That summer, I worked for the Desters again, but it was different, for several reasons. First, Destiny had graduated high school, one of a very small number to complete nine years in Persiphone’s public schools. Out of that small number, she had the highest scores, and received a partial academic scholarship to Tarkin University, a small college that was still getting on its feet. She spent a large part of the summer studying to get a jump on her first semester.
    Second, Destiny’s two oldest brothers had moved several miles further out from Tarkin to prove their own farm. Mr. Dester himself spent a lot of time in town, attending the town meetings that led up to our first elections.
    So it was mainly Norman and I who worked the farm, with a lot of help from Norman’s mom. On the seventh day of each week, I attended church with the Dester family, listening closely, and keeping mainly to myself. In the evenings, I fed my own animals, until I sold my animals and their grazing pasture with the barn.
    Somehow, I still had time to read books I borrowed from the Desters. I read parts of the New Testament — The Revised Colonial Edition, and a few other books the Desters had bought through their church.
    I learned a lot of things, but what it amounted to was this (according to the Desters’ brand of religion): God was an all-powerful being who knew everything, and had existed forever, and had no end. He had created the entire Universe, and all the beings in it. First, He had made angels, but a lot of them had rebelled, electing to follow Lucifer instead, so God had made the other races: Humans, Trayaks, Grangers, Strangers, Kelvods, and others that we haven’t found yet. Most of these had also rebelled, electing to follow their own selfish desires, which was why Old Home Terra had been destroyed by fire, and those humans selected by God had been given another chance. God had used His servant Millal Ba to bring us out of that fire, and had used His servant Kthorpa of the Trayaks to bring peace between the sheep of different folds.
    Now, God requires us to be decent to our fellowmen, and to spread the message of hope across the galaxy, while tithing to the church to help them pay their ministers.
    On one of the rare weekends when Harry was able to come over for dinner, I asked him what he thought about religion.
    “Philipp, my boy”, he had answered, “the only religion I have is that which makes the galaxy an easier place to live in. I don’t pray, I don’t give money to churches, and I don’t believe that if I sneak off and drink a beer I’m going to Hell. But I try to do right by people. When your unfortunate situation came along, I tried to take care of you, but you obviously didn’t need it, except legally. And now, Persiphone is struggling to set up her own government, and I’m trying to help them out. When I leave this dirtball for the next colony world, I hope to leave it a decent place for people to raise kids. there’s some people trying to get me to run for whatever head office were going to have, and I may just do it, to help some more... Thats my religion. Why do you ask?”
    I was clearing dishes off the table then, but I answered from the kitchen. “I’ve been going to church with the Dester family, and their preacher says that if I’m not giving ten percent of everything I make to the church, then God won’t look highly on me. And they say that drinking is wrong, and smoking is wrong, and having sex is wrong, and a lot of other things are wrong. Like stealing.” I was starting to feel just a little guilty for what Destiny and I had done, and I was looking for a way to justify it.
    He looked up as I came back in to wipe the table off. “Well, I would have to say stealing is wrong, because it’s taking away from someone else’s livelihood. Say, for instance, if I went next door, and stole all your neighbor’s chickens, they’d be put back a couple of months, trying to save up to buy more.”
    “What about those people that robbed that bank a while back?” I was in the kitchen then, but I could hear him go silent for a moment before he answered.
    “Well, Philipp, that’s a little different, because no one actually lost any money, but it is against the law, and if they’re caught they’ll be punished accordingly.”
    “What do mean, no one actually lost any money?” That was a new idea for me, but I was already starting to feel less guilty.
    “You see, all the banks are insured. Some go through their planetary governments, some go through normal insurance companies, and some — like those here on our planet — go through the Colonial Commission. They pay so much every month, so if someone robs them, or if they go bankrupt, the insurance company makes sure that the customers still get their money. But I’d still have to say it was wrong. If no one robbed banks, then the banks wouldn’t have to pay such high insurance premiums, and maybe interest rates would go down on loans, and up for accounts.”
    I came back in, and sat down with him. “So you’re saying if not one bank was robbed in the next five years, then the insurance companies would lower the premiums? Or do away with them altogether?”
    “Not likely, Philipp. See, the banks don’t have to pay the insurance; they want to. Because there’s no other way to replace their customers’ money in case they are robbed.”
    “But what if no one robbed any — I mean any — banks for five or ten years?”
    “I don’t see that happening either. What I really don’t see is why people rob them at all. Usually, they’re caught while trying to escape, or while they’re spending more money than they should. I’ve always said the safest way to make money is to earn it. Then no one will dispute that it’s yours.”

*

That fall, Persiphone’s adults voted to make the planet a Representative Democratic Republic, with a Governor for the head. A month later, Harry was voted in as the first Governor of Persiphone. He almost didn’t accept the position, he told me, since he liked working for the Colonial Commission. But he thought about it for a long time, and realized that he was starting to age a bit, and would find it difficult to take up another colony world. Besides, he had made a lot of friends on Persiphone. I told him I thought he would make a great governor.
    Also that fall, Destiny entered Tarkin University, and Norman and I entered the 10th grade. Mr. Dester sold his farm, except for two acres where the house and garden sat. Leaving Mrs. Dester, Norman and Destiny there, he left the planet to head up the Dester Mining Corporation in the mineral-laden asteroid belt of our star system. I found out he had been an executive for a large mineral company before he had emigrated. Now he was determined to run things his own way.
    Tarkin suddenly doubled in size, as government offices sprang up all around the city, and new colonists continued to pour in. Two new cities (Helmston and Babcock) sprang up, Helmston being a lumber mill town 90 miles upstream from Tarkin, and Babcock being basically a trading post for colonial farmers too far from Tarkin. Both new cities grew quickly, since many of the new immigrants didn’t want to live in a city as large as Tarkin. As always, I saw that they were defeating their purpose — those cities would soon be just as large. A tax and revenue office opened in the center of Tarkin, along with a licensing office. The licensing office handled all licenses, building, driving, liquor, etc. Our old landing field for passenger shuttles and cargo transports began to be transformed into a real spaceport, with plans already drawn for two passenger terminals, a customs office, a baggage sorting area, and several cargo docks.
    When Mr. Dester sold his 98 acres of developed land, he used most of the money to start his mining company, but he also bought a used ground car for his familys use while he was gone. It was a twenty-five-year-old lorry, seating four, with room in the back for hauling produce in to market. Soon after, Destiny passed her test for her driver’s license. Then she got a job as an evening receptionist for one of the construction companies building terminals at the spaceport.
    It seemed to me all of this work was making our planet into the same kind of world that we had gone there to escape.
    Harry (“guvnah”) tried to explain it to me one day. “It’s not like we could do anything else, Philipp. All of these people think they’re coming out here to run away from the crowds, the taxes, their old problems, high prices, and all that. What they’re really doing is making new crowds, paying taxes to a new government, creating their own new personal problems, and the big crowds will surely drive up prices. You see, humans bring their problems with them. My dad used to tell me ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’ It means that what you’re running from is really inside you.”
    “My dad used to say that too.”
    “Your dad was a wise man. Speaking of all of this, what are your plans?” When I looked dumbfounded, he explained. “Well, Philipp, you’re not the one who chose to come out here; your parents made that decision for you, but you’re here now. And technically, you’re not under my guardianship anymore, since the Colonial Commission has no more hold over this planet. Legally, you’re back where you started, early last year. And I don’t know that we’ve made a law to cover you yet. You can’t be a voting citizen until you’re eighteen, but I guess for now, we could call you a non-voting citizen, or something.” He looked at me.
    “So you’re saying you’d make a new law just to cover my unique situation? Why don’t you just adopt me, until I turn eighteen? Can’t you do that? Or maybe you don’t want to...”
    “No, no, no. That’s not what I meant at all, Philipp! I don’t want you to think I am trying to run your life. A lot of people on all the planets could learn a lot from your example of independence, character, and hard work, even after the hand that life dealt you. I’m saying that if you don’t want to answer to me — besides as governor — that’s okay with me, we’ll work something out. But if you do want my guardianship, you’ll need to sell what you’ve got here, and come live with me. They’re building a governor’s mansion right now. It’ll be about twice the size of this house — four times the size of the apartment I’ve been living in. It’s just that as a public official — more public than before, you understand — I won’t be able to have you living out here in the boonies while you’re legally my son. People would think it was pretty strange, you know.”
    “I guess I understand.” I paused, looking around the house, trying to remember what it had been like with my parents. The eighteen months had washed my memory of them. I found I could barely remember their faces. “Will I be able to go to the same school?”
    “Sure. I can work that out. You see, the school district laws won’t apply to you, since I’m not a permanent resident of the governor’s mansion. In fact, I’ll probably be able to arrange to have you driven to school every day. You won’t have any chores, you’ll have a holovision and vid-phone of your own. I could probably manage to give you an allowance out of your trust. After your land sale, and eighteen months of accrued interest, you probably already have over 34,000 credits, or more than 45,000 newdollars.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “In fact, your interest alone would probably be more than enough to buy your clothes, or anything else you might want for a while.”
    Later I did the calculations on it, and found that the interest alone was about cc85 a month, and growing every month. Four credits would buy a pretty decent shirt, and five credits would buy good pants. I could eat a full meal at a decent restaurant for three credits, or at a really expensive one for ten.
    “Can I get a job?”
    “I knew you’d ask that, boy.” He managed to look both frustrated and proud at the same time. “I know you’re a hard worker, but why can’t you just be a teenager for a while? Do your homework, go to school, and enjoy the rest of your free time... The time will come soon enough when you’ll have to work six or more days a week, and... Well, maybe not. You could live off your trust for a while.” He rubbed his face. “I’ll think about it, son.”
    I knew he meant that “son” as a term of age, not of relationship, but that’s when it was decided for me. It felt really good to be called “son”, for the first time in a long time, kind of like it had felt really good when Destiny had called me “darling” or “baby” or “my man”. I guess I needed to be wanted... or wanted to be needed.
    “Okay, Harry. It’s a deal. You want me to wait on selling all this until you get that new house finished?”
    “That would be a good idea. I’ll get the paperwork started on the adoption.”

*

We were lucky about a lot of things on Persiphone, but one thing I didn’t appreciate until later was the calendar. Persiphone revolved around Hollis in just over 364 Galactic Standard Days, and rotated on her axis in slightly less than twenty-four hours. The entire time I lived on the planet, our seasons fell just right, on the Galactic Calendar, gaining a day each year. I never really paid attention to this until I began to visit other planets, like Turner’s Planet, whose year is 380 GS days long, and each day is 43 hours long. People who live forever on planets like that must get confused; one year, new year’s day is in the summer, and the next year, new year’s day is in autumn. I know that most planets use the Galactic Standard Calendar for dating documents, and running school years, but if you’ve ever moved from one planet to the next, it can get really confusing. Especially when all the space ships and space cities use only Galactic Standard time.
    It is conceivable that I could get on a ship on Persiphone in the afternoon, and find that it was early in the morning inside the ship. After traveling eight hours to Golian, it would be afternoon in the ship. I could then get out, and find that it was morning again on Golian. It could make for a really long day.
    Anyway, when school let out for winter break — a very mild winter that year — at the end of 2484, I sold all my animals; four cows, six pigs, twenty-two chickens, a rooster, and five turkeys. I sold them cheap, and got just over ccl00. Persiphone still used mostly the Colonial Credits, until the economy began to bring in enough newdollars. Or we could print our own newdollars, like Yurple and other planets had done. But Harry said when you do that, you never know how the money’s value will hold. Yurple’s dollars are worth slightly more than the standard newdollar, while Saivalaurie’s were only worth half.
    I also took Destiny out to dinner in Tarkin — or, rather, she took me. I paid, but she drove, using that old lorry her father had bought. We just ate, and talked about everything that was going on in Tarkin, and around the planet, and in our individual lives.
    She thought it was really neat that I was going to be the Governor’s son, and wondered why I wasn’t so excited about it. I told her it really didn’t matter, since it was only for three and a half years, or less, until I turned eighteen. Besides the fact that Harry had already been taking care of me for some time. Then she looked really worried.
    “Um, Philipp... What are you going to do with all our money?”
    I was silent for a moment. I hadn’t even really thought about our hoard for several months. It had even been two months since the last time Destiny had come over to get some of hers. And I hadn’t ever used any of mine.
    “You mean where will I hide it when I move to the Governor’s Mansion? I’m sure I can find a place. It’s not like were going to have maids and butlers digging through everything. It’s just a big house, with the governor’s office in it, and a room where he can hold press conferences. I’ll be doing my own cleaning.”
    “But surely someone will see it. That’s over two million credits! You can’t just stuff it in your underwear drawer.”
    I looked around to make sure no one else had heard her. Then I kept my voice low. “Maybe you could keep it somewhere, until we can get it exchanged for real money.”
    She looked depressed, and very thoughtful. Finally, she turned those beautiful green eyes back to me. “Philipp. You know I’m in college now, and I’m working, and you’re only fourteen.”
    “Almost fifteen. What are you trying to say?” I started getting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then she said it.
    “I’m dating someone from school. Please don’t get mad; I just didn’t know how to tell you! Look, we have this big secret between us, and no one can take that away. And you’re the only guy I’ve ever been with, and no one can take that away either, Philipp. It’s just that, well... we never had any commitment between us, did we?”
    I got the point. “You mean it would be embarrassing for a big college girl like yourself to be dating a 10th-grader, right?” I let the comers of my lips turn up, in what may have been my first sardonic smile. Outwardly, it looked like I had seen it coming, and I didn’t seem too torn up by the whole thing. Inside, I was crumbling into tiny bits. I felt my stomach drop out from under me, and I wanted to throw up. I swallowed a few times, and held myself together. I don’t know how, or why — at the time, I felt like there wasn’t really a reason to go on living.
    She opened her mouth several times, then looked away, allowing a couple of tears to trickle out of her eyes. “Philipp”, she said softly, “I’m sorry. It all happened so suddenly; I hadn’t seen you for a couple of months, and I see this guy every day in class, and at parties on the weekends. He’s nice, and has a car of his own, and he works at the airport...” She let her sentence trail off into silence.
    I laid a wad of cash on the table. “That should cover the meal. I’ll find my own way home, and when you want your share of the stuff, just come and get it.” Then I lowered my voice into a deathly whisper, leaning over her. “And the next time you want to rob a bank, get your new boyfriend to help you.”
    Destiny tried to stop me from leaving the restaurant, but I wouldn’t stop. I walked right out and headed down the street. She followed me on foot for a block or so — I was walking quickly, but I could hear her footsteps behind me. Then she got in her jalopy, and followed me almost all the way home. Finally, she realized I wasn’t going to get in or talk to her.
    My feelings were a storm of confusion. Obviously I was hurt that Destiny had taken it upon herself to date someone besides me. But that wasn’t the worst of it. I berated myself for not seeing it coming. I felt ashamed that I had been so naïve as to think she would always remain with me. I felt like an idiot for reacting the way I had at the restaurant. I cursed myself for thinking that Destiny was the one for me. I was mad that she hadn’t told me sooner.
    I was also a little scared. I had heard that lovers share all their secrets — I knew that my parents had kept nothing from each other — and I wondered how long it would be before Destiny told her new boyfriend what we had done.

*

A week later, when I began moving my things into the new governor’s mansion, I was still depressed. In my entire life, I had never written a poem, except when required to, in school, but in that one week, I had written four. One, I called “Languish”, and it went like this:



It is slightly humorous as I look back on those words, now, because I was only fourteen. Yet, I felt like there would never be another woman for me. I felt lost, as if I had no reason to live. As I packed my things to put into the moving truck, I did so in great melancholy.
    Harry had hired a truck to come out to my house, and the driver helped me carry the furniture into the back. I took dad’s favorite chair, my parents’ bed, two dressers, all my clothes, all my books, and the money.
    I left my bed, the kitchen furniture, the sofa, and all the rest for whatever family would buy the house. I packed the money with my clothes, making those boxes a lot heavier, and a lot more numerous.
    The truck driver said, “Kid, you sure got a lot of stuff for a full time farmer. Where’d you get all these clothes and stuff?”
    “They pay you to ask a lot of questions, or to drive a truck?” I retorted in a surly voice.
    He shut up.

*

I was showing my house to a newly arrived family, a week or two later, when the reporter showed up. “Philipp Kaplan? Hold on there! Let me ask a few questions!”
    The man and woman on the front porch with me looked at the news van, then at me with raised eyebrows. “What’s all this about?” the man asked. Surely, he had just wanted to look at the house, and perhaps make an offer. He hadn’t wanted any distractions.
    “Don’t know. But we’ll find out.” I stepped off the porch, and met the two reporters in the front yard. “What’s this all about?” I quoted.
    The man holding the video camera kept quiet while the other man — the reporter — spoke up, too loudly and too clearly. “You’ve been living here by yourself since last spring?”
    “That’s right. Is there a problem?”
    “Oh no! Mr. Kaplan, my name is Donny Miles, with PPNS? I think the people of our great planet would like to know how you’ve managed to get along here by yourself.”
    “What?”
    He lowered his voice a little, but it was still louder than normal. “You’re a hero, Phil. As far as we know, you’re the first colonist under the legal age to hold down land on your own. If this story does well, I’m going to be sending it to other planets as well. Now, when exactly did your parents die?”
    The woman behind me on the porch gasped. I hadn’t told them how young I was or anything else about me. I just wanted to show them the house, and get it sold.
    I answered, my voice clear. “Look it up. The bus crashed into the meat market in Tarkin. I’m sure the police can answer that question.”
    “Okay...” Miles looked down at his notepad. “And you’ve kept house here since then, without help? Cooking, cleaning, feeding the animals... Hey, where are the animals?”
    “I sold them last week. Like I’m trying to sell the house right now. If you don’t mind.”
    “Not at all! Do you mind if we come inside and take some holo-shots?”
    I looked up at the porch. The woman looked at her husband, and he shrugged at me.
    “Okay. Just don’t get in our way.”

*

The story was on the front page of the paper the next day, and on the evening holo-news. “Philipp Kaplan, a young boy struggling to survive by himself on a lonely colonist world, after his parents were savagely taken from him in a gory...”
    They made Harry out to be a hero too, since he had extended his hand of mercy to me, and taken me in. I guess I didn’t mind so much, since that couple paid more than expected for the house. They got pretty excited about the story too, from hearing Donny Miles talk to the camera, with them in the background. I guess most people have never been on the news or on camera for any reason, for that matter. When a holovision camera points in their direction, they’re not sure what to do.
    They paid in newdollars! For two acres of prime land, a house and a barn, I got 25,000nd. That went in my trust, making a total of 70,000nd. Harry said the bank had already converted the credits to newdollars in my account, so when I turned 18, I wouldn’t have to worry about it. That meant I’d be getting 175nd in interest next month and a little more each month after that. More than I’d need for a long time.

*

When I finally had my stuff set up in my new bedroom in the mansion, Harry gave me my own phone! Not just my own extension in my bedroom, but my own portable phone. It would hold a full charge for two weeks, and completely recharge in about an hour, and from it, I could call any phone on the planet.
    That made me feel a little better, but I was still hurting. A few times, at the dinner table, Harry noticed that I was moping. Finally he asked me about it.
    “It’s nothing”, I replied, mechanically putting food into my mouth. Truthfully, I was wondering inside what was the point of eating, if there was no reason to live.
    “Don’t give me that”, Harry pushed. “I know a depressed face when I see one. Why can’t you tell me? You think I wouldn’t understand?”
    I was about to give him another automatic reply when I remembered something. Hadn’t he told me that hed been divorced twice? At a young age? Maybe he would understand after all.
    “Well, Harry, I guess you could say I’ve got girl trouble. And it’s taken the life out of me.”
    “Ah.” He took another bite with a thoughtful look on his face. After he swallowed, he said, “In my opinion, they’re all trouble, but then I’m biased. What seems to be the problem?”
    I told him most of it — not about the money, of course! It started to sound pretty silly when I heard it come from my own mouth, and I said as much.
    “It can’t be too silly”, he said, “if it’s been bothering you so much.”
    I was waiting for him to feed me the normal platitudes that are supposed to make you feel better when you’ve been dumped, but then I remembered that he had a degree in psychodynamics. Harry was too smart to feed me a line of crap.
    He went on, “It sounds like you had some pretty strong feelings for this girl, and she didn’t take that into account when she dumped you. It sounds like she was being selfish. On the other hand, though, you were being selfish too. You forgot that she has her own life and her own dreams. You just wanted her for yourself. I have found that most — if not all — relationships end due to some kind of selfishness.”
    I saw his point, but the dull ache at the bottom of my rib cage just wouldn’t go away.
    “So”, I asked, “what can I do about it?”
    He laughed, quietly. “You can do whatever you want, Philipp. I’m not going to give you one piece of advice about relationships. I thought I’d learned my lesson the first time, but then I had my heart handed to me on a platter again. You’re asking the wrong man. I will tell you this: Your parents had a strong relationship. Think about them, and maybe that will help you decide.
    He was right; it did help. I remembered that my mom and dad were always careful to apologize to each other when there had been a disagreement. They never let more than a few hours go by without resolving the issue, or agreeing to forget about it. So, I wrote Destiny a short note:



I expected to hear from her soon, since I figured she wanted the money, but I never expected what happened.
    I had been back in school for a whole week, and was at home doing homework, when my room phone buzzed. I hit the answer key, and a face appeared on the screen. It was the security guard at the front gate of the governor’s mansion.
    Looking harried, he said, “Philipp, there’s a woman out here, claiming she knows you. She’s in pretty bad shape, clothes torn. Says to tell you Sandy needs you.”
    “Let her in, James. I’ll meet her at the door.” I wondered if perhaps she’d been in an accident. Then I told myself if that were the case, shed be in a hospital, not at my door.
    I ran to the front door, startling Harry out of his office. “What’s going on, son?”
    I opened the door, and she fell into my arms, crying. Her clothes were indeed torn, she had a growing bruise on her face, her eyes were bloodshot from crying, and she had several scrapes on her wrists.
    Her strength left her body as she fell into my embrace, and she sagged like a limp doll, whimpering like an abused puppy. “I love you, Philipp, I love you...”
    I looked up at Harry, who was standing there in his suit, not sure what to do. I held her with my right arm, and ran my left hand through her tangled hair. “What’s wrong, baby? What happened? you’re safe here. I’m here; nothings going to happen to you...”
    When I looked up again, Harry was rolling his chair out of the office; the nice one with real leather and deep padding. “Let her sit down, son.”
    I helped her into the chair, and knelt beside her. “Do you want something to drink?” I prodded.
    She shook her head violently, slinging tears into my face, the sweetest tears that have ever been on my skin. Then she looked me in the eye. “I’m so sorry, Philipp, I didn’t know!”
    “Didn’t know what?” Harry was slipping a glass of something cold into her hands. I repeated my question.
    “Philipp, he raped me.”
    That’s when Harry jumped in. “Who? When? How long ago? I’ll get the police right on it.”
    She looked at him. “Chief Donovan is his dad! “Don’t you see? I’ve dated him for a couple of months, and we were kissing, and he just...” She broke down again.
    “Oh, Kthorpa!” Harry exclaimed, and put his face into his hands. He told me later that he was ashamed to admit his first thoughts had been about a government scandal. What he said at the time was, “Don’t worry, Destiny, well get this all straightened out soon enough.”
    I stood up. “Harry, stay with her. I’ll see if I can’t get her a good shirt.” And I headed for my room. I closed the door behind me, and opened the window, vaulting softly to the ground outside. I ran the whole block, going behind houses, all the way to the chief’s house, on the edge of the good neighborhood.
    Young Donovan was just driving up. He hopped out of his car, and made for the door. Later, I realized that he was probably trying to get to his dad before the whole thing erupted in their faces, publicly. It never got that far. I don’t know what my plan would have been if he had not been there. But he was.
    I bounded out of the bushes and crashed into him just before he got to the porch. He never got a chance to get his breath back, for I held my left hand in a vise-grip around his throat, crushing it into the ground, while my right pounded his groin repeatedly. I didn’t stop hitting him until he stopped breathing. As I got up, I stomped my bare right foot down on his throat, and heard a sickening crunch.
    Two minutes later, I was stepping out of my bedroom, holding a shirt, and breathing heavily. “Here’s a shirt, baby.”
    I hadn’t decided to kill Billy Donovan. There had been no decision to make. To this day, rapists and child abusers rank at the top of the list of people I hate. Thieves? Well, I am one, so I can’t answer that question. Murderers? In my opinion, there’s a lot more to murder than meets the eye — more than half the time, the victim gets his just desserts. Prostitutes and pimps? Most of those women made their own choice, trying to make money fast, and the fact that they do make money shows that there are a lot of men who secretly approve of the profession. Pornographers? Again, the sales figures show how popular pornography is.
    But I cannot abide a rapist or a child abuser. When you violate someone like that, you have stolen their humanity, and reduced them to the level of a helpless animal. Now, I won’t get into a discussion about spanking: the debate gets too heated, and there are too many opinions. But if I see a man punch or slap his small child, I will teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.
    For that matter, I think I let Billy off too easily.

*

Two days later, Harry was standing in his pressroom, with several cameras and several reporters crowded in with him. I stood beside him, in a suit he had bought for me just for the occasion. He raised his hand for silence, and gave his carefully prepared speech.
    “As my office informed all of you two days ago, there was a small emergency here. It’s odd, I know,” he smiled, “but I’ve never had my appendix out. It exploded two days ago and my adopted son Philipp—” he rested a heavy hand on my shoulder “—called the guard, who brought in the medics. My appendix was removed right here in this house, and I am recovering nicely. I would like to publicly thank Philipp, my guard, and the prompt service of Tarkin General Hospital for saving my life.”
    He paused dramatically, then held up his hand again. “Now, about the other matter: Against the advice of the City Council and the Planetary Council, I have given Chief Donovan permission to head the investigation into his son’s death. For Kthorpa’s sake, it was his son! If my son were killed, murdered even, I would want to lead the investigation myself, and bring the killer or killers to justice. That. is all.”
    The questions broke out, and I stood there while he fielded them. Then there was a question for me, from Donny Miles, I noticed. “Philipp! How does it feel to be a hero again? You braved nearly two years on this new world all alone, and now you’ve saved the Governor’s life.”
    I looked straight into the camera, and said, “Mr. Bates is a great man. He took me in when I had no one else to look to. Any of you would have done the same thing, if you were in my shoes.”

*

Young Billy Donovan’s killer was never brought to justice. The medics in question had shown up and treated Destiny, and had been sworn to silence when Harry had concocted his plan to cover up the scandal. None of the medical personnel were told who had raped her, and I never told Harry or Destiny that I’d killed him. But I’m sure they knew. I know Destiny knew.

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