by Robin Roseau
“I’ll learn wherever I can.”
“Initial lessons will be informal,” I said. “Repeat after me.” Then I said two sentences, a few words at a time, coaching her as she said them.
“Did I just promise you my firstborn child or something?”
“No. You told me to get out of your bed so you could go to sleep.”
She laughed. “Good night, Maddalyn.”
I climbed from the bed then said the phrase in Talmonese. I coached her as she said it, and then I slipped away.
A minute later, I stood beside the bed the sisters were sharing. “One of you move over and invite me for a few minutes.”
Surprisingly, they didn’t give me a hard time until I was under the covers with them. “Bed hopper,” Tranquility said. “What’s up?”
I relayed the previous conversations and said, “We need both of you. I’d like to know your initial impressions.”
“Everyone is very friendly,” Serenity said. “It’s very different. There are things we would miss.”
“Dancers as good as you are.”
“Yes,” Tranquility said. “But you’ve already half bribed us with our own club. I think that would be pretty amazing.”
“We probably can’t pay you what you make on Tarriton,” I added. “You would get paid partly in Imperial Credits but the rest would be local currency, and there is little opportunity to exchange it. But I’m convinced we can come to an arrangement.” I paused. “We only have sixteen rejuvenation pods.”
“For the entire planet?” Serenity squeaked. “You have sixteen for the entire planet?”
“You don’t need us,” Tranquility said. “You need equipment.”
“We need both,” I said.
“Look. You want us to learn Talmonese, and you want us to cooperate while you try to convince us to stay.”
“Right.”
“Sure,” Tranquility said. “But no promises.”
“We’re making promises, Tranquility,” Serenity said. “We’ll treat them honestly.”
“All right. Yes, of course. We’ll be honest.”
“Good.” I slipped from the bed and then taught them both good night. “Real lessons begin in the morning.”
* * * *
Kalorain was no longer in bed when I returned to the bedroom. Instead, she stood near the foot of the bed, and she had coils of rope waiting. I came to a stop then slowly closed the door. “Undress,” she said. “Slowly.”
“Are you upset?”
“No, but I am feeling very possessive. Don’t make me tell you twice.”
Ten minutes later, she had me completely bound on the bed. It took her very little time after that to have me panting. She took me. She took me quite thoroughly until my entire body shuddered in pleasure. I entirely lost my mind, and it was several minutes before I came back to awareness. Somehow Kalorain had retied my hands while I was zoned out, and I was cradled in her arms, lying on my side.
“I love you,” I told her. “I love when you do that to me.”
She kissed my forehead. She didn’t say anything right away, and it was several minutes before she began talking softly. “I was feeling possessive.” She had said that, and I thought there was more. “It’s not your friends, but it was a reminder that you had a life before you came here.”
“You had a life, too.”
“I think we can agree yours was somewhat more daring than mine. You’ve done things I can’t even understand.”
I looked up at her and kissed her cheek. “May I say something?” She nodded. “I am your Galatzi wife. I intend to remain yours for as long as you’ll have me. I couldn’t possibly be happier, Kalorain.”
“You miss your friends.”
“If my friends stay, that would be great,” I said. “But only if you feel the same way. We really need them, or that’s how I see it. It’s Mama that matters to me. Regardless, I am and remain your Galatzi wife.”
My wife caressed my cheek then pushed me onto my back. She shifted, looming over me, and kissed me. She kissed me deeply. Then she threw a leg over me, facing away. She moved up and offered herself to me. I lifted my head and began to taste.
* * * *
“Someone got some last night,” Tranquility proclaimed, the moment she saw me.
“She sure did,” I replied with a smile. “There are so many reasons I am deeply devoted to my wife.”
Tranquility smiled. “It’s good to see you this way, Maddalyn. What’s the plan today?”
“Breakfast,” Kalorain declared. “Your language lessons begin. Then we will give you a tour, first of the embassy, where you can exchange your coins. Then we thought we’d take you to the rejuvenation center.”
“By carriage?”
“We can take a ground vehicle or jumper,” Kalorain said. “The governor wishes to join us and may have a preference.”
“I thought you used carriages here,” Tranquility said.
“The rejuvenation center is twenty kilometers via a rough road that is currently wet and muddy from spring,” Kalorain explained. “The carriages you’ve seen so far are for use in town.”
Tranquility turned to look at me. I smiled. “You don’t understand what she just said.”
“No.”
“Did I misspeak?” Kalorain said. “I thought my English was quite good.”
“It is,” I said. “Tranquility has never seen a dirt road.”
“The roads on Tarriton are cobbled?”
“No,” I said. “First, there are no wheeled vehicles. Everything is like our ground vehicles. But the road is paved. It is like very, very smooth stone with no seams.”
“No seams? I don’t understand.”
“I know,” I said. “In a way, it is like your coins. You begin with hot sap, but when it is cooled, it becomes hard and remains that way.”
“The roads are made from sap?”
“No, but the process is similar. The roads are poured, as if you had large wagons filled with sap. Then they are rolled smooth for kilometer after kilometer.”
Kalorain jaw dropped, and she stared at me. Finally she closed her mouth but then said, “Oh. Our roads are not like that.”
I turned to Tranquility. “When leaving the towns, they may use wagons, but mounted or by ship is most common. However, people don’t tend to travel the way you’re accustomed. What we do is use ground vehicles for short distances or jumpers for longer, but if you want a mounted trip sometime, we can do that. Just maybe not today.”
She nodded and turned to Serenity. “Is that more like what you were expecting?”
“I think it is,” she said. “But other than coming here, when is the last time we left Artemia? I think it was three years ago.”
“I went to that conference,” Tranquility said.
“And you flew,” Serenity said.
“I suppose you’re right.” She turned to Kalorain. “Am I dressed appropriately?”
“You look, as Maddalyn likes to say, quite dashing,” my wife replied. “We leave in five minutes.”
* * * *
We took them to my favorite place for breakfast, only a five-minute walk. As soon as we stepped inside, everyone noticed us. The owner, Yalenarn, hurried over to us, smiling broadly. “Welcome, welcome,” she said in English, surprising me, although she exhausted her English to do so. She gave Kalorain and me cheek kisses and then waited for introductions. Everyone else got their own cheek kisses, and then she pulled us from table to table, introducing us everywhere. By the time we’d spent a little time with the patrons, there was a table waiting for us.
We got settled, and then Kalorain told Yalenarn, “We will have the family breakfast.” The woman nodded and scurried off, and then Kalorain said in English, “Language lessons begin now. Neither Maddalyn nor I will speak any English or German until we have stepped from the inn.” She waited for me to translate that for Mother. Then she held her hand to her chest. “My name is Kalorain.”
We taught them that, and the
n she said, “Maddalyn is my Galatzi wife,” acting it out slightly.
I turned it into, “Kalorain is my wife,” and then said, “Pippa is my friend. Felda is my mother.”
The food came. We didn’t let them eat anything until they learned to say it in Talmonese. Nor did we let them eat until they could properly say the names of the plates and utensils. I worried they would become impatient, but all four of them put real effort into learning.
Over the meal, Kalorain and I spoke very careful Talmonese using simple sentences and lots of gestures. This was much like how she had treated me during the early months of our marriage, and I was reminded of something.
“I love you so much,” I told her.
We kept that up for the entire meal, and then Kalorain set her pouch out and made each of them learn the money, in Talmonese this time, and each of them counted out the amount of the bill.
“Good,” she said. Then we stood, and my wife led us from the restaurant, bidding a good day to people as we left.
Out on the street, she said in English, “I imagine that was as much as you’re ready for at once. We will give your heads a break.”
* * * *
Mordain was waiting with the embassy landau. Once we were settled and moving, she looked over her shoulder at us and spoke in Talmonese. “Hazelvarn has asked to join us today.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Tentatively ‘yes’.”
“Everyone is welcome,” I said. “Subject to transportation.”
It turned out that we would have more than I expected. When we reached the embassy, we found Valtine, Baardorid, and Margotain were waiting along with Cecilia, Sartine, Hazelvarn, and Luradinine. “Did you know about this?” I asked Mordain quietly.
“No. Is this too many?”
“Not at all.”
Cecilia took over. She provided a tour of the embassy buildings, which didn’t take all that long, and then we exchanged credits for Talmonese coins. All four of our guests went through the coins we gave them, comparing the images. They actually spent some time on it, arranging coins based upon whose image appeared. The rest of us stood by, some wearing amused expressions.
“Here is Sartine,” Mother said. That sounds nearly the same in both English and German. She held it up. “Indartha Vendart.”
“Yes,” Sartine said.
Mother pored through her coins. “No Cecilia.” That was in English. Sartine smiled at that then pulled out her own pouch. She poured it out over the table and sorted through until she found several coins with the governor, then traded with those who wished to trade.
“I have some with Margotain,” Pippa announced. “And this is my Valtine pile. Who is this?”
I glanced. “Chaladine,” I said. “The Vendart’s eldest daughter.”
“The one that went to Centos Four.”
“Right.”
They had fun with their money before collecting it and putting it away. They actually had too much for a pouch, and we’d given them small strongboxes to use, but they had pouches as well, and we helped them count out what they might use for an average day.
Then Tranquility said, “Governor, did you know of Maddalyn’s plans to convince all of us to immigrate to Talmon?”
“Do you think she offered to pay for your trip without asking me?”
“I suppose not,” Tranquility replied. “If I stay, I want to know what it takes to have my picture on a coin.”
“Normally, you would marry into the home of a vendart,” Cecilia said.
“I’d give up my place on the one dollar coins,” Margotain said immediately. “I can move up to the five dollar coins now that Rordano is on the tens.”
I translated for Mother, who asked, “Every village makes their own money?”
“Not every village,” Cecilia explained. “About a third of them.”
“So Tranquility could be on coins from Sudden, but Maddalyn could be on coins from Indartha,” Mother suggested.
“Oh, hey,” I said. “Keep me out of this. I think it’s time to head to the rejuvenation center.”
“Maddalyn,” Cecilia said in Talmonese. “Look at your friends. Look closely.” I did, and they were all closely examining the money, absolutely fascinated by it. Mother was watching me and occasionally glancing at Cecilia and Sartine. “This is a negotiation point. Your mother wasn’t asking idly. Neither was your friend.”
“You’re seriously suggesting something,” I said.
“I am,” she agreed. “And now I’m going to suggest it in a language more people know. Do you intend to stop me?”
“No, Governor.”
“Good.” She switched to German. “Felda, everything is possible.”
“My daughter disagrees.”
“Your daughter would agree to nearly anything if it means you move here permanently.”
Mother turned to look at me for a moment then nodded. “I think you’re right.” She looked back at Cecilia. “She could be on money.”
“She could. We’d have to discuss it. It might not be Sudden.”
“I want Kalorain back on the money at Beacon Hill,” I said. Then I repeated it in Talmonese.
Luradinine turned to look at me. “Do you?”
“Yes, but not enough to play politics to make it happen.”
“Sudden Vendart, Kalorain was a Galatzi trade to you. What do you say about this?”
“I believe the necessity of Galatzi trades is going to fade,” Baardorid said. “The tradition will live. Beacon Hill Vendart, at this point, Kalorain and Maddalyn are of Talmon, and it is a mistake for any single village to claim them. Sudden would not complain if Kalorain were to return to a place of prominence on your coins.”
I smiled at my wife, who said nothing.
“Is anyone feeling left out?” Tranquility asked.
“Tranquility,” Cecilia said, “when it comes time for a serious conversation regarding your future plans, this can be one of the topics.”
“Seriously?”
“Quite seriously,” Cecilia said. “I cannot make promises for any vendart, and I would prefer you not be too specific as to whose coins might be involved. I also cannot promise an exclusive arrangement. It might be that you would be on some coins from a particular village, but other coins might include someone else’s figure.”
“As long as it’s not a token amount,” Tranquility said. She put on an expression I couldn’t quite read, then she smiled and turned to me. “You said they were going to work on us.”
“I did,” I confirmed. “Do you think we could go to the rejuvenation center now? Governor, what style of transportation did you prefer?”
“Valtine would prefer by ground,” Cecilia said.
“Actually,” said the woman in question, “If it is a gentle ride, I think I would like to grow more accustomed to flying, if that is possible.”
“That is certainly possible,” Cecilia said.
* * * *
With fourteen of us, we had just enough space using three jumpers. Mordain and Kalorain both asked if they could pilot, so I climbed into the rear seat of my jumper, taking the middle. Mother sat up front, and Pippa climbed in beside me. Serenity and Tranquility eyed the spare seat, but then Serenity pretended to make a dash for it. Her sister jumped ahead, but Serenity veered off and hooked her arm with Hazelvarn.
I thought that was funny. The girl was barely 18, which easily made her an adult by two years in Talmon eyes, but I thought she was young for Serenity. But the two smiled at each other, and I decided to stay out of it.
Kalorain had become a good pilot. She did what I frequently did, which was to follow the coast. Reaching the center, she did a circle one way then flew out to sea and came back, circling once the other way, giving Mother and Pippa the first view and Tranquility the second.
The center on Frantzland wasn’t any more attractive than anywhere else on my birth planet. And everywhere on Tarriton was beautiful. So, I couldn’t compare the center on Talmon to tho
se everywhere else, but I thought it was beautiful. While the buildings had been constructed by imperial means, they were designed to be in harmony with the planet, and they fit the setting wonderfully.
Kalorain landed the jumper and brought us to the parking area. There were ground vehicles waiting, but Cecilia gathered us together. She gave a little speech how this center represented her primary goal for the planet, although it was only part of what the planet needed. She talked about what had gone into making this happen and then said, “There is so much more to do. We chose this location, isolated from Sudden by twenty kilometers, to give us opportunity to grow.” She spoke for another minute or two.
Then Sartine stepped forward. “I believe I was the first citizen of Talmon to learn about rejuvenation,” she said. “I didn’t believe it, not at first, and then I responded very poorly when finally Cecilia convinced me.”
“For which I have forgiven you,” Cecilia said.
“This…” She waved a hand. “What happens here.” She paused, catching her breath. It was the first time I’d seen Sartine struggle to find words. “My grandmother was a patient in the first group. The doctors told me that if she hadn’t come to rejuvenation, she would likely have died in the next year or two. And they’ve said the same thing about many of the other patients that have been treated since.” She paused again then stepped over to Serenity and Tranquility. “Maddalyn said the two of you are doctors at a center like this on Tarriton.”
“Serenity is the doctor,” Tranquility said. “I help patients going through recovery.”
“Although she’s also certified to help with intake and interviews,” Serenity said. “Do you understand?”
“You’re one of the technicians who help people decide what they want to do,” Sartine said.
“I’m trained and certified for that, and sometimes I get called in to help cover, but primarily I help patients once they come out of the procedure.”
Sartine nodded. “We only met yesterday, but I think you can appreciate Talmon. When we take our tour today, I wonder if you can appreciate what it would mean to stay here, to work in this place.”
And then she turned and hurried to Cecilia, burying her face in Cecilia’s hair. I’d never seen her undone like this before, and I wondered if our guests appreciated that.