A Homecoming, Conflicting Goals, A Stalemate…
The message from Sean’s intelligence service was relayed to him mentally but was not unexpected. “Lord Johnson, my contact with the security group reports they will be docking in Trade City today and expect to be back in Amaurot in two days after docking,” The spies had been watching what had happened with the expedition. Sean was not happy about how much leadership had been given to the young man from Refugio but at this point he could not counter it. Lady Sarita seemed to be happy working with her foster father in the inventory of the storage containers. The woman from Port was working with it as well. He wished he had made more restrictions on what they were doing. It had been impossible to say no to the scholars from Refugio. Simon and the instructors from the university were clear. The founders of Utopia had erased the technical and scientific knowledge needed to read the reports from the GC explorers. As a result, far too much information about the planet was now available to the other groups. Higgins World belonged to the NeoUtopians. These others were guests and guests only because of necessity. Accepting necessity was often unavoidable, but it was a two-edged sword and an unpredictable weapon.
***
The leaders of the security force arrived in Amaurot late in the day and Captain Murphy made his report to the prince. Megal and Blackie considered the expedition a great success, but Murphy knew the prince would not be happy. In his mind, Higgins World belonged to the NeoUtopians, and the others should be subject to the Utopian Charter and traditions. While the new prince did agree to the changes that had been voted, he only agreed as a means to get rid of Prince Desmond and his wife.
“Lord Johnson, we managed to end some of the raids by breaking up the renegade camp. I have given your staff a list of all the Utopian residents we found in the camp,” Murphy said. “Because of the bandit from Refugio, we had people from there as well as some from Port. Those who were tired of trying to live in the wild agreed to move to Farm 35. Those who were not willing, we stranded on an island off the coast of the third land mass.”
“Whose idea was that?” Sean asked.
“Ser Morales. He says his family has always valued life, so they do not agree with executions, even for serious crimes.”
“Even this bandit that attacked his wedding?”
“He recognized the man. Seems he was a relative with a grudge against the current Overlord. We put him and some of his followers off with some tools and a bit of food. If they work hard, they will survive. If they don’t, they answer for their own deaths.”
“Brendon, we cede too much to these people. We own this planet. They need to follow what we demand.” Sean was angry.
“Sean, listen to me, we do not survive without them. There are not enough of us, and the number of births keeps falling. I have seen it in the families of my rangers. We need them, perhaps not on that third continent, perhaps we have them move here.”
“An interesting idea, Brendon, I will consider it.”
***
Megal and Blackie were joined by their wives for the first session with Prince Johnson on the morning after returning. Megal had been surprised at how Sarita’s pregnancy was now showing. The women of Refugio wore lose fitting robes and the coveralls of the Utopians were more formfitting. He had felt the baby move the night before and was still entranced by it. Blackie was amused.
“Do all of your people keep things so separate?”
“On the haciendas, it is more open. The women need to work in the fields and with the animals but in the city, yes, you don’t see women on the street, and I only saw a woman with child once that I remember.” Megal said.
“The midwives who examined Sarita were very pleased, but I overheard some of their concerns,” Julie said softly to the two men as they walked towards the meeting. “It seems they have a high number of failed pregnancies and infants who don’t live long after birth.”
“Almost wish we had that problem in Port,” Blackie said. “We’ve got too many littles!”
The staff showed them to the meeting room where the prince and Captain Murphy were waiting. “I had expected to see Master O’Malley,” Sean said. “Is he not joining us?”
“Lord Johnson, he has headed back to Southmost since there are some repairs and changes needed on the Dream, but he is going to Port with Joe Marine first,” Blackie said. What Blackie didn’t mention was the supplies for Port he carried. The Port team had traded for crossbows and bolts that would do more than frighten the large reptiles who came out of the swamp. They owed O’Malley dried fish and lessons on sailing in return. He and Captain O’Malley agreed the less said about that to the prince, the better.
“Reasonable, let us begin,” Sean said. Sean presented what the staff at the Assembly office had suggested. Much of what was available from Port was also grown or found in Utopia but not on a regular basis. There did not seem to be much that they had to offer that was valued by the Assembly. The people of Port and of Refugio needed many more things from Utopia than Utopia needed from them. The discussions broke for a quick lunch, but it was not going well for the petitioners.
***
One of the midwives joined the trade delegation as they began their midday meal. “I wanted to be sure you are getting enough greens, Lady Morales,” she said. “We have found that winter babies often have serious defects if the mother does not get enough dark greens during pregnancy.” Sarita rolled her eyes at Julie who had problems covering her laugh. Sarita was having issues with the titles everyone insisted on using. The woman sent by her foster mother knew her as Sarita and never used a title.
“I do understand. In the harems, I have seen small gardens in glass boxes where they grow strong greens for the pregnant women in the off season,” Sarita said. “In one of the Terran medical books, my mother read about certain elements that are essential to prevent defects. Perhaps that could be a thing we trade, information from Terra.” The woman agreed there might be information they could use, then smiled at what Sarita was eating and left.
“We can raise that this afternoon,” Julie said. “Information is something that Refugio has more of, but I was told much of the electronic equipment is failing.”
“Unfortunately, that is true,” Megal said, “but the memory banks where the archive is stored were built differently than things like our note tables and other small devices. The library archive was expected to last for hundreds of years but it does need power to operate.”
“I wonder if there is an answer to the high rate of miscarriages and stillbirths in that information from Terra,” Julie said. “I know Utopia tries to keep track of the genetic closeness, but have you noticed how most of the people here look a lot alike?”
“Refugio is much the same, Julie,” Megal said. “I have been surprised by the differences I see in the men from Port. I had read that the humans on Terra come in many different colors and body shapes. The transport crew must have been more mixed than either of the settlements. That may be part of the problem with Utopia’s birth rate but there again, more information from Terra will help.” The group took their empty dishes to the washing station and returned to the administrative building to resume the talks.
***
The trade negotiations were at a standstill. The few things Port and Refugio had to offer were considered inadequate by those the prince had consulted. The Utopians were willing to accept families moving to Utopia but not moving to the third land mass. Several families had agreed to take the excess population from Port. The immigrants would be expected to agree to the Charter of Utopia and would be considered full citizens once they had lived successfully through three rotations, which is 15 years. Blackie and Julie knew that would never be acceptable to the Grounders.
“This planet belongs to the NeoUtopian Society,” Sean was adamant. “We have been generous over the years but there are limits. The only true excess you have is people. We don’t need crab glass because we can make true window glass. The sea silk cloth is beautiful, but you do not produce enough of it for it to be useful. We will accept migrants under these circumstances, but only on our terms.”
“This is a major change in your position, Lord Johnson,” Tony said. “So, the assistance of the scholars and the security forces is of no value to you?”
“I did not say that Ser Pesch. I have been informed by my staff of trades made by the security leaders without permission. Weapons have been taken but I have ordered them seized when the ship docks in Southmost. This was done outside these discussions and should not have been allowed.”
“You did not object to trades done in Trade City with Refugio or those done by Refugio with Port, why now?” Tony said.
“This is different from regular trade, Ser Pesch.” Sean snapped.
Tony had his suspicions as to what was happening among the Assembly members. Traban had messaged him that some of the Utopian lords were upset with the changes to the Charter and putting pressure on the prince to overturn the recent election. Traban found it strange because only three families, and they were not the largest families, were known to fight any change to the original plans for Higgins World. However, Tony had heard from some Utopian friends that even children of those conservative families wanted change.
“Lord Johnson, you asked for the help of Refugio to understand what was found in the storage containers. You also welcomed the help of the Port sailors with advanced sailing skills as well as those who were willing to fight for your cause,” Megal said. “Is our cooperation of such little value then?”
“We have been made aware of medical problems among your people,” Julie said. “Sera Morales said her mother, a former teacher at the Utopian medical school, has found information in the Refugio archive that may be of help. Is this kind of sharing not of value, not worth trade for necessary food?”
Sean looked for supporting arguments from Tyrone Rowen, one of his assistants, but in vain. The man shook his head no. He had heard the mention of medical knowledge. Sean knew he and his wife had recently lost another newborn. He would get no support from him if there was help for that.
“Lord Johnson, having grown up in Utopia, I know you cannot make these decisions alone. Has the Assembly or the Tranibors voted on this matter?” Sarita said.
Sean leaned back in his chair. “I have consulted with several lords, but it has not been brought before the Assembly. It is a rotation year and as you well know, everyone is very busy.” Again, the problems of the location rotation interfered.
“I insist it is brought up for a vote before the whole Assembly,” Sarita said. “We will prepare a trade offer to counter what you have said is your trade offer. Let the Assembly decide which they will support.”
“I agree with my wife, Lord Johnson. In Refugio, a matter of this seriousness would be voted on by the Council of Houses. In fact, whatever we decide will be presented to the Council when we return.” Megal said. Sean could not object to what Sarita had said without news of it getting out. Simon had trained this woman well and fate had paired her with a like-minded mate.
“I believe we can have a trade statement ready by midday tomorrow,” Blackie said glancing at the others for support.
“Lord Johnson, I believe this to be a reasonable offer,” The assistant who had remained silent before finally spoke up. Sean reluctantly agreed and the trade group left.
***
Sean glared at his assistant. “Why did you not speak up as we had planned?”
“Sean, this is a major change from what they expected and what may be needed. Who have you been talking to?”
“That is not the issue. I expected your support.”
“If they have medical help, Sean, what if they have something that will help us with the babies. I’ve lost three now. Your daughter has lost two,” The man’s eyes were full of tears. “How long can our settlement survive if we keep losing our children?”
“But will we still honor our founding principles if we continue on this wave of changes? What about that Tyrone?”
“Sean, must we continue the misunderstanding of the original society founders? You have read the entire book. You know how ridiculous it would be to try and run a country that way.” Tyrone said. “As Lord Kearney pointed out, they had a mainland to trade with. We are stranded on a primitive planet with no industry, no off-planet trade, barely surviving.”
“There has got to be a way to honor what they wanted,” Sean said. “To own all in common, to share everything, no one is poor, no one is…” Sean paused. “It isn’t that way is it, Tyrone?”
“Your lordship, is there anything else you need today? I will withdraw from your presence with your permission.” The man stood and bowed with elaborate hand gestures. The kind of deference he knew Sean hated.
Sean looked at him and rolled his eyes. “Point made Tyrone. Let’s write up what I said to them and send out an announcement calling an emergency Assembly meeting. I know before we present it, we’ll probably be days getting it decided.”
“I would not count on that, Sean. The council chamber is awful this time of year.”
***
“What in the world caused that?” Megal said as they walked back to the hostel. “Suddenly we’re guests overstaying our visit or unwelcome relatives.”
“He is getting pressure from the traditionalists,” Tony said. “Traban messaged me that he had heard rumors about the attack. Seems Sean’s wife is from one of the families who want to go back to no machines.”
“So, his wife’s relatives are objecting?”
“Yes, but there has to be something else. Simon said that Sean took the prince’s position reluctantly. He really didn’t want the power, just wanted to ensure the settlement kept running the way it had. The election caused major changes, many they did not expect.”
“That may be true,” Sarita said, “but from the conversations in the workroom, the younger people love it. They are pushing for an end to the rotation system. Papa Kearney promoted reading the original book and the young people are ready for change. If Utopia had off planet trade, the Charter plan might work, but not the way it is.”
“I can see how anyone who wants to keep things from changing might be upset,” Megal said. “I didn’t understand that was his position when we first began discussing the need for trade with him.”
“None of us did, Megal, none of us did,” Tony said.
The group walked to the hostel and Julie asked if there was a small room they could use for private discussions. The staff finally let them use a suite saved for large families. At least it was larger than any of their sleeping rooms and they could close the door. They rearranged the furniture and settled down to write what they needed. They put the request for the third land mass as the first item. Basic survival supplies would be needed until they got the settlement established. Trade would be negotiated when they realized what was available. As Blackie had predicted it did not take a long time.
“We want this to be simple and easy to understand,” Sarita said. The trade offering listed crab glass, dried fish, dried tree nut meat, sea silk, cured fish skin and fish skin lined baskets from Port. Refugio offered wool cloth, processed meat, sealing tar, mineral sulfur, quick lime, and information from their digital library. In return, both wanted bread meal, root vegetables, hard cheese, and dried meat.
“We need to have a provision that when the new settlement is fully established, a new agreement will be negotiated based on what we have to trade from that land,” Megal said. Tony agreed that this needed to be included.
“We really don’t know what we will need until we get there and see how dense those forests are and how useful that wood will be,” Julie said. “We were able to cut enough trees to rig a new mast for my ship, but the woods are thick with young trees. The maps show it to be a wide, flat plain. I hope it still is.”
“The first settlers will need support for at least a year. It will take that long to get land cleared and crops grown,” Megal said. “I helped expand the growing fields on my grandfather’s hacienda and there is no return for at least a full round of seasons.”
The text was passed around, and a few minor changes made. Sarita offered to get it put on paper and delivered to the prince’s office.
“I for one am going to find a bath house and soak in some warm water for a while. I still am cold from the trip through the channel,” Blackie announced. “Want to join me, Megal?” Tony asked to join them, and the women voted for naps. Tomorrow, they would get the proposal presented. There was nothing that could be done until the Assembly met.
| ← Chapter 12 | Chapter 24 → |
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