Been There, Done That

by Mackey Chandler

  “I’ll let Sylvia tell you when she’s cleaned up,” Diana said. That didn’t relieve Lindsey at all, she was even more certain something bad was happening. She went in the kitchen and got a big mug with ice water and recovered her phone. There was a message light blinking so she tapped it to read it.

  Priority message to all HomeNet users:

  We have received a missing person report this morning for 17 year old Lindsey Pennington. Her mother reports her missing for a second day without any communication and suggests she may have been abducted. Attached is a recent photo. If you have seen Ms. Pennington please contact Home Security.

  Jon Davis / Head H.S.

  “That liar!” Lindsey yelled. For a second Diana thought she was going to throw the pad. Then she relented and looked at her messages again. Diana’s plan to let Sylvia handle it was busted, so she joined Lindsey at the kitchen table and sat down. Lindsey dragged her finger down the screen, frowning at it. She obviously had other messages.

  “Talk to Sylvia before you start sending out replies,” Diana suggested.

  Lindsey looked shocked at the idea and then thoughtful. “Is this going to cause trouble for Sylvia?” she asked.

  “”You’re asking the wrong person,” Diana said. “I’m still trying to figure out how things work here. If it was back home in Hawaii I’d have a pretty good idea, but that’s why I said talk to Sylvia. She’s been here forever and knows people.

  “OK, I have messages. Jon tried to call me when we were working. Then my brother tried to call me, and Frank and Cindy right after. I’m going to ask my brother what he knows, but I’ll wait for Sylvia before I reply to anyone else.”

  “But nothing from your mom? Diana asked.

  “I have her blocked,” Lindsey told her.

  “Oh, I’d say she isn’t taking that too well,” Diana guessed.

  “Yes, but it took her two day to think up some scheme to get back at me. That doesn’t look good. She should have said I was missing within hours. Or at least called my brother and he’d have told her why I was gone, if not where.”

  Lindsey stabbed at the phone to text her brother, like it was to blame, still standing, too full of energy to sit down.

  “Oh, my brother had her blocked too,” Lindsey said after some back and forth. “He neglected to tell me that.”

  “But she didn’t report him missing?” Diana asked.

  “He has to sleep in the full G barracks for kids still. If he didn’t show up they would call her. So that wouldn’t work for him. Besides, he doesn’t have anything she wants to take to sell,” Lindsey said cynically. “He offered to call Jon if I want, but wants me to tell him exactly what to say first before he does. I put him off and said I’d call him again if I need that.

  “Your brother isn’t any dummy. Especially for his age,” Diana said.

  Lindsey’s phone started blinking again, and she looked at a new message. Sylvia rejoined them, hair still wet, while Lindsey was reading it.

  “Jon isn’t any dummy either. He called my mom again after nobody reported seeing me, and asked if I’d taken any clothing or anything that might indicate I had run-away rather than been abducted. She said yes my things are gone, but then went on and on about how my art was gone and how valuable it was. So Jon knew something smelled about it, and called both my dad on the Moon and my brother to ask if they knew what was going on. Both of them shared my message to them that I was moving out because my mom wanted to sell my stuff off to move back to Earth.”

  “The nature of Home is there aren’t that many public areas, and there are cameras on all the corridors and public places like the cafeterias,” Sylvia said. “All the businesses run their own cameras. It would be very hard to ‘disappear’ someone. I don’t think we have ever had a kidnapping. Jon had to be suspicious.”

  “Then he probably already knows I’m here,” Lindsey decided. “Why isn’t he calling you direct to ask about me? Will he tell me to go back to my mom?”

  “It’s not like Earth. We don’t have all their laws to regulate everything. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any clear authority to send you back to your mom. He’s already heard from your dad and brother. At most he may suggest you bring the matter before the Assembly yourself or he will,” Sylvia predicted. “As to knowing you are here, I predict he sees you aren’t in any danger and is letting matters go ahead to see what your mom will do.”

  “Giving her enough rope to hang herself?” Diana asked.

  “If she made a false report Jon would not be amused at all. I wouldn’t be surprised, if she keeps layering on deceit, he might seek her expulsion.”

  “But I’m not a citizen,” Lindsey protested. “I can’t bring a motion before the Assembly. I have no way to become a citizen to ask for my majority.”

  “People up here aren’t big on parliamentary procedure and rules that keep them from doing what they want to do. If you ask the Assembly to vote you your majority so you can become a citizen they aren’t going to go into some loop of indecision over which came first, the chicken or the egg, or in this case the citizen or the adult. If it comes to that point, and we do take it before the Assembly, I’m a citizen and can introduce the motion for you.”

  Lindsey took a deep breath and appeared to relax just a little. “Thank you.”

  “Sit right beside me and we’ll call Jon together,” Sylvia invited. “It looks subtly better than just splitting screens to conference with him.”

  “Ah, the mysterious Miss Pennington,” Jon said when they connected.

  “Don’t give me that stuff,” Sylvia said, curtly. “You knew where she was and probably what she had for breakfast. I’m sure you reviewed the corridor recordings and know when she arrived here and who brought her. You are game playing, sir.”

  “But not with you,” he said quickly. “I’ve been warned you are a chess player among folks struggling to master checkers. Don’t forget, if I saw her arrive at your door, you also may assume I saw her leave home, and that she was alone and not under any coercion.”

  “Ahhh… OK. Well, what is your next move?” Sylvia demanded.

  “I was waiting a bit to see if you were going to contact me. I know now what is going on thanks to Lindsey’s dad and brother. Her dad was incensed, and her brother other than sharing her message obviously didn’t want to talk to me. Was there any particular reason either of you didn’t want to talk to me?”

  “We were working with abrasive stuff in the studio and left our phones on the kitchen table. You can’t hear them over the grinder and vacuum and they tend to get busted doing that sort of work. Not everybody is a slave to their electronic leash twenty four hours a day,” Sylvia told him.

  “I’ll admit I haven’t had the luxury of ignoring mine in a couple years.”

  “You think you are indispensable?” Sylvia snipped at him.

  Jon took a deep breath, considered that carefully, and said, “No.”

  “So, we called,” Sylvia said, “she wasn’t abducted, she left. The girl is seventeen, makes enough money to support herself, and doesn’t intend to allow her work to be sold off at her mother’s whim. She sure as hell isn’t going to go back down to the Slum Ball without a fight, and I’m betting that’s something with which the electorate can both empathize and identify with.”

  “More to the point,” Jon said, “her other parent doesn’t wish that to happen. In fact, I did tell him where his daughter was, and begged him not to call his wife until he had a chance to calm down. He made an interesting comparison, equating it to the abuses of an earlier era in motion picture films, when some parents managed the child’s career and took all their earnings, leaving them nothing later. It eventually was addressed in law, but too late for some.”

  “I never heard about that,” Lindsey said.

  “Now that you have the gist of it, look it up,” Jon invited. “But, Sylvia, I do object that you are acting like I am adversarial with you. I haven’t done a single thing to deserve that.”

>   “Except, you impute to bad faith our not instantly returning your call.”

  “A misunderstanding, but you are further off the social convention on this than me, even if you refuse to be held to it.”

  “I do, but I’ll let it go,” Sylvia offered. “We have other fish to fry. Everybody seems to be brought up to speed. Aren’t you going to rescind your public alert?”

  “Not just yet. It doesn’t hurt Lindsey’s cause to let it simmer a bit. People will remember and wonder why it wasn’t resolved in ten minutes if it becomes a public issue later. People with children will frame it in terms of their own family, and rightly suspect there had to be some kind of dishonesty. If it was a bogus report for selfish reasons, dragged out a long time, they won’t be very forgiving.”

  “You’re setting her up,” Sylvia said.

  “She’s setting herself up,” Jon said, firmly. “I’m just not going out of my way to interrupt her from doing so, or wasting any effort to make her look better. I will send out an all clear after we talk. But I’m going to call Mrs. Pennington first and tell her that her daughter is perfectly safe and declines to come home.”

  “She will demand as law enforcement you come remove me and return me to her control,” Lindsey predicted.

  “Enforce what law?” Jon asked. “We have about two dozen hard decisions from the assembly saying things that must be done you could call a law. We have a procedure to gain your majority, but none of the thousands of Earthie laws about how minors and adults are treated differently. Child welfare, home environment, medical care, child labor, and all the definitions of abuse, truancy, and delinquency don’t exist. I’d tell your mother as much. Do you want me to withhold your location? If you think she’ll show up and cause you trouble I will refuse. I do have an interest in keeping the peace and good public order.”

  “If Lindsey is physically afraid of her mother keep it secret,” Sylvia said, “but don’t hide us for me. If she comes by and creates a scene we’ll call you, and it will just reinforce who is acting responsibly and who is out of control.”

  They both looked at Lindsey to see what she wanted.

  “Tell her,” Lindsey decided. “I don’t feel I did anything wrong that I should need to hide. She has always been horrified at all the guns here, so she isn’t going to turn up armed and try to force me back home at gunpoint. I’m just so sorry my dad had to be upset. I just know if they breakup she’s going to blame me.”

  “Lindsey, Honey, how long have you been living in dread of your parents getting divorced?” Sylvia asked.

  “I remember riding in the back of our old green car back on Earth and they were talking about splitting up in the front seat.” She frowned and thought a minute. “I think that would have meant I was about eight years old.”

  “And were they arguing over you?” Sylvia asked.

  “No, they were arguing over money. They did that – quite a bit.”

  “I’d think on that if I were you,” Sylvia said. “They’re still arguing over money. It just happens to be your money this time. Somehow I bet they’d argue over Eric’s money if she had any idea he has some. Or they can just keep arguing over your dad’s money. I doubt that will ever end.”

  “I see what you mean. Eric was smarter than me,” Lindsey admitted.

  “That was instructive for me about the real problem. I’ll tell her where you are, if she asks,” Jon decided. “If she demands it I may not.”

  “Maybe she’ll just ask where the girl’s stuff is to seize,” Sylvia said cynically.

  “That… would not set well with me,” Jon admitted.

  “I’m going to tell Eric about this, but Jon seems to have told my dad as much as he needs to know,” Lindsey said, keying on her phone already.

  “Fine, I’m going to go start supper. Tell Eric there’s enough for him if he wants to come talk face to face,” Sylvia offered.

  Chapter 15

  “I have no idea what the Martians are obsessed about,” Happy admitted. “They were willing to kill me. I never had any clear idea why, and I have no doubt the way they acted that they may have already murdered somebody else if you look into it closely enough. I know not all of them are in on it, so the fact they are expelling people doesn’t surprise me. People will kill for all sorts of reasons that may seem irrational to you or me. Sometimes for no more reason than they didn’t like how you looked at them.”

  “I’m glad we got you out of there,” April said.

  “Yep, you saved my bacon,” Happy agreed. “You seem to have a thing about rescues. Don’t do something stupid with those people. It’s none of your concern to take any risks if that situation gets ugly.”

  “I’m just watching with interest,” April assured him, “now that you’re safe.”

  * * *

  “Mrs. Pennington, after reviewing the video records of the corridor traffic and consulting with your husband and son, I find your daughter was not abducted. I believe you were entirely aware of this from the start, due to her personal possessions being absent,” Jon said. “Since everyone else is in agreement that it is a family dispute, and your husband is fine with her new living arrangements, I’m taking no further action with regard to her or you. After we speak I’ll be withdrawing the public alert to watch for her.”

  “I’m not at all in agreement with my husband that she is mature enough to live on her own. She’s still a legal minor and I want her back home.”

  “She’s still a legal minor under North American law. I’m sorry to have to remind you, that has no force here. I’d suggest you bring the issue before the Assembly, but I see you have never sought Home citizenship, so you don’t have that option. Frankly, even if you did bring it, I expect there is such a large body of voting citizens who respect Lindsey, and have done business with her, that their response would be to grant her emancipation so she could seek citizenship.”

  “I can be a citizen tomorrow if I want,” Linda Pennington snipped.

  “Indeed, before the day is done,” Jon agreed, and just looked at her. There was an awkward silence since the ball was back in her court.

  “I mean, I could do so to bring a matter before the Assembly,” she clarified. “There isn’t any avenue for Lindsey to do so. I’m not sure she could even petition for her own emancipation.” She looked smug, as if that proved something.

  “Well, there is precedent. The first minor to request her majority did so without a sponsor until after the motion. She could have a friend bring the matter before them. She does have friends,” Jon felt it necessary to tell her in case she had no clue. “I think you’d find that the Assembly tends to streamline matters rather than get bogged down in procedures, certainly not to the detriment of doing what they want to do. If someone started quoting Robert’s Rules at them I doubt the Assembly would take it well. If this matter is put up for discussion I doubt you’d get a favorable outcome once your motives in wanting control of her are clear. The fact you’d use her earnings to force her to leave Home, against her wishes, would be seen as a slap in the face by many Homies.

  “I’d hate to see you alienate yourself from many of the people with whom you live and need to do business. People might not care to employ you if you utterly ruin your reputation. You might then not have any option but to return to Earth, but without the funds you were planning on demanding from your daughter. My understanding is they still make the negative tax available in North America, so you wouldn’t be without any means of support.”

  “Are you threatening to blackball me?” Linda demanded.

  “Not at all. I wouldn’t need to say anything. I’m trying to give you some insight into how people here already think. It’s obvious you haven’t absorbed any of that, even though your family felt you were acclimating. I’m trying very kindly to keep you from making a public spectacle of yourself. The expression that has becoming common here, is to describe this inability to discard Earth customs and laws that don’t work on Home is Earth Think. I suggest you talk to y
our husband about it before making public statements that can never be retracted.

  “If I were actually hostile to you I could easily, and truthfully, say your report of an abduction was a false report when I withdraw the alert. I’m going to avoid that out of concern and respect for your family. Don’t throw that gift away,” Jon said, and disconnected the call before she could say something else stupid. He sighed and shook his head even though there was nobody with him to witness it.

  At Sylvia’s everybody’s pads and the house com buzzed.

  Priority message to all HomeNet users:

  The alert over the Pennington teen has been resolved and all parties found safe with no malicious intent. We no longer seek reports on her location or condition. Thank you to everyone keeping a watch.

  Jon Davis / Head H.S.

  “Well, that must not have gone too badly or Jon wouldn’t have been so bland and kind in his stand down message,” Sylvia said.

  The pad in her hands sounded a different tone for a private message.

  “I tried to talk some sense to her. No idea if it took. She never asked where Lindsey was, but then I terminated the call sort of abruptly.” – Jon

  “Tell him thank you for me,” Lindsey said. Sylvia keyed it in.

  “Well that takes the pressure off,” Sylvia said. “Nobody is looking for you. I have no trouble with it if you want to stay here for awhile. I’m enjoying your company and our collaboration. From the prices I saw your stuff bringing you should be able to get a place of your own before I get sick of seeing your face.”

  “Thanks, I’m much better now. I feel safe. I just still worry about my folks.”

  “Honey, I’ll keep telling you this. It’s their job to worry about you, not the other way around. That’s just the natural order of things. They’re the adults and they have to see to their own lives. It’s not your responsibility.”

  “You have my permission to keep telling me that,” Lindsey said.

  * * *

  “So, the Martians are going to retain some hostages to guarantee their re-supply?” Markus asked with a sour expression. “And our esteemed leaders intend to allow that without any repercussions?”