Sunborn by Jeffrey Carver Page A

already had a glass of white wine at her elbow.
        “So,” Julie said, “did Lonnie Stelnik come and crow about it?” The operations supervisor, under Cole Jackson, had gotten in a few digs during the course of the meeting.
        Georgia’s beautiful dark eyes flashed with amusement. “Just as you’d expect. He seemed to think he’d one-upped you pretty well. Somehow I doubted it.”
        Julie chuckled bitterly, then scowled. “Damn it, if the translator won’t tell me anything, what am I supposed to do?” When Georgia remained silent, she looked down at her open hands as if the answer might lie there. “The thing is, these people act as if they own  it.”
        Georgia sipped from her wine. “Legally, don’t they?”
        “How? How can they?”
        “Well, doesn’t MINEXFO own the rights to anything they find on Triton?”
        “Any metals  they find on Triton.”
        “And any artifacts.”
        Julie’s stomach churned. “How about an intelligent—and sentient —object that obviously has its own ideas about being independent?”
        “Hey, I’m with you, girl,” Georgia said. “But the consortium did  invest about a gazillion dollars in this operation, so it’s understandable that they want something back for it.”
        “Yeah, but they’re going to have to be patient.”
        Georgia cocked her head, studying Julie. “Sure they have to be patient. But why do you  feel bad?”
        “Huh?”
        “You do, don’t you?”
        Julie hesitated, startled by the question. She spread her hands on the table. “Well, yeah. I feel like I’m in danger of losing my job if they think I’m holding out on them.”
        Georgia gazed steadily back at her. “Are you? I think it’s time for a reality check, kiddo. Aren’t you the one holding the cards here? Without you, they’ve got nothing. Right? Nothing but a machine that eats their cranes and confounds everything they try to do.”
        “Well, yeah, but—”
        “Jesus, girl, don’t play into their hands!”
        Julie flushed. “That’s not—”
        “They’re making you feel insecure and guilty.” Georgia leaned forward urgently. “But the truth is they need you more than you need them. Am I right?”
        “Well, you can say that, but—” Julie’s voice caught, as Georgia’s words started to get through to her.
        “But what? It’s true, and if you step back for a minute, you’ll realize it. You’ll realize you have nothing to fear from them.” Georgia’s voice was soft but penetrating. “And you’ll stop letting them scare you. Just do the best you can with the translator and quit worrying.”
        Julie stared back at her with her mouth open. Her head was buzzing. Was she crazy? Or was Georgia talking sense? She drew a slow breath. “Maybe you have a point...” She was beginning to realize that Georgia was completely right, and she felt a rush of embarrassment and shame that she had allowed herself to be railroaded like that. “No, you’re absolutely right! I’ve been letting them walk all over me.” She turned her head, her face burning now. “Jesus! That’s got to stop. It’s going  to stop.”
        “That’a girl!” Georgia reached out and patted her hand soothingly. “Now, shouldn’t you be getting a drink about now?”
        Julie nodded and poked the privacy-curtain open to look for the waiter. The bartender was just walking by with a small tray, and she received her beer from him gratefully. She lifted the mug and took a long swallow of the amber brew. “All right, that’s settled. What else is new?”
        Georgia slowly raised one eyebrow. “Well, this isn’t exactly a change of subject. I might have some news you haven’t heard yet. Promise you won’t hit the ceiling.”
        Julie implored with her open hands. “What?”
        Georgia adjusted the privacy-curtain to close a small gap,