Oakmont–Verona–Plum Development Site, Pennsylvania
May 20, 2440, Supper
“I’m only spending half.”
Kate Red Hawk looked across the table.
“Half of what?”
“My Christmas bonus,” the woman beside Ella said.
“You haven’t got it yet.”
“That’s why I’m only spending half.”
Jeff Whetherall laughed.
“Responsible planning.”
Ella turned her tablet around.
“He’s the one who told the financial reporters we’d enjoy our bonuses.”
“He said anticipated profits,” Kate answered.
“And anticipated Christmas presents,” Jeff said.
The V’ren drone operator looked between them.
“Does everyone receive one?”
“Depends which company you work for and what arrangement you’re under,” Kate said. “This is Marmaduke Inc.”
“Not Marmaduke Logistics?”
“Different company. Matt owns ML himself. Marmaduke Inc. has other shareholders.”
D’vann leaned over to read the announcement.
“His Lordship is the principal stockholder?”
“Forty-seven percent,” Ella said. “The company posted the breakdown. Thirteen percent held by extended family, twenty in trust for current and retired employees, twenty on the market.”
The operator considered that.
“Employees own part of it?”
“Through the trust,” Kate said.
“So they benefit as workers and owners.”
“That’s the attraction.”
Jeff reached for the potatoes.
“Now you know why people are reading the business pages.”
S’rethi examined the article.
“He hasn’t given a profit figure.”
“No,” Ella said. “He’s letting everybody imagine one.”
The woman beside her smiled.
“Mine’s quite reasonable.”
“Your imagined profit or your shopping list?” Kate asked.
“I’m not discussing private financial matters.”
A man farther down the table had the follow-up article open.
“They’re asking where he’s finding enough skilled workers.”
“Pennsylvania,” Jeff said.
“That’s where he’s sending them.”
“Explains why I couldn’t find anybody at home.”
D’vann smiled.
“The capacity question is real.”
“So is the hiring,” Kate said. “Rolla, Columbia, all the settlement work.”
“Ten thousand new jobs in Rolla,” Ella said.
“Ten thousand people in the operation by the end of the year,” Kate corrected. “Some positions move. Some are new.”
“And a thousand additional drivers and warehouse workers in Columbia before the end of this month,” the man added.
The drone operator looked up.
“Would people have to move their families?”
“Not necessarily. Fifteen-minute employee shuttle between the two.”
He considered the answer.
“That changes the choice.”
“Quite a bit,” D’vann agreed.
One of the human technicians leaned forward.
“My brother sent me the posting. He’s trying to decide whether he wants warehouse work.”
“Does he?” Jeff asked.
“He wants the paycheck. He’s still considering the warehouse.”
“That’s a common arrangement.”
Ella scrolled through the replies.
“They’re saying Columbia’s losing the important work.”
“Headquarters stays,” Kate said. “Regional freight expands. Rolla gets the spaceport.”
“Rolla gets the pictures.”
“Columbia gets a thousand more people to unload the packages,” Jeff answered. “Which matters considerably when you’re waiting for one.”
S’rethi read the explanation of the two yards.
“Separating local distribution from the larger transfers should help.”
“Assuming they can build it quickly enough,” D’vann said.
The technician looked toward the new huts.
“They seem willing to hire people who know how.”
Kate lifted her glass.
“To remaining employable.”
Several people drank to that.
“Did you read the property statement?” Ella asked.
Jeff sighed.
“What’s he accused of owning now?”
“Everything.”
“Old news.”
“The statement about absolute title,” she said. “Property taxes, liens, inheritance, all of it.”
D’vann nodded.
“I read it.”
“What did you think?”
“That I would want to read the actual agreement for the home.”
Kate smiled.
“That’s generally a good start.”
“The terms matter more than whether a newspaper calls it ownership or leasehold,” S’rethi said.
“Exactly,” Ella answered. “What happens when you want to leave?”
“Depends what you own and what agreement you signed,” Kate said.
“Or when your children inherit.”
“Same answer.”
Ella looked at her.
“You’re making it sound simple.”
“No. I’m saying I’d read the agreement.”
Jeff put down his fork.
“Which problem have you had with yours?”
“I didn’t say I had one.”
“Then what are we solving?”
“I’m discussing the news.”
“All right.”
He returned to his supper.
The older V’ren woman beside S’rethi leaned toward D’vann.
“Have the housing arrangements here been settled?”
“Not individual assignments.”
“I’d like to know how far we’ll be from the gardens.”
S’rethi smiled.
“That will depend on which gardens you mean by the time we’re finished.”
“The ones I can reach without listening to machinery.”
D’vann glanced toward the working ground.
“We should make sure there are some.”
“Please do.”
Kate had opened the family photographs.
Ella noticed before anyone spoke.
“Oh, those.”
Jeff looked over.
“What?”
“Matt and T’mari.”
Kate turned the tablet so the V’ren women could see.
The first picture showed them sitting together on a deck, T’mari’s legs across his lap. In another they stood among relatives. The third placed them beside an old red pickup, Matt behind her with his arms around her waist.
D’vann smiled.
“He looks less tired.”
“She looks happy,” the older woman said.
S’rethi studied the photographs.
“Yes.”
Jeff leaned closer.
“Good truck.”
Kate laughed.
“That’s what you noticed?”
“I noticed the other things too. People are already discussing those.”
Ella drew her tablet toward her.
“The article says the last picture was the Hello Kitty shirt in his kitchen.”
“I remember it,” Kate said.
“Now she’s at the family gathering.”
“And helping clean up afterward, according to one of the relatives.”
The woman beside Ella nodded.
“That’ll get you invited back.”
“Particularly if you return the containers,” Jeff said.
The drone operator examined the middle photograph.
“They seem comfortable around her.”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” Kate asked.
“I meant she doesn’t seem to be receiving a formal introduction.”
“No,” S’rethi said. “She doesn’t.”
Ella looked toward her.
“Does that mean something particular?”
“It means she appears comfortable among his relatives.”
“I can see that.”
“Then we agree.”
Ella enlarged the picture beside the truck.
“They’ve known each other two weeks.”
“Busy weeks,” Kate said.
“That’s what the article says.”
“Then it noticed.”
Ella looked toward the V’ren women.
“Would her family normally expect more time?”
S’rethi set down her glass.
“For what?”
“Before this.”
“Being photographed beside a vehicle?”
Jeff covered a smile with his hand.
“You know what I mean.”
“I know what the photograph shows.”
Ella tapped the screen.
“Her mother called him family in another statement.”
“Did she?” Kate asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you’ve got her mother’s answer.”
“That doesn’t explain what kind of family.”
The older V’ren woman examined the picture again.
“They look well together.”
“They do,” S’rethi agreed.
Ella waited.
The woman beside her reached for the bread.
“Pass that along when you’re finished.”
Ella handed it over.
“I wonder what L’tani makes of it.”
S’rethi’s expression did not change.
“Have you asked her?”
“No.”
“Neither have I.”
“Surely people are talking.”
“People are always talking,” Jeff said.
Ella glanced at him.
“That doesn’t mean nobody knows anything.”
“No,” he answered. “It doesn’t.”
For several minutes the photographs passed along the table.
People recognized relatives in the background or tried to place the farm. Someone wanted to know whether the cardigan came from the Mercantile. Another thought the picture beside the truck would be the one newspapers kept using.
The V’ren operator pointed to the comments.
“They’re arguing about whether bringing someone to supper means a formal relationship.”
Kate shook her head.
“People argue about that without leaving Missouri.”
“What does it mean here?”
“Depends who invited you and what they told their mother.”
The human woman beside Ella laughed.
“And whether their mother believes them.”
D’vann looked amused.
“An elaborate system.”
“Wait until somebody says you’re just friends,” Jeff told him.
The operator grinned.
“Then everyone believes them?”
“Not for a moment.”
Ella set down her drink.
“Exactly. That’s what I said about Krieger and Nyla.”
Kate looked at her.
“No, Ella.”
“I’m only saying—”
“They weren’t dating.”
“You seem very certain.”
“You’ve told that story more than once. It hasn’t improved.”
The woman beside Ella shifted her plate to make room for the serving bowl.
“Can we get back to the truck? That conversation was pleasant.”
Jeff pointed toward her.
“An excellent proposal.”
Later, D’vann brought up the photograph S’ira had taken of the trial pond.
Kate leaned over.
“That’s yours?”
“Our first attempt.”
Water crossed the small overflow and followed the channel between broken stones.
Jeff studied it.
“Any fish?”
“Not yet.”
“Then Squirrel can’t shoot them.”
The drone operator looked offended.
“I wouldn’t use a rock-breaking projectile on a fish.”
Kate raised an eyebrow.
“Good to know there’s a limit.”
“A very small fish,” he added, “would be difficult to recover.”
Jeff began laughing.
S’rethi shook her head.
“No hunting in the trial pond.”
“Fishing?” Jeff asked.
“No fish.”
“Planning ahead.”
D’vann passed the image to the older V’ren woman.
“We’ll want somewhere beside it to sit.”
“And soil,” she said. “Something growing. It looks rather bare.”
“The reclamation unit is producing soil continuously.”
“Then bring some.”
He looked toward S’rethi.
She smiled.
“You asked what people would want.”
As the plates were cleared, conversations separated into smaller groups.
The technician was helping his brother interpret a job posting. Two V’ren workers were still examining the company’s employee ownership arrangement. Kate had found another picture of the family gathering and was showing the woman beside her someone laughing in the background.
Ella moved her chair toward them.
“Do either of you know which cousin posted those?”
Kate looked up.
“Why?”
“I thought they might have posted more.”
“Then look at the account.”
“I wondered if someone here knew them.”
The woman beside Kate stood with her empty plate.
“I’m getting coffee.”
Kate picked up her own.
“I’ll come with you.”
Ella watched them leave.
At the other end of the table, Jeff was explaining to D’vann why an old pickup could remain worth keeping when its owner possessed spacecraft.
“Does it still do the job?” he asked.
“Apparently.”
“Then there’s your answer.”
D’vann glanced at the photograph once more.
“And if he likes it?”
“That helps.”
S’rethi stood beside them, collecting her cup.
“The same principle applies to ponds.”
Jeff looked at her.
“Only if you put fish in them.”
She smiled.
“We’re working on it.”
