaline's eyes light up at the prospect of things she hadn't even begun to suspect she would need for the caretaking of her baby.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"You pick the godfather and I pick the godmother."
Petaline paused, obviously looking for some sort of trap. "Well, ok," she agreed slowly.
"Good, I will be godmother."
"Um… ok?" said Petaline, sounding very unsure of where this was going.
"Good," said Caroline, and got up to leave.
"Chari…" Petaline began hesitantly.
"Is now indentured to me," said Caroline flatly.
"A bond slave? Why would she agree to that?"
"She was… persuaded," said Caroline darkly, "that it was the best course for her. I don't hire traitors. They are too untrustworthy." Caroline looked at Petaline straight on and decided to thoroughly test the girl's decision to throw the little spy out. "Property is much easier to control," she said cooly. Petaline didn't flinch.
"Oh, and here," Caroline laid a silk pouch on the table. "A birthday gift for you to use as you like on this child's home."
Petaline tipped it upside down and a pile of platinum cash landed on the table, a shining heap of solvency. Petaline's eyes went wide. "That must be-"
"About what I figured was three months income for the Heart of Gold," finished Caroline. Petaline looked at her questioningly. "I've banned all of my employ from visiting Heart of Gold for the next 90 days. I thought that would be best for everyone – give everyone a cooling off period." And with that she exited the room.
