A Year and a Day

by Gail Daley

  The Captain grunted and frowned. "I see," he said, obviously not really believing her.

  Katherine stood up. "May I speak, Captain?"

  He nodded, "Certainly Milady."

  "Captain Healdsburg we are guests on your ship and subject to your laws and regulations so I will accept whatever judgment you make in regard to this matter. I will take no action unacceptable to you."

  She looked first at Donna DeMedici, and then addressed Darla Lister coldly. "Woman, you have twice endangered my children, and could have caused bodily harm both times. Your patron, Donna Sabina DeMedici knows full well that were we on Vensoog, your actions could have meant a clan war."

  She exchanged a look with Donna Sabina DeMedici and received a nod. "I will trust both her and the Captain to ensure you take no further actions against my family on board this ship. However, I make no promises for the future." She turned back to Captain Heidelberg. "Captain, I do request that this—person—be sequestered to her quarters or some other secure area for the remainder of our journey."

  Captain Hidelberg scowled at Katherine. "You say this is a second attempt? When was the first one made?"

  "On the planet before we left."

  "Un-Huh. Very well, Lady O’Teague, since I am anxious to prevent any further incidents I will honor your request. I will accept your assurance that you will not further disrupt my ship as I have always found that the word of a Lady of Vensoog to be absolutely trustworthy."

  He stared angrily at Darla Lister. "One of the features left to us by our former military occupiers is a functioning Brig. Michelson, Moore, take Miss Lister down to the Brig and lock her in. Inform the cook to send her meals there."

  "Donna DeMedici, I trust you have no objection?"

  Donna DeMedici stood. "None Captain, and I wish to apologize to you for this incident and to Lady O’Teague as well. I too am a guest on your vessel and I will abide by your decisions and ensure that the members of my clan do so. I assure both you and the Lady O’Teague that I will investigate this matter within house and take whatever disciplinary action is needed."

  Lewiston had risen. "That’s it? She’s just condemned? Not even a trial?"

  Captain Hidelberg eyed him. "I see you are unfamiliar with proceedings aboard ship, Mister Lewiston. A Captain’s Mast is a form of trial, and I have just passed Judgment." He added, "If you wish to dispute my Judgement, I assure you there is an adjoining cell down in the Brig where you can be accommodated."

  "Enough!" Donna DeMedici snapped. "Did you not hear me accept the Captain’s judgment? Come, Lewiston, before I change my mind and ask Captain Hidelberg to put you there as well." She swept out the door, her back stiff with anger and embarrassment.

  Once Katherine had collected her new family back in their suite and they had all been fortified with a restorative drink, she looked around at them. "Well, we survived it," she remarked. "And I think we can relax about Lister. Clan DeMedici at least for the time being will make sure she behaves. So, Juliette," she continued, "now would be a good time to let me in on just exactly why you kids have been following Darla Lister around."

  There was an uncomfortable silence. The children all exchanged guilty looks and most of the adults surprised ones. Katherine sipped her drink and fixed her gaze on Juliette, waiting for an answer.

  Juliette finally put down her chocolate and rubbed her hands together. At last, she said, "I knew something was funny after she played that trick on us at the toy shop. Then we overheard her and Lewiston talking about a weapons drop at the ball. I wanted to find out why, so we planted one of these," she held up a small flat object that changed color to match her skin, "on their boots so we could listen in on who they talked to and what they said."

  "You have to be pretty close to be able to hear it though," Roderick put in. "That’s why we were following them around," Rupert finished his twin’s sentence.

  Katherine held out her hand. "May I see it?"

  Juliette handed it to her. Katherine held it up against her sleeve and it changed to blend in with the sleeve. "Ingenious. Where did you get them?"

  Juliette blew out her breath. "I stole a bunch of them from Grouter when we left. I thought—I wanted—well I was pretty sure we could trust you, but we didn’t really know you and everyone was depending on me to decide so I—well I used them to listen to you without you knowing so I could be sure you were okay," she finished defiantly.

  "Ah, and what did you decide?" Katherine inquired mildly.

  The five younger children exchanged looks. "If you want us then we’d like to stay with you, if that’s alright," Juliette said.

  Katherine laughed delightedly. "Oh, I want you, all of you." She turned to Corrine, "What did I tell you? A daughter after my own heart! Welcome, daughters and sons, Forever And A Day!"

  "Forever And A Day," Corrine agreed, echoing the promise. Unexpectedly, Katherine found herself with an armful of children. She hugged them all fiercely, and then wiped her eyes.

  "Glad as I am that is settled," Gideon remarked, "I would like to know what the children found out about Lewiston’s plans."

  Zack frowned at him. "Why do you think he has plans? Other than finding a new home, that is."

  "I heard some rumors. At the end of the action on Janus, there was chitchat going around that some of the displaced soldiers had tried a coup. I know he was investigated along with some other officers." Katherine brought them back to what she considered was the more important subject.

  "Well, I certainly think a forewarning about the Submit is worth passing on to my sister; she can pass it on to the DeMedici’s. However, I don’t want any of you children doing any more unauthorized surveillance, okay?"

  "Okay," Juliette agreed. After a hesitation, the boys did the same.

  A few days before their arrival at their new home, Zack and Roderick took a walk down to the Brig after Lewiston went to visit Darla Lister. While Zack engaged the crewman on duty ostensibly about the time of her release, claiming he wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be on the same shuttle, Roderick retrieved the button and recorder they had placed there.

  Katherine frowned when they brought it to the family planning meeting after dinner that evening. "I thought you promised not to engage in any more spying?" she said.

  "Actually," Zack replied, "I believe the word was ‘unauthorized’ surveillance. Gideon and I asked the boys to furnish us with a button and a receiver. We added a recorder as well so we know who visited her and what was said. Want to hear it?"

  "Don’t be silly, Katherine," Corrine said. "Of course, we want to hear it."

  Zack set up the playback on the vid screen. They could see that Lister and Lewiston were alone in the brig, the duty crewman having gone to fetch Lister’s meal.

  "I kind of figured you might be joining me here," Darla remarked. "She looked pretty mad to me after the hearing. What did you do, dose her up with Submit again?"

  He glared at her. "This is the second time you’ve gone off half-cocked about those kids. Even if they were following you, what harm could it do?"

  "And, yes, I did have to slip a little into our after dinner drinks. I only got a limited supply from Grouter you know, and as I may need to use it on her mother too, I would appreciate it if you would quit making me waste it to cover up your mistakes!"

  "I don’t like kids," Darla said sullenly, "You think they’re no danger to us just because they’re kids but you’re wrong. And that Juliette—she gives me the willies."

  He snorted. "Never mind that. Once we get to the ground, I want you and Georgios to steal some transport and get out to the coordinates where the ammo is going to come down. I was going to send someone else with him, but I’ve decided to get you away from the O’Teague until we’re ready to move. I need time to win over Mama DeMedici to our plan," he reminded her, "and I can’t do that if you keep stirring the pot."

  When the vid finished, everyone sat and looked at each other in speculative silence.

  "It almost sounds as i
f he’s still planning some type of coup," Vernal remarked.

  "Maybe he’s just planning on running the DeMedici Clan," suggested Corrine.

  "Would he need weapons to do that?" asked Juliette.

  "I don’t know, hon, but then I don’t know what their clan set up is like," Zack responded. "In any case, I’m against allowing him access to additional weapons on general principals."

  "Well, I think our best bet will be to send Genevieve a copy of that vid and ask her to pass along the warning about Lewiston’s ammo drop to Clan DeMedici," stated Katherine.

  A New Home

  ARRIVAL day on Vensoog was chaos. The Dancing Gryphon only boasted three shuttles and two of them had already been re-fitted by the crew as cargo carriers.

  "We drew lots," Katherine explained to her frustrated family. "Captain Heidelberg only made one shuttle available to us for unloading people. The other three shuttles are going to be busy unloading cargo. We won’t have them available until the cargo has been unloaded. The Clans are going to alternate shuttle usage for landing our new members. Yang will go down first, then the DeMedici’s and then us. I arranged for the fifteen of us and three more families with children to be in the first shuttle we’ve been allotted. I wanted families with children to have a chance to settle them into O’Teague Manor before the ceremony this afternoon, so they will be first down."

  "What about our stuff," Jayla asked gesturing at the pile of luggage they had needed during the trip.

  "There is a cargo lift outside. If you kids will put all that stuff on it, one of the crew is going to take it down to the loading area. From there it will be taken on one of the cargo shuttles down to the port. Once it’s down on the planet, it will be taken over to the barge we’re going to ride out to our Glass Manor."

  A New Family

  PORT Recovery’s spaceport was a series of plain ulitarian domes. The first building on the site had been a tower that had blown over during the colonists first storm season. Next to it was a larger secondary dome with partitions where colonists could store trade goods while they waited for a ship.

  Several of the clans had reception committees waiting for the new arrivals. Clan O’Teagues’ consisted of Genevieve, Drusilla and three women who oversaw the handling the transition of both cargo and new immigrants. After freeing herself from strangling hugs from Genevieve and Drusilla, Katherine turned to Margie, a medium sized, brown haired woman accompanied by two very large shorthaired dogs.

  "Are these them?" she inquired.

  Margie nodded, stroking their heads. "This is Ulnae and Karton, the best in our kennels, Just and you requested."

  Katherine gestured Jayne forward. "Jayne, I’d like for you and your boys to meet Margie. She will be instructing you on handling your new Nanny Dogs, Ulnae and Karton."

  Jayne looked puzzled. "Nanny Dogs?"

  Katherine nodded. "Your boys are both too young to recognize dangerous plants or animals. On Vensoog, we use Nanny Dogs to keep very young children safe from things in their environment that might hurt them. Ulnae and Karton will help keep them from doing things like accidentally falling in the water, tasting poison plants, handling venomous insects, stuff like that."

  "They’re quite safe," Margie assured her. "Let’s step over here shall we, so we’re out of the way while I introduce you. Hold out your hand so they can get your scent."

  Margie, Jayne and her boys moved over by the open windows while she made the introductions and explained to Jayne and the boys about the dog’s duties.

  Katherine turned to the waiting men. "Genevieve, may I present Colonel Gideon Michaels, his son Lucas and his daughter Jayla?"

  Genevieve held out her hand and Gideon bowed over it, brushing it with a kiss. "Lady Genevieve, I am honored to meet you," he said.

  She smiled back at him. "Just Genevieve, please. Since we are to be Handfasted, I suggest we start with first names instead of titles." She turned to Lucas and Jayla. "These are your wards?"

  "Yes, this is Lucas and Jayla." Lucas had been staring dumbstruck at Drusilla ever since he laid eyes on her and had apparently not heard the introduction.

  Gideon kicked Lucas sharply in the ankle to get his attention, and the boy jumped. "What? Oh, pleased to meet you ma’am," Lucas said, bowing, but his eyes went straight back to Drusilla.

  Seeing what had drawn his gaze, Genevieve’s lips twitched, but she turned her attention to Jayla. "Welcome to Vensoog, Lady Jayla," she said as the girl, having been coached by Katherine on the trip out, dropped a curtsey. "Lord Lucas, I am pleased to meet you. I can see you will be a welcome addition to the Clan."

  She gestured Drusilla forward. "Gideon, this is my youngest sister, Lady Drusilla who has been largely responsible for organizing the ceremony this afternoon and the journey back to Glass City we will take later this week."

  "Please to meet you," Drusilla said shyly, blushing when she met Lucas’s openly admiring eyes.

  "Excuse me," Genevieve murmured to Gideon. "Protocol," as she moved back over to Katherine.

  "Lady Genevieve, Lady Drusilla," Katherine said formally. "This is my fiancée Zackery Jackson and his wards, the Ladies Violet and Lucinda, and his nephews Lord Rupert and Lord Roderick. And this," she added standing behind Juliette and putting her hands on both her shoulders, "is my First Daughter, Lady Juliette O’Teague’ni Jones. Everyone, this is your new Laird, the Lady Genevieve O’Teague, and my sister Lady Drusilla."

  Genevieve’s eyebrows rose, but she held out both hands to Juliette and said, "Welcome to our family, First Daughter. I am so pleased to meet all of you."

  She and Katherine then moved off to the waiting new clansmen so they could be formally presented to their new Laird.

  Katherine stood at the rail of the large paddlewheel boat with Zack and the children and looked out over the smoothly flowing channel of water as they threaded the gate of the inlet leading out into the main waterway. The water was a translucent green, clear enough to see the bottom, in spite of the plants coating the shore and drifting across the expanse of water. A warm breeze laden with aromas of drying algae and scented plants warmed her skin as the boat moved slowly along. In the distance, a family of Nessies lifted their heads to watch the boat.

  "How far to the Manor?" Zack inquired. "Is it large enough to hold us all?"

  "It’s not just the manor," Katherine said. "When we first landed, the entire clan stayed there until we moved onto Glass Isle. There is a manor house, outbuildings and an outdoor meeting hall. Drusilla told me we would be staying in the main house. Normally we would stay there anyway, but because there are so many of us, it’s going to be crowded. She assigned all the children beds in the dormitory so that as many of the newly married couples as could fit would have a room to themselves. Of course, some of the women have brought their own pop up domes with them."

  "How long will it take to get there?" asked Juliette.

  "O’Teague Manor is about a half hour from the city," Katherine answered. "We’re lucky our land extends down to the edge of the water so we reach it by river boat."

  "Do all the Clans have land around the spaceport?" Zack asked curiously.

  "Yes. It was agreed that for the first year all the clans would set up a permanent base around the spaceport. We had a limited amount of materials and equipment that had to be shared. O’Teague and most of the others didn’t move onto our assigned territories until the third year after landfall."

  As she spoke, the barge was carefully sliding by with about eight feet clearance from another paddlewheel barge going against the current toward the spaceport. At last they rounded the final curve of the channel and angled in toward a plastacrete dock.

  "Look," Katherine exclaimed. "Isn’t it beautiful?"

  Several smaller colorful dome roofs had been put together to form a large area for the temporary hall. The domes were held up with poles, wrapped in colorful ribbons and left open to take advantage of the breeze coming in off the water. Decorated tables of food with stasis shield
ing were laid out, and chairs were placed around other tables set up for dining. A leaf-covered bower for the Handfasting ceremonies had been erected under the dome. Behind it and a little to the right were three smaller tables one holding red and silver braided ribbons, the second a stack of small crystal boxes and the third table several decanters each with two pouring spouts and sets of glasses.

  Up the hill from the temporary hall were s series of larger domes including the main house and dormitories. Extensive and fragrant gardens marked with stone pathways led up from the temporary hall toward the main house. Twenty or thirty smaller, colorful temporary domes dotted the gardens as well.

  It took most of the morning for all the new clan members to arrive. Katherine and Zack spent most of it making sure the children and Jayne were comfortable in the space Drusilla had assigned them. Making sure that each couple had an opportunity to meet their Handfasting partner before the actual ceremony took up considerable time.

  The Handfasting

  A CRYSTAL GONG sounded a single clear note and everyone quieted, directing their eyes towards the tiny woman who would officiate at the Handfasting ceremony. She stood under a canopy of green, sunlight filtering down through the leaves. The woman was dressed in shades of blue, purple and orange, making her eyes seem an even more vivid green than the arbor. Her white hair was braided in a coronet around her face. A large multi-colored crystal pendant rested on her breast, and large drops of the same crystal hung from her ears and were braided into her hair; she was attended by two slim teenagers with the colors in their garments a much paler hue.

  "Good Afternoon," her voice had a deep bell-like quality. "For those who do not know me, I am High Priestess Arella. I will perform the Handfasting ceremony. Since we have quite a few couples to unite this afternoon, each ceremony will be brief. I will ask each couple to come forward and join me under the Greenleaf, we will perform the ceremony, and then you will be free to enjoy the festivities until it is time for the brides to leave for the wedding bower. If there are any here who wish for the Forever and A Day Handfasting, please let me know when you come forward." Arella consulted the infopad next to her.