Read One's Aspect to the Sun for Free Online Page B

right. But if I can do this for him, then I want to. I'll be fine.” I stood up. “So that's everything. We start taking on cargo tomorrow and we ship out the day after that. Any other matters I should know about?”
    No-one spoke up, so I told them to try and have a little fun in the short time we'd be Earthside and headed for my cabin. I wanted to change my clothes and mentally prepare for what lay ahead. Hirin and I were meeting with Maja, and while I know I shouldn't say such a thing about my daughter, I wasn't looking forward to it at all. With Karro on the space station, we'd have to tell him everything via WaVE, but he'd accept it. Maja would be another story.
    I pulled a dove-grey biosuit out of my drawer and looked at it dubiously. It wasn't exactly me, but it was more refined and elegant than my usual jeans and t-shirt. Maja might consider it “acting my age.” I drafted Rei to pin up my hair, something I can never seem to manage myself unless I'm going for the tousled, just-got-out-of-bed look, and kept the makeup to a minimum.
    The last few years I've paid special attention to my appearance whenever I'm going to see Maja. She's over fifty, still looks a young forty, but her mother still looks thirty. Maja takes good care of herself. However, she can't possibly look younger than I do, and that's just not a healthy mother-daughter situation.
    When I surveyed my efforts in the mirror, I still looked thirty. I sighed.
    We met at the nursing home, where Hirin was waiting until it was time to ship out. They were still making some noises about bad ideas and paperwork, but I just kept telling them that Hirin was leaving with me and it was not up for discussion. I didn't get as many stares as I went down the lavender hallway this time. Maja's voice reached me before I opened Hirin's door, and already she wasn't happy.
    “But Dad, I want to know—” she broke off and turned around when I pushed the door open. It was easy to see what had made her think something was up. Despite the paperwork issue, Hirin had already packed up all his belongings and the room was as stark as a hospital cubicle. Even his usually cluttered desk was clear. He was making a statement. He was going, no matter what administrative obstacles they tried to throw in his path.
    The skin around her sapphire-blue eyes tightened when she saw me and she drew a deep breath. “Hello, Mother. I might have known you'd have something to do with this.”
    “Hello, Maja. It's nice to see you, too.” Damne . I'd promised myself that I'd be polite and stay calm for Hirin's sake, and I was screwing up already. To mask the sarcasm in my words, I crossed to her and gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.
    I didn't say she looked good, although she did. She seemed to resent it when I remarked on her appearance at all, no matter how flatteringly. Her hair was still devoid of grey and hung in shining blonde layers to her shoulders, her makeup was impeccable, and she wore an emerald biosuit overlaid with a leaf-patterned swirl of translucent fabric. I sent up a silent prayer of thanks that we still might look like sisters, at least. The day she started to look like the mother would probably be the last day we'd see each other.
    She briefly looked surprised, then narrowed her eyes. “All right, that was rude of me. Now that you're here, maybe you'll tell me what this is all about? Dad won't say a thing and his room looks like he's already moved out.”
    Hirin said calmly, “Would you both sit down? I've asked the nurse to bring us tea, and we'll have a nice visit, shall we?”
    Ha , I thought, but I sat in one of the two worn brocade armchairs and Maja perched on the end of the bed. Hirin sat at his desk chair, saying he preferred the straight back.
    “Now,” he said, “Maja, I'll tell you what's happening. I was just waiting until your mother got here. You must understand that this is all my doing. She's only helping me out because I've asked her