A Relationship Grows…
Megal and Sarita went for a walk after last meal. Amaurot was filled with paths and small plantings of Terran flowers as well as native plants. The midwives had encouraged Sarita to continue her physical exercise, especially walking. It was also a way to introduce her husband to a city she knew well.
“It bothered you to have those men defer to you,” Sarita said. “I could tell from the tone of your thoughts when we talked.”
“It did, and even though I knew I could do what they expected, it was unsettling.”
“Abuelo Carlos trained you in running the hacienda and it should transfer easily. Your father expects you to take over.”
“Running the hacienda is different. On the expedition, people’s lives were at stake. It is that way on the farm, but it is not so obvious. There was so much death, Sarita, far too much death.”
“The people of Utopia claim to value human life very highly, but they don’t practice that. They don’t execute criminals, but they do drive them out. I think they were really surprised when you found all those people living in the forest.”
“That’s true, but Captain Murphy wanted to kill El Canalla,” Megal said. “When the rest of the leaders objected, he agreed to leave them on the remote island. He said that if they died, it was their own choice. I don’t think that shows that Utopia respects life.”
“One of the things I have discovered from reading old transcripts of meetings is the Temple of Life where the infants are accepted has more to do with gene diversity than with life,” Sarita said. “The leaders were aware they lost far too many young people after landing and the manifestations began.”
“From what you and Julie have discovered, it’s more of a problem now.”
“Yes, all the more reason for getting trade and mixing going. We need a variety of people from the Port, or we don’t survive. Isolating each group may have made sense politically, but genetically, it has been a disaster.” Sarita said.
“On a happier note, what names do you want to consider for our little one?” Megal asked.
“I heard a name from old Spanish that is so lovely. If we have a girl, I like Esperanza, because she is a symbol of hope. I think a boy should be Philipe Francos. What do you think?”
“Those are wonderful, but I would add Rita and Marianne to Esperanza.”
“That’s a long name!”
“But she won’t use her whole name and no one else will except when the Poh christens her,” Megal objected.
“She will practice how to write just by writing her name,” Sarita laughed. As they returned to the hostel in the twilight, they lingered to watch the darkening sky begin to sparkle as some of the debris field was caught and drawn toward to the surface. The evening and dawn were when the debris field caught the light of their star and filled the twilight and the dawn with sparkles.
“There is a legend that Captain Higgins wanted to call this planet Sparkle because of the field.” Sarita said softly. “They named the planet after her because she was killed on the next planet they explored.”
“I have never heard that story, but it there is nothing wrong with sharing the story to our children when they discover our brilliant sky.”
***
“Not you too,” Sean snapped at his office assistants. “My wife and my daughter showed up at first meal wearing long fancy wraps and now I come into my office and all of you are wearing tabards with thread work and painting on them. What is wrong with our traditional coveralls and commitment to equality?”
“Lord Johnson, it is an expression of our creativity,” Naomi said. “I know that our founders wanted everyone to be equal but why squelch our ability to make something pretty?”
“The reason is that no one is to be better than anyone else,” Sean said a bit louder than necessary. The entire staff reacted. He glanced around the room, took a deep breath, and walked into his office, closing the door gently behind himself.
“Naomi, should we take them off?” one frightened young man asked.
“No, change is coming, and the prince can’t stop it.”
***
The group of Rangers requested a meeting with the prince. He asked Tyrone to get some information from Captain Murphy about them. Their leader was a woman who had led the observation group for the renegades. Sean realized he needed to understand why their numbers were not reported to Amaurot.
“I agreed to meeting with you because we were unaware of the number of people in that camp. Why was it not reported?” The woman seemed shocked.
“Your highness, we always reported it to our contact here in Amaurot. Captain Murphy said the fewer minds in the transfer the better, so we always contacted one far speaker with the comings and goings of the people.”
“And the name of that contact?”
“The only name I had was Fergus,” one of the other Rangers spoke up. “I am the far speaker, and it was not a mind I had touched before. He was strong but he never contacted me. My incoming contact was in our command.”
“And you always gave the number of people and what they were doing?”
“Yes, your highness, that was all we were to report.” Sean only knew of one adult Fergus in Amaurot, an older member of the Bartmore family. He messaged Brendon Murphy to come to his office. This was another of those muddles Desmond O’Brian had left undocumented.
“So, you have answered my questions, what do you want?” Sean said.
“Your highness, the rumor is you are trying to determine which family will get assigned to which farm location and we have a suggestion,” the officer in charge of the group said. Sean was resigned to how fast the news of the possible change had spread.
“And that is?” Sean said.
“My Lord, understand that many of the Rangers are from the three society families,” a young man spoke up. “We grew up with the insistence that we remove all the technology from each farm we moved to even if we didn’t like the idea. That is why being a Ranger is easier for us. We think those families should be assigned to the newest farms on the east coast.”
“They can handle the conditions out there better than some of the others, my Lord,” the far speaker added.
“So, Murphy, Ludden, and Muldoon?” Sean suggested. “Not all of those families’ members are as traditional as the heads. Would you agree that some may want to stay with civilization?” His comment brought a snicker from the young Rangers.
“That offer can be made my Lord, but if I know my family, about half will agree and the others will find some other family to connect with,” she said. The group suddenly snapped to attention as their commander entered the office.
“Give this information to Naomi and I will have her add it to the list. I appreciate your work on this last expedition, and I thank you for being willing to come to me.” Captain Murphy released the Rangers and they left to work with Naomi and the information about their families.
“What was that all about, Sean?” Murphy said.
“Seems they want to banish their families to the northeast woods,” Sean said. “Who set up the system that sent all the information about the renegade camp to Fergus Bartmore?”
“Desmond requested that after Bertram was banished. Fergus was the brother who took over the estate and wanted to know if he was coming back. Fergus has been dead for at least two years, so I suspect Sheila has been getting the information and just not passing it on. I got reports on what they were doing but didn’t think the numbers were significant until that Regal bandit showed up.”
“Were you aware of how many people were there, especially families who had followed the renegades?”
“Didn’t matter to me,” Murphy said. “They chose to go with the condemned, so they were accepting the same fate. To keep to the Charter, all must conform. That was our goal in getting rid of Desmond and his wife, wasn’t it? Protecting the Charter?”
“Not if it means we lose hundreds of working citizens, Brendon, not if it means our numbers drop as they have.” Sean said.
“You need to think about these changes you are allowing, Sean,” Brendon said. “There is serious talk of replacing you. Many of the Assembly members do not agree with what you are suggesting. You replaced Desmond. You can be replaced just as easily.”
“Must we continue this misunderstanding of what More wrote, Brendon?” The Ranger Captain only shook his head and walked out of the office.
***
“Sean, one of the objects we found in the last of the storage containers may be a sending device of some sort,” Simon brought his weekly report to the prince. “We have found quite a few pieces of electronic equipment and parts. Some of the staff who have helped us identify it are sure they can repair some of the equipment for your office.”
“Simon, I would rather they take it over to Lord Alda and the staff at the medical college. I have been reading those stories about Terra and what can be done medically there. It has changed my mind about the idea of being totally machine free.”
“I have heard rumors of you changing your mind.” Simon had not wanted to ask directly. Sean was touchy sometimes.
“This idea of stopping the rotation of families is going to be more complex than anyone anticipated. It has to be done fairly but not everybody gets to live in Trade City or raising those nut trees that you only have to work once a year. I have at least four families who want that farm. Some of these groups are not going to be happy.”
“Sean, why not let the individuals decide? I have several of my people who want badly to go back to work with the milkers and the cheese and some others who find the sewing very satisfying.”
“That is an idea I had not considered, Simon, and one I will think about even though it will be more complicated than the families. I still need to find who is the best person to be in charge of each one. We have the Master Shipbuilder, a Master Glass Maker, and the Master Smith. We really need a head for each skill, and if we don’t have a family head, who will we use?”
“Actually, some of these family heads would rather stay here in Amaurot in their town home,” Simon snorted in disgust. “Some of them never venture out to the farm except when forced.”
“I have noticed that, and I have to admit, my family is guilty. My brothers handle most of the work on the farm. That was a fact that helped me understand why we needed to change. The rotation we set up does not work any better than More’s would have.”
“You said you have been approached with requests for certain farms?”
“That is really not much help,” Sean shook his head. “A group of Rangers, all from the traditionalist families, requested I send three families to the east coast and the new sites. They said they were most ready to work in that technology free environment and deserved it.”
“Has it been that bad for their young people?”
“Apparently it has been because quite a few of Murphy’s younger Rangers were in those families. They are planning on moving to the new land if things don’t change.”
| ← Chapter 25 | Chapter 27 → |
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Book One
Book Two
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