Frontier

by Janet Edwards

  “Those little furry things seem to be everywhere,” said Captain Mobele. “I’ve even found one in my shoe. What do you call them?”

  “Panda mice. Their main predator is the Mirandan blind weasel, which hunts using its sense of smell. Panda mice like to sleep among strong smelling plants like Mirandan cabbage, because those mask their scent from the weasels. I think that’s why they like shoes too.”

  “That panda mouse is enjoying the sunshine. I’m not sure how long I’ve been on Miranda or where I’ve travelled, but it’s been warm and sunny most of the time, with just the occasional heavy rainstorm. My theory is that it’s summer here.”

  “It’s nearly the end of summer,” I said. “You arrived through the interstellar portal at Memorial a few weeks ago, kept walking west until you hit the river at Falling Rock, and then turned down river and found your way here.”

  Captain Mobele seemed disconcerted. “You seem to know far more about what I’ve been doing than I know myself. I couldn’t stay on my Military base in Kappa sector because I had to be heavily sedated all the time I was indoors, and it was too dangerous for me to stay outside the domes. My psychologist agreed with my idea that going to a frontier world without much technology would help my recovery, but of course the interstellar portal trip was a nightmare. I needed so many meds to get me through it, that I was barely conscious of anything for the first few days.”

  “People have been worried how you’ve been managing in the rainstorms. They tried giving you a tent, but you left it behind.”

  “I’ve mostly been getting wet in the rainstorms. I think I remember the tent. I left it behind because I couldn’t go inside it.” He jerked a thumb at the sleep sack he was carrying. “I won’t be able to use this either. Chaos, I was awarded the Thetis medal, which makes me an official Military hero, but I’m too scared to take shelter from the rain.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I kept quiet.

  “Planet First always choose colony worlds with a day and night cycle similar to those of Earth,” he added, “but this one seems especially close to the interstellar standard Earth day.”

  “It is,” I said. “The Mirandan day is only four minutes and six seconds longer than an Earth day, but the Mirandan year is nearly two Earth years long.”

  He nodded, stroked the sleeping panda mouse’s forehead with a gentle fingertip, and laughed again when it made a faint snoring noise but didn’t wake up. As we started walking again, I asked a cautious question.

  “Captain Mobele, do you know much about Colony Ten?”

  “Please call me Koulsy,” he said.

  “I’m happy to meet you, Koulsy. My name is Amalie.”

  It was strange that I found it easier to call Captain Mobele by his first name than to even think of calling Kellan and Inessa Jain by theirs. That couldn’t be because of the difference in ages, because I was comfortable talking to Guiren. Of course I’d never seen Guiren making speeches on Miranda Rolling News.

  Koulsy smiled. “I’m happy to meet you too, Amalie. I’ve been assigned to Planet First teams, but never to a Colony Ten support team. That means I know quite a lot about some aspects of Colony Ten and almost nothing about others.”

  “Do you know what payments are given to the first thousand colonists on a world?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You’re thinking of applying to Colony Ten?”

  I made a noise that could mean either yes or no. “I’ve been reading the information about Colony Ten on the Miranda data net, but it doesn’t include any details about the payments.”

  “My Colony Ten classes at the Military Academy included a brief overview of the colonist reward system,” said Koulsy. “At the end of their ten years in quarantine, each colonist gets a land grant to be handed down through their family in perpetuity. There’s also a credit payment, and a bonus payment for each child they have during the Colony Ten years. I can’t remember the exact payments involved, but if you send an application enquiry then Colony Ten will provide you with full details.”

  “What about the man and woman who lead a Colony Ten group?”

  “The Colony Ten group leaders each get double the usual rewards.”

  I frowned. Rodrish’s parents would each have had a land grant on Percival, and two here on Miranda. They’d also have had three credit payments each, and extra bonuses for the five of their children that were born during the Colony Ten years on Percival and Miranda. Kellan and Inessa Jain must be staggeringly wealthy.

  “I’ve just realized something,” I said. “When I was a little girl, my mother used to tell me a story from her home world in Gamma sector. A girl called Cinders worked as a cleaner at a vast Gamma sector shoe manufacturing company. All the staff were invited to the company Year Day party, and Cinders danced with the son of the owner of the company. He fell in love with her, and they ended up getting married.”

  “I know that story,” said Koulsy. “It must be very old, dating back to the days when humanity only lived on Earth, because each of the established sectors has their own version of it and they all involve a shoe. In Alpha sector, Cinders is a girl from an obscure family and she marries the son of the Aadi of Alpha sector. In Beta sector, the story is set during their Second Roman Empire years. Cinders is a boy from a low class clan, and he marries the daughter of the Emperor. In Delta sector, Cinders is a girl student at University Hercules and marries a Nobel Prize winner. There’s even a Military version. In that, Cinders is a boy, a cadet at the Military Academy, and marries a General.”

  He shrugged. “Epsilon sector hasn’t got its own Cinders story yet, but I expect it will in the end.”

  I pulled a face. “I’m sure it will, and it’ll probably be about me removing a panda mouse from my shoe when my lookup chimes with a call from Rodrish Jain.”

  “What?” Koulsy gave me a bewildered look.

  “The Jains are the incredibly rich couple who led the first colonists to Miranda,” I said. “I’m the humble farm girl that’s just got betrothed to their youngest son. I’m Cinders.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  I didn’t want to arrive at the Great House on my own, so I made the three portal trips to meet Rodrish at River North 2, then we portalled together to River North 1.

  The moment I stepped out of the portal, I got a clear view of the Great House. It was even more massive and intimidating than I’d expected. The mere sight of it was enough to start one of my stress headaches, but I’d been prepared for that and had my tablets ready in my pocket.

  Rodrish turned to point at the house. “Beautiful, isn’t it? As you can see, Father is an admirer of the Palladian style of architecture.”

  I wanted to tell Rodrish about my headaches, but there wasn’t time for complicated explanations now. I grabbed my chance to gulp down a tablet without him noticing. After a moment’s thought, I decided this was going to be a stressful day, and took a second one as well.

  “The towers at each end are Mother’s addition,” said Rodrish. “She actually only wanted one tower for her telescope, but Father said that would imbalance the symmetry of the structure.”

  I barely knew what architecture was, and I’d never heard the word “Palladian” before. Buildings on Miranda were mostly either flexiplas domes or rambling wooden houses.

  “The pillars by the main door remind me of the images I’ve seen of the Beta Sector Parliament building on Zeus,” I said.

  Rodrish nodded. “They should do. Palladian architecture was originally inspired by the buildings of ancient Rome and Greece. The style of Beta sector public buildings technically isn’t Palladian, but it was inspired by the same buildings.”

  “You seem to know a lot about architecture,” I said.

  “I’ve suffered eighteen years of lectures from my father. His twin passions are agriculture and architecture, and he never stops talking about them. Mother loves star gazing, but she never forces the rest of us to get involved, just quietly goes off at night to spend an hour or two with her teles
cope.”

  We started walking towards the house. The area of reddish grassland round it had a scattering of trees that were an odd mixture of Earth and native species. I saw a herd of the elegant Mirandan unicorn deer grazing nearby, their flanks striped in brown and white, and their single spiral horns gleaming in the sunshine.

  “I’ve only ever seen those running wild in the conservation zones,” I said.

  “The unicorn deer are one of Father’s farming experiments,” said Rodrish. “He thinks the deer may be the secret to successfully growing Mirandan mushrooms on a commercial scale. Whether he’s right or not, they’re lovely creatures.”

  He paused for a second before speaking again. “I warned you that my parents are obsessed with Colony Ten. I had to risk telling them we weren’t going to apply, because they wouldn’t consider giving me the Great House if they thought we were planning to go to a new world. I think they’ve accepted that, and are focusing their hopes on their grandchildren now, but if they mention Colony Ten then try to let me do the talking.”

  As we neared the house, Rodrish’s parents came down the steps and stood there waiting for us. I was disconcerted to see Bened was with them.

  “Nuke it!” said Rodrish. “What’s Bened doing here? Does that mean my parents are giving him the Great House after all?”

  He seemed to be asking himself the question rather than me, because he didn’t glance in my direction, just hurried on to meet his parents and older brother.

  “Welcome to our home, Amalie.” Inessa Jain gestured at Bened. “I wasn’t expecting Bened to join us today. I hope his arrival doesn’t trouble you.”

  “I thought I was free to visit this house whenever I pleased,” said Bened, in an acid voice. “Apparently that’s not the case.”

  Kellan Jain made a despairing noise. “Your mother and I are only concerned about you intruding on this visit because of your embarrassing behaviour when you last met Amalie.”

  I looked Bened straight in the eyes. “I’m happy for you to join us, Bened, so long as you treat both me and Rodrish with appropriate respect.”

  Bened raised his eyebrows. “Treat Rodrish with appropriate respect? You surely can’t object to a little friendly banter between me and my baby brother.”

  “For chaos sake, stop belittling me by calling me a baby!” said Rodrish. “I have a farm of my own, and I’m about to marry a wife. That makes me as adult as you, Bened.”

  Bened raised his eyebrows. “Really? You’re a year younger than my eldest son, but you’re claiming equality here? The truth is you belong with my children’s generation, not with mine.”

  “Your children,” repeated Rodrish. “You mean your two sons. Amalie and I are planning to have a large family.”

  “Oh yes,” said Bened. “I realize that you’ve chosen your future wife very carefully, Rodrish. A girl who’s bright enough to help you deal with the academic things that you find hard. A girl who passed the Farming Studies Certificate with the highest possible grades and can discuss agriculture with Father. A girl who has ten brothers and sisters too.”

  He laughed. “I’m sure your farm girl will dutifully bear you a dozen children, baby brother, and Father will be delighted that one of us finally has what he considers a good sized family. It’s just a shame that your horde of children will be as low class and common as their mother.”

  “Bened!” Kellan Jain bellowed the name. “You will be quiet!”

  There was an excruciatingly awkward silence. I moistened my lips. Bened’s words had upset me. No, actually it wasn’t Bened’s words that had upset me, but what Rodrish had said about us planning to have a large family. The two of us hadn’t discussed the subject of children yet. Did Rodrish think he could decide the size of our future family without even consulting me?

  I reminded myself that Bened had been saying a string of spiteful things to Rodrish, seemingly uncaring of the consequences so long as he hurt his younger brother. It wasn’t surprising that Rodrish had said something he didn’t really mean in an attempt to hit back at him. This was exactly like when I lost my temper with Shelby Summerhaze, and lashed out at her with a random insult.

  “Amalie,” said Inessa Jain, “I must apologize for Bened’s conduct. Again! Bened, I wish to speak to you. Again!”

  She shepherded Bened away to my right. Rodrish had turned to watch them, and his father was clearly too furious to say anything. There was another painful silence. Rodrish had said his father was passionate about agriculture. I faced Kellan Jain, and made a desperate attempt at conversation.

  “Rodrish was telling me that you think the unicorn deer may be the key to growing Mirandan mushrooms. I’ve been helping my father with his almond crop for the last two years. Do you think there’s a pollination link between unicorn deer and mushrooms like the one between moon monkeys and almonds?”

  Kellan Jain looked startled. “That’s right, Amalie. The mushrooms appear at random in patches of grass. My theory is they’ve linked themselves to the unicorn deer, using them to carry their pollen and spores between areas of grassland when they’re grazing.”

  He waved his hands. “It’s vital that we learn more about the ecosystem of Miranda. Medcorn is a safe and easy crop to grow. It only needs panda mice running up the stalks, or moon monkeys bounding through the field, to spread the pollen on their fur. The problem is we have to buy the seed corn from the vaccine manufacturers and sell the crop back to them. The key to true independence and future prosperity for Miranda is to work with the native species instead of against them.”

  The bored expression on Rodrish’s face told me he’d heard all this a thousand times before. The bit about working with the native species of Miranda sounded familiar to me too. I had a feeling Kellan Jain was repeating part of a speech he’d made on Miranda Rolling News.

  Kellan Jain seemed to have almost forgotten Bened in his enthusiasm for what he was telling me, but I was conscious of Inessa and Bened Jain having a whispered argument over on my right.

  “Look what Osiris has achieved with its lilies,” continued Kellan Jain. “They export them to the perfume manufacturers on hundreds of worlds. We’re starting to export almonds for the luxury food markets, but ideally we should diversify so we aren’t totally dependent on one crop.”

  Kellan Jain droned on about export markets. The argument between Inessa Jain and Bened was getting more heated, so I could hear some of it now. Rodrish was a little further away from them, so hopefully he couldn’t. Taking two tablets had saved me from having an aching head, but I was feeling a touch of the dizziness Doc Jumi had warned me about.

  “Your attitude is deeply embarrassing for your father and me, as well as upsetting for your brother,” said Inessa Jain.

  “I can’t believe you’re in favour of this marriage,” said Bened. “The girl was practically wearing rags yesterday.”

  “That was your father’s fault for insisting on making a dramatic surprise entrance,” said Inessa Jain. “I liked seeing Amalie was prepared to join in the building work. It reminded me of the days when I helped build ...”

  She seemed to realize she was talking too loudly because her voice abruptly dropped in volume. Kellan Jain paused a moment later, probably expecting me to say something in response to his explanation of export markets. Unfortunately, this coincided with an angry outburst from Bened.

  “Of course Rodrish wouldn’t ask a girl from one of the Founding Families to marry him. A girl like that would expect to be treated as his equal instead of humbly accepting his decisions. There’d even be the risk of her turning down his offer.”

  I reminded myself that Bened was a troublemaker and I should ignore his poisonous remarks. I’d lost track of what Kellan Jain had been talking about, but I had to say something.

  “I’ve never understood why the false fruits of almond bushes are so acidic when they depend on moon monkeys to pollinate them.”

  “You have to remember that almond bushes used to be a rare species,” said Kellan
Jain. “They designed their pollen to be carried by moon monkeys, because the troops travel far enough to reach widely scattered bushes. The false fruits were acidic enough to deter panda mice from eating them, but there weren’t enough fruits on a single bush to upset a moon monkey’s digestion.”

  “I see,” I said. “So we’ve really created the problem ourselves by growing whole fields of almond bushes.”

  Inessa Jain led Bened back to us, and gave me a strained smile. “You’re most welcome to our home and our family, Amalie. Kellan, shall we show our future daughter-in-law the Great House now?”

  Kellan Jain nodded, and led the way up the stairs to the main door of the Great House. I followed him, taking the steps carefully because of my dizziness. When we reached the top, Kellan Jain stood aside and gestured at me to go through the door first.

  I took a single look at the airy white entrance hall and gasped. In front of me, on a stone pedestal, stood a crystal globe etched with the outlines of the continents of Miranda. I moved closer, and saw the inhabited continent was inlaid in gold.

  “Is that the globe that the Military gave you at Miranda’s handover ceremony?” I asked, in a shaky voice.

  Kellan Jain came to stand next to me. “The original is over at Memorial,” he said, in smug tones. “The Military gave us this copy to keep for ourselves.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I said.

  “We call this the hall of the Mirandas,” said Inessa Jain.

  I didn’t understand her use of the plural, but she pointed at the wall ahead of me. There was an image of a woman wearing what seemed to be an archaic version of the impact suits that the Military wore, and next to it a confusing image. It might be a moon, but it definitely wasn’t Miranda’s moon.