P: Clandestine Meeting

When Brendan stepped out of the refresher, a summons from the King of Eks Corp was waiting.

He made a face at the notification, and then verified its authenticity, even though the addendum at the bottom that said, "Verify it anyway you brat," practically ensured that it was real. The code was a match for the one stored in his memory library for this Eks Central date.

It wasn't impossible for data to be stolen from the genetic memories that were assigned before birth through the M chromosome, but it tended to be hard on the person that the information was obtained from. The Aldrich family limited the possibilities further, because only the king who engendered the child, and the child who inherited the memory library written for the next king, would have these codes.

They weren't the only family who restricted what they passed on, but not everyone could edit in precise detail, or separate what was given to their descendants from what was stored in their own library. Unless he had relatives that he didn't know about, the code could only have come from his father. Not that he didn't have siblings, but the two of them didn't have the king's M, they had the queen's instead. Sometimes Brendan was a little jealous of them.

He dressed more formally than he'd been planning to. The current king rarely met his heir in person, to prevent the tragedy of a previous generation where the retired king had been forced to serve a second term while a new generation of children grew up. And Brendan's father had always been careful, so it had been unusual for him to visit the same station, even before Brendan had reached his majority and his status as heir had been made public.

If the succession was ever cut off completely, normal corporate inheritance rules would be implemented, and the digital archive would be released to the new family head. But those records contained little of significance, being primarily an archive of the company history. The first king's decision had been passed down to each king since, and so far none of them had disagreed with his judgment that if their genetic memory line was someday destroyed, it was a sign that their methods had become too archaic to be worth preserving anyway.

Brendan traveled through a completely different set of corridors and lifts than he normally used, because even the immediate family of Eks Corp's current king wasn't usually allowed to wander the administrative section of the school freely. There was some similarity though, there were more people in uniform in both the administrative section and near the docking accesses. His invitation made doors that were usually closed, open without hesitation.

The room he entered was an unassuming looking meeting room, with a display core and a number of chairs, much like a group classroom. The man who waited there was also unassuming, until you looked at his eyes, which were currently narrowed in a dissatisfied examination of his son.

Brendan didn't wait, but greeted his father with, "Why are you risking a personal visit when you can scold me from anywhere in the solar system?"

Regis Aldrich grinned suddenly and replied, "At least you know that you deserve a scolding?"

Brendan narrowed his own eyes and argued, "Actually, I don't think that I do."

"Then consider why else I might want to talk to you without being recorded," his father suggested dryly.

Brendan stiffened and asked, "What happened? And to who?"

Regis waved his hand as though brushing something away, and reassured Brendan quickly, "Everyone else is fine, your mother reported in just a few hours ago, and your siblings are still where they should be, last I checked."

"So?" Brendan prompted after a moment.

"I'm here to discuss your frivolous approach to choosing your queen, of course," Regis explained dryly. One eyebrow lifted as he added, "I also had no idea that you disliked older women, and I question the inclusion of girls who haven't reached their own majority yet? That kind of taste…"

"That's not why," Brendan protested immediately. "I chose the age range based on historical data!"

Regis assumed the neutral expression he usually wore, which probably meant that he was searching his memory library, but Brendan explained, "It's not guaranteed, but they should be less likely to choose courses of action based on the benefits to their birth families, old lovers, and so forth."

"I would think a child would be more likely to choose benefits for their birth family," Regis replied doubtfully.

Brendan rolled his eyes and pointed out, "It's not like you're retiring as soon as you have me married off. A girl who has just passed her Rep5 will be well past her Rep7 by the time she is queen. Plus, as mother pointed out, there would be the advantage of being able to influence the last of her schooling. She wouldn't have to spend so much extra time in training later, if she were on the younger side. I was also careful to exclude anyone who already has other children."

Regis raised a hand to his face for a long moment, before saying, "I'm certain that this wasn't your mother's intention when she pointed that out. We were hoping that you would form your relationship earlier, not encouraging you to marry someone two thirds of your age."

"I included people my age too," Brendan pointed out dryly. "She could even be slightly older, since she could celebrate her Rep7 any time after registering, while mine will mark the start of the race."

"Alright," Regis conceded with a wave of his hand. "The real problem I have with the whole thing is not the girl's age, or how likely your calculations are to get you an acceptable bride, but the fact that you are treating the whole thing like anyone who fits in your profile will do. People are not components that can be swapped out like parts."

"Actually, they are," Brendan argued. "Isn't that why the human race has been so successful? The failure of one person isn't everyone's failure, someone else can always step forward and try again until someone succeeds, and we keep trying until we can duplicate that success over and over again."

Regis gave up and tried another approach, "But even if you see it as a corporate position instead of a romantic relationship, your queen will be your primary support. It would be better to have someone you can trust with your life than someone who fits a profile. It doesn't even have to be a girl."

Brendan stared blankly at his father for a long moment, and then his expression twisted. "You… I can't even…" he sputtered. He threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, "I wouldn't set things up to get something I don't want! Why did you even approve it if you think like that!? Don't ever say things like that in public, please!"

The king's expression darkened as he replied, "I approved it because someone expected me to approve it without noticing."

Brendan didn't ask why his father would do that, instead his own expression cooled, and he assured the King of Eks Corp, "No one prompted me to set things up this way. And the timing of the announcement was my own too, because I based it on how long it would take someone from the edge of the system to get to Eks Central by my Rep7 celebration. Using a decent ship though, since they probably won't make it by using cheap commercial routes."