Kalico’s nails clicked a faster staccato on the pistol’s grip. “No, and no. I’d rather keep the barracks for my R&R rotations. I can build more housing for the soft meat, but in the meantime, I need a place to put them. The empty domes in the residential area would be best, but even though we’re using them for the moment, title’s a murky area, isn’t it?”

Yvette told her, “It hasn’t been a problem before, but yes. A lot of those properties belong to dead people. Allison owns about half. Some were never claimed when you allowed people to buy The Corporation out.” An eyebrow lifted. “Kalico, I’d say those properties would still be Corporate as long as no one holds paper on them. Fourteen of them, just off the top of my head. But, as you know, they’re in pretty rough shape. Need a lot of work.”

That brought a smile to Kalico’s lips. “So, that settles one problem and raises another. I can put about two thirds of my PA contractees in them, charge them with repairs. Work out some deal with Allison. Sheyela Smith and the three electricians that just came down from Turalon can attend the rewiring. And the rest? Some will have to put up at the barracks at Corporate Mine until housing’s dealt with.”

Shig gave her a winsome smile. “You know that we’ll work with you in any way we can, do anything to help you. But seriously, what is your assessment of IG Soukup? How is he going to react to what he finds here?”

Kalico gave him a grim smile. “Frankly, Shig, I haven’t just bent the rules. I’ve smashed them with a double jack. Just between the three of us, I’ve done everything in my power to dilute his ability to harm us. I got ahead of him by dismissing Creamer and scattering the marines all over the planet. But, when the moment of reckoning comes, if he can control them, there’s nothing any of us can do to stop him short of civil war.”

Shig laced his fingers together. “Surely, he will come to see that everything you have done has been to ensure the survival of humanity on the planet. Those ships you have sent back have made The Corporation wealthy. No strict application of the rules would have resulted in the success we’ve had.”

Kalico chuckled. “You may be the wisest man I know, Shig. But whatever gave you the notion that anything in politics has to do with reason? The actions we took in the past will be judged by a political appointee following a directive given by the Corporate Board on distant Transluna. Judgment will not be based on what was required of us to survive, only by the strict interpretation of the rules and regulations applicable to a solar system thirty light-years away.”