Former Pittsburgh Airport Staging Area, Pennsylvania
May 16, 2440, 5:17 PM
“Ella. You’re going to want to hear this.”
Ella Murphy looked up from the electrical supply list.
A woman from Columbia stood beside her, holding a phone and wearing the expression of someone who had been saving an especially good piece of gossip.
Ella recognized that expression immediately.
“What happened?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“About Matt.”
Ella put down her tablet.
“What about Matt?”
“Something happened last night.”
“Something always happens to Matt.”
“Not like this.”
Ella studied her.
“Did he shoot somebody?”
“No!”
“Get married?”
“Not that I’ve heard.”
“Then what?”
The woman leaned closer.
“An alien woman put him in the hospital.”
Ella stared at her.
“Bullshit.”
“I’m serious.”
“Which alien woman?”
“L’tani.”
Ella straightened.
“L’tani T’all?”
“Yes.”
“T’mari’s sister?”
“The very one.”
Ella stared for another moment.
Then she began laughing.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
“What did she do to him?”
“That’s what everybody’s trying to find out.”
Ella folded her arms.
“You just told me she put him in the hospital.”
“Well, apparently he wasn’t actually taken to a hospital.”
“Then why did you say that?”
“Because they had to call a doctor.”
Ella laughed again.
“That’s a considerably different story.”
“Not when you hear the rest.”
“I’m listening.”
The woman showed her the messages.
Several versions of the story were already circulating through the Freehold and Columbia.
One claimed Matt had collapsed after being exposed to V’ren pheromones.
Another said he’d spent the night with L’tani and been unconscious afterward.
A third was considerably more colorful.
Ella stopped scrolling.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Broken furniture?”
“That’s what they’re saying.”
“What furniture?”
“A chair. Maybe a lamp.”
Ella looked toward her.
“How do you break a lamp?”
“Apparently they were going at it in the chair.”
“And?”
“The chair broke.”
Ella stared.
“And the lamp?”
“They knocked it over when they went down.”
Ella started laughing.
“Oh, Jesus Christ.”
“I’m serious.”
“Matt fucked so hard he broke the furniture?”
“That’s one version.”
Ella took the phone again.
“Wait. It gets better.”
“What?”
“Somebody says there were jeans hanging from a ceiling fan.”
Ella stared at the screen.
Then she started laughing so hard she had to put the phone down.
“Jeans?”
“Yes.”
“On the ceiling fan?”
“Apparently.”
“Who the hell put them there?”
“That’s one of the questions.”
Ella covered her mouth.
“Oh, my God.”
“And the chair was broken.”
“That’s the best part.”
“You haven’t heard the best part.”
Ella looked up.
“There’s more?”
“They found him unconscious.”
The laughter stopped.
“Seriously?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Was he hurt?”
“Apparently not. He’s been seen walking around this morning.”
“Then why was he unconscious?”
The woman gave her a look.
Ella stared.
“No.”
“That’s what people are saying.”
“No fucking way.”
“I didn’t make it up.”
“You’re telling me L’tani went into Matt’s bedroom last night, they broke a chair, knocked over a lamp, somehow got her jeans caught on a ceiling fan, and then she fucked him unconscious?”
“That’s one version.”
Ella stared at her.
Then she dissolved into laughter again.
“Holy shit.”
5:32 PM
“Wait,” Ella said, examining the messages again. “Are you sure it was L’tani?”
“That’s what everybody’s saying.”
“Because they’ve been together quite a bit.”
The woman nodded.
“Since the twelfth, at least.”
“Earlier than that.”
Ella brought up the photographs from the party welcoming General Leonard Wood and his family.
“There. May eleventh. Matt introduced her as his date.”
“And she was helping host?”
“Yes. Until the Hart farm emergency interrupted everything.”
Ella scrolled through the pictures.
“That was a hell of a night. I still can’t believe Janie and Ray both survived.”
“The V’ren medical people were pretty impressive.”
“No kidding. And the baby survived too.”
“Then Matt took L’tani out again.”
“Versailles the next day,” Ella said. “And they’ve been seen together plenty since then.”
She opened another photograph.
“The baseball game.”
The woman leaned closer.
“That’s a good picture.”
“And all those press appearances.”
“She’s been doing interviews on her own, too.”
Ella nodded.
“She’s a medical researcher. Apparently she’s been attracting attention from the university people.”
“She certainly attracted Matt’s attention.”
Ella laughed.
“Apparently.”
She studied the photographs.
“People were already talking about them. It’s not like she crawled through his bedroom window without anybody knowing who she was.”
“Although that would make a wonderful story.”
“It would.”
Ella brought up another photograph.
“Now here’s an interesting question. What happened to Oxana?”
The woman smiled.
“I’ve heard something about that.”
“What?”
“Apparently Matt got tired of waiting.”
“For what?”
The woman gave her a look.
Ella laughed.
“Oh, come on.”
“That’s the rumor.”
“That Oxana wouldn’t sleep with him?”
“She’s supposedly a prissy little paramedic who wouldn’t put out. So he moved on to L’tani.”
Ella stared at her.
“That’s nasty.”
“I didn’t say it was true.”
“People have been pairing him with every attractive woman he’s had supper with.”
“I know.”
“And Oxana’s been around the Freehold for a while.”
“Which is why people are talking about it.”
Ella looked at the earlier pictures of Matt and L’tani.
“So the story is that the paramedic kept him waiting, and the alien medical student didn’t.”
“More or less.”
Ella laughed.
“Good God. The women in Columbia are going to have a field day with that.”
“Already are.”
“Has anybody actually talked to Oxana?”
“Not that I’ve heard.”
“Then they’re just guessing.”
“That’s what gossip is, Ella.”
“Not all of it.”
The woman smiled.
“True. Sometimes there’s a broken chair.”
Ella laughed again.
5:48 PM
“Now, what about T’mari?” Ella asked.
The woman opened another set of messages.
“She’s in Columbia with Matt.”
Ella looked up.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“I thought she was in space.”
“She was. Came back early this morning, about ten hours ahead of schedule.”
“But she was supposed to go to Columbia with him anyway.”
“Of course. They had the interviews scheduled.”
Ella nodded.
T’mari had spent much of the preceding week in space, occupied with V’ren business. Her public appearances with Matt before that had produced plenty of speculation, particularly after photographs and reports of their growing familiarity began circulating.
L’tani, meanwhile, had been the one accompanying him to public functions.
Now T’mari was back, and she and Matt were fulfilling their Columbia press schedule.
“Did they cancel anything?” Ella asked.
“Apparently not. They’ve been giving interviews all afternoon.”
“After last night?”
“Yes.”
Ella shook her head.
“That man is unbelievable.”
The woman brought up the University of Missouri coverage.
T’mari had discussed communications engineering, energy systems, and working with human technicians.
Matt had participated in several interviews, including a lengthy discussion about his growing responsibilities.
Then there was the entertainment interview.
Ella read the headline.
“Cartoons, cowboy boots, and the alien family next door.”
“That’s the one.”
Ella scrolled down.
“Jesus, they’re talking about the dog again.”
“Fred?”
“Yes. The husky.”
“Everybody loves that picture.”
Ella smiled.
“Hard not to.”
Then she reached the final section.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“They actually asked him about L’tani.”
“Read it.”
Ella examined Matt’s answer.
He hadn’t denied spending the night with her.
Instead, he’d said L’tani was someone he cared about, that he’d enjoyed her company, and that neither of them should be ashamed.
Ella looked up.
“That’s practically a confirmation.”
“Certainly isn’t a denial.”
“And T’mari was sitting right there.”
“Yes.”
Ella read the exchange again.
Matt had gone on to joke about internet speculation involving both sisters and even their mother.
Ella laughed.
“He actually said that?”
“Apparently.”
“In front of T’mari?”
“On camera.”
Ella shook her head.
“That poor woman.”
“Which one?”
“T’mari. Imagine having to sit there while the man you’re rumored to be seeing jokes about sleeping with your sister and your mother.”
“She seemed to take it pretty well.”
Ella examined the photograph accompanying the interview.
“She’s laughing.”
“Exactly.”
Ella considered that.
“Then either she’s got a remarkable sense of humor, or there’s a lot going on that nobody knows about.”
The woman smiled.
“Probably both.”
Ella returned to the interview.
“What’s interesting is that Matt hasn’t actually said anything about being incapacitated.”
“No.”
“Or the chair.”
“No.”
“Or the ceiling fan.”
“Unfortunately.”
Ella grinned.
“Now that’s the interview I want to see.”
6:03 PM
Ella checked her messages again.
Two people had already asked whether she knew anything about Matt and L’tani.
A third wanted to know whether the story about the furniture was true.
She began answering the first.
Then she stopped.
“What’s wrong?” the woman asked.
“I’m trying to decide how to word this.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want somebody telling Matt I started a rumor that he nearly died having sex.”
“You didn’t start it.”
“No. But I don’t need him thinking I did.”
She considered the message.
Then typed:
I’ve heard he’s fine. There’s apparently a story going around about L’tani T’all, some broken furniture, and a doctor being called. I don’t know how much is true.
She sent it.
The woman looked at her.
“That’s remarkably restrained.”
Ella smiled.
“I’m getting older.”
“Bullshit.”
“Completely.”
Another message arrived.
Ella read it.
Then laughed.
“What now?”
“Somebody wants to know whether the chair was an antique.”
The woman nearly choked.
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Apparently Matt has some expensive furniture.”
“Doesn’t he own a whole warehouse full of antiques?”
“Probably.”
“So he can afford another chair.”
Ella grinned.
“I don’t think the price of the chair is going to be the interesting part of the story.”
Her phone chimed again.
This time the question was whether L’tani had actually incapacitated Matt or whether he’d simply enjoyed himself too much.
Ella looked at the screen.
For once, she genuinely didn’t know which answer she preferred.
Both were going to make magnificent gossip.
She typed a reply.
I haven’t got enough information yet.
Then she turned toward the kitchen.
“Come on. Let’s get supper.”
“Think we’ll hear more tonight?”
Ella slipped her phone into her pocket.
“Are you kidding? Half of Columbia is going to spend the evening trying to find out what happened in that bedroom.”
“And the other half?”
“Trying to figure out how to get invited.”
They both started laughing.
6:21 PM
They had barely collected their supper when the woman brought up something else.
“There’s another part to this.”
Ella looked over.
“What now?”
“W’ren sent out warnings.”
“About Matt?”
“About people talking about him and L’tani.”
Ella sat down.
“What kind of warnings?”
“One went to the highborn families. Apparently he reminded them that he’s the Keeper of the Flame and they ought to respect his authority if they’re so concerned about status.”
Ella smiled.
“Sounds like their version of a family elder telling everybody to shut the hell up.”
“Pretty much.”
“And the other?”
“That went through the Trust. Apparently V’ren aren’t supposed to make negative comments to reporters or even their human friends.”
Ella stopped eating.
“Why not?”
“Because they don’t want the gossip making trouble.”
Ella considered that.
“So they can talk about it among themselves?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“But they’re not supposed to tell us?”
“Not if they’ve got something negative to say.”
Ella looked thoughtful.
“That’s interesting.”
The woman recognized the tone.
“Ella.”
“What?”
“Don’t.”
“I’m just saying it’s interesting.”
“It’s a private matter.”
“Then why does their entire social hierarchy have to get involved?”
“Because they’re highborn?”
“Exactly.”
Ella leaned forward.
“What if there’s something they’re not telling us?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. That’s the point.”
“Ella.”
“They’ve got all these customs, bonding chemistry, pheromones, caste rules. Half the time nobody knows what they’re talking about. Now Matt gets knocked unconscious, and suddenly their most important social officer tells everyone not to talk to humans.”
“He also told the highborn to leave it alone.”
“That’s what they say.”
The woman sighed.
“You’re not seriously starting an alien conspiracy theory.”
“I’m not starting anything.”
“You just said they’re keeping something from the public.”
“Maybe they are.”
“Or maybe they’re tired of people asking whether their relative fucked the High Lord unconscious.”
Ella smiled despite herself.
“That’s a fair point.”
“But?”
“But there are things about the V’ren we still don’t understand, and I don’t think every one of them is eager to explain.”
“Neither would I be if I were them.”
Ella was about to answer when her phone rang.
The display identified the Columbia Electrical Guildhall.
She looked at it.
“That’s unusual.”
“Answer it.”
Ella did.
“Murphy.”
“Ella, this is the Guildhall. Have you got a minute?”
“Sure.”
“Good. Then listen carefully.”
The tone made her straighten.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’ve been hearing about the conversations you’re having concerning the V’ren.”
Ella looked toward her friend.
“What conversations?”
“Don’t play stupid with me. You’re talking about conspiracies and the highborn keeping secrets from humans.”
“I was talking privately.”
“And your private opinions are getting repeated.”
“I haven’t said anything to the press.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Ella frowned.
“Then what is?”
“Somebody has been putting out calls to the Boston, Newark, and Long Island electrical halls.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“For Pennsylvania?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because this operation is growing fast enough that the Trust has alternatives, and some of those alternatives have very experienced electricians.”
“We’ve got experienced electricians.”
“I know we do.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that we want Columbia electricians employed on these projects, and I don’t want anyone deciding the Guildhall comes with a political headache attached.”
Ella said nothing.
The representative continued.
“You know how much work is coming. Garages, apartments, utilities, commercial buildings, industrial installations. This isn’t a little repair contract.”
“I know.”
“Then act like it.”
“I’ve been doing my job.”
“Your electrical work isn’t the complaint. It’s your mouth.”
Ella flushed.
“Excuse me?”
“Shut the fuck up about V’ren conspiracies, Ella.”
Her friend suddenly found her supper fascinating.
The Guildhall representative continued.
“The Trust can bring in electricians from Boston, Newark, or Long Island. They don’t have to use Columbia. And if they decide we’re more trouble than we’re worth because somebody keeps making accusations about their people, we could lose an enormous amount of work.”
“I’m not accusing anybody.”
“Then stop talking like you are.”
Ella took a breath.
“All right.”
“I’m serious.”
“I said all right.”
“You’re a very good electrician. We want you working. But we’re not going to risk the entire Columbia Guildhall’s relationship with Marmaduke and the V’ren Trust because you can’t keep your personal opinions to yourself.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Go to work tomorrow, do your assignments, and leave the V’ren social affairs to the V’ren.”
“I will.”
The call ended.
Ella lowered her phone.
Her friend looked toward her.
“Well.”
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“Good.”
They ate in silence for a moment.
Then Ella opened her work schedule.
She was still assigned to the Pennsylvania electrical installations.
The job was secure for now, and she had no intention of giving the Guildhall a reason to remove her.
Her friend watched her.
“Are you really going to leave it alone?”
“The conspiracy stuff?”
“Yes.”
“Apparently I am.”
“Good.”
Ella returned to her supper.
She didn’t intend to repeat the conspiracy theory.
The Guildhall had made its position clear, and the possibility of losing work to electricians from other regions was real.
She knew how important the coming projects were.
But the conversation had reminded her of another matter that had been bothering her since the Hart farm emergency.
Two hundred nineteen V’ren had received Freehold citizenship after answering Matt’s request for assistance.
Medical personnel, messengers, and others who had helped the injured Hart family and supported the emergency response had been recognized.
Matt had asked for every name.
Ella remembered hearing about it.
She also remembered how many people in the Freehold had spent years working for the Marmadukes without receiving the same recognition.
That was a different question.
It didn’t require accusing the V’ren of keeping secrets.
And it involved the Freehold, where Ella had lived her entire life.
For now, however, she had electrical work to finish.
She closed her messages.
On May 16, Ella Murphy decided to obey the Guildhall.
The citizenship question could wait.
