第100节
p into place. Clearwater had not been
shedding tears over Sand-Wolf, but for the child the Federation had
taken from her. Lucas... Had she known who he was?
'I won't go into the whys and wherefores,' said Bull, 'but it all lines
up with the Prophecy, and is confirmed by the medical evidence. We got
him, Steve - and you gave him to us. That's gonna earn you a place in
the history archives."
Steve gestured in surrender. 'This is all kind of, y'know
overwhelming. I just had no idea." He ran his eyes around the table
and came back to Bull. 'Will I be able to see him, sir?"
'Sure, all in good time. Don't worry - he's in safe hands. One thing
you can be sure of, he's gonna get the best of everything - and that's
what we want you to have too."
Bull took hold of Fran's hand again and squeezed it affectionately.
'Now you know how much Karlstrom trusts you. Don't blame my brother.
He listens to the wrong people. And if I'm not wrong, Karlstrom has
probably tried to poison your mind against Fran here.
Am I right?"
'Well, sin ' 'Yeah. He probably said you were just the latest of a
long line of jack-dandies that got the heave-ho every six months. Is
that near the mark."?"
Steve looked at Fram 'Something like that, yes."
'Well it's not true,' said Bull. 'No point in pretending my daughter
was tempted by the fact you were a handsome young buck, but we both
knew you were also intelligent, resourceful and brave."
Steve accepted this accolade with a modest shrug.
'Fran has kept tabs on you and Roz for several years.
She's been your Controller. Now that may sound sinister but it
isn't.
Controllers look after the people we regard as "special". Watch over
them - protect them." Bull grinned. 'She's the last of a long line.
You and your late kin-sister have been on the Special Treatment List
since Day One. It's all down in the file, Steve - and we both like the
way it adds up.
'This may embarrass you, in front of all these folk, but contrary to
what that slime-ball has said, she has deep and genuine feelings for
you, son."
'I've become aware of that, sir." :eve made eye-contact with Fran
again. There was complicity in her regard, but not the heart-warming
feedback he got from Clearwater.
Bull noted the exchange. 'Did you know she wants to pair off with
you."?"
'Beg pardon, sir."?"
Bull laughed at Steve's bafflement. 'You know what a pairing-off party
is, don't you?"
'Yes, sir. It's where potential guard-mothers and fathers meet and
then, if they hit it off, they take out a co-habitation bond."
'Right - but in the Family, it's called "marriage". The man and woman
become husband and wife - father and mother to their children. I'm not
Fran's guard-father, I'm her natural father. That's something else
which sets us apart from our soldier-citizens We can reproduce our own
kind - like you, son."
Yeahh, and I know why. Because you're all super-straights ....
Bull continued: 'The First Family is a collection of families, united
by one dream - the conquest of the blue-sky world and the restoration
of America. Our America - good, honest and true - swept clean of
striped lump-heads and yellow trash. But although we share the same
dream, some of us believe the wrong people are in charge of the train
and that if we just stand by and do nothin' it could come off the
rails. Know what I mean?"
'Yes, sir .... ' 'That's why we'd like you to join us. A man in my
position needs people around him he can trust- and after the way
Karlstrom has treated you, I reckon you'd like to feel you were among
people you could rely on."
'Yes, sir."
'So how about it - would you like to marry my daughter?"
'I-I-I... don't know what to say, sir!" The prospect was absolutely
staggering. Appalling.
'Try saying "yes"!" snapped Bull. 'I don't offer a deal like this to
every trouser-snake that comes along!" 'Dad!" cried Fran. 'Give him
time to catch his breath!" 'I-I'd, uhh- be honoured, sir! If your
daughter believes I can make her happy, then I'd like nothing better
than an opportunity to prove that she made the right choice.