by Robin Roseau
I said nothing. She was probably right.
“We will not forget each other,” she said. “We will not be in a rush. When we come home, we will do this for each other.” Then she knelt down before me and slowly washed and dried one foot and then the other. She was actually quite thorough, taking her time about it. It felt quite nice. Then she smiled and stood. The drying towel was back over her shoulder, but she held the damp towel to me. “It grows chilled.”
I understood immediately. I stepped to the sink and rinsed out the towel. I gave it a good squeeze to dislodge the water then turned to her. She draped the drying towel over my shoulder, and then I knelt before her. She offered a foot. I took my time, the same as she had, washing and then drying, washing and then drying. When I stood, she took the towels from me and hung them up, then two fingers on the mirror lowered it into place again. “It is heated, and so the towels will dry but not grow musty,” she said. “Thank you, Maddalyn.”
“Thank you, Kalorain,” I said.
“This is one ritual for us,” she said. “It is not particularly Talmon in nature, although I know of other couples who find other rituals. This is ours, and we will do it every time we come home. Later, when we are not together every minute of every day, when one of us comes home, the other will do this. Every time, even if we are tired or unhappy or in the middle of a fight. We will stop and do this. Now say, ‘Yes, Kalorain’.”
I smiled. “Yes, Kalorain. Every time.”
“We will not rush. We will take time to enjoy this, both the giving and the receiving. Later, when there are small children, we may need to adjust. But for now, every time. Even if we have waiting guests, we do this.”
“Yes,” I said again. “This is a good ritual.”
“We will have other rituals,” she said. “I do not have any in mind, but we will find other times to stop and appreciate each other. I expect you to think of one or two.”
“I’ll try,” I promised.
“Good. I see you are worn out from too much thinking. We will relax together. Do you think you would show me how to use your tablet?”
“Yes,” I said. “Find a comfortable seat and I will fetch it.”
That just took a moment; it was still in the kitchen. I collected it then found her at one end of the sofa. I sat down beside her. “Do you know how to care for it?”
“To lift the weights.”
“Excuse me?”
“That is what Sartine calls it. You must lift the weights like a clock.”
“Oh, yes,” I said.
“I know there are no small weights inside,” she said. “It is only a way to explain it so we can understand.”
“Yes,” I said again.
“Yes. I know how to lift the weights. There is a leash at your desk.” She pointed. “It goes here.”
I nodded. “Yes. I must change things so the tablet recognizes you. I may speak a few words of German while I do so. Will I be punished?”
“No.”
“Thank you.” I subvocalized. “Melina.”
“Attending.”
“Is Kalorain registered in our systems.”
“Checking,” she said. “There is a Galatzi Trade Kalorain of Sudden.”
“That’s her,” I said. “Display her profile.” A computer screen appeared in front of me, hovering in space, and I could see the information we had on her. I nodded. “Good. Melina, please authorize Kalorain access to my tablet, user authorization only.”
“Working… Done.”
“Thank you. Maintain me as an administrator, but remove my tablet as a communications device.” That is, my tablet wouldn’t wake when someone tried to contact me.
“Done.”
“Register my tablet as Kalorain’s primary communication device.”
“All channels?”
“Yes.”
“Done.”
“Thank you, Melina. Initiate video conference with Kalorain.”
It took a second before the tablet indicated an incoming video call from me. “What is it doing?” Kalorain exclaimed.
“Lift it to face you,” I said. She did, and a moment later, the call established. That was when I realized all she would see were swirling colors. I could work on that another time.
“What is it doing?”
“Stay here,” I said. I stood up and walked to the other side of the room then said, “Hello, Kalorain.”
“It’s talking! It sounds like you.”
“It is me,” I said. Kalorain stared at it. “This is called a video conference.”
“I don’t understand.”
“If I were at the embassy, I can call you like this, and we can talk.”
“Wait.” She clutched the tablet and ran upstairs. After a moment, she relaxed and asked, “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, my lovely wife,” I replied. “And I can see your chest.”
“What?”
“I can see what the tablet can see. If you look into it, I can see you.”
She adjusted the angle, and I was looking into her face, the top of her head cut off. I’d have to show her somehow. “I can’t see you. I only see colors.”
“I’m sorry. Unless I use a tablet, this is what happens. Do you remember how I said my implant was a buggy compared to Cecilia’s coach?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“Cecilia’s implant can see her. My implant cannot. But I can do this.” I switched to German. “Melina, slave my eyes to this conference, terminate when the conference terminates.”
“Done.”
“You spoke German!” Kalorain said. Then she broke off. “I can see the window!” I slowly moved my view, and Kalorain squeaked. “What is it doing?”
“It sees through my eyes.” I stood and walked to the mirror.
“Magic,” she whispered. Then she sighed. “Technology.” Then I heard her on the stairs as she ran down. I turned to her, and she came to a stop, staring at the tablet. And I knew on the tablet she would see herself, staring at the tablet.
“Some of this is close to magic,” I said. “It is only technology, but even to me, the implant is like magic. Seeing through my eyes is magic, to me, but not to the people who gave me the implant.”
She stared at her image on the tablet then looked up at me.
“I spoke German so I could command my implant to share my eyes with you for this call,” I said. “Am I to be punished? Must I hold the chair?”
“No,” she whispered. She began bouncing up and down. “Who else can we talk to?”
“Let’s find out.” I gestured to the sofa and terminated the current call.
Kalorain noticed and complained. “It’s gone.”
“I ended the call,” I said. “Let me show you. Do you know how to make it wake up?”
“I use my hand?”
She put her hand over the display. As I’d already authorized her, and as she was already in the system, my tablet recognized her and woke. “Guten Tag, Kalorain,” it displayed.
“What are these words?”
“Good day, in German,” I said. “I told you: my tablet only speaks German. But I can show you how to make a call.” I pointed to the icon for initiating a video conference. “Tap that.”
She did and was presented with a list of people. The list only included me. Kalorain looked at it and said, “It can only talk to you?”
“It doesn’t know who else you’re allowed to contact,” I said. “Give me a moment.” I woke Melina and then sent a series of messages out. It was clear they were answered, as over the next few moments, Chaladine’s name appeared on the display.
“Chaladine!” Kalorain said. “And Cecilia.” Then she gave a gasp and whispered, “Mama.”
“Tap her name,” I said.
It only took a moment. Luradinine must have been using her tablet when I messaged her, and so she accepted the conference, and then she appeared in the display.
“Mama!” Kalorain yelled.
“Hello, my lovely dau
ghter,” Luradinine replied. “Maddalyn gave you a tablet.”
“Mama,” Kalorain said. “Maddalyn, can she see you?”
“Here,” I said. I moved closer and adjusted it, and then I tapped the button that would display our image in a mini window. I never used that feature, but now Kalorain could see where it was pointed. I sat so Luradinine could see us both.
“There we are,” Kalorain said, pointing. “Mama, do you see us?”
“I do, my darling,” she said. “Hello, Maddalyn.”
“Hello, Luradinine.”
“Mama,” Kalorain said. “Maddalyn is my new Galatzi wife.”
“Oh,” Luradinine said. “Oh. Oh, Darling. Oh, My Darling. I can’t imagine anyone better for you. Congratulations, Maddalyn.” She smiled. “Were you surprised as Cecilia was?”
“No, Luradinine. Chaladine explained. She explained about many things.”
The woman nodded. “Yes.”
“I asked,” I said. “I didn’t know they would choose Kalorain for me. When I learned she is your daughter, I knew it was a perfect choice.”
“I think so, too,” Luradinine said. Then she laughed. “And now you shower her with gifts.”
“I am only borrowing Maddalyn’s tablet,” said my wife. “It only speaks her language. But she has suggested perhaps she can give me one that speaks Talmonese, or at least English. Mama, I can see you!”
“I know, Darling. And I can see you, and your lovely Galatzi wife.”
“I love Sudden, and they have treated me so well here, but I miss you so much, and Darratine, and even Wenelopid? How are they doing? How is Farratain?”
“Perhaps you would like to see for yourself?” Luradinine suggested. “They are right here, listening.” Then she picked up her tablet and turned it around. I could see they were seated at a table, and she slowly panned the table.
“Darratine!” Kalorain yelled.
“Hello, Kalorain. You didn’t invite me to your wedding!”
My wife laughed. “We took her last night, right from her dinner. She walked straight to me and held out her wrists for me to tie.”
Darratine laughed. “And so my sister, taken as a Galatzi prize, has her own Galatzi prize. Mother, I have never heard of that before.”
“Neither have I,” we heard Luradinine say. “But can you imagine a better match for either of them?”
“No,” Darratine said. “Maddalyn was only here for a few days, but I really liked her. And I know Kalorain will take good care of her.”
Then Farratain was there beside her wife. She was smiling and waved to us. “Hello, Kalorain. Hello, Maddalyn. Is your Talmonese improving?”
“Yes,” I said. “Slowly.”
“Not slowly,” Kalorain said, looking at me and smiling. “When are you coming to visit us? We have a place for you to stay.”
“Oh, wouldn’t that be lovely,” Luradinine said. “Perhaps soon, My Darling. Here is your brother.”
The image shifted, and then Wenolopid waved.
“Hello, Little Brother,” Kalorain said.
“Congratulations, Kalorain,” he said. “Mother, when I’m older, I want my own Galatzi wife.”
“We’ll see when you’re older,” Luradinine said. “Perhaps I will trade you away instead. I can get two chickens and a goat.”
“No way,” I heard Darratine said. “No one’s going to give you all that for him.”
“Hey!” the boy complained. “I’m worth at least two goats and three chickens.”
That impressed me, that he could accept a joke at his own expense, and add to it besides. That impressed me quite a lot, actually, and my heart warmed even more, knowing my new wife had come from such a loving home.
And so, while my wife talked to her family, I sent a note to Cecilia. The reply came back. And then I waited.
We talked for perhaps fifteen minutes, and then I said, “There are…” I asked Melina for the word. “There are protocols.”
“Protocols?” Kalorain said.
“Now that you can, I imagine you would talk to your family very often.”
Her eyes widened. “I can do that now!”
“Yes,” I said. “Different people use different protocols. Some people arrange to talk on a schedule. Others prefer that you send a message, and if the person is available, she will call you.”
“I can do that now.”
“Yes, and Luradinine can do that as well. And so I am going to suggest that I teach you the other ways to talk. You can send letters, and your mother will receive them as soon as she uses her tablet. And I will suggest if you wish to talk, that you first talk via these letters, and then one can call.”
“That’s a lovely suggestion,” Luradinine said.
“My Galatzi wife is tired,” Kalorain said. “I have made her speak Talmonese all day, and so I must let her rest now. She will show me tomorrow.” She turned to me. “We will send these letters?”
“Yes,” I said.
She leaned over and kissed me quickly. Then she kissed her fingers and set them to the tablet, not quite touching. Apparently she knew what would happen if she actually touched.
Luradinine moved around to lean down behind Darratine. Darratine actually took the tablet and held it, and then Wenolopid was there, too, and so we could see the four. I leaned closer as Kalorain said “goodbye” to her family.
“Now what?” she asked.
“You press there,” I said. “Those words mean ‘End Call’.”
She did, and the screen returned to the list of people Kalorain was free to contact. “Will you show me more?” she asked. “Then you will lie here with your head in my lap and close your eyes.”
“We have someone else who wants to talk to you,” I said. “Call Governor Grace.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Well, I wish you would, because she’s waiting.”
“How do you know that?”
“Kalorain, she’s waiting.”
She quickly reached out and tapped Cecilia’s name. It was only the briefest moment before Cecilia’s image appeared. “Congratulations again, Kalorain. Is your new Galatzi wife behaving?”
“So far,” Kalorain said. “Hello, Cecilia. Maddalyn is teaching me to use her tablet.”
“I have assigned it to her,” I said.
“Very good,” Cecilia said. “But as I recall, your tablet is from Frantzland, and is not compatible any others on Talmon.”
“True,” I agreed. “I hope for a better solution.”
“I have a few left from the ones I brought,” Cecilia said. “Would you like to buy one from me, Maddalyn?”
“I would, Governor Grace,” I said.
“The ones I have are here at Indartha with me, but the next time someone is traveling to Sudden, I will send one down.”
“Thank you, Governor Grace.”
Cecilia asked Kalorain a question. While the two talked, I sent a text message to the governor. I could see when she received it. She nodded slightly and finished what she was saying, then adjusted her attention. “Maddalyn, your primary duty is to your wife, and to the things she assigns you to learn.”
“I understand, Governor.”
“But I want you to think about how we can more widely spread some of our technology. When you return to work, we will discuss it. Not before.”
“I understand, Governor,” I said.
“Kalorain, I imagine you miss your family.”
“Yes, Cecilia,” she replied. “But we just talked to them!”
“I thought perhaps you had,” she said with a smile. “Perhaps you would like to bring your Galatzi wife to visit them, or they might wish to visit you.”
“I think that would be grand.”
“Then you may coordinate use of the embassy jumper through Chaladine,” Cecilia said. “To be more specific, Kalorain, I meant you, not Maddalyn.”
“I can’t fly it!”
“Your Galatzi wife can fly it, but she belongs to you. Do you see?”
> “Oh, yes, I do,” she said. “We can fly to Beacon Hill?”
“For a day or three at a time, within the needs of others for the jumper they share. Or you could retrieve your family and bring them to Sudden. Perhaps Darratine is willing to allow Farratain to visit her family, but perhaps it has not been long enough, and they must remain in Beacon Hill. It is not for me to say.”
Kalorain stared at the screen for a while until I nudged her. “Thank you, Governor Grace!”
“Congratulations, both of you,” she said. “I know you will make each other very happy. I will see you both again very soon. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” we echoed. And then the screen went blank, returning to the list of people we could contact.
Kalorain turned to me, her face filled with emotion. Then she stilled. “I believe that is enough tablet today. You stay here.” She got to her feet, and I heard her carry the tablet into the other room. She was gone a moment, and when she returned, she said, “The weights are lifting.” She moved to the sofa and sat down then patted her lap. “Your head here.”
I didn’t argue. I lay down, setting my head where she indicated, lying on my side.
“Close your eyes,” she said. “Relax. Your head hurts.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” she said. “Shh.” Then she massaged her fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and relaxed. We stayed like that for some time, and then she said, “Maddalyn?”
“Hmm?”
“I wish to say something. If you never share any more technology with me, I don’t care. You are my Galatzi wife because I want you. I want to be sure you understand that.”
“I understand.”
“I wish to be very clear. You do not need to buy me presents, but I insist that you share yourself, and everything about yourself. That is a lot of words, so explain it back to me.”
“I understand, Kalorain,” I said. “You have me.”
“All of you,” she said. “Surrender to me.”
I smiled then found one of her hands and kissed it. “All day, I keep having the same thoughts.”
“What thoughts.”
“I am married. You are my wife. I am your Galatzi wife. Sometimes I have other thoughts.”
“Oh. Do believe I can guess what those thoughts are.”
“Perhaps you can.”