Chapter 50
Fifty
Later, when they returned to the square, and Mr. Binn had explored The Emporium and spent entirely too long sampling fungal teas with Harry and his partner, Vittor, Holly called the core group of residents who had been instrumental in saving Moone’s Landing to join her in the lounge for “a little meeting.”
Of course they came. They were curious to meet Mr. Binn, and Holly had promised a new dessert made from her great-grandmother’s cookbook with all-organic ingredients shipped from Earth. Chocolate croissants.
They sat in their assembled seats, the same arrangement as always.
Sam took his spot next to Holly, and this time Rasker sat on her other side.
He was as much one of them as she was. He was here to stay, and had proven very helpful in negotiating prices for supplies and repair services, while Sam had always been too tired and too busy to worry about bartering or debating contracts.
Mish had left her children in the happy room, and while Holly had gotten used to the fourteen identical offspring, Holly could not deny that she was very much looking forward to Mish’s children reaching the maturity level where they began thinking and acting independently.
They’d just be less terrifying to be around.
Harry came alone, with Vittor staying back at the shop. His partner had folded into Moone’s Landing with perfect ease, but theirs was a new union, and both knew that this was a meeting for the long-time residents.
Tyer sprawled in one of the chairs, legs crossed at the ankles, looking as relaxed as a lion after a large meal.
He was slightly intimidating in his own way.
Holly had learned that Tyer was the son of a powerful warlord and a mistress who had fallen out of favor.
He lived quietly out here to stay out of his father’s reach, but that was all Holly had been able to pull from him.
Tyer was fiercely private and kept his cards close to his chest.
Alyce came in wearing a green dress and a smile. She had a much lighter air about her these days. No longer having to hold the station together with spit and muscle, she was enjoying something she had not known for a long time: relaxation.
Orba and Sula glided in, took their seats, and waited.
Once everyone was settled and had stopped murmuring about how good the croissants were, Rasker leaned close to Holly’s ear and said, “You’ve got this.”
After a deep, fortifying breath, Holly began. “I wanted to thank you all for coming today. I’m sure you’re wondering what this is about.”
“You’d better not be selling after all,” Sam said, slanting a narrow look at Mr. Binn, who sat with formal dignity beside Rasker. “After all the work we’ve done here, that wouldn’t be right.”
“I’m not selling,” Holly said with a smile. “Far from it. Moone’s Landing is here to stay, and hopefully, so are all of you.”
There was a murmur of agreement. Alyce crossed her arms. “Nowhere in the galaxy I’d rather be. This is home. With all of you.”
Holly’s chest felt like it was bursting with warmth.
“I feel the exact same way,” she said, her eyes burning with the fullness of her emotions.
“Which is why I wanted to speak with you all today.” She took a calming breath.
This was it. The thing she had been working through in her mind since her parents had been here.
“I asked Mr. Binn here for a reason. He has some contracts I’d like to share with you. ”
Alyce raised her brows. “What kind of contracts?”
“A proposal that would change Moone’s Landing from the ownership of one person, to the ownership of us.”
Holly’s words were met with blank stares of confusion.
“What do you mean?” Mish asked. She folded her hands and leaned forward. “Are you saying you want to make all of us part owners of this space station?”
Holly dipped a finger in her direction. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean.
If Moone’s Landing had not been completely in Charles’ control, this place never would have gotten as bad as it was.
Because one person controlled it, and that one person managed it terribly, everyone suffered.
We almost lost this place. And we would have, if I hadn’t been put on leave from my job and gone to my parents’ house the very day that Mr. Binn was coming to discuss the sale.
” She frowned, remembering the delicate sequence of events that had resulted in her coming here.
“We still have the binding terms of the will, which Mr. Binn has explained can’t be overwritten for ten years.
Moone family member must own and run the station, but it doesn’t specify how much of it the heir has to own beyond a majority stake.
So I’m proposing, with Mr. Binn’s help, a different structure.
Residents, as in, all of you, become part owners of this place.
The percentage based on how long you’ve lived here and how involved you are in the running of its operations.
” Holly glanced at Sam on her left. “Records show that you’ve been here about as long as Alyce, and you run the entire spaceport, so your share would probably be the most.”
Sam frowned, crossed his arms, and gazed downward. “I never saw myself as an owner of a space station,” he said gruffly. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Alyce leaned forward and looked at him. “Think about it all you want, but also consider that Holly is right. We were at Charles’ mercy when things were bad.
” Alyce nodded toward Holly. “Holly is intelligent and wonderful, but what if she hits her head and it scrambles her brain and she starts to, I don’t know, become a different person?
Then we’re once again stuck with somebody who can’t make good decisions on behalf of the station. ”
Holly gave Alyce a look. “Do you think I’m going to hit my head and become a different person?”
Alyce pursed her lips. “It’s not likely, but it could happen.
I’m looking at different scenarios. Charles wasn’t always that bad.
He was always tightfisted when it came to the funds, and refused to acknowledge reality, but it wasn’t until the later years that things became impossible.
You just don’t know.” Alyce slapped her knee with the palm of her hand.
“I think it’s a good idea. I’d like to see the contracts and the terms.” She looked at Holly with a flat, open gaze.
“Thank you. Few people would give up this kind of power and ownership.”
Holly’s gaze dropped. She felt her cheeks warm.
“I don’t feel like I’m giving up any power,” she said quietly.
“I’d still be the majority owner, and Lars-Vector-2 remains in my name because moons can’t be sold.
But let’s face it, I don’t know everything about everything, and you all have knowledge I don’t.
” Her brows drew together as she wondered what the rest of them were thinking.
Were they questioning her motives? Wondering if she felt incapable of running the station?
“I didn’t build this place,” she said quietly.
“I’m not Oliver Moone. I didn’t invest my fortune into making this space station what it is.
I inherited it. I didn’t earn it. I’ve certainly put some sweat and tears into it, but that’s not the same.
I shouldn’t have ultimate control over it just because part of my last name is Moone. ”
Orba and Sula, who had been quiet thus far, glanced at one another and then turned forward.
“We have a very long view,” Orba said in that whispery voice.
“Both backwards and forwards. And as for the present, we see much. We see the truth of people, even when they cannot see it themselves.” Orba’s tiny mouth curved the smallest bit.
“You wondered why we stayed. Now you know. We saw this.”
Holly blinked. “You saw this coming?”
Orba inclined their head and didn’t elaborate on exactly what they saw. Or didn’t see.
“Hey, just saying, if you saw all the problems with Cody, you could have mentioned it,” Harry said lightly, but with a frown.
The Vepins ignored him and Orba continued, “We support this plan, but we cannot take a stake in ownership of this station and moon.”
“Why not?” Holly asked, also wondering why a heads-up was too much to ask if they foresaw Cody’s treachery.
“Vepins cannot share what we see of the future, because it is always shifting, changing, despite the probabilities. We also cannot own property. We own nothing. Even what appears to be our clothing is not ours in the way you understand possession.” Orba spread their long hands.
“But the solution you propose serves the station well. It serves the people here very well.”
Sula, who never spoke, or at least Holly had never heard them do so, inclined their head. Their mouth did not move, yet words came, so quiet and whispering they were barely audible.
“We find…your lives…vivid.”
Everyone stared. No one said a word. Sula’s statement had clearly been difficult. The words were halting, but they had made the effort to speak, and had probably given it a great deal of thought and effort to communicate.
Orba smiled at their companion. “Well done.”
Sula nodded, looking pleased. Their translucent, shimmery skin sent out a ripple of rainbow iridescence.
Tyer, who had also been quiet the whole time, stretched out his legs and threaded his hands behind his head.
His gaze moved toward the ceiling. “Since I am here, I assume you expect me to take part ownership of this place as well.” He arched one brow in Holly’s direction.
“I consent to this. But only to a very small portion. I’ve been here a while, but I keep to myself.
” His gaze flickered to Harry, who did not blink. “I have reasons for this.”