The Event - Tales of the Triad, Book One

by R J Murray

Chapter 16 - Judgment

  The feeling didn't last very long. In the few hours since John had been gone, there had been a riot, with fires, fighting and three deaths. A lot of people, rioters, civilian victims and soldiers dispatched to quell the riot were injured. It took Joshua and Christine to finally break it up with almost fifty people arrested and held in two of the warehouses next to the castle.

  When John heard about the dead, the others were startled to see the air around him grow dark and cold. They could literally feel his anger over the two teenage girls and their father, one of the few actual families to survive. They had been beaten to death and the girls violated and tortured. When he heard that news, he immediately called all the Wizards and the Council together and gave them orders. A few hours later, the trial started.

  “Sheriff Osgood, bring out the accused.”

  John was sitting at a court bench, a long table with the rest of the Wizards on either side of him and they were all dressed in long black robes. Sheriff Osgood, formerly Deputy Sheriff Osgood and now the first Royal Sheriff and civilian law officer on staff, lead two men in their twenties, hands and feet chained, into the front of the court. The other rioters were still held in two nearby buildings, with armed soldiers guarding both them and the open air court.

  “William Bennett and Charles Durban, you are charged with three counts of murder, two counts of rape and inhumane torture of your victims. How do you plead?”

  “Guilty as hell. So what? You got no right to do anything to us, cause you're not the law. There ain't no law, there ain't no court and there ain't no judge. You can't arrest us for nothing.”

  “Well, we heard from William, what about you?”

  “Same thing as he said. Country's gone, cops are gone, laws are gone. Everybody can do whatever they want and you can't stop them cause it's every man for himself.”

  “So, to recap this statement, you admit to raping the two girls, killing their father when he tried to protect his kids, then sliced parts off the girls living bodies before they died from blood loss and the beating you gave them with metal pipes. Did I miss anything?”

  “Sounds right. So what are you gonna do about it smart ass?”

  “Is there any comment or questions from this council? No. Then judgment will be passed.” One by one the wands were laid on the table, aimed at the two men. John looked at them and spoke again.

  “You are judged guilty of these crimes. The sentence is death. Sentence to be carried out immediately. Clear the execution area, fire in the hole.”

  The Wizards rose as one, aimed their wands and fired simultaneously. There wasn't even ash left of the two men, nor their chains. The ground glowed and John cooled it off before turning to the Sheriff. “Bring in the next accused.”

  The rest of the crowd watching the trial had been held back about fifteen feet from the proceedings, but they willingly moved back a little further after the execution. No one objected and no one complained.

  There had been witnesses who had been unable to stop the killing, three of them being injured in the attempt. The screaming of the two girls as they were tortured drew them to the scene. These people had captured the two by sheer numbers and held them for the troops. They were among the crowd and nodded at the quick and sure justice.

  The windows in the buildings allowed the defendants to watch the proceedings, but not hear what was said, so the next man was terrified of his current predicament. He went to his knees as soon as the Sheriff let go of him, crying and begging for a second chance. John motioned for the judges to wait and let the man get control. When he looked up, John motioned him to stand and read the charges against him. Public drunk, disorderly conduct, public menace, destruction of property and ignoring an order from the M P's to cease and desist, which was considered the same as resisting arrest, without violence.

  “How do you plead?”

  “Guilty. Please, mercy.”

  “Any discussion among the council?”

  “Did he actually injure anyone or contribute to an injury?”

  “Will the Clerk of the Court please respond?”

  Miss Ashley, who was acting Clerk of the Court, read the details of the interrogation and scan the Wizards had done during the pretrial. The judges did not wish to trust their memories for this many people so Miss Ashley had made detailed records of the scans as reported by the Wizards, for the trail and for the historical records. “No injuries were reported by any witness.”

  “Very well. Any other questions? No. Then judgment will be passed.” All wands pointed at the defendant and he started shaking.

  “You are guilty of these crimes. The sentence is thirty days in a labor squad, plus payment of your share of the damages, plus ten golds for court costs. Remove the prisoner. Bring in the next accused.”

  The man had trouble walking and had to be helped out of the prisoner’s box, as the next person was brought in. The rest of the day was spent in court, but all defendants were tried, judged and most were sentenced to hard labor to repay the damages and the court costs. Penalties had been discussed at the earlier meeting John held with the wizards. Only the first two were executed. When it was over, John stood and addressed the people.

  “We have laws. Break them and you will face us as fast as we can drag your carcass in here. The laws are simple and to the point. Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not steal, you will love your neighbor as yourself. We will post the laws and you will obey them, not just to the letter, but to the intent. If you do not understand these laws, go ask Pastor Brown. I'm pretty sure he can show you where they are found and what they mean. Funeral for the murdered family is set for tomorrow morning and all friends and neighbors are invited to pay their respects. Court is adjourned.” The gavel spoke once and the soldiers started loading the table and chairs into a wagon to take back to the castle as the judges headed back as well.

  “We need a judicial system, a jail and a police force. I'm on it.” Joshua headed after the new Sheriff, to see what he needed to get a police force started.

  “General Clark has some M P s on his payroll, so we can get with them to layout what we need for a jail. We will take care of that.” Jenny and Beth headed for the general, who had been present during the trials.

  Christine and Miss Ashley had their heads together, and Christine poked her head up briefly. “I'm on it, clerk and staff for the court and the jail.”

  Tasha was still with John. “I'm going to check with the recovery teams and see who's bringing back booze and drugs for personal use. These people were drunk and high when this started. We don't sell it nor do we distribute it, so they got it from looting. Taking a drink is one thing, but public drunk and riots are not going to become a problem.”

  “If people want to drink, they will, if they have to make it themselves. We should make an effort to control it, but we will not stop it. They tried once with prohibition and it gave organized crime a big step and a lot of power. Make sure the teams understand that these deaths are laid at their door, if they had anything to do with the sale or distribution of drugs or booze. People violating the rules and bringing in unreported booze will be removed from the teams. Drugs are forbidden and will result in banishment, if it is blatant.”

  “Define blatant.”

  “Not a clue yet. I just don't want to paint myself into a corner.”

  “I'm on it.” Tasha was off, headed for the recovery teams base.

  John continued walking toward the Castle, head down, disturbed by what had happened and by what he did. He felt it was necessary and he felt that if he was going to pass judgment, he should be the one to carry it out. It didn't make it any easier to do or to live with. Someone bumped him and he looked up in time to see the club coming at his head and duck. It caught him on the shoulder, the man trying to change his swing to follow John's move. John's wand was gone and his hand came out of his coat empty.

  “Looking for this, magic man?”

  Another, younger fellow was holding the wand. “Yo
u must have been asleep not to notice me picking your pocket. Not that this would do you much good against all of us. Fellows, come on in and say hi to the Judge. Then let’s show him how we feel about his burning our friends.”

  There were fifteen men, from teenagers to thirty something coming out of doorways and alleys, all armed with clubs, bats, knives and axes.

  “You understand that attacking me is not a good idea and that if you stop now, I will go easy on you. I will just put you on a chain gang for the rest of your lives. I don't need a wand to use magic or to defend myself.”

  “Bullshit. Kill him.”

  The closest man swung the club again and John deflected it with Sallie and continued on with the swing to brain the pick pocket. He didn't bother with picking up the wand, just pulled his tomahawk with his left hand and picked his next few targets. His reflexes, like all the Wizards, were much more than Human could ever achieve and six more were dead on the ground before the remaining nine started to get scared.

  John watched as four moved into a line and charged him all at once. He waited till they were a few steps away, then jumped, augmenting the leap with levitation, crushing the skulls of the two center men as he passed over. When he landed, there were four men in a group, trying to decide whether to fight or run. They decided to fight and John lifted a hand, sending a bolt of lightning through them, leaving them crumpled in a smoldering heap. That left three and John fried them the same way before they could make another move. He could see soldiers running down the street toward him, with Jenny and Beth in the lead, wands out, but there was no need. Jenny arrived first, breathing heavily, wild eyed and ready.

  “Are you OK? Did they hurt you?”

  John looked at her, not hearing for a moment. “I'm fine. Seventeen of them and they thought we needed a wand. No Wizard moves without a guard or another Wizard from now on. These people were friends of the executed. Just how stupid are these people?”

  Sergeant Edgerton was the first soldier on the scene and spread his squad out around the Wizards, then waited for the next squad, who went to collect weapons and check the dead. The rest of the Wizards arrived, with more troops who formed a perimeter around the Wizards.

  “Are you all right? What happened?”

  “I'm fine Joshua. Some more of our subjects just wanted to express their gratitude for law and order.”

  General Clark arrived and checked the dead, then approached the Wizards. “Who were they and what did they want?”

  “They were friends of the executed and they wanted John dead.” Joshua was agitated.

  “Friends? Was it a gang related incident or is this sedition?”

  “We didn't talk much after they asked me to dance.” John’s voice was filled with anger and sarcasm which he immediately regretted. “Sorry. I don't have a clue.”

  “This is too much. We have to do something. We have to do something now, before this gets any worse. First riots, then an attack on John. What's next?” Christine was also upset and angry at the lack of effort by the people they were trying to help survive.

  “We call a town meeting, attendance is mandatory. We offer them a choice. We spell it out one time and they choose. Clark, set it up and use your troops to enforce attendance. We are still under martial law and I intend to use whatever force is necessary to protect this settlement.”

  John led the way to the castle, still fuming and despondent and the Wizards prepared for the meeting. The council meeting was brief, John laying out his intentions and asking for a vote of confidence one last time. The vote was unanimous in John's favor. They finished the simple plan and headed for the stage, a platform twenty feet up in the outer wall of the castle, where the announcements would be made.

  At the appointed time, Clark reported that all but twelve people were present, six being excused for child care and six missing. John nodded and stepped out on the platform. The noise of almost three thousand people was loud, but not as bad as John had thought it might be. The crowd grew quiet when they saw the Wizards in their leather and mail, armed with their favored weapons.

  “You people need to make up your minds what you are going to do. This meeting is to give you your choices, then in the morning, you will make your decision. The choice is simple. Go or stay. If you stay, you need to understand a few things. First, I rule here. I do not govern, I do not seek election, I ask for no vote. I rule here. There are laws and you will obey them. You will work and if you have no skills needed in this more primitive society, you will seek out training at the schools or you will be placed in a labor squad and assigned training. If you do not work, you will not eat.

  “If you cannot do this, if you cannot accept this then you will choose to go and you will be relocated to a small town a few hundred miles from here. You will be left there to live as you please. You will never be allowed to return to the Kingdom, nor will we maintain any contact with you. These are your choices and this will be your only opportunity to make it. If you stay, you are subject to Kingdom law. If you go then you are not. There is no discussion and this meeting is over. Go home now. Curfew begins in two hours and anyone left on the streets will be arrested and may face deportation in the morning. Those who choose to stay will swear an oath of fealty to the throne. You are dismissed.”

  Clark waved to the Captain who was in charge of the detail on the ground and he gave the orders to let the people leave. As they left the area, the crowd was mostly quiet, but there were a few voices raised in anger and with bold threats and of course the defiant. Let them try, who does he think he is, when the government gets here, we'll see who's in charge and similar things people say after they feel safe from the authority. The Wizards waited until the crowd had cleared, then went down to the airships, where Charlie was waiting.

  “Do you think they get it yet?”

  “I don't know, Charlie. They might understand tomorrow when we dump them in Oklahoma.” John was still depressed, not liking the choices he was making, but not knowing how else to get people moving. “Why did your group and Willies group come out of this wanting to build something and work hard to do it and these other people came out waiting for someone else to powder their butts and cut up their meat for them?”

  “If we wanted something done, we went and did it. Been that way all my life. I'd say these people were raised to wait for someone else to do it. They were trained to be this way and we were raised to do it ourselves and to do it now. Make hay while the sun shines, strike while the iron is hot. You ought to know that one.”

  “Thanks for reminding me. I thought the same myself, but confirmation is nice. Anyone have any thoughts they would like to share?” John looked around the group.

  “Actually, if I may.” Pastor Brown was speaking. “Moses had a lot of trouble with the Israelites when they were going to the promised land. They were raised as slaves and thought that way. They didn't want to fight, work, or think for themselves. They rebelled and as a result they died in the desert and their children reaped the reward of the promised land. You may have to wait for the next generation to accept what you are trying to do, but if you don't take this step now, there may not be a next generation to try with.”

  “So you think I'm doing the right thing?”

  “Yes. We used to call it tough love. You are giving people a choice and they can leave if the choice is not acceptable. I don't think this exodus is going to be very large, so you had better be ready to put three thousand people to work tomorrow. It will be hard for you to retrain these people to be either rugged individuals or team players.

  “Don't give a child from the orphanage to any of these people unless they show the ability to work within your system. I know you want to get the kids with a family as soon as you can, but if the family teaches the kids to sit and wait instead of working what good does it do?”

  “You sure you're a Bible thumper?” Joshua looked puzzled. “I thought that, well, God Is Love thing was what you guys preached, unless it was the evil of what ever felt good
.”

  “You read the Bible much?”

  Joshua looked uncomfortable. “No. Never had much use for it.”

  Brown looked him in the eye. “Then how do you know what it says? When Paul was instructing the early Christians he told them to stop the slackers from taking advantage of their charity. If these people can work then they should work. Paul said if they don't work, they don't eat. He wasn't talking about those who needed help, just those who refused to work. John is offering them a choice, stay or go and if you stay you will work or you will not eat. It's right out of the Bible, so I have to go along with John.”

  “You know, I might even visit with you one Sunday, just to check you out. You got me thinking a little. You have any objection to Elves in Church?”

  “I don't quite have the new species figured out yet, so I have an open door policy to all. Just don't toss lightning at me if you don't like the music, OK?”

  “Deal. Now, concerning tomorrow, I can put at least a thousand people clearing land Down Below and more training to cut wood and drag logs. We have teachers to take maybe five hundred in different classes, a civil service exam, physical exam for the draft and placement tests to uncover hidden abilities and talents. We should be covered for tomorrow and for a few weeks to come. What do we do if everyone wants to leave?”

  “Let them. I don't want slaves or prisoners; I want a population willing to do whatever it will take to do more than just get by. I want a people who can and will bust their butts to build a new life. I want to close the orphanages. We will board the kids at school or on the farms and with the crafts masters to learn a trade. We will have to see to it that the kids not boarded at school still get an education, but not everyone will become a scientist. All will learn a skill or a trade to fall back on and everyone will work.

  “I believe I read somewhere that in Japan, they used to have school six days a week and on Sunday the students would take turns cleaning the classroom. I don't know if I got it entirely right, but we can do something like that. The students will have five days of classes and will work at the school, or with a tradesman or farmer on the grounds. A farmer on the grounds. What was that, 4-H, agriculture class, future farmers, something like that? They will clean the school and their rooms and will learn a work ethic that will put a Dwarf to shame.

  “If we need to expand the school, so be it. We here must set the example for them to follow. If we have people clearing lands, using an ax or saw, working a plow and team, building, crafting, or gathering eggs, they need to see us working hard as well. We may not be shoveling out a stall, but they need to know that there is no one slacking at any level of authority in this government. No sandbagging, no brown nosing, no pork barrel, no anything underhanded. We must be everything we are asking them to be.”

  The group said goodnight to Pastor Brown and Charlie before returning to the castle.

  “General Clark, stay on the alert, keep patrols moving and one Wizard on alert with each watch. I'll take first and last, Jenny and Beth will take one of them with me, I'm sure. Joshua, Christine, Tasha, get some sleep and I'll wake you for your watch. Everyone clear? Go; get some sleep, and Jenny, Beth, who wants to take first watch with me?”

  Of course, they both did, so John led them to the Command center in the castle, to wait for morning. No one slept well, catching broken sleep and tossing and turning most of the night. At dawn John was awake, with Tasha, the two girls having finally given in to sleep only a few hours before. John was pouring the first cup out of a new pot of coffee when Joshua and Christine joined the watch.

  “You sleep at all, John?”

  “Some. Not much, but some. Jenny and Beth made it until about two and I woke Tasha up to join me. Coffee's fresh, if you want some.”

  They both got a cup and went to the window overlooking the village. The sun was barely up, the sky still purple and dark with a few low clouds glowing pink in the morning light. They saw troops forming up in the courtyard, noncoms barking orders and the men and women in uniforms, now getting a bit worn, and lining up for breakfast. The light snow on the ground had already been turned to gray slush and only on the edges and near the bushes was the snow still bright and white, clean and fresh. The aroma of sausage and bacon rose and mixed with the faint smell of manure from the stable, giving a curious mix of pleasure and distaste to the nostrils.

  They watched and sipped their coffee in the freshening breeze, letting the light of the new sun wash over them and compete with the chill in the air, until the door opened behind them and General Clark joined them.

  “Breakfast anyone? I can have something brought in for us if we need to talk about this morning?”

  “Has anything changed in the night?”

  “No, it was calm and quiet.”

  “Then perhaps we should eat with the men and let ourselves be seen, calm, collected and prepared for this day.”

  Jenny and Beth woke up, saw everyone there and went for the coffee pot, then joined the other Wizards, assuming their normal positions flanking John.

  Joshua looked at the girls sipping the dark steaming drink and nudged Christine. Then he said, “I thought coffee was bad for little kids. Stunts your growth and messes with your learning skills, doesn't it?”

  “Didn't seem to stunt your growth.” Jenny responded, followed by Beth. “Might have affected his brain, though.”

  Christine muffled a laugh and took Joshua's hand. “Don't you know better than to engage in a battle of wits when you're unarmed? Come on, let’s show our calm preparedness and get some of the bacon. I hope they have biscuits.”

  They left and ate with the troops, making more tracks in the gray slush, talking with the men and spirits indeed seemed high among the troops. When the time came and the people gathered, they were each asked one by one to stand on the north if they would stay and swear fealty to the crown or to the south if they would not. Several of the people moving to the south tried to take children with them, but unless the children were their own and not orphans they had picked up, it was not allowed. Only blood relations could go with them. If the child was a teenager, they would be given a choice of whether to follow the parent or to stay in the Kingdom. Many stayed, in spite of the protests and anger of their adopted family and in a few cases were allowed to keep their younger brother or sister instead of the parent. There weren't many actual blood related families. In the end, almost five hundred opted to leave and were herded into the waiting transports immediately for deportation to Oklahoma and the small town picked for them.

  The area had been stocked with tools and supplies and the land and water cleaned so that the new village would have a good start in the spring. It was not intended as a penal colony originally, but it was available and would be used. The land was neither rocky nor hilly and the soil was good, with forests to the south and some food stocked in the stores. The ships made the trip in one fast move and then returned, the people on the ground looking lost and afraid, not believing that they were really banished.

  When the ships returned and the people were once again assembled, the army swore fealty first, being lead by the officers, then the troops by platoon. When this was done, the civilians were given the chance to swear and any who refused were loaded into the waiting ships and after the rest of the population had sworn, were dumped in the same location as the first.

  When the airship appeared over the town, many people thought they were being given another chance so when the doors opened, they tried to force their way onto the ship. They were met with cold steel and John's wand. They backed off, threatening to sue the Citadel if they were not allowed back.

  John had the new batch pushed out the door and the ship lifted off, the door closing as they went. The people on the ground were finally starting to get the idea that maybe this was serious.

  By the time John and the airship returned, the people had been split into groups and had started with the various tests devised to find skills and talents. Aptitude tests, physical exams, schoo
l boarding houses added to the Academy of Science and Magic, as it was being called and hundreds of people being moved to Down Below to begin clearing land for new farms and homes. Field kitchens were set up as well and the young, the old and the weaker members were put to work to feed the people who were clearing the land.

  They worked each day and learned each day something new about themselves or their neighbors. The children went to school and learned their ABC's as well as how to live without MP3 and cell phones, how to gather eggs, weave a basket to carry them in, to plow, plant, weed and how to depend on each other to get the big jobs done.

  In between working and learning they found ways to entertain themselves without a major broadcast network, playing musical instruments which had finally started being recovered, singing, reading aloud to friends and dancing around the fires at night. It took time to learn, but these were Humans and they had few racial memories to guide them, unlike the others.

  Every now and then something of the recent past would come up and cause a problem, but in the case of race it was soon dropped when Goblins were brought up. The community, being mixed genetically on the individual level as well, did a lot to discourage stupidity like the old bigotry. Mixed marriages were no more interesting than any other and no more or less successful. More interest was aroused by two airship loads of Japanese tourists who were stranded in the Midwest by the events.

  The forty-eight members of the tourist group were all from the same small farming community and more or less related to each other, and for some reason, almost the entire group had survived. Ranging in age from five to fifty and with only two of the young people speaking understandable English, they had not been accepted by the other survivors in the area and had been having a hard time. If Suki hadn't been in the airship that spotted them, they would probably have just taken off to get away from more trouble, but Suki spoke Japanese learned at home and was able to start off with a friendly face and a spoken language.

  When John learned of the group, he went with Suki and offered to help them set up a village in Down Below. They would be able to establish a farming village that was like what they had at home. They agreed, if he would try to contact Japan and bring them news. John agreed to that as a condition and promised to take one or two of them along to see for themselves.

  When he found out that one of the families had run the local bathhouse, John was ecstatic. He asked through Suki if they would be willing to run one at the Citadel, if he would build it for them and the family was very happy to accept. When the food stuffs they raised were harvested it would make a welcome addition to the diet at the Citadel. Not to mention John liked Japanese cooking and really missed sushi and miso. When the ships landed and the tourists saw the land John had for them with a few homes already in place, they were reduced to tears of joy.

  “So much for the ridged Japanese tradition of no emotion. Or was that Hollywood again?”

  “I don't know, Beth. But if they can help us I don't much care. People have emotions and these are people just like us. Except for the magic thing and the language.” Jenny was smiling as she also missed sushi.

  “Japan is a long way off and we would need to send at least one Wizard with such an expedition and two airships. It's literally halfway around the world, what, five, six thousand miles?” General Clark was going over the list he and Colonel Davis had drawn up after he was told of John's commitment to the new citizens. “With the rising sea levels and the climate shift it is unlikely that any land has survived much less people. There was only about twelve percent of the country available for farming at best, so I'm not sure any survivors would be able to grow food. With our best guess that most of the land mass on earth settled and those closest to tectonic plate edges settling most, Japan could be gone, as could much of the Asian coastal areas. Now, it is true that some areas like where we are now were elevated considerably, but earth, or at least the western hemisphere lost about a quarter to a third of its land, those areas now being covered by the sea. We were fortunate that so much of Florida was elevated along with the Citadel; otherwise we would be in a much more serious predicament.

  “In order to have the best chance of success the expedition should have two of the new triples, with each carrying a scout ship and the new solar panels for recharging the batteries. A crew of six will enable them to fly continuously and their ability to land and take off from water will increase survivability. John, you cannot go. No discussion. I do not recommend sending either Jenny or Beth, no offense to your most magic persons, which leaves Joshua, Christine, or Tasha.”

  Tasha stood up. “That makes me the choice then. Hear me out, Joshua. There is one Dwarf Wizard and two Elves, but four Humans. We cannot send the only two Elves and I will not separate them, for reasons that should be obvious to everyone. John can't go; Jenny and Beth, in spite of their abilities are too young, so that leaves me. I would want to take Suki with me, to command one of the airships. He can fix anything if it comes to that, he can fly a ship as well as anyone and he speaks the language.”

  Beth added, “And Tasha is sweet on him.”

  Tasha blushed. John looked surprised. “Really? I guess I must have missed that. He's a good catch, Tasha and so are you. Good luck with that.”

  “Thank you, but that's not the point. I don't think he knows I'm alive. Do I go or not.”

  John answered her. “You go. Get with Suki and let him know that he is going as well, General Clark. Let me know when you have everything ready to go and we will meet again to verify what we are doing and if the trip is a go. Anything else?”

  Joshua turned to John. “Yes. Suki is sweet on Tasha also, but he doesn't know how to approach her, because she is a Wizard and really cute. His words, don't get jealous on me Christine. Of course, since she looks like you, you shouldn't anyway, but just in case.”

  Tasha blushed again, and John sighed heavily. “Is there anything else that has to do with the business that is before this council today? Since there is not, the meeting is adjourned.” The gavel tapped once and John stood up. “Do you want me to talk to Suki? I've known him longer than any of you.”

  “If he can't talk for himself then he isn't worth my time. No, I don't want you to say anything to anybody!” Tasha stomped off.

  “I meant about the trip. It's way too dangerous to get involved in the other. Think she heard me?”

  “No, but I'll talk to her. Joshua will try to encourage Suki without spilling the beans. They would make a cute couple. Suki is good looking and smart, although he does tend to talk really fast when he gets excited.” Christine walked out after Tasha. Joshua followed, but not too close and the General left right behind him, with Miss Ashley following him. This left John, Jenny and Beth. “You two ready for lunch? My treat.”

  “Sure, works for me. You Beth?”

  “What's on the menu?”

  “Meat loaf, green beans, mac and cheese, carrot cake, iced tea. I can't believe mac and cheese has survived so long. It must be something in the box.” John shook his head. Meat loaf was a favorite, as were green beans and carrot cake, but mac and cheese was way down on his list of edible foods, right next to yesterday’s socks. Both girls felt different.

  “Mac and cheese! Yes. We're good. Let’s go.”

  John groaned. After all the talk of food like Miso, Sushi and tofu the thought of mac and cheese was a disappointment. The sticky rice was not ready for planting much less harvest and they didn't have the beans to start fermenting the curd. John followed, resigned to his fate.

  Apparently Suki was ready to make a move without any hints from Joshua. John saw Tasha and Suki in a rather passionate embrace on the way to lunch and the girls giggled for an hour after they finished eating. They about drove John crazy. He was worried about the age difference, since Tasha would live several hundred years longer than Suki before she even started looking older, but he figured that they knew this as well as he did. Better to have loved etc.

  John continued on his way to
his quarters for a hot bath before dealing with the afternoon chores. Classes at the Academy were next on the agenda, with basic smithing taking up the next three hours until supper. John sighed again as the door to his quarters opened and he went in to get his bath robe and sandals. He would need to bathe again after classes were over, but since this was his only form of relaxation, he would enjoy both of them.