by Nōnen Títi
Maike looked at the child on the mat. “So you’re not going to help them?” she asked.
Nini turned away to sit with the child as an answer, her back to the room. She only heard what went on behind her: Remko finished wrapping Thalo’s head and told Maike he’d have to stay to have his vital signs checked. He let Maike take the other two back out without treating them. Nini waited until he stood close to her and then thanked him.
“You’re right, you know? We’re short on supplies. We should have rules about who is entitled to them,” Remko said and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.
Nini glanced around but refused to meet Thalo’s eyes. He was sitting on the mat as if it was his throne and the bandage his crown; after his humiliation on SJilai, how could he?
By the time Kala arrived at first light to take over from Nini, the child was not fully conscious and all their attempts to make him drink had failed. Maike came in with the same two men; they were carrying water and brushes to clean the floor. Nini felt a little guilty for having yelled at her earlier. “They all listen to you?”
“That still surprises me too, Nini. I guess my reputation is well known, and these aren’t even Habitat Three people.”
“It doesn’t seem to have impressed him very much,” Nini said with a nod in Thalo’s direction.
“Actually, Nini, this one wasn’t his fault. He was attacked without provocation.”
Nini had her own thoughts about Thalo’s innocence. He was fine so she told Maike he could leave, while Remko informed Kala and then Irma, who always came to see how things were before breakfast, about the happenings.
“You’re right, in a way. We have to think about the supplies, but in this environment, not cleaning or covering even a small scratch can lead to a dangerous infection,” Irma said, and told Kala to wrap the man’s arm.
Nini blushed under the accusation, but then shrugged her shoulders to show she didn’t care and walked out of the room to go home. Maike followed her. “You’re angry.”
Nini told her about the child. Maike agreed it wasn’t fair. She ended up having to break up fights and restore order all the time while she preferred doing something constructive. “It’s all so childish, really, this whole issue between Kalgar and Frantag. We should get Benjamar involved again. When he was in government problems got solved instead of the two opposing sides getting bigger. It’s gone from shouting at each other to fighting and now throwing rocks,” she said.
“And for what?”
“So one of them gets to tell the others what the future of Kun DJar will look like. Power, Nini. It’s always about power.”
Nini put her hand on Maike’s arm before turning into her street. “Try and talk to Benjamar, Maike.”
Nini was still on her mat when Benjamar knocked at her door later. She let him in and pulled a pair of pants over her night-dress while he moved the dirty cups to sit on the chest. He tried to explain the background of the political problem.
“I want nothing to do with that. If they want to kill each other let them go ahead. Just keep them away from the clinic.” Nini resented the bitterness in her own voice, expressing to Benjamar, as she had to Maike, what was not their fault.
Benjamar was watching the nobi. A deep, vertical frown line was between his eyes. Countless rays of wrinkles radiated from their sides. “How serious is it?”
“The infections? I don’t know. We’ve lost two so far, but it could get worse. It’s not just that.” She told him about the heart problems that were recurring for no apparent reason. At first she’d not paid attention, but every time she took a pulse it was slow. Slower than was normal on DJar, and blood pressures were up. She’d tried it on people outside of the clinic too, and on herself. It was everybody. “That’s not in the water or the food, Benjamar. It must be Kun DJar; maybe the atmospheric pressure or the gravity. Is that possible?”
Benjamar wasn’t sure; she should ask Irma. As far as he knew, people were busy studying these things but there was little to compare with; there were no animals larger than insects, if they were animals at all. “If Jitsi had made it to Kun DJar, would she have survived this, Nini?”
“I don’t know. That’s the thing; I know nothing. It scares me. It’s the children who are dying. It’s always the children.” She had wanted to add that the cowards who fought each other with weapons seemed to get away with everything, but the memory of the man with his stupid remark and the hurt from being told off for not treating him suddenly took over and she started crying.
Benjamar responded to that by pulling her into his arms. This was such a different reaction than she’d expected of him that she started laughing through her tears.
“Are you making fun of me?” he asked.
“No.” He was so warm and so safe right now. Even if she thought she must, she couldn’t get herself to get up.
“If you want me to put a stop to all the arguments, I will, Nini.”
They both knew he might not be able to, but Nini was grateful for his words. “I still believe Kun DJar is trying to tell us something, Benjamar.”
“Even if it isn’t, I think we should have learned from what we did on DJar,” he answered and left a little later with the promise to sort it out, leaving her feeling warm and happier.
Gut Feelings
For the third time this kor, Kalim expressed his concern at breakfast. “I don’t like the look of the weather.”
“What is it?” Daili asked.
“I don’t know. A gut feeling, no more. What do I know about Kun DJar weather anyway?”
“You’re starting to worry me.”
“I can’t describe it, Daili. It feels restless up there. Until now it seemed our area was isolated; what looked like storm clouds were always at a distance. Now I feel they’re invading, but like I said, I may be imagining it.”
Daili didn’t know. The morning seemed nice enough. Instead of the diffuse red globe of Kun shining through white clouds, today Kun was white and the sky mostly pink. It was dry, windy, and pretty cold most days, now that the new calendar marked Station Three. Nevertheless, Daili decided to take the day off. After all, if Kalim was right they were safer in town, and she was ready to pack up her investigation of the river anyway.
Once again, it had been hard to determine anything without references to go by. She had walked as far into the mountains as she dared with her two young apprentices, but they’d found little evidence of seasonal fluctuations or erosion; it was as if time had not left its marks on this planet. They had used the science lab for basic water analysis and found that the river was full of life forms, which must have been the cause of people feeling sick when first arriving. However, those could be filtered out, and Branag had plans for constructing a huge filtration system and a hydro-electric turbine where the river came down from the northern mountains, before flowing past North-West Street and the central kitchen, where it bent south and split into the many small streams that helped to irrigate the fields where the cattle grazed just south of the settlement.
Sunya and Lokit had no problem when Daili advised them to stay home that day, but the kids came up with objections. Laytji, who had plans of becoming a teacher, wanted to go help Jema turn one of the empty homes into a new Learners. Hani worked in Branag’s workshop on West Street, where she was busy shaping the old SJilai windows, which had come down on the last lander, into eyeglasses – an idea that had been hers and Branag was willing to let her experiment with. Tikot wanted to go play in the field near the social building. They were now sixteen, fourteen and eleven, and Daili knew she must let them. “Just make sure you stay in town and come home if the weather changes.”
Instead, she would pay some overdue visits herself.
Jari opened it when Daili knocked on Tini’s door. “Mom isn’t home; she’s working with Kalgar on that new power plan.”
Daili didn’t want to immediately turn away. “Do you still do astronomy?”
“Nay, they keep talking about putting up the b
ig starscope but nothing will come of it. They can’t make up their mind where to put it. Besides, it’s too cloudy on this stupid planet anyway.”
“So what do you do all day?” Daili asked, thinking this might be a good time to talk to Jari, which Tini had virtually begged her to try.
“Oh nothing much. I sit in front of the mirror, comb my hair, and admire my face.”
It wasn’t just hurt. There was a challenge there; she was trying to coax Daili into denying the words so they could be followed by another remark. Jari, who was twenty now, looked like Hani at first glance, but she had always dressed more like Laytji, for show as much as comfort. Besides it not being suited for this climate, it looked like Jari hadn’t washed her dress for a long time, nor combed her hair. Daili tried to not look at the girl’s face too much. In SJilai time it was two stations since the accident, but Jari seldom went out. It was unlikely that trying to talk would help right now, so Daili said goodbye. “I guess I’ll go find your mom then.”
The building that would be the new Learners stood at the corner of Circle Road and Second Street; Daili had to walk by it to get to Kalgar’s home. She slowed down when she caught a glimpse of someone moving in the window, but she couldn’t see who it was. If only she could just walk in and confront Jema… but she had no idea what to say.
Kalgar’s home was near Central Circle, but Daili found herself facing Roilan, who seemed equally surprised to see her when he opened the door.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were with us,” he said after Kalgar urged him to let her in. On the floor with Tini sat two other people.
Daili apologized for interrupting.
“Not at all. We could do with your input,” Kalgar answered, and asked when she would be ready to start drilling for fuel sources up in the mountains. He had previously asked her to sample a few locations, but Branag had needed to construct a new connector for the driver first.
“I’m finishing up at the river tomorrow. After that I’ll give it a go,” Daili promised. “Just remember that my assumptions are based on DJar knowledge.” She wanted to caution them not to expect too much.
“But just look what you’ll get in return,” Tini said, indicating the plan she had worked on for so long. It lay between them on the floor, drawn on a big roll of paper.
Slowly, the enthusiasm of the people showing her the details of the future town trickled over on Daili as she sat down with them. The current star-shape was extended in all directions, except east and south-east because of the crater. Like a Telemer resort, this design catered for all the luxuries people could want: a large sports and entertainment centre, a shopping area, a large science facility to the west and even a road going southwest. Not only were there many more homes, but there were water-and sewage lines. All the streets had lights, as did the homes. A power station was to sit in the north mountains, where they’d have windmills and a helio-panel array, which, together with the water turbine, would provide for all their needs.
“Once the elections are over we’ll send Aryan up to SJilai once more with a team of engineers,” Kalgar said. The specific cables they needed from SJilai’s main circuits would be used for the new generator and then they’d be able to start routing the electricity produced at the plant to the homes. Since there was no wood, they’d collect prefab material from SJilai’s interior to construct the new buildings. They’d extract metal from inside the planet for the new machinery, and fossil fuels to burn and create steam. As soon as Daili knew where to find those resources, they would be able to set up the windmills. They were not worried about the opposition since wind-energy was harmless to the planet.
“Kun DJar spins fast, so obviously you create more wind that way, but we also feel it more due to the greater atmospheric pressure,” Kalim had explained why it was so windy. Now it looked like that was a blessing for their power needs. However, the radar scans from SJilai didn’t look so promising with regard the natural resources. “What if the planet is devoid of them?” Daili asked.
“It isn’t, it can’t be; the planet is as old as DJar. The whole Bue-system was formed at the same time from the same materials. It only follows that we will find metal ore in the crust somewhere. Fossil fuels may be difficult here, but we know there are lusher areas further inland and on the other coast. Once we have electricity we can create transport to get there.”
Daili got the feeling they were rushing into things. Everything depended on electricity; electricity had certainly not been the first thing invented on DJar, but she told them it looked great and she would keep them informed of her progress. Before leaving she told Tini of her encounter with Jari.
“Thanks for trying. So, will you spread the news a bit about the space and luxuries we’ll have? Let people know that we’ll have better hygiene, no more infections, proper water, well lit homes and streets? Many people respect you.”
“You may want to wait with making those promises until you’re sure it will work,” Daili answered her.
“No, we need to let them know before the elections. We’ll pay you for it, of course,” Roilan said.
“Pay me?”
“We’ll compensate you for your trouble. We have only small stuff to offer right now, or you could have first choice in location, once we have the resources.”
Daili felt her cheeks start to burn and turned to Kalgar, who was rolling up the plan to put in a safe place. “It’s only fair that those who vote for us get first share in what the new life brings,” he said.
Daili now felt like leaving in a hurry. She opened the door.
“Oh come on, Daili. See it as payment for your investigation. You were paid on DJar, weren’t you?”
Daili left them without answering, feeling betrayed. She felt an urge to inform Frantag about this and no longer eager to put effort into her search for fuel.
Laytji was at home, sitting on top of the two chests that functioned as their table. “Mom, do you think Learners will be like on SJilai or like on DJar?” she asked the moment Daili came in.
“I guess like on SJilai, unless you want to program wave-units for everybody.”
“That’s not what I mean. What if the new government wants us all to be makers again?”
“Has Jema been talking to you about that?” Daili asked.
“Yes, but she thinks the same as you do.”
Daili herself was not quite sure what she thought. “What did Jema say?”
“She said that this registration would become a new reward system for those who did what the government ordered and she won’t be a political pawn.”
“What registration?”
“The one Frantag wanted Jema to make of all the people who use the stores without authorization.”
For the second time today, Daili felt she was behind on the news. “What stores?” she asked Laytji.
“The ones in the Learners building. He put all the burning logs and food supplies there. Not just the SJilai ones but the tubers as well, and he’s locked the door.”
“I thought the foods were in the central kitchen?”
“Yes, but people were taking them for trade so now he’s using our building and he wants everybody registered for the elections or Jema won’t be able to have Learners again.”
The impatience in Laytji’s voice was for Daili’s ignorance, but it was Laytji who was hard to understand at the best of times if she was trying to recall real events.
“What do the elections have to do with the food?” Daili asked.
“Just so he knows who follows the rules.”
“So what did Jema say to that?”
“She said ‘no’. She wouldn’t buy Learners and, uh… something about having Learners become… uh…” Frustrated by her own distraction, Laytji jumped off the table. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand anyway. I’ll go pick up our food.”
Daili felt the pain before the anger. She would not understand anyway. What did she know about Learners? That was Jema’s. She was only a mother, too old to count
, probably.
She didn’t allow the water from her eyes to flow until Laytji had left and tried to convince herself that it hadn’t been meant like that. Nobody meant to say the things they said… or didn’t say. They just didn’t think. Tini had barely acknowledged Daili’s attempt to talk to Jari. What did Jema and Laytji discuss together? They’d come to Daili when they needed her and then they shut her out, deliberately maybe. It wasn’t even fair to think that of Laytji, but right now Daili would like to tell them all to get lost. When Tikot and Kalim came in, she quickly wiped her eyes and tried to forget about it.
“I’m going out with two of my people to keep an eye on that front. Three days max,” Kalim said.
“Where will you be?”
“In the crater. We can access SJilai data continuously from there. Don’t worry; we’ll sleep in the lander.”
“Can I come?” Tikot asked.
“No, I want to have time to study, not play.”
He left right after meals. Daili felt a bit strange that first night alone with the children. She had become used to his company; it took her a long time to get warm enough to sleep.
In the morning Daili took her two apprentices and Tikot to the river to finish off her work and retrieve the tools she’d left there. The area had been declared safe and Tikot collected pebbles, climbed on rocks, and ran around. She had to warn him several times to be careful and to stay away from the water.
“I know!” he called back.
The day was nice. Apart from a very thin haze, the sky was almost a clear pink; no sign of bad weather. Even the wind seemed to have eased. Kalim would have no complaining; maybe he’d come home tonight.
“Hey look at this.” Tikot came running with something in his hands and sat down in front of them. At first glance it looked like a flower the size of his hand; eight symmetrical petals were spread out in a dazzling colour pattern, ranging from blue to lilac to pink. The centre of it was bulging as a flower would, but then it suddenly moved and startled all of them. Tikot caught it with his other hand.
