Free Starhold by J. Alan Field Page A

worried expression.
    “Ah, speak of the devil,” said Polanco with a wink. “Just talking about you, my friend.”
    “I am so sorry to interrupt your, eh, meeting Admiral, Prime Minister,” Sanchez replied in a distressed voice.
    Darracott placed her hand on Sanchez’s shoulder. “Leo, what is it? You look as pale as one of my Odessan brothers. What’s wrong?”
    “Again, sorry for the interruption, but I felt you’d want to see this immediately, Admiral, and you as well, Prime Minister. We’ve just received a report from Uritski Outpost…”

4: Gardener
    Planet Earth
    Aquitaine region
    Former nation of France
    As he stared into the mirror, he saw the face of a handsome man. It wasn’t the most attractive face ever, but certainly far from the least attractive. The bathroom mirror reflected high and pointed cheekbones with a long, tapered jawline. His skin had a healthy, tanned hue. After all, he did spend a lot of time outdoors in the garden. His blue eyes were also very striking. Yes, those eyes liked what they saw, especially his full shock of strawberry blond hair. Not bad for a man who’d just turned 115 True. Physically however, he looked like a forty-year-old, forty-five at most.
    Thankfully, he’d had his Regen Treatment before the expedition departed. High Nobles received the Treatment about every fifty years, three per lifetime. He had considered delaying it until he returned home, but mercifully, he’d listened to the advice of his wife. After all, that was a dozen years ago. Think of what he would look like today if he had foregone his second Treatment. Marvia had her faults, but intelligence was not one of them. Her judgment was impeccable, which was why he was so willing to have her manage their estates during his extended absence. By the time he returns home, she will have made a fortune for him. She really was an exceptional mate—sometimes he even missed her.
    The Treatment was grand, but why couldn’t they do something about the daily stubble on his face. As he smeared on the cream depilatory to remove his morning beard, he laughed to himself. Isn’t that just like scientists? They can achieve miraculous things like reaching this world, but they can’t stop my beard from growing overnight. After wiping off the cream and stubble into a towel, he took one more look in the mirror. Definitely not a day over forty…
    He dressed, walked downstairs from his suite, and proceeded toward his office. Uniformed guards stationed in the hallways saluted as he passed by. Two technicians were exiting the Colony Command Center as he walked by and both stopped in the doorway to give a slight bow of respect. After twelve years discipline was still strict, unquestionably the product of good leadership.
    Entering his spacious office, he saw that it was a beautiful day outside and the double doors leading to the courtyard had been propped open. When the workers built the Government Compound, he had insisted it be placed on top of a hill overlooking the town. From the courtyard, he could gaze out over his city while he tended to his garden. Gardens had to be watered and nurtured, and occasionally trimmed lest they grow undisciplined and wild. Weeds were bound to pop up here and there, seemingly out of nowhere sometimes. In his garden, high on the hill, he could watch for them and catch them before they caused trouble.
    As he stepped outside onto the tessellated stone floor, the warm sunlight caught his face. He smiled broadly as he approached the shaded breakfast table and its sole occupant. The Lord Governor bent down and kissed the blonde woman on the lips, then sat down next to her. As if materializing from thin air, a servant placed a breakfast tray before him and he began to eat.
    “Cheprin, I’m glad to see that you’re finally up,” said the woman, “I was about to send someone to roust you.”
    “I’m so sorry my dear, I overslept again. I didn’t hear you get up this morning.”
    “I had some