by H. E. Trent
Owen grunted.
“Well, I do like a challenge,” Luke said.
“You’ll get plenty of those here,” Court said. She kissed the top of Ais’s head, then slowly stood. “Maybe you guys should take a break for a bit and then get back to work. Fresh eyes and fresh brains might help.”
“Yeah, I could use a nap,” Marco said through a bearlike yawn.
“Maybe Precious has gotten up from hers by now and can come take the next shift.”
“Not a bad idea to work on this in shifts if we can,” Salehi said. “A few hours at a time rather than one long marathon. We’d likely make fewer mistakes we’d have to unravel.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Luke said. He slung an arm around Owen’s shoulder. “Come on, man. Grab your lunch and let’s go hang out before I have to crash like Marco.” He’d moved Owen all the way to the door before Owen realized that Ais was still inside the office.
He ducked out from Luke’s arm. “You know what? I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
Luke pulled him along anyway. “Nah, come on. Court’s got her.”
“Got who?” Owen asked evenly.
Luke leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t pull that shit on me. What’s going on with you?”
They were walking toward the wheat field, out of earshot of the crew moving in the other direction.
He looked over his shoulder and found Court with her arm looped around Ais’s, and Ais paused on the path, staring toward the dark blurs Owen and Luke must have made.
She shouldn’t have been scared with Courtney. If anything, Owen should have been the one to be afraid if Ais told Courtney that Owen had all but abducted her.
“I mean, I understand why you’d want to hide her,” Luke said.
Owen faced forward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, man. I know you better than anyone except Mike.”
“Don’t.”
“Nah, I’m gonna talk, and you’re gonna listen. I mean, what the hell else do you have to do right now that’s more important?”
“I can think of some things.”
“Tough shit, McGarry. What’s going on with you two?”
“Why do you assume there’s anything going on at all?”
“Because I watched her watch you for the better part of three hours. She can’t even fucking see you, but she was watching you. Why’s that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit, dude. You know, I was starting to feel a certain kind of way about coming all the way here and you not being around, but everything made sense when I saw her.”
“You’re reading too much into the situation.”
“Really? So you won’t mind if I slide on over to her and spin a little Cipriani magic? She’s cute and sweet in the way I like, and I’m pretty sure she’d warm a bed just fine.”
Owen’s hands made those angry fists again, but through his lips came a neutral-sounding, “Do what you want. I don’t care.”
“That’s not what your face says. That tightness in your jaw says you’ll fuck me up if I try, so what’s the truth?”
“Back the hell off, Luke.”
“Oh, I see. What’s the matter? You actually like her? Believe it or not, that’s actually okay. Human beings are expected to occasionally connect with each other in ways that aren’t completely superficial.”
“Why are you haranguing me about this?”
“Because I know you. Court can’t see how you are, not really. Erin probably sees through you a little better than Court does, but she doesn’t get you the way I do. You need to quit punishing yourself.”
“Has the FBI been training you to practice psychology? Waste of taxpayer money, in my opinion.”
“Fine. You wanna play that game? Be like that. Tonight, when Ais is in your cottage, where are you going to be?”
“In any empty bed I can find.”
“Near her? Or are you going to let someone else be her shepherd?”
Scoffing, Owen picked up his pace. Luke was right. He was right about everything, but Owen wanted to keep his pain to himself for a change. He’d gone to Jekh with hope he wouldn’t have to have conversations like the one he was being dragged into.
“So you won’t mind if I just, you know, stop by and make sure she’s okay,” Luke said.
“Do what you want.”
“Okay. I think I will, then.” He ruffled the back of Owen’s hair and chuckled. “Hey, maybe you’ll be there, too.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ais fitted the puppy’s new collar around his skinny neck and then pulled the squirmy beast up into her arms. “Thank you,” she said to Fastida.
“Eh. Don’t worry about it. Maybe I could refine my leatherworking techniques and sell a few if there’s going to be a puppy population boom around here. I’ll try to get the leash braided up tomorrow.” Fastida reached in and scratched the dog between the ears. “He can’t go around with a boring piece of rope tied to his collar.”
“Jerry has been avoiding him.” Courtney leaned down and touched her nose to the puppy’s. “I think he’s ashamed that he got caught and is trying not to be found near the evidence.”
“Dogs don’t have guilt issues, Courtney,” Erin called from the kitchen sink where she was rinsing plates from dinner. “Guilt is the exclusive domain of Catholics like us.”
“Not just you,” Eileen called out from the pantry. “Episcopalians wallow in the stuff, too.”
“And Baptists,” Brenna said. She was at the table drying utensils. “At least, as far as I can remember. I was so young when I left Earth, but I think I remember guilt being an issue. There aren’t any churches on Jekh. At least, none affiliated with any known Terran religions.”
“That’s usually one of the first things colonists do, right?” Erin set another plate in the drying rack. “They build a church to be a beacon for the savages and then start trying to teach the locals the proper way to speak and behave.” Another plate in the rack. “If that fails, they make the savages go away.”
Ais squinted at Erin’s back. She sounded as though she were speaking from experience.
“Don’t pay attention to her, Ais,” Courtney said. “Sore spot for her. Earth’s history is full of people doing the same shit over and over again.”
Erin turned around and pointed at Court. “Did you know some Mestizos call themselves hijos de la chingada because they believe a native lady gave away their culture to the conquistadors? Do you know what that means? Literally, they’re calling themselves ‘children of the fucked.’ It’s a cringe-worthy sentiment. They feel like their attachment to the place got severed because their native identity was erased by the conquistadors who violated their mothers. Many of them feel like Mexico hasn’t been theirs in hundreds of years.” She narrowed her eyes. “Of course, many also believe that women were to blame for allowing themselves to be seduced, but that’s a discussion for another day.”
“Do you need some chocolate, Erin? You’re bringing down the mood in the room.”
“You said it yourself. Once you get me started, I run my mouth.” She shrugged and turned back to the sink. “What kind of chocolate?”
“Riesen. They’re old, but not gross yet.”
“Put one in my mouth and I’ll pretend to forget you tried to shut me up with food.”
Chuckling, Court got moving.
“You’re right about one thing, though.” Eileen stepped out of the pantry holding what looked to Ais, from a distance, to be a bag of unpopped corn. The McGarry sisters were hosting movie night. “There are no churches or temples or anything like that in Buinet.”
“Which is just as well since all the marriages have civil ceremonies.” Amy, who’d entered the room and jumped feet-first into the conversation, rested her palms against the table’s edge near Ais.
“Everyone that I heard of who had a civil ceremony took an hour off during lunch and went right back to work,” Eileen said.
Eileen emitted a cheerful grunt and carried a big, lidded pot to the stovetop.
Ais tapped her hand over her rude yawn and shook her head when every woman in the kitchen turned to her. “Excuse.”
“Why don’t you head to bed?” Erin asked.
“See movie.” Hear the movie, anyway. Ais didn’t expect she’d be able to make out many of the images. Her eyes were tired and so was her brain.
“Honey, if you’re gonna sleep through the film, you’re not gonna have a hell of a lot of fun when you have to get up and trudge even more sleepily to bed.”
“Maybe right.” Sighing, Ais gripped her walking stick’s handle and looked toward the doorway. There didn’t seem to be any obstacles between it and the gathering room. Getting around the gathering room would be more of a challenge.
“I’ll walk you over to the cottage and come back before the movie starts,” Amy said. “I’ll grab the flashlight.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, no biggie. Besides…” Amy shrugged. “I always have ulterior motives.”
“Mm-hmm,” Erin said. “She’s afraid someone will press her more about doing some political work in Little Gitano.”
“I’d say the fear is pretty well-founded. Every time someone gets me alone in a room, they have a new argument for me.”
“That’s because the consensus is that you have the brain for the job and we’re just trying to get a handle on why you’re so afraid of doing it.”
“I told you.” Amy pulled Ais’s chair back. “I’d rather dwell in relative obscurity. Obscurity is safer.”
“Says the woman who every Jekhan person in Buinet knew if not by her fake name, then by her face.”
“That was different.” Amy got Ais to her feet with far more efficiency than was probably necessary and waved goodbye to the ladies in the kitchen. “Let’s go,” she whispered, “before someone says ‘one more thing’.”
“One more thing,” Courtney called toward the door.
Amy groaned softly.
“Ais, do you have breakfast stuff at the cottage, or are you coming back in the morning?”
“Whew. That’s all? I’ll go get the flashlight.” Amy zipped away.
“Um.” Ais didn’t know the answer to Courtney’s question. She’d been relying on Owen to feed her and didn’t know if he’d made preparations for the next day.
She fiddled with the walking stick handle again and heated at the suspicion that every woman in the room was looking her way. “I… I come?”
“You gonna want me to come fetch you?” Eileen asked. Quick popping sounds were coming out of the pot she stirred.
“I walk. I come.”
“All right, hon. Just call over if you need another pair of eyes.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Erin said, snapping her fingers. “She has the first surgery tomorrow. Probably won’t want to eat beforehand.”
“I thought she was having laser microsurgery,” Courtney said. “No general anesthesia.”
“It is, but doesn’t the idea of having someone use a laser scalpel in your eyeball make your stomach turn?”
“No.”
“Jeez.”
Ais shuddered. “I eat after.”
“Smart choice,” Amy said, tossing the industrial flashlight from one hand to the other. “Maybe we’ll bring you a basket of goodies or something since you’ll have an eye patched and will only have one functioning eye for a bit.”
“Ooh!” Eileen said. “Field trip.”
“Not a very far one, but still.”
Amy got Ais moving after Ais said her goodnights to the ladies in the room.
Amy guided her patiently around the dimly lit gathering space, and then outside.
Jerry skittered at their heels for a bit just beyond the doorway, barking quietly at them.
Chuckling, Ais bent.
Jerry sniffed the puppy, licked his face, and then sauntered away.
Amy helped Ais get upright again, and laughed. “That’s how they think we are.”
“Hmm?”
“The men. Jekhan women have a reputation for being hands-off with their children and that they don’t care as much about them as the fathers do, but I think that the women behave the way they do simply out of force of habit.”
“Explain.”
“Because of those Tynealean impulses, the guys are predisposed to keeping their children within arm’s reach when they’re little, and I think women just got tired of arguing with them, so they let them have their way. That became the culture, or the expectation, rather. A woman shouldn’t have to feel like there’s something wrong with her if she wants to spend quiet time with her baby.”
“Who do?”
“Who did that?”
Ais nodded.
Amy helped her over a slick patch on the path and, after a moment, said on a sigh, “My mother was very hands-on when no one was watching. When my fathers were distracted by politics or other work, she’d find me, and she’d close the door, and we’d play. I think she was very lonely. She probably wouldn’t have been so bold if she weren’t.”
“She nice?”
“Yes, she was. She was lovely. She and your mother came from a little village called Layund that was very close to Buinet. It was something of a resort village that was destroyed when the Terrans came, but if you go to Zone Seven in Buinet and look across the river, you can see where it was. It was right between the River Buinet and a huge lake with water so clear you could see the bottom.”
“Pretty?”
“Mm. Very much so. Most people made their money either from fishing or in hospitality. Our mothers’ parents did a little of both. I suppose they did okay, but they certainly weren’t wealthy. My mother married way up, as the Terrans might say.”
“She like? Uh, the men. Hers.”
“You know, I never thought to ask her because so often in trios—especially trios that have prominent men in them—whether or not they liked each other was of no consequence.”
Ais shook her head hard.
“Yeah. I know. I can’t imagine being stuck with men I’m not particularly attracted to or who I don’t have much in common with, but I guess women feel like they have to. They have to chip in and do their parts to keep the population vital. Women have a reputation for drifting away after they’ve done their duty, but how could they not? Why should they stay if they’re not connecting to anyone who lives right under the same roof?”
“Maybe change.”
Amy shrugged. “Maybe. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse, right? There are so few women on the planet now. Perhaps if some come back, they’ll want to be more discriminating. They can choose to be alone or just wait until they find the right trio. Maybe they’ll be inconveniencing some men, but why should the men be the only ones who get what they want?”
“What Amy want?”
Amy chuckled and pointed the beam of her light toward the cottage door.
The inside of the little house was dark. Owen obviously hadn’t returned, and Ais wondered if he would. If he were going to leave her there, she’d just as soon go back to the farmhouse and bunk with Amy.
At the sound of male voices on approach from the path on the other side of the house, Ais’s apprehension unfurled.
“Amy doesn’t want planning,” her cousin said with a giggle. “Amy wants passion.” She opened the cottage door and leaned in to turn on the light.
“Maybe you get.”
“I hope so, Ais. And I hope that when I do, no one will judge me too harshly for having waited for it.”
“Ah, there you are,” Luke called as he and Owen rounded the corner.
“We called over to the house,” Owen said. “Erin said you’d already left. You could have waited.”
“Why?” Amy asked. “I didn’t have a problem with walking her.”
If Owen had a response to that, he didn’t speak it.
Ais hadn
’t seen him since early afternoon. While she’d been in the house looking for small tasks to keep her hands busy, he’d fled to the office with Edgar and the Ciprianis, who’d been very sleepily rotating in and out of the work. Owen and Edgar were the constants.
Owen shifted his weight, grunted, then stepped into the cottage. “Need to get some tools.”
Luke leaned against the doorway and looked from Ais to Amy. “So…can I take your picture?”
“Whatever for?”
“Because I’m a scummy bastard and hate my friends at home.”
Amy shook her head. “I don’t follow what you mean.”
“I wanna take your picture and send it to them.”
“To what end?”
He smiled broadly enough that even Ais could see all his teeth. “To show them how pretty Jekhan women are. Probably foolish of me since technically I’m on Earth right now and totally didn’t steal a classified vehicle, but hey.” He shrugged. “I’m reckless like that.”
“You cad.” Amy swatted at him and turned on her heel. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ais.”
“Yes.”
Luke snorted and pushed away from the doorway. He gestured toward the inside. “After you, my lady.”
“Thank you.” Ais sidled around him, heeled her shoes off near the door, and set down the puppy.
“Oh, you’re welcome.” He closed the door.
Owen looked up from the crate he was rooting through.
Luke stuffed his hands into his pockets and sauntered toward the kitchen. “I think the climate of this place suits me,” he said congenially.
Owen grunted. “You just missed two monsoon-like events. Stick around long enough to experience those, and you might change your mind.”
“I like rain.”
“Really? Because when we were kids, rain was one of the few things that kept you out of trouble. I guess you didn’t want to mess up your hair.”
“Ha ha.”
Owen resumed his rooting.
Luke whistled a playful sounding song, unfamiliar to Ais, but almost all songs were.
She listened, swaying, waiting for the conclusion, but then he cut off the tune without finishing.
She pouted.