Part Two
May 21, 2440, 6:30 PM
“Another deer?”
D’vann K’var examined the meat Jeff Whetherall was carving.
“Forest bison.”
“Yesterday was deer.”
“Yesterday was deer.”
“And this is different?”
“Try some.”
D’vann held out his plate.
Jeff added a generous slice.
“Does it have antlers?”
“Horns.”
D’vann considered that distinction.
“Large ones?”
“Nothing like the first deer.”
“Then you should have brought a picture.”
“Eat your supper.”
At the table, Jelk Carr had already begun.
“Better than yesterday?” Kate asked him.
“I would need another portion of yesterday’s deer to make a proper comparison.”
“Very scientific, Squirrel.”
Jeff sat opposite him.
“There are plenty more.”
“Deer?” D’vann asked.
“Both. But deer especially.”
“Those enormous things?”
“They’ve had nearly four centuries to get comfortable.”
Kate passed the potatoes.
“And there’s a great deal of eastern woodland for them to be comfortable in.”
D’vann tried the bison, then reached for his drink.
“Well?”
Jeff waited.
“I understand why you keep going out.”
“Good. Tell Kate.”
“Kate,” D’vann said, “your hunters appear to have found useful employment.”
“They already had useful employment. That’s what worries me.”
Jelk smiled, but his eyes went to the time.
Kate noticed.
“What time are you leaving?”
“After eight.”
“Then stop checking until you’ve eaten.”
6:48 PM
R’alen arrived with his plate and sat beside his mother.
“The Leta completion notes came through.”
Kate looked up.
“Anything useful?”
“Several changes to the installation sequence. I’ve attached them to the first team assignments.”
“The kitchen access?”
“Included.”
D’vann nodded.
“We’ll review them in the morning.”
R’alen paused, then put the tablet away.
His mother smiled.
“A remarkable idea.”
“We have spent all day discussing houses,” D’vann said. “I am prepared to discuss something else.”
“You asked me about the garage release while we were washing our hands.”
“That was before supper.”
Jelk leaned forward.
“The apartments are still June fourth?”
“All ten,” D’vann said. “Along with the first sitio opening.”
“My oldest wants to know whether she can see our home being built.”
“She can certainly see buildings going up. I wouldn’t promise her which one is hers until the allocation is confirmed.”
“I haven’t.”
Kate cut another piece of bison.
“Leta’s apartments are June eighth, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” R’alen said. “Their house occupancy came first.”
“Then your daughter may have something to boast about.”
Jelk’s expression softened.
“She has already told people we are moving to Pennsylvania.”
“Has she seen it?”
“Through my camera.”
“The pond?” S’rethi asked.
“Yes.”
“No fish yet.”
“I told her.”
“Tell her again before she arrives.”
Jeff reached for the potatoes.
“I’ll tell her where they ought to go.”
S’rethi looked at him.
“You may show her where we are testing the water.”
“That’s what I meant.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Kate said.
7:06 PM
Ella brought her beer to the end of the table and turned her tablet toward Kate.
“Have you read this one?”
The headline read:
THE HIGH LORD IS ON BAG DUTY.
Kate looked at the photograph beneath it.
Matt held T’mari’s hand while she ate an ice cream cone. A bright shopping bag hung from his other hand.
“I saw the pictures.”
“He seems to have found time for a pleasant Saturday.”
“He’s allowed one.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t.”
D’vann leaned over to look.
“The university shirt again.”
“She’s wearing the same clothes in all three,” Kate said. “Same afternoon.”
Ella swiped to the kabob picture.
“This blogger thinks the cart will be overwhelmed.”
“Probably will,” Jeff said. “Anybody identify it?”
“The sign’s in the picture.”
“Then yes.”
Jelk examined the food.
“What is she eating?”
“Kabob,” Kate said. “Meat and vegetables on a skewer.”
He looked toward the serving trays.
“We could do that.”
“We could,” Jeff agreed.
“Smaller pieces to carry,” Kate said. “You might manage without a shuttle.”
Jeff ignored her.
Ella returned to the handholding photograph.
“There’s no doubt about it now.”
“About what?” S’rethi asked.
“They’re together.”
“They appear very fond of one another.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
D’vann studied Matt’s face.
“He looks pleased.”
“He usually does when he’s with her,” Kate said.
Ella scrolled through the comments.
“People are still asking where L’tani fits.”
The conversation at their end of the table quieted slightly.
S’rethi took another bite.
Ella looked toward her.
“You must have an opinion.”
“I have many.”
“About this.”
S’rethi set down her fork.
“I am pleased they enjoyed their afternoon.”
“That’s hardly an answer.”
“It answers what I chose to discuss.”
D’vann reached for the tablet and enlarged the photograph of the food cart.
“What does the rest of the menu say?”
Ella did not immediately release it.
Kate held out her hand.
“Let me see. I might know the place.”
After a moment, Ella passed it over.
7:24 PM
The Captain’s notice appeared while Kate was looking for the blogger’s identification of the cart.
She stopped scrolling.
“Here’s something else.”
Jeff glanced at the screen.
“They’ve published it?”
“Public notice from K’rem.”
Jelk put down his cup.
“T’rell K’eth?”
Kate nodded.
“Hundred and eighty days aboard. Basic rations. Waste reclamation.”
A V’ren technician sitting farther along the table turned toward them.
“I wondered when the notice would appear.”
Ella leaned forward.
“Was he the one behind that account?”
“Yes,” the technician said.
“All that talk about what humans were doing to V’ren society.”
“And a considerable amount of time enjoying human company,” the technician replied.
D’vann read the notice over Kate’s shoulder.
“Assigned officer. Still subject to the Captain.”
“Even when he thought nobody knew who was posting,” Jeff said.
Ella gave a short laugh.
“Imagine thinking you could say all that anonymously.”
Kate looked up at her.
Ella continued, “And live like that yourself.”
The technician’s expression sharpened.
“That is why people are discussing him.”
“Six months processing sewage,” Ella said. “He’ll remember that.”
Jelk extended his hand for the tablet.
He read the disposition before speaking.
“The reclamation section will expect him to learn the work.”
“I imagine they’ll find plenty for him.”
“They already have plenty. Ten thousand people produce waste whether anyone is being punished or not.”
R’alen nodded.
“Our unit hasn’t stopped since it went into service.”
Jeff watched Jelk return the tablet.
“You know the people running it aboard?”
“Some. They cannot afford someone making more work because he resents being there.”
Kate read K’rem’s final quotation aloud.
“‘The dishonor lies in requiring others to perform necessary work while imagining oneself above it.’”
“That sounds like him,” D’vann said.
Ella took a drink.
“Still, Matt must be pleased.”
“Perhaps,” S’rethi said.
“You don’t think they discussed it?”
“The notice says neither the Freeholder nor the Trust directed the outcome.”
“That’s the official version.”
S’rethi looked directly at her.
“Do you have information contradicting it?”
“No. I’m saying people talk.”
“They do.”
The silence lasted long enough for Ella to turn back toward her beer.
Jeff reached for the serving tray.
“Anyone want the last of this before I take it?”
7:46 PM
“My brother sent me the property argument again,” Kate said.
Ella looked up.
“The one where Matt says he owns everything?”
“The one about land title.”
“Same thing.”
Kate shook her head.
“My tools belong to me.”
“The ground under your house doesn’t.”
“I know.”
Jelk had been reading the notice about T’rell again. He closed it.
“Kdas has questions about that.”
“What sort?” D’vann asked.
“Which interests belong to the household. What the children can inherit. What happens if our work changes.”
“Those are sensible questions,” Kate said.
“She is making a list.”
Jeff smiled.
“Bring the list.”
“She will.”
Ella turned her bottle between her hands.
“It still all comes down to what one man lets you have.”
“My contract says what I have,” Kate replied.
“And he’s the final authority.”
“Yes.”
“You make that sound very comfortable.”
Kate considered her.
“I read it before I signed it.”
Jeff set his fork down.
“Who did you think owned the Freehold?”
“That isn’t what I’m asking.”
“Then ask it.”
Ella glanced at the V’ren around them.
“I’m asking how secure anyone really is.”
“Then you want the terms and the enforcement history,” Kate said. “There have been arbitrations against Freeholders. You can read those, too.”
R’alen leaned forward.
“The articles said much of the residential land elsewhere is held by institutions.”
“Much of it is,” Jeff said. “Corporations, trusts, municipal bodies. Depends where you go.”
“And the houses?”
“Depends on the agreement. Sometimes yours. Sometimes part of what you lease. Improvements can be separate again.”
Jelk nodded.
“That is what Kdas wants explained.”
Ella let out a breath.
“And now two hundred and nineteen people have been given citizenship without having to spend their lives there.”
Kate’s expression changed.
“They were sponsored.”
“By Matt.”
“Yes.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I know how sponsorship works. It’s how I became a citizen.”
Jeff raised his cup slightly.
“Me, too.”
Ella looked between them.
“My family has been there for generations.”
“And you’ve mentioned every branch of it,” Jeff said.
“Because it matters.”
“What have Kate’s sponsors got to do with your great-grandmother?”
“I wasn’t talking about Kate.”
“You brought up sponsored citizens at her table.”
D’vann watched Ella’s fingers tighten around the bottle.
She looked toward him.
“Surely you understand family obligations.”
“I do.”
“Then you understand why people might be offended.”
“I understand that you are offended.”
Kate pushed back her empty plate.
“Matt personally sponsoring that many people is extraordinary. Nobody’s disputing that. Sponsorship itself is how people normally become citizens.”
Ella looked away.
At the far end of the table, someone asked for the bread. Jeff passed it down.
8:03 PM
R’alen had opened the historical article linked beneath the property discussion.
“The First Crossing,” he read. “De Soto, 2078.”
Jeff nodded.
“That one’s been everywhere since the final statement.”
“Four thousand five hundred on the bridge?”
“According to the archive.”
R’alen turned the display toward his father.
D’vann read the account of the demolished approaches and the attacking drones.
“They waited until the force had committed.”
“Yes,” Jeff said.
“And this was Marmaduke Incorporated.”
“Different organization from the Freehold.”
“The article makes that distinction.”
“It needs making. People see the name and put everything in the same basket.”
S’rethi read the closing paragraphs.
“Then the later Agreement formalized recognition between territories that had already defended themselves.”
“That’s the point,” Kate said. “The CCA didn’t create them out of nothing.”
Ella glanced back toward the screen.
“Matt’s answer was certainly clear.”
Jeff smiled faintly.
“Which one?”
“‘Don’t want to die? Don’t invade Missouri.’”
D’vann sat back.
“I saw that.”
“People calling it bluster don’t know much local history,” Jeff said.
“Do you expect someone to try?” R’alen asked.
“Over his statement about title? No. But people kept asking what happened if someone decided to overturn it by force.”
“And he answered,” S’rethi said.
Kate nodded.
“He generally does.”
Jelk checked the time and stood.
“I need to go.”
The conversation stopped for him.
Jeff rose and took one of the cases beside the table.
“You’ve got that one,” Jelk said.
“I know.”
“I can carry both.”
“I know that, too.”
8:17 PM
The transport shuttle stood with its boarding ramp down.
Jelk checked his case against the manifest, then turned back toward the others.
Kate had walked over with them. D’vann remained a few paces behind, speaking briefly with a crew member.
“Twenty-third,” Kate said.
“Yes.”
“With Kdas and three girls.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell them Moose will be here to help carry things.”
Jeff looked at her.
“I was going to offer.”
“I’ve saved you the trouble.”
Jelk smiled.
“My oldest already wants to meet him.”
“Does she know my name?” Jeff asked.
“She knows the one Kate gave you.”
“Of course she does.”
D’vann joined them.
“Your relief has the current assignments. Go home.”
“Thank you.”
For the first time that evening, Jelk’s attention stayed wholly on the people in front of him.
“I’ll see you in two days.”
He shook Jeff’s hand, took his case and boarded.
Kate watched him disappear inside.
“He needed that.”
Jeff nodded.
“He’s been counting the hours.”
The ramp began to rise.
Behind them, voices still carried from the supper tables. Ella had found another listener. Someone was laughing near the washing station.
D’vann looked across the first sitio, where placement lights marked the active sections.
“In two days, his children will be here waiting for us to finish.”
Kate followed his gaze.
“They won’t be the only ones.”
Jeff adjusted his empty hands as though he had forgotten he was no longer carrying the case.
“Better get it right, then.”
The shuttle lifted, and they stood together until it had cleared the camp.
