The Rise of Earth by Jason Fry

conversation with DeWise in an encrypted section of his mediapad only he could access, then sorted through his clothing and gear again, though he knew everything was in order. He pawed halfheartedly through his T-shirts and jumpsuits, then sighed and left his quarters, hoping to beat Yana and Carlo to the downstairs bathroom. Darklands’s water-recycling system was old and creaky—if you waited too long for the shower, the water would be tepid and faintly greasy from traces of soap.
    Tycho’s quarters opened onto a long spiral ramp that led down from Darklands’s airlock on the surface of Callisto to the living room and kitchen far below, passing bedrooms, storage areas, and simulator rooms. The homestead had begun as the central shaft of a mine excavated four centuries ago, when the Hashoones’ ancestor Gregorius had arrived from Earth. Here and there along the ramp, slabs of iron sealed off tunnels leading deeper into Callisto’s crust, dug before the mine was exhausted. When that happened, Gregorius’s great-grandson Lodovico Hashoone had bolted weapons onto his motley collection of ore boats and convinced his miners to sign on as pirates. Some of their descendants still served the Hashoones as retainers.
    Tycho found Yana one level down, outside thesimulation room. Tycho thought about racing past her to get to the shower first, then noticed she had her head cocked to one side, her expression intent.
    â€œHow’s the eavesdropping, sis?” he asked with a smile. Sound bounced up and down the old mineshaft of Darklands in odd ways, and by chance the simulation room was perfectly positioned for a person to hear what was happening a level above—or a level below, where the bedroom shared by Diocletia and Mavry opened onto the ramp.
    â€œQuiet,” Yana chided him, not the least bit embarrassed at being caught. “Mom and Grandfather are exchanging broadsides.”
    Tycho joined her, resting his elbows on the railing and peering down into the living room, which was dominated by the giant steel water tank that tapped into the lightless ocean many kilometers below.
    â€œâ€”wish I hadn’t lived to see the day a Hashoone would take some Securitat spy aboard the Comet ,” Huff growled from the next level down.
    Some Securitat spy? Tycho stared down into the living room, trying to stop his hands from shaking. No. It can’t be. They wouldn’t.
    â€œLike I told you the first time, Mr. Vass isn’t with the Securitat,” said Diocletia, sounding angry and tired. “He’s an intelligence minister with the Jovian Defense Force.”
    Tycho blew his breath out in relief.
    â€œShh,” Yana said.
    â€œIntelligence means he’s a spy,” Huff growled. “And spies are all the same.”
    â€œYou know that isn’t true,” Mavry said. “The Securitat and the JDF barely work together since what happened at Saturn.”
    â€œThat’s what they want yeh to believe,” Huff said, his voice rising. “This Vass will break into the Log an’ copy the lot, give all our secrets to the Securitat.”
    â€œVesuvia’s systems are secure—unless we’re talking about rogue programs you put in there without telling anybody,” Diocletia said sharply.
    â€œArrr, that’s a low blow, Dio. Thought we agreed to let that be.”
    â€œWhen did we do that? I haven’t forgotten about it—just like I haven’t forgotten how you let Thoadbone Mox go, for some reason you’ve never seen fit to explain.”
    â€œThe daughter I raised wouldn’t ’ave needed it explained. I let Mox go cause he’s a Jupiter pirate—the last of us, maybe. He deserves better than dyin’ in a courtroom because some politician’s declared us extinct.”
    â€œHow romantic. And do you recall how Mox paid you back for this act of pirate brotherhood? I remember he tried to kill us at