[Had she been in her own sector, Ari would have had a few pointed questions about this story. Particularly the eternal debt. If your passage out to a Company world was paid for by the Company, naturally you had to repay it, and it could be done without much trouble if you were prudent. She'd been in debt once herself, after being fined for stowing away on a starship, and it had meant forgoing luxuries, but she'd paid it off within a year. That both the fine and the repayment schedule had been calculated by a kindly captain who knew exactly how much a thirteen-year-old apprentice spacer earned and simply wanted to impress upon her the importance of following regulations hadn't occurred to her. Ari thought she knew all about debt.

But Ari looks from the captain to that enormous gun of hers and back again, and she decides that she doesn't know enough about her to have that debate. There was no way for Adela to know that young Lieutenant Tayrey from a Company world was pure Company herself - Arilanna Lorenza Kittredge Carrington Tayrey, daughter of a Director, genetic great-granddaughter of Miri Carrington, Cardalek's founder. She kept that quiet even on her own ship, not wanting either favoritism or criticism on account of it. If they started talking Company ethics, though, there was always a chance something would slip out, unintended, and give her away.

She looks uncomfortable for a moment, and then takes refuge in bland platitudes.]

It must have been very difficult for everyone involved. The beginnings of new civilizations will always have their troubles.

Tell me, what is Aztlán like now? Is it thriving?