Pilgrim's Progress

13th of Culminations, in the 5th year of the Reign of Yale Redwater, Alshain Magna

Salamah had given Vincent a truly staggering amount of latitude in deveoloping the trading businesses, and that included facilities.  Vincent had an entire wing of the expanded 'womb' his to control as lord-and-master. 

For some reason known only to him, he preferred it practically frozen.  Salamah had on short sleeves, and it was a stretch of his acting abilities to pretend he wasn't entirely miserable.  His body was unaugmented, and it was only his will that kept him from shivering.  He moved with a purpose, past peons scurrying to-and-fro, going about their business.  They moved out of the way, as a minnow keeps away from the sharks. And like a shark, Salamah was not interested in taking a bite out of such meagre prey.

He pressed his palm against the door scanner, and stepped into a clean, sleek room containing half-a-dozen people in star-patterned Sathraist robes, and at their center playing with the incredibly expensive computer-table (it could hold the equivilent of a million books worth of data easily, record conversations, analyze patterns, it was wasted on Vincent, perhaps, but useful) was the Head of Mercantile himself.  He looked less rumpled than usual, and he seemed to have even bathed.  How had Salamah known that it was that damn Sathraism, again?

His eyes though, looked as weary as Salamah felt.  "Hello, your Grace," he said, distractedly.

"You requested to speak to me?" Salamah asked carefully, his voice level.  It wasn't a request, but a demand, worded as rudely as possible--but he knew that Vincent wouldn't understand this.

"Yes, yes.  I figured you'd need to pick someone," Vincent said, pressing something and sending up a holographic picture of Chara for a moment.  Chara, the heart of Sathraism, where the Great Nexu of the Void was, Chara, a crime ridden, hot, dry world where 1/3rd of its population practiced Sathraism.  The perfect world for a religion of the stars to come into being, perhaps, Salamah had thought with cynicism, because there was nothing worth looking at on the planet, so why not the stars?

"Pick someone for what?"

"To temporarily replace me.  I'm going on a Pilgrimage, it's part of continuing up the ranks..."

"You just became a Captain," Salamah said, his pulse pounding, resisting yelling, "And you have work to do.  You can't leave, not now, not for..."

"Four months at least, probably more..."

Salamah stared at him, "I'll disown you..."

"You can't and won't, Your Grace.  Your wife told me so in a conversation we had via hologram" he said earnestly.  "Now, you should pick someone to replace me.  And a transport..."

**********

"You lying..." he growled, his face entirely without pretense, "You lying...how dare you?!"  He was yelling into the hologram, talking to his wife as if she was there...except if she was there the temptation for attempted murder would have been even stronger. 

"What is it dear?"

"You know!  You talked to Vincent and suddenly he feels it is okay to run off and do his bullshit religion thing," he was so angry he wasn't even being polite about it.  He had nothing against Sathraism in particular, except that it was a religion, and he had no time for those.  "Suddenly he wants me to put Marcus in control, just as we'll finally opening up Al Niyat!  And you helped him...again!  Explain yourself."

She looked at him, seeming almost pleased by his reaction, "Marcus needs this."

"So this is about Marcus, not about the business?"

"It is about both.  Marcus might be sometimes lazy, and not Prince-charming, but he has more ability than you give him credit for, and he's sharp and bright."

"And a horrible alcoholic that has only stayed sober for a year because we don't give him the chance to change that."

"He deserves a chance.  I think the responsiblity will be good for him."

"It will crush him," Salamah stated.

Jamilla stared at him for a long time before smiling, "You really do love him."

"Yes, he is family," Salamah said impatiently.

"No, not like that.  If a random cousin showed up, you'd treat them well, maybe even love them...but you've known Marcus for decades, you all but raised him, if my sources are correct...you need to stop coddling him: he had too long of a childhood, and suddenly he was eighteen and he had to marry and become an adult."

"It will crush him," Salamah repeated.  "He won't be able to stand it and I will not have my brother self-destructing again.  I can't lose him," he finally admitted, "Not now, not after we've gone so far.  Not like I lost Aaqilah."  He felt raw, vulnerable, and tired, and more than anything he wanted her to stop, to stop pressing, and stop knowing him.

He wanted her to know nothing about him, and yet here she was...

"You didn't lose her.  She lost herself.  She made her choices, and they ended the way they ended.  It was her fault, and you should stop blaming yourself."

"She was right," Salamah said quietly, "When she accused me of being a coward unable to stand up for what I belived she was...then...right."  It was painful, and he stopped, pausing and saying, "He can't handle it."

"If he can't handle it, then he never will.  Marcus will do fine, it's not as if he has to start up a whole new business.  There is a stable core of business, and there is a lot of room for expansion in Al Niyat, he'll be fine."

And so Salamah lost, and Vincent left, and Marcus became Head of Mercantile.

Four days later, the economy of Al Niyat collapsed in the span of hours.

Cast

Vincent Laurent, 38:  A Captain of the Faith of Sathraism, he is going on a long pilgrimage of meditation and contemplation, leaving everyone else to desperately scramble to deal with his sudden departure.  There is a reason his faith has to do with stars, and not other people, or basic courtesy.

Duke Salamah Laurent, 50:  A man who cannot save anyone, no matter how hard he tries.

Jamilla Laurent, 57:  Salamah's hated wife, who knows him far too well for his own comfort.

Marcus Laurent, 39:  Salamah's kid brother, raised by Salamah since Marcus was only one, he is a (not at all recovering) Alcoholic who lies around the house all day serving no function except to exist as Salamah's brother, and a reminder of his past.