Home in Refugio…
In the early morning, they approached the narrow passage into the caldera that formed the harbor of Ciudad Centro. The hot springs among the rocks built mineral formations that had to be cleared to keep the passage open. It meant the ships did not try to sail into the main harbor. It was just too dangerous. The small ship arrived at the dock using its electric motor. They were met with aircars and pull carts to carry them to the Residency. Megal could see his father watching from the harem look-out and waved.
Marta invited them to the patio for refreshments after everyone was taken to their rooms and settled. Megal had sent word about Don and Mona’s special diets but reminded her. Marta’s reply had assured him that the Residency kitchen was well equipped to provide a full vegan diet for these special guests. It seemed some residents with psy animal sensitivity followed this practice.
“Sarita, here, we have a chair for you,” one of the older women pushed a well-padded chair up to the edge of the shaded area. “Those of us who have had children know how much a firm chair is appreciated.” Sarita was sure she could still get up and down from the floor cushions but her psy empathy showed how sincere and well-meaning this woman was. Her feelings would be hurt if Sarita did not use the chair.
“Tia Anna, thank you,” Megal said as he led Sarita to the chair. Sarita rolled her eyes at him as she sat down. She mentally messaged him that it was like a throne. He replied that the family considered her as the new matriarch because of the baby. Something to survive, she replied.
“Francos will join us in a few minutes. There was trouble this past week and he is getting the report from the House of Justice,” Marta said. “He almost told them to give the report to Serept, but Serept said Ser Path needed to speak directly to Fran.”
“Ser Path has not changed a bit,” Megal said. “Abuelo Carlos always said he has a high opinion of himself.”
“Megal, even among family, that is not nice,” Marta said.
“Perdón, Sera Mama,” Megal grinned as he bowed to his stepmother, “but it is true.”
“And you have not changed much either,” Marta said. “We are so glad you are home safely.” She gave him a hug and a friendly swat.
As they enjoyed cool drinks and fresh fruit, Marta talked about the large number of runaways who had camped in the park and the solution Francos had made. Some of the more sensitive members of the crew had faintly heard the cry for help. His extreme ability to broadcast to everyone was amazing but exhausting. She explained how they were recovering what was the legal practice on Terra and trying to adapt some of those customs or rules.
“We are seeing some similar changes in Utopia,” Mona said. “Many of the original settlers were not members of the NeoUtopians and have spoken to family about how different it was on Terra.”
“In Utopia, they have been sorting a container of documents and found the book the NeoUtopians used as the basis for their charter of the settlement,” Sarita said. “They had only a few pages of information about how More described the government of the island. If you read his full book, it is obvious that he never intended it to be a guide to a government.”
“Ser Roblies used Lord Kearney’s translation of the book in our government class rather than the one translated to old Spanish. It was clear that from a governmental perspective, it would not work,” Megal said. “Unfortunately, some of the older Utopians are determined to keep the original rules.”
“Change, especially as radical as these changes will be, is very upsetting,” Don said. “Even though most of us can see how necessary it is, accepting the changes will be difficult.”
***
Ser Simeo Path explained to the Overlord how the regulations for the space station could be modified for Refugio. “I am amazed that this was not done when they first settled, Ser Morales. I took the liberty of asking some of the eldest of the families but was told only that it was needed.”
“We have a House Council meeting coming up and if some of my oldest uncles come, we can perhaps get a story session going. Asking them direct questions will get you only short, useless answers. I have found that if I get them swapping stories, I can get a lot of information.”
“That has been my experience also, but I am not as fortunate as you with elders,” Ser Path said. “Those who were hired to capture the man from Family Malfe have been sent to work the mines for several months. The head of security assured me that they were well known to him and his crew,” Path said. “Malfe is paying another fine for this, but I warn you, he is not satisfied. Please be constantly aware, Francos. The evil his son practiced seems to have poisoned the whole family. I have kept you too long. I understand Megal and his wife have arrived.”
“Yes, and we will have the ceremony to declare Megal as First Successor before the Council meeting. We have joy. Sera Sarita is with child,” Francos said.
“Congratulations, and now it will be either an Overlady or an Overlord,” Path chuckled as he left.
***
Francos stopped at the entrance to the harem patio and looked with pride. The family and its guests were gathered under the sunshades. Marta noticed him and moved to bring his favorite chair to the center of the group. He called to her to leave it out in the sun on the edge of the group so he could see everyone. Megal jumped up to embrace his father commenting on how much healthier he looked than when they left.
“I understand you have been practicing military tactics. I didn’t think you would need those while negotiating trade,” Francos teased him.
“You never know with these Utopian’s, Papi. They are tough negotiators.”
“But not so tough that you didn’t make agreements to our advantage?”
“And I didn’t have to start a battle to do it, thanks to the rest of the group,” Megal then introduced his father to Don and Mona. Francos was interested in news of Utopia and questioned them about the changes being made.
“Ser Tony Pesch told me that there is a movement to stop the rotation of families. Has there been any progress on that?”
“It was one of the requests that got considerable attention and a high vote count in the first request for ideas,” Don said. “It is one of many changes that have been put off until the first four settle. It is unfortunate because the idea is very popular with the younger people.”
“Prince Sean seems to favor the more traditional lords and has asked for patience,” Mona said. “The prince said he wants to see how this rotation and the clearing of farms works. He was concerned that supplies were not being evenly assigned. The idea that you can keep things you make has been a problem.”
“Captain O’Malley heard rumors that our co-ownership of the Dream was very concerning to Prince Sean,” Julie said.
“The very idea that the O’Malley family could have full control of the ship rather than it be the property of the community really upset him was what we were told,” Blackie added. “He wanted the credits and control of all the trade that larger ship can handle.”
“I can understand that,” Francos said. “Having the credits come directly to the government rather than having to collect assessments from the Houses would be nice.”
“Papi, when we first discussed the trade with the prince, we talked about setting values and a measuring system,” Megal said. “I hope we can discuss that with some of the scholars. I know there were systems on Terra but all we’ve done here is barter. I believe we need to have something consistent if we are going to trade among the settlements.”
“That is going to be a serious problem, Megal,” Blackie said. “Dried fish is one of our main foods, but after tasting the fish dried here over fires, I understand the demand for our sun dried. How to decide what is a fair trade is important.”
“That is just one of the problems the new prince is facing,” Don said. “For years, everything was supposed to be according to your needs and equal. It was easy to manage when we didn’t have a surplus. Now, we have a surplus and we have citizens who take more than they need.”
“As well as some who don’t help and still expect to be supported,” Mona added.
“That would seem to be an argument for stopping the rotation,” Sarita said. “If the family stays in one place, no one can use the excuse that they have not figured out how to do the job of that farm. Papa Kearney has been strict about that with our family. There were several slackers when he took over as family head.”
“I don’t think Sean Johnson had any idea how bad things had gotten until he took over as prince,” Don said. “All he wanted was to protect the Charter from the Bartmore family and he ended up with more problems than he imagined.”
The setting sun brought the visit to a close. Megal and Sarita showed their guests the way to the Residency common dining room. “If you wish, you can have a tray brought to your room, but you have to let the kitchen know in advance. We just come here most of the time,” Sarita said. “Here you get to see the families of the staff and hear all the news of the city. It is a lot like Utopia. Everybody loves to gossip.”
***
Blackie and Julie left early in the morning. Their small coastal ship was needed in Port. The land shakes and volcano eruptions were causing serious problems. They were needed to rescue some of the more adventurous people from the outer islands. There was the possibility they might have to evacuate everyone, but the couple hoped not.
***
The O’Cauley’s had been invited to stay with Poh Juan and his wife so they could work on how they would train first night guides. The Poh was excited about a possible way to eliminate any physical damage from psy manifestations.
“Lord O’Cauley, if we can stop the damage done to both the woman and the man, it will be such an improvement for our society,” Juan said. “The damage to males is not commonly discussed, but it does happen, especially when the psy power is strong or the woman is stronger than the man.”
“Please, call me Don. We have far too much formality in Utopia, so I find the casual address here much nicer. May I call you Juan?” The Poh laughed and agreed that he too found the formality of titles caused a barrier among people.
“I am surprised at the mention of men being damaged. The idea that the man can be damaged was never brought up in the research we did,” Don said.
“No, it would not be,” Sofia Garza, the Poh’s wife spoke softly. “You must understand that such a weakness was considered shameful and not discussed. Those men were often sent to live on the haciendas never to be seen again. “
“Another wasteful practice,” Mona said. “It is really a wonder your society has managed to grow as much as it has.”
“We had more people survive in the beginning,” Juan said. “The illnesses were not as fatal for our people as for those in Utopia. I have been told it was due to how they were not as well protected as ours. The close quarters on a space station require more vaccinations and precautions.”
“That also explains how the virus that we think causes the psy powers affects some families more than others. The people of Port took a lot longer to manifest psy powers than either Utopia or your people here.” Mona said. “We don’t have the equipment like they do on Terra, but the medical school has speculated on what causes it.”
“A virus? That negates the push from some of the traditionalists that anyone with psy powers should be banished or destroyed. They lost out early on because so many men had powers and they were adults when it happened,” Juan said. “We have at least two remote haciendas where two families have tried to keep what they call genetic meddling out of their blood line. They have had to make contact with the rest of us or become inbred. I don’t think the isolation will last past this current generation. They need to be part of the community.”
“We have arranged for a reception with scholars from the gymnasium to introduce you and explain what we all hope to accomplish,” Sofia said. “In the meantime, please let us know what we can do to make your visit more successful.” She showed the O’Cauley’s around the family wing of the house and introduced them to the family at last meal. With the many children, dinner was a noisy and enjoyable end to the day.
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