FIC: Spin Recovery, Part Twenty Nine
Feb. 27th, 2008 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalToday I managed to pass page 100 in this story, which makes it about 16 pages longer than The Grace of God, the story that originally inspired it.
Ye, gods. If only I could write this much for something I could actually sell.
“Oh,” Bethany said, looking at the data Rufus had just transmitted to her over the com link. “That… complicates things.” It had taken all of his charm and Aunt Dottie’s cheerful obstinacy to convince his sister to start speaking to him again, not that he could have blamed her for cutting him off cold. But she was willing listen to what he was saying, which gave Rufus immense hope.
“Were you aware of this, Bethany?” he asked.
“No, I was not,” she said, sounding aggrieved. “I thought it was a bit odd that Mother left me out of the negotiations with the Brightspots, but I just put it aside to her wanting to take care of such an important project personally. Now I have to wonder what else she’s keeping from me.”
“I don’t think you should put to much blame on her. Paranoia is a contagious disease, I believe, and she’s been getting exposed to plenty of it courtesy of the humans.”
“You’ll still haven’t explained to me how you knew the Council got its data from the Terran Federation, Rufus.”
“Bethany, someday I hope to explain it to you in a manner that won’t make me sound like a raving loon. It’s actually all a part and parcel with what happened with me, my twin and losing my arm, but that isn’t a fight I want to take on right now. For now, I just want a reassurance of your neutrality when I confront Mother over this.”
His sister rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully. “You don’t want me to help you directly?”
“No,” he said, “I don’t want to put you in conflict with her. I’m going to be forcing her back to the wall as it is. I don’t want to push her into a panic and do something all three of us will end up regretting.”
Bethany nodded. “Very well, Rufus, I will stay out of this. Good luck to you.”
He bowed in his seat to her. “Thank you, dear sister.”
* * *
A loan from Aunt Dottie was enough to get a rush job from the family tailor, to create a new uniform for him in the House’s colors. From the collection of artifacts that cluttered her flat he borrowed a sword thought to date back to the pre-Subjugation days, hung across his back in the most formal of Farmer Lord styles. The final touch was his belt, which he’d been wearing when he’d been arrested the week before, with his old White Knight chess piece logo embossed into the silver buckle.
“Are you going to a meeting or going to war, Ru?” his Aunt Dottie asked, tying the blasted cord across his chest.
“A meeting, I hope. Though it may turn into a war if things go badly,” he replied. “I just want to get the measure of my intent across to her.”
Dottie chuckled. “Nephew, if you projected any more intent your ear tips would be smoking. Come on, I’ll bring my skimmer around.”
She drove him back to the manor, which he hadn’t stepped foot inside of for nearly two weeks now. The servant at the door swept it open with a flourish, eyes widening slightly at his formal appearance. He marched inside, head high, until he came to the reception area in front of his mother’s office.
“Please let the Lady Brushtail know that her son has arrived for his appointment with her,” he told the startled young man.
Fortunately his mother was not the sort to play silly waiting games on her callers and in a moment he was ushered inside. Her eyebrows rose up upon seeing the sword at his back, but she merely said, “Good morning, Ru Ofanius. Please, sit down.”
He settled into his chair, sitting at attention. “Good morning, Mother.”
“How did your operation go?”
“Quite well, thank you. I’m still a bit sore where they installed the base plate, but it’s getting better.”
“Good. I’m told there was a bit of excitement at the hospital that day.”
“Yes, there was,” he said. “Hazel, the young vixen I brought over for dinner that one evening unfortunately had to have her leg amputated. The staff there overreacted a bit to her understandable distress and I intervened to calm the situation.”
“So I heard.” She folded her hands together on her desk. “Why did you feel the need to make a formal appointment to see me, Ru Ofanius? You know you are welcome back here at any time. As embarrassing as your arrest was, I am not going to hold it against to you if you make proper restitutions.”
“I’m not coming back, Mother, at least not yet. But I did want to clarify a few items of mutual interest with you,” he said.
“Oh?”
“I’m giving you formal notice that your plans to mine the hills in the Northeast Sector for sevenium are to stop and the rents there to be restored to their former levels for all of its residents.”
Her cool expression did not change. “That’s a rather extraordinary request, Ru Ofanius. That is House Brushtail land, what is done with it is entirely up to my discretion.”
He took a deep breath and plunged forward. “Not quite correct, Mother. That land parcel is in the House Brushtail domain. What happens to it, however, is entirely up to my discretion. You granted all authority and rents for it to my household upon my reaching the age of majority. Now, I will admit that I was a lackadaisical young cub, too full of myself to even bother visiting the place, and happy to leave management of it to the House’s minions, but the overall authority was and is still mine. So your mining project stops. Now.”
“I see.” The space between them seemed to grow dangerously electric, like the engineering section of an Ardactavian ship that was charging its jump drive.
“Didn’t you think I’d find out, Mother?” he asked.
“I thought you might,” she replied. “I just didn’t think you’d care.”
Rufus nodded at the truth in that statement. “I wouldn’t have, years ago. No, not years, but months. I’ve had my eyes opened since then.” He went on. “Knowing that, why did you give the task of herding those commoners off that land to me?”
“I wanted to see what how you’d handle it. I still want you to be our Family Land Administrator someday, Ru Ofanius. I’ll never know if you’re worthy of the position if I don’t see what you’re capable of.”
“You wanted to see if I would be capable of evicting our tenants from their homes dispassionately. Not see them in them as individuals, but only in the context of the House and its needs.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m happy to report that I failed your test miserably, Mother. There is a young vixen sitting in a hospital bed right now who just suffered a devastating loss. Just one of many she has suffered. So I’ve determined that she is not going to suffer through this. She and her father are keeping their home. Everyone there is keeping their homes. I’d also like you to release the rent revenues that have been piling up the past couple of years to my personal account. I’ve got a mind to do some infrastructure improvements in the area and the credits would be useful.”
“I can’t allow that, Ru Ofanius. House Brushtail needs that sevenium. Vulpine as a whole needs it.”
“Vulpine as a whole does not need it, but I’m not going to argue that point. Vulpine can bloody well get it from asteroid mining or other, less convenient sources. But they are not going to get it from the Northeast Sector.”
“You’re being irrational about this, Ru Ofanius. Do not make me force this issue.”
“Mother, I’ve never been more rational in my life. There is only one way you are going to get that sevenium and that is to strip my authority over that land. Which of course would mean going to the Council of Farmer Lords and convince them that I'm too mentally incompetent to manage them.”
“Do you really think you’d win that fight, son?”
“No, I've given you more than enough ammunition for the fight. Goodness, you just have to show that birthday message to Bethany to convince them” He gave her a quiet smile. “I've half-destroyed my life already. All you have to do is finish the job.”
He looked at her and waited, wondering if he had misjudged just how badly she wanted that sevenium in comparison to her loyalty to her erstwhile son. She stared back at him silently for a long moment, then sighed rubbed her eyes.
“Very well, Ru Ofanius, I shall release the accumulated rents from your lands to you, and direct the House's accountants to send all further profits to your personal accounts. I will also inform the Brightspots to cancel the our equipment contract for the mine.”
Rufus bowed deeply to her, without irony. “My thanks, Mother. You did the right thing. Now if you'll forgive, I'm going to have to hire a few accountants myself to keep track of things. Good day.” He turned to go.
“Ru Ofanius,” she said to his back. “I will also expect you to remove all of your personal effects from your suite and elsewhere on the manor by tomorrow evening.”
He paused, nodded, then walked out the door.
He didn't turn back.
TBC
Ye, gods. If only I could write this much for something I could actually sell.
“Oh,” Bethany said, looking at the data Rufus had just transmitted to her over the com link. “That… complicates things.” It had taken all of his charm and Aunt Dottie’s cheerful obstinacy to convince his sister to start speaking to him again, not that he could have blamed her for cutting him off cold. But she was willing listen to what he was saying, which gave Rufus immense hope.
“Were you aware of this, Bethany?” he asked.
“No, I was not,” she said, sounding aggrieved. “I thought it was a bit odd that Mother left me out of the negotiations with the Brightspots, but I just put it aside to her wanting to take care of such an important project personally. Now I have to wonder what else she’s keeping from me.”
“I don’t think you should put to much blame on her. Paranoia is a contagious disease, I believe, and she’s been getting exposed to plenty of it courtesy of the humans.”
“You’ll still haven’t explained to me how you knew the Council got its data from the Terran Federation, Rufus.”
“Bethany, someday I hope to explain it to you in a manner that won’t make me sound like a raving loon. It’s actually all a part and parcel with what happened with me, my twin and losing my arm, but that isn’t a fight I want to take on right now. For now, I just want a reassurance of your neutrality when I confront Mother over this.”
His sister rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully. “You don’t want me to help you directly?”
“No,” he said, “I don’t want to put you in conflict with her. I’m going to be forcing her back to the wall as it is. I don’t want to push her into a panic and do something all three of us will end up regretting.”
Bethany nodded. “Very well, Rufus, I will stay out of this. Good luck to you.”
He bowed in his seat to her. “Thank you, dear sister.”
* * *
A loan from Aunt Dottie was enough to get a rush job from the family tailor, to create a new uniform for him in the House’s colors. From the collection of artifacts that cluttered her flat he borrowed a sword thought to date back to the pre-Subjugation days, hung across his back in the most formal of Farmer Lord styles. The final touch was his belt, which he’d been wearing when he’d been arrested the week before, with his old White Knight chess piece logo embossed into the silver buckle.
“Are you going to a meeting or going to war, Ru?” his Aunt Dottie asked, tying the blasted cord across his chest.
“A meeting, I hope. Though it may turn into a war if things go badly,” he replied. “I just want to get the measure of my intent across to her.”
Dottie chuckled. “Nephew, if you projected any more intent your ear tips would be smoking. Come on, I’ll bring my skimmer around.”
She drove him back to the manor, which he hadn’t stepped foot inside of for nearly two weeks now. The servant at the door swept it open with a flourish, eyes widening slightly at his formal appearance. He marched inside, head high, until he came to the reception area in front of his mother’s office.
“Please let the Lady Brushtail know that her son has arrived for his appointment with her,” he told the startled young man.
Fortunately his mother was not the sort to play silly waiting games on her callers and in a moment he was ushered inside. Her eyebrows rose up upon seeing the sword at his back, but she merely said, “Good morning, Ru Ofanius. Please, sit down.”
He settled into his chair, sitting at attention. “Good morning, Mother.”
“How did your operation go?”
“Quite well, thank you. I’m still a bit sore where they installed the base plate, but it’s getting better.”
“Good. I’m told there was a bit of excitement at the hospital that day.”
“Yes, there was,” he said. “Hazel, the young vixen I brought over for dinner that one evening unfortunately had to have her leg amputated. The staff there overreacted a bit to her understandable distress and I intervened to calm the situation.”
“So I heard.” She folded her hands together on her desk. “Why did you feel the need to make a formal appointment to see me, Ru Ofanius? You know you are welcome back here at any time. As embarrassing as your arrest was, I am not going to hold it against to you if you make proper restitutions.”
“I’m not coming back, Mother, at least not yet. But I did want to clarify a few items of mutual interest with you,” he said.
“Oh?”
“I’m giving you formal notice that your plans to mine the hills in the Northeast Sector for sevenium are to stop and the rents there to be restored to their former levels for all of its residents.”
Her cool expression did not change. “That’s a rather extraordinary request, Ru Ofanius. That is House Brushtail land, what is done with it is entirely up to my discretion.”
He took a deep breath and plunged forward. “Not quite correct, Mother. That land parcel is in the House Brushtail domain. What happens to it, however, is entirely up to my discretion. You granted all authority and rents for it to my household upon my reaching the age of majority. Now, I will admit that I was a lackadaisical young cub, too full of myself to even bother visiting the place, and happy to leave management of it to the House’s minions, but the overall authority was and is still mine. So your mining project stops. Now.”
“I see.” The space between them seemed to grow dangerously electric, like the engineering section of an Ardactavian ship that was charging its jump drive.
“Didn’t you think I’d find out, Mother?” he asked.
“I thought you might,” she replied. “I just didn’t think you’d care.”
Rufus nodded at the truth in that statement. “I wouldn’t have, years ago. No, not years, but months. I’ve had my eyes opened since then.” He went on. “Knowing that, why did you give the task of herding those commoners off that land to me?”
“I wanted to see what how you’d handle it. I still want you to be our Family Land Administrator someday, Ru Ofanius. I’ll never know if you’re worthy of the position if I don’t see what you’re capable of.”
“You wanted to see if I would be capable of evicting our tenants from their homes dispassionately. Not see them in them as individuals, but only in the context of the House and its needs.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m happy to report that I failed your test miserably, Mother. There is a young vixen sitting in a hospital bed right now who just suffered a devastating loss. Just one of many she has suffered. So I’ve determined that she is not going to suffer through this. She and her father are keeping their home. Everyone there is keeping their homes. I’d also like you to release the rent revenues that have been piling up the past couple of years to my personal account. I’ve got a mind to do some infrastructure improvements in the area and the credits would be useful.”
“I can’t allow that, Ru Ofanius. House Brushtail needs that sevenium. Vulpine as a whole needs it.”
“Vulpine as a whole does not need it, but I’m not going to argue that point. Vulpine can bloody well get it from asteroid mining or other, less convenient sources. But they are not going to get it from the Northeast Sector.”
“You’re being irrational about this, Ru Ofanius. Do not make me force this issue.”
“Mother, I’ve never been more rational in my life. There is only one way you are going to get that sevenium and that is to strip my authority over that land. Which of course would mean going to the Council of Farmer Lords and convince them that I'm too mentally incompetent to manage them.”
“Do you really think you’d win that fight, son?”
“No, I've given you more than enough ammunition for the fight. Goodness, you just have to show that birthday message to Bethany to convince them” He gave her a quiet smile. “I've half-destroyed my life already. All you have to do is finish the job.”
He looked at her and waited, wondering if he had misjudged just how badly she wanted that sevenium in comparison to her loyalty to her erstwhile son. She stared back at him silently for a long moment, then sighed rubbed her eyes.
“Very well, Ru Ofanius, I shall release the accumulated rents from your lands to you, and direct the House's accountants to send all further profits to your personal accounts. I will also inform the Brightspots to cancel the our equipment contract for the mine.”
Rufus bowed deeply to her, without irony. “My thanks, Mother. You did the right thing. Now if you'll forgive, I'm going to have to hire a few accountants myself to keep track of things. Good day.” He turned to go.
“Ru Ofanius,” she said to his back. “I will also expect you to remove all of your personal effects from your suite and elsewhere on the manor by tomorrow evening.”
He paused, nodded, then walked out the door.
He didn't turn back.
TBC
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 12:59 am (UTC)FAMILY TENSION TIME!
Great one again =)
Woah, you did it again. Great.
Yeah, I also wish for you to be able to sell some more of your stuff... (still looking forward to The Dragon's Companion Part II being released...)
As for Rufus: poor him, I think he did not expect this reaction of his mother...
And poor Bethany, I am wondering how she will react. Will she leave her mother also, or will she stay? How will their relationship change through this? and the relationship to her mother?
I am also wondering what will happen, when she finally will get the truth about the Dominion (or rather the non-existence of it)...
But how does this relate to the earlier stated [quote]You know you are welcome back here at any time.[/quote]? I guess that now is non-existent also...
mjkj
Re: Great one again =)
Date: 2008-02-28 10:33 am (UTC)Re: Great one again =)
Yeah, so she kicked him out, and no, I did not think of him being disowned. In that case he would loose his parcel also...
And being kicked out means he is not welcome there anymore (at least for a time)...
mjkj
no subject
Date: 2008-02-29 08:55 am (UTC)And it really is like a cold war, that mom it so polite for someone who's really angry with her son.