Oakmont–Verona–Plum Development Site, Pennsylvania
May 19, 2440, 9:06 PM
“Lord Missouri.”
Jake Whetherall looked up from his beer.
“What?”
Jude Walsh turned his tablet toward him.
“Somebody’s calling Matt Lord Missouri.”
Jake examined the screen.
“That’s unfortunate.”
“They’re selling shirts.”
“Of course they are.”
“And the Mercantile wants to know which butt cheek he should tattoo it on.”
Joren Hale started laughing.
Jelk Carr leaned closer.
“Does His Lordship have such a tattoo?”
“Depends who you ask,” Jake answered.
Jude scrolled.
“According to these people, it’s either Noli Me Tángere around a rose, a Missouri flag, or a tiger.”
“There’s also the Filipino flag,” Joren said.
“And the one with the hash marks,” Jake added.
Jelk looked confused.
“Has anyone asked him?”
“Repeatedly,” Jude answered.
“And?”
“Matt’s complaining that nobody appreciates how fabulous his ass is.”
Jelk sat back.
“I see.”
Jake grinned.
“No, Squirrel. That’s the whole problem. Nobody knows if there’s anything to see.”
Ella Murphy looked over from her tablet.
“Are you really discussing Matt’s ass?”
“Apparently,” Joren answered.
She shook her head.
“Half the world wants to know about the V’ren, and this is what people spend their time on.”
Jude raised his tablet.
“It’s a very popular subject.”
“Then perhaps we should discuss his property statement instead.”
Jake sighed.
“Here we go.”
9:17 PM
Ella brought up the article.
“Matt says people don’t really own land if someone else can tax it.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” Jude said.
“He’s a fine one to talk.”
“Why?”
“Because he owns half of everything.”
Jake laughed.
“Not quite.”
“He owns enough.”
“True.”
Ella enlarged the article.
“And he’s complaining about governments controlling property.”
“He’s discussing superior territorial authority,” Jude said.
“It’s the same thing.”
“No. That’s why the argument exists.”
Jelk opened the relevant corporate records.
“I was examining the original Marmaduke Freehold LLC agreements earlier.”
Jake looked toward him.
“Good luck.”
“They’re not especially difficult.”
“Give it time.”
Jelk ignored him.
“The original Freehold territory is held by the corporation, while Matthew personally holds other territorial interests, including Boonville.”
“Right,” Jude answered.
“And the company’s succession requirements are not identical to ordinary inheritance.”
“Also right.”
Ella leaned forward.
“My family has been on the Freehold for generations.”
Jake looked at her.
“We know.”
“My great-grandmother was a Boone Marmaduke.”
“Yes.”
“Then why shouldn’t I have the same rights?”
“Because being descended from a Boone Marmaduke doesn’t automatically make you a qualifying shareholder.”
“I’m also related to the Littletons, Harts, Whetheralls, and Chakrobartys.”
Jake smiled.
“So am I related to half the people in Saline County.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“That families like mine helped build the Freehold.”
Jude nodded.
“That’s true.”
“And yet we don’t own the ground beneath our houses.”
“No,” he agreed.
Ella looked toward Jake.
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Not especially.”
“Why not?”
“Because I knew that when I moved there.”
“You were born there.”
“And so were you.”
Joren glanced up.
“How many residency agreements have you signed, Ella?”
She looked annoyed.
“Enough.”
“Six,” Jude answered. “Twelve, sixteen, twenty-one, then every five years.”
“I know.”
“And the terms didn’t suddenly change after the sixth signature.”
“I don’t have to agree with everything I sign.”
Jake looked at her.
“You have to understand what you’re agreeing to.”
Ella crossed her arms.
“That’s a very convenient answer from someone who likes the arrangement.”
“Sure is.”
Jelk examined the agreement.
“The restrictions concern ownership of the underlying territory. They don’t eliminate every property interest a resident may hold.”
“Correct,” Jude answered.
“And the annual rent is one fiat?”
Jake smiled.
“Now it is.”
Ella looked at him.
“Don’t start.”
“Wasn’t going to.”
“You were about to bring up the old rents.”
“Three hundred fiat a year. Terrible hardship.”
Joren laughed.
Ella gave them both a hostile look.
“It’s still about ownership.”
“Then argue ownership,” Jude said. “Don’t pretend the rent is what makes the arrangement objectionable.”
She returned to her tablet.
“Fine. What about all the land Matt’s just acquired from the guarantors?”
Jake looked interested.
“Now there’s a question.”
9:29 PM
Jelk opened the territorial transfers.
“Twenty original guarantors. Seventeen remaining after mergers and a sale.”
Jude nodded.
“And Matt’s taken the transferred territory personally.”
“Which makes him a guarantor?” Jelk asked.
“Maybe.”
Ella looked up.
“Maybe?”
“That’s the dispute,” Jude said. “Whether the transfers carry the guarantor’s legal position or whether those lands fall under the fiefdom rules.”
“And nobody settled that before handing over the land?”
“Not definitively.”
Jelk examined the legal proceedings.
“The distinction affects security obligations.”
“Among other things,” Jude answered.
“And the former guarantors may remain responsible for some obligations despite the transfer.”
“Exactly.”
Ella looked astonished.
“Why would anybody agree to that?”
“Because they wanted the financial burden off their books,” Joren answered.
“Without knowing if it’s off their books?”
Jake smiled.
“Now you understand why the lawyers are going to be busy.”
Jude enlarged the infrastructure records.
“Here’s the part that interests Matt.”
The same section of road appeared beside eight separate payments.
Jelk looked closer.
“Eight?”
“Eight.”
“For one road?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Different agreements. Different polities. Overlapping claims.”
Jelk read the amounts.
“That’s extraordinary.”
“It’s been extraordinary for years,” Jake answered.
Ella looked over.
“But somebody had to maintain the roads.”
“Certainly,” Jude said. “That doesn’t mean eight different recipients needed to collect on the same work.”
Joren opened the old guarantor accounts.
“Some of those polities made a fortune from maintenance payments.”
“And some actually did useful work,” Jake added. “Others mostly collected.”
Ella examined the figures.
Then she stopped.
“Wait.”
Jake looked at her.
“What?”
“That’s a Marmaduke company.”
“Yep.”
“And this one.”
“Yep.”
She scrolled.
“Matt’s family was collecting these payments too!”
Joren laughed.
“Quite a lot of them.”
Ella stared at Jake.
“You’ve spent the last ten minutes talking about waste, and your own family was getting rich off the same system.”
Jake considered that.
“Sure.”
“Sure?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That it’s hypocritical!”
“Matt was perfectly happy to collect the money while somebody else was paying.”
Jude grinned.
“And now that he’s taking on the expense, he’s perfectly happy to eliminate it.”
Ella looked incredulous.
“You don’t even try to defend that?”
“What’s to defend?” Jake asked. “He liked getting paid. He doesn’t like paying for something eight times.”
Jelk laughed.
Ella turned toward him.
“You think that’s funny?”
“A little,” he admitted.
She looked back at Jake.
“So Matt replaces the roads, stops paying the local governments, and gets richer.”
“He’ll save money on maintenance,” Jude answered. “He’ll also spend a great deal replacing the infrastructure.”
“And some communities will go bankrupt.”
“Probably,” Jake said.
“You don’t care?”
“Depends on the community.”
Ella leaned forward.
“That’s a terrible answer.”
“It’s an accurate one.”
Joren set down his drink.
“Some places use that income to support their residents. Some have a handful of families taking most of it while everyone else gets very little.”
“And Matt gets to decide who deserves to survive?”
“No,” Jude answered. “He gets to decide whether to continue buying maintenance services he no longer needs.”
Ella stared at him.
“Those communities depend on the contracts.”
“Then they’ll need another source of income.”
“And if they can’t find one?”
Jake shrugged.
“Some will reorganize. Some will fail.”
“That’s ruthless.”
“Can be.”
Jelk looked toward the article.
“And if the former polity’s assets are auctioned?”
“Someone may buy them,” Jude answered.
“Possibly His Lordship.”
“Possibly.”
Ella spread her hands.
“So he gets the land anyway.”
“Sometimes,” Jake said. “Sometimes somebody else does.”
Jelk considered the legal distinction.
“And deliberate interference with the replacement infrastructure is an entirely different matter.”
“CCA law,” Jude answered.
Jake nodded.
“Anybody trying to sabotage a road project can find themselves facing a lot worse than lost maintenance income.”
Ella looked toward him.
“Convenient.”
Jake raised his beer.
“You’ve said that several times tonight.”
“Because it keeps being true.”
“Doesn’t make the law new.”
Jelk studied the territorial records once more.
“A person may inherit extraordinary rights without possessing absolute freedom to exercise them.”
Jude nodded.
“That’s pretty much the entire CCA system.”
Jake smiled.
“Now you’re getting to know Missouri.”
9:43 PM
“Speaking of people who understand absolutely everything,” Jude said, “have you seen Claudia’s interview?”
Jake looked up.
“Rayya’s girl?”
“Yep.”
Jude opened the twenty questions.
Ella leaned closer.
“She’s fourteen.”
“That’s generally what happens after thirteen,” Jake answered.
Joren laughed.
Jude read one of Claudia’s answers.
“She says the first thing she’d change if she ran her own district would be getting to drive, because the driver picks the music.”
Jake grinned.
“Sounds right.”
“And she doesn’t like Rayya’s music.”
“Can’t blame her.”
Jelk examined the interview.
“She manages safehouse records?”
“Claudia and her sisters help with the inspections,” Jude answered.
“She seems very organized.”
“She’s the one everybody goes to for lists.”
Jude found another answer.
“She says if you want to learn to organize people, start by listing all the little jobs you do every day, then break each one into its smaller steps.”
Jelk looked impressed.
“That’s good advice.”
“Sure is.”
Ella scrolled to the criticism.
“People are complaining about her carrying weapons and doing refugee work.”
Jake shrugged.
“Claudia can answer them herself.”
“Apparently she has,” Jude said.
He opened another response.
“Somebody wants to put her in charge of a city.”
“Poor city,” Jake said.
Jelk laughed.
“Why?”
“Because she’d expect everybody to know what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Jude smiled.
“And she’d have the lists to prove it.”
Ella opened another reply.
“She’s got people asking her about university.”
“What’s she saying?” Joren asked.
“She doesn’t know what she’d study there that she couldn’t study at home.”
Jake nodded.
“That’s Claudia.”
Jelk considered the answer.
“Does she intend to remain with her family?”
“Sounds like it.”
“Then perhaps her priorities are already clear.”
Jude found the question about what she wanted to do in the future.
“Apparently she’d like a nice V’ren boy who’ll chase goats, herd children, and watch sunsets with her.”
Jake smiled.
“Rayya’s going to love that.”
Joren laughed.
Ella continued scrolling.
“She’s also getting quite a lot of international attention.”
“Good for her,” Jude said.
“And the criticism?”
“She’ll survive,” Jake answered.
Jelk examined the comments.
“I rather like the answer about being good at her work without considering herself exceptional.”
“That’s how she was raised,” Jude said.
Ella set her tablet down.
“Sometimes it feels like every Marmaduke relative is becoming famous.”
Jake looked at her.
“Claudia’s a Chakrobarty.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Then perhaps you should say what you mean.”
She returned to reading.
9:55 PM
A notification appeared on Jelk’s tablet.
“That’s interesting.”
“What?” Jude asked.
“A public notice from Kalnareth.”
R’alen, sitting a short distance away, looked up.
Jelk read the heading.
“Captain’s Mast. T’rell K’eth.”
Jude leaned closer.
“The highborn officer?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Captain K’rem has imposed one hundred eighty days of shipboard restriction.”
Jake whistled.
“Six months?”
“Basic rations and reassignment to waste reclamation.”
Joren laughed.
“That’s a lot of shit.”
Jelk gave him a look.
“It’s essential shipboard work.”
“I know. Still a lot of it.”
Jude examined the notice.
“Public conduct and poor judgment.”
“That’s the finding,” Jelk answered.
“Not for disagreeing with somebody?”
“The statement expressly distinguishes disagreement from conduct unsuitable for an officer.”
Jake nodded.
“Sounds like K’rem.”
Jelk continued reading.
“The Freehold and the Trust weren’t involved.”
“Of course they weren’t,” Jude said. “K’rem commands the ship.”
R’alen rose and approached.
“Has T’rell been removed from his commission?”
“No. Reassigned during the period of restriction.”
R’alen examined the notice.
The captain’s statement was unusually direct.
There was no dishonor in maintaining the systems that allowed thousands of people to live aboard the ship. The dishonor lay in imagining oneself above necessary work.
R’alen read it again.
A highborn officer had been publicly disciplined by his own commanding officer.
His family name had not protected him.
Nor had his assignment to waste processing made him cease being highborn.
R’alen thought about the questions he’d been asking Kate.
“What do you think?” Jelk asked.
“Of the punishment?”
“Yes.”
“I think the captain has made his expectations clear.”
“And T’rell?”
“He has six months to decide whether he understands them.”
Jake raised his glass.
“Sounds fair enough.”
R’alen returned to his seat.
10:07 PM
Ella brought up the newest photographs from Columbia.
“Now explain these.”
Jake sighed.
“What am I explaining?”
“Matt and T’mari.”
“Again?”
“They’re holding hands.”
Jake glanced at the screen.
“Yep.”
“In public.”
“Looks like it.”
Joren started laughing.
The photograph showed Matt and T’mari walking together beneath the trees of a Columbia park.
T’mari was wearing jeans, high-tops, and a University of Missouri shirt.
Another picture showed them eating kabobs. A third had T’mari carrying an ice cream cone while Matt held a shopping bag.
Jelk examined the photographs.
“They appear to be enjoying themselves.”
“They do,” Jude said.
Ella looked at Jake.
“You can’t seriously tell me you think they’re just colleagues.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what are they?”
“Two people walking through a park.”
“Jake!”
“What?”
“You know what I’m asking.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t know what arrangements they’ve made.”
She scrolled through the commentary.
“Everybody’s talking about them.”
“Everybody’s been talking about them since the fifth.”
Jude nodded.
“There’s a Freehold statement reminding people that somebody asked whether T’mari was Matt’s girlfriend during the first press conference.”
Jake laughed.
“That’s right.”
“Three minutes later the memes started,” Jude added.
Jelk looked astonished.
“Three minutes?”
“Humanity moves quickly when there’s gossip involved.”
Ella found another photograph.
“They went shopping at Target.”
Jake looked interested.
“Get anything good?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Apparently I’m never going to find out.”
Jude laughed.
Ella continued reading.
“People are saying there’s something about T’mari’s family nobody knows.”
R’alen looked up.
“There is a great deal about V’ren families that humans don’t know.”
“Apparently this is something particular.”
“Then perhaps the people involved will explain it when they wish to.”
Ella sighed.
“Everybody keeps giving me that answer.”
“Perhaps you should consider it,” Jelk said.
She ignored him.
“There’s also talk about L’tani spending time with Angelina.”
Jude glanced over.
“Is there?”
“Apparently.”
“And?”
“And what do you think is going on?”
“Could be anything.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s also all I know.”
Ella switched articles.
“Now Angelina’s taken some V’ren girl as an apprentice.”
R’alen looked toward her.
“Who?”
“Mall.”
“She’s accepted a formal apprenticeship?”
“That’s the rumor.”
“With Angelina Reyes?” Jelk asked.
“Yes.”
R’alen considered that.
A V’ren girl without highborn recognition had been accepted into an important human household under a formal apprenticeship arrangement.
Whatever else the arrangement might eventually mean, Mall would have a recognized teacher and a place in that family.
Jelk nodded.
“That’s a considerable opportunity.”
Ella looked at him.
“For somebody with no status?”
“For anybody whose teacher is Angelina Reyes.”
Jude smiled.
“She’s likely to learn quite a lot.”
Ella looked at the discussion again.
“I wonder how she managed to get Angelina to take her.”
Jude shrugged.
“Probably asked.”
“You can’t just ask somebody like Angelina to take you into her household.”
Jake looked toward her.
“Apparently Mall could.”
Joren laughed.
Ella was about to answer when another photograph appeared on her screen.
She stopped.
10:21 PM
“Wait.”
Jude glanced over.
“What?”
Ella enlarged a photograph from Matt’s family gathering.
Several people stood together near one of the tables. T’mari was talking with three human women.
Ella leaned closer.
“That’s my aunt.”
Jake looked at the picture.
“Who?”
“My mother’s sister.”
He examined it.
“Yep.”
Ella stared at him.
“What’s she doing there?”
“Talking to T’mari.”
“Why?”
Jake looked puzzled.
“How would I know?”
Ella enlarged the photograph again.
“My mother’s sister is talking to T’mari Th’ron.”
“Seems that way,” Jude said.
“And nobody told me.”
Joren glanced toward her.
“Told you what?”
“That she was there.”
“Did you ask her?”
Ella ignored him.
She scrolled through the rest of the collection.
Another photograph appeared.
Matt was talking to a young woman beside one of the tables.
Ella stopped again.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Jake looked up.
“What now?”
“Do you know who that is?”
“Which one?”
“The girl talking to Matt.”
“No.”
“That’s my half-sister’s stepdaughter.”
Jude examined the picture.
“All right.”
“All right?”
“What would you like me to say?”
“She’s talking to Matt!”
“Looks like it.”
Ella stared at the screen.
“She isn’t even a Marmaduke.”
Jake looked at her.
“Neither are quite a few people at a Marmaduke family supper.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m beginning to suspect I don’t.”
Ella pointed at the two photographs.
“My mother’s sister is standing there talking to T’mari. My half-sister’s stepdaughter is talking to Matt. And I find out from pictures on the internet.”
Joren looked at her.
“Your aunt presumably knew she was going.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“Then what is?”
“Those are my relatives!”
“Yes,” Jude answered.
“And they’re getting invited to spend time with the High Lord while I’m finding out afterward.”
Jake set down his beer.
“Ella, your aunt doesn’t stop being somebody’s relative just because you’re not standing next to her.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“And your half-sister’s stepdaughter doesn’t need to ask you before she talks to Matt.”
Ella’s face reddened.
“I’m a Boone Marmaduke descendant. A Littleton. A Hart. A Whetherall. A Chakrobarty. My family has been there for generations.”
“We know,” Jake answered.
“And these people are spending time with Matt and T’mari as though they know them.”
Jude looked at the photograph.
“Maybe they do.”
She stared at him.
“Do you have any idea how insulting that is?”
“To whom?” Joren asked.
“To me!”
The table fell quiet.
Jelk observed the exchange without interrupting.
Ella looked toward Jude.
“You know Matt.”
“Yes,” Jude answered.
“Have you ever heard him mention me?”
Jude paused.
“Ella, I’m not going to pretend I remember every person he’s ever discussed.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“And I’m not going to claim he doesn’t know you because I haven’t personally heard him mention your name.”
She looked frustrated.
“My mother’s sister is spending time with T’mari.”
“Yes.”
“And my half-sister’s stepdaughter is standing there talking to Matt.”
“Yes.”
“Neither of them thought to tell me.”
Jake looked at her.
“Maybe they didn’t think they needed to.”
Ella closed the pictures.
“Unbelievable.”
She picked up her beer and tablet.
“Apparently everybody else in my family gets invited to things, and I’m supposed to be happy looking at photographs afterward.”
Jake said nothing.
“Have a good fucking night.”
She headed toward the sleeping compartments.
Nobody spoke until she was out of sight.
Then Joren looked at Jake.
“What the hell was that?”
Jake considered the photographs.
“Family.”
Jude laughed once.
“That’s a pretty broad explanation.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
Jelk returned to his display.
“Her relatives were photographed attending a family gathering, and she’s angry because their attendance was not communicated to her?”
“Pretty much,” Joren answered.
Jelk looked puzzled.
“Is that a normal human expectation?”
“No,” Jake said.
“Good.”
10:48 PM
Jake finished his beer and stood.
“Come on, Squirrel.”
Jelk looked up.
“Where?”
“Bed.”
“I was finishing an article.”
“You can read tomorrow.”
“Your people keep telling me that.”
“Then perhaps one of these days you’ll listen.”
Jelk closed his tablet.
Jude checked his work assignment.
“Maintenance tomorrow.”
“Same here,” Jake said.
Joren gathered his notes.
“Try not to get another animal involved.”
Jake looked offended.
“We weren’t planning on one last time.”
“That was part of the problem.”
Jelk smiled.
“I thought it was a successful recovery.”
“Of course you did,” Joren answered.
Jake pointed toward the sleeping compartments.
“Bed, Squirrel.”
They went.
R’alen remained at his table.
He had been thinking about Mall’s apprenticeship.
She had found someone willing to teach her, take responsibility for her training, and welcome her into a household.
No inherited recognition had been required.
He thought about the highborn officer who had spent the evening becoming the subject of a public disciplinary notice.
And he thought about Kate.
She had listened to questions he had not expected to ask anyone.
Tomorrow he would see her again.
For now, that was enough.
