ChapterFour: The GFFA Education of Nichyn Whilem

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Veras Yd only allowed herself to start breathing again when they had left Na'Lein'yhpaon's atmosphere. The ride out was typically difficult—Na'Lein'yhpaon the planet was as forgiving as its government, and ships had a hard time of getting past both. She couldn't count the number of times she and Braun, her husband, had been sent careening back toward the ground. Every time they had pulled back, just before they died fiery, explosive deaths. Every time she had nightmares for days about what it would be like…feeling the Prize crumple against the earth, twisting into her skin, then exploding she and her husband into hellish oblivion.

Braun was lucky, where others were not.

But it would be just Veras' luck if, on the day they brought out shipment far more precious than dried fruits or rare furs or even information, she and Braun hit the ground for real. Braun was lucky; his wife, not so much. She had been born on Na'Lein'yhpaon, after all. And speaking of leaving that lafit planet…

"Do you think he's alright?" asked Veras in a hushed voice, glancing over her shoulder at Nichyn, who was sitting in the lounge.

Braun frowned but then shrugged. "Would you be, if you were him?"

"I have been him," she retorted not unkindly. "The difference is, I couldn't get off that planet fast enough—and I'd known you long enough to know you wouldn't blow my brains out trying to do the impossible, getting past Na'Lein'yhpaon's atmosphere. Nichyn's parents told him this is for the best."

"He knows it is, Ver. The kid's smart—remember what Clayra and Gantik said? He's a top-notch student."

Veras snorted. "Student or not—and you know education on NLY and in the Galactic Alliance are two very different things—Nichyn's a teenager, Braun. They say one thing, and mean another."

"Teenagers also happen to be tough. All those hormones—they have to be, or the parents murder them for being monsters. But go back and talk to him—he could probably use some support, even if he'd pry prefer his mum or his dad. I'll come back once I double check these readings."

She chewed her lip, staring out at the lines of hyperspace, then unbuckled her crash webbing decisively. "I think I will." Marching out of the cockpit, she slowed only a moment at the lounge doorway. "You know," she said, "you should really take a look at hyperspace. There's nothing like it."

The boy glanced up from his brooding, shadows hugging his face, and Veras was again struck by Nichyn's physical similarities to Devnos, when Sanar's brother had been fourteen. "I'll be able to see it some other time—that's why I left, isn't it? To see wonderful new things." He almost managed to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Veras bit her lip, trying to think up some motherly comfort for him, but then (to her horror) she heard herself snap, "Oh, grow up, Nichyn."

Nichyn stared at her, wide-eyed, and maybe even a little hurt. Veras winced. Lafit. Really not how to treat a kid who's just left his family. Golden star to you, Veras.

Well, there was nothing to do now but try to deal with her tongue. "Look, Nichyn, you had to leave—you get that, don't you? And not to sight-see, so don't give me any of that dung. It isn't safe on that planet. The priests wanted to make you one of them…they want to make your dad a chief executioner…and your mom's health? Really not improving. It was leave, or die."

She looked up to see Braun taking in her pep talk with a wry expression. "Oh, Veras, darling, you're a ready-made mother."

The dark-haired woman scowled at him, cheeks flushed. "Thanks,darling."

"Don't you miss it?" Nichyn asked suddenly, staring straight at Veras.

"Miss what?"

The teenager swallowed. "Home."

It was Veras' turn to stare. "Let me tell you something, kid. I grew up Quatroc, under the care of Horaire's prized adept. You ever heard of Horaire? Your aunt killed the sadistic beast, thank Mujir. But not soon enough—she held onto her conscience up until that priest threatened your mother. I got visits from him, once or twice, and I'm not going to explain what he did, because soon you'll be looking your aunt in the eye, and you'll know thathe saved his worst for her."

Nichyn swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Veras."

She took a shuddering, angry breath. "I was luckier than Sanar—not that that's saying much. But I escaped…without being nearly stoned, I might add. Met Braun by accident, realized not all free men are sadistic, and that they don't have to pretend to be if they aren't. Next time he left on a shipping run, I left with him. And I never looked back. Wanna know why? 'Cause that place…that planet…is my own little version of Hell. I have never, not for one second, missed it."

A moment passed before Braun put an arm around Veras' shoulders. "I think that's enough NLY bitterness for tonight," he said gently.

She smiled thin-lipped. "Sorry." The words were ground out.

Nichyn looked away awkwardly, then glanced back at his new guardians. "How are we going to find her? My aunt, I mean."

Veras pulled herself together. "I have a friend—her name is Cerasy—who tends to know the most…coincidental things. We'll meet up with her at her place."

"And if she doesn't know anything?"

Braun answered. "We've contacted a stable family, on Gallinore; they have agreed to take you in for as long as you require a home, even if that is until you're an adult. You will be well-provided for."

Nichyn appeared to struggle for a moment with his reticent nature before questions poured out of his mouth. "Have you met them? What are they like? Can I trust them? You have met them, haven't you? What are their political views? Is it safe to tell them about Father and Aunt Sanar? What can't I do or say? Should I—"

Braun laughed. "I told you the kid knew the score, Ver," he told her before turning back to their charge. "Gallinore is part of the Hapes Consortium, Nichyn. It's completely safe. As long as you don't want to assassinate the Queen Mother—and I hear the new one is more than just decent—you won't get any trouble from the government."

"And religion?" Nichyn shot out just as quickly. "What religion do they practice?"

Veras snorted. "The thing about the galaxy outside of Na'Lein'yhpaon, Nichyn? Most of it…religion isn't as restrictive. I mean, sure, there are some planets filled with fanatics, but there are a lot more that are almost eerily diverse. So long as you don't hurt anybody with your beliefs, you're allowed to keep them—out in the open, inside only, or whatever." She sat down next to him, making eye contact. "The Galactic Alliance is very different from…home, kiddo. You'll be safe just about anywhere—but especially on Gallinore. There hasn't been a war there in years; even the war with the New Empire barely touched it.

"You'll be safe."

Nichyn looked bewildered; Veras knew the feeling. The idea of being safe was foreign when you were born on Na'Lein'yhpaon; Veras had only learned it after years with Braun.

Hesitating only a moment, Braun suddenly spoke. "Gallinore is different from Na'Lein'yhpaon, Nichyn. Very different. You'll be able to adjust to most things, I believe, but, well…"

Catching her husband's drift, Veras rolled her eyes. Time for the foot-in-mouth syndrome, no doubt. Braun could stumble around delicate ways to talk for hours. "Look, kid, treat girls like dirt, and you might get pummelled. Understand me?"

The fourteen-year-old stared at her, slightly slack-jawed. "Her…her father would protect her honour?"

"No, I mean the girl you picked on would get mad and slug you across the jaw. And she wouldn't be carted off to prison if she did." Veras rubbed her temples, trying to think out how to best say this. "Your parents…they told you that Pucijir's Order is wrong, didn't they? That women and men are equal, Rafintair's evil, yadda, yadda, yadda?"

Nichyn nodded mutely.

"So…you've been careful to treat girls nicely, you know, when you could. Right?"

He shrugged. "Of course." The concept of equality had been drummed into his head ever since his biological father, Kalav, had died.

"Well, in most of the Galactic Alliance, the equality mentality isn't an out-of-the-way thing; it's expected. Everywhere. All the time." Veras couldn't contain her slightly evil grin. "More so in the Hapes Consortium than some."

"The point is," Braun interrupted, "that maybe, even though intellectually you know equality is right, you don't really believe it? You've only ever had your mother and your adoptive father's word on it, and…"

Nichyn settled back into brooding position. "I trust them."

Veras and Braun exchanged a wry glance. The kid was going to get hit harder than a rock.

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Nichyn must have jumped a metre high when Cerasy's security jumped out at them. The bounty hunter had always been a little extreme with…well, everything…but the way she had rigged up the entry for her Tridio office/home was a whole other story. A rocket launcher shot out of what had appeared to be the door's viewing glass before informing that they had "thirty seconds to type in the passcode or get their brains blown out".

Veras waited twenty seconds before typing in the password, just to see Nichyn's skin turn egg-coloured. The kid was just too green when it came to technology, and knowing that this was a woman's home had not prepared him in any way for such a threat. Braun had to drag the kid in, or Nichyn would have stared at the door for considerably longer than necessary.

After a few blinks, Nichyn was restored to himself. "Cerasy just gave you the security pass to her home?" he demanded, bewildered. No one on Na'Lein'yhpaon—especially a single woman—left themselves open to attack. Even if the protective measures failed, it gave a sense of safety.

Veras glanced around the stark white walls of Cerasy's reception area, checking for further security, then gestured for Braun and Nichyn to follow her. "This is just her office—not even her favourite, really, but she drops in here periodically. She gives just about everyone the password; if you aren't trustworthy, Cerasy has ways of dealing with troublemakers.

"At the moment, though…" She looked around the main, large room into which she had led the two males; it showed no sign of life or warmth. "She should be here," Veras muttered to herself. "She always checks in at the beginning of the month. Cerasy isn't one to break routine overmuch."

Braun, too, was looking around, perplexed. "Maybe she's out?"

"On a weekday, at two in the afternoon?" Veras said sceptically. "And with nothing out—not even a blaster? Not likely. She isn't here." Finally, she shrugged and called, "Bee-Three? You here?"

Something rustled in the closet, and Nichyn's hand went instinctively to his knife. Veras made a note to tell him to leave the weapon behind, or, at the very least, conceal it. Boys didn't carry deadly instruments around Gallinore, and if they did, they definitely didn't know how to use it like Nichyn. If he had to stay with the Rym family, he shouldn't need it. Any nephew of Sanar ought to be able to fight like a lunatic if necessary, anyway, knife or no knife.

A moment later, an angular, uniquely styled droid zipped out of the closet, only just stopping in front of its audience. Cerasy had created Bee-Three herself, mixing protocol with bodyguard programming, something that was evident in most of Cerasy's droids. However, Bee's appearance was more polished than before, and her repulsor jets were no louder than a hum, so Veras assumed that Cerasy had done more work on it.

Mild lasers scanned Veras' retinas before Bee greeted, "Mistress Veras. Welcome. How may I help you?"

"Where's Cerasy?"

Bee's jets whirred faintly as she moved back half a pace. "Mistress Cerasy is on her honeymoon," she intoned. "She will return to her regular schedule in ten days."

Veras blinked. "Cerasy…got hitched?" Last she'd heard, the efficient bounty hunter had been unattached and completely immune to male attention.

"Yes." Bee seemed to smile. "To Master Tiran." She twirled slowly, showing off her new look. "He is the one who altered my shell, and fixed my jets."

Braun and Veras exchanged a look. They had placed perhaps an inordinate amount of hope in Cerasy knowing about Sanar. How long would Nichyn's foster family, the Ryms, wait for Nichyn before they withdrew their offer? They could only prepare for so long. But the Yd couple couldn't exactly baby-sit a teenager for a month. Braun had supply runs to do, and Veras had bounties to look for, and while it would certainly give Nichyn a useful crash course in the galaxy outside of Na'Lein'yhpaon, it probably wasn't the healthiest way to go about it. Nichyn needed some kind of stability.

On impulse, Veras tried Bee's knowledge before they left. "I don't suppose you know of a Sanar Klis, do you, Bee?"

Bee blinked, turning her gaze to each of the three humans in turn. "Well, of course I do, Mistress Veras. Sanar Klis is a close friend of Mistress Cerasy."

Stunned, Veras couldn't even blink. "Oh. That's great."

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.Tjz