"I take it matters didn't go well at the Assembly."
Rose stopped suddenly and looked down at her. Rachel McCloud was tall for a woman, but Rose easily towered above her. He rarely used his height to an advantage, but now he made an exception.
"You were obviously waiting for me and the Assembly has been over for two hours, so you tell me." He turned to walk away, pulling McCloud's hand off his arm. He had walked three paces when something solid stung his ear. The sharpness of the pain stopped him, but even as he raised his hand to cover his ear, the pain began to recede. He looked back at Rachel, who was conspicuously out of arm's reach.
"What the hell was that for?" His ear still stung, but whatever she'd done hadn't broken the skin. It was the perfect attention-getter.
"Reality check, Adept."
"Don't call me that. You know I don't like it." Rose squared his shoulders and faced McCloud, who had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Don't behave so stupidly and I won't have to."
"I'm not acting stupid." But even as the words came from his mouth, Rose knew she was right. He was acting stupid, or at least defeated, which was just as bad. He relaxed and held out a hand to her.
"All right, I'm acting stupid. I'll try to stop."
McCloud crossed the brief distance to Rose and slipped her hand in his. There were few things she liked as much as winning a fight, even a brief one.
"What do you already know?" Rose resumed walking in his original direction. Although he had no destination in mind, it felt good to be under the open sky again after traveling so long through space. He doubted that McCloud shared that sentiment, but she was here just the same. Rose felt a tug at his heart, but ignored the feeling, as he had in the past.
"I only know that the Assembly voted down your proposal, mainly because of your father's speech. You're still welcome on Northwind, but your dream of starting a 'Mech unit was dealt a pretty harsh blow."
"I'd say a death blow," Rose sighed. "If not, then the meeting afterward was the killer."
"You had another meeting? I wondered where you went." McCloud snuggled closer to him as they walked, making the footing dangerous. Despite the warm air, she was not used to the cool breezeor draft, as she insisted on calling itblowing down from the mountains. She was a born spacer.
"Damn, I forgot my two cases." Rose glanced at his chronometer and slammed his fist into his open hand. "The Fort is closed by now."
"Don't worry. We can get them in the morning. It's not like they're going anywhere." Rose looked back along the route they'd just taken, considering the option of returning.
"You were saying?"
Rose shook his head and continued walking.
"Two boys stopped me on the way out," he told her. "Dear old dad called a family meeting on the spot to hear my proposal and was telling anybody who'd listen not to follow me."
"He sounds thorough."
"Vindictive is more like it. I was still reeling from the Assembly of Warriors when I was escorted to an adjacent room and propped up between my two keepers.
"The room was full of family I hadn't seen since leaving Northwind, but did I get the chance to speak to them or greet them? Hell, no. Dad announced me to the family and then proceeded to tell them what a rat I was. He explained my proposal to them as I listened, then called the vote. It was all over in less than ten minutes." Rose kicked a stray rock into the street and watched it skip to a stop in the middle of the lane.
"Could you have stopped him?"
"Yes, but not really. As a tech, he doesn't really have any clout in the Assembly of Warriors, but as the oldest male in the Rose family he's got a hell of a strong pull. I could have stopped him in front of the Assembly or the family session, but in either case it would have been considered very rude.
Not even the prodigal son can go against his fatherespecially when he's the patriarch and get away with it. Speaking at all would have been proof of my father's claims.
"Seventeen family members present and all seventeen rejected my offer."
McCloud let Rose walk on in silence. Despite the short time she'd known him, she knew he had not really given up on his dream, despite his current mood. He'd figure something out if he took the time. She began to shiver as the temperature continued to drop.
She looked up at Rose, trying to come to terms with how strongly she felt about him. She'd always prided herself on being independent. Being a DropShip captain was hard work, and McCloud considered herself as good as any in the business. Then along came this Mech Warrior who made her question her lonely way of life. Not that it was anything he ever said. His company was enough.
"So what now?" McCloud spoke the words more to keep her lips moving than because she expected an answer. She shivered again, thinking that one day scientists would look back and declare climate control as the invention that separated men from monkeys.
"Now I try to see my sister, Rianna, and take it from there. She wasn't at the Assembly today, so she missed the vote."