The Reverend, immediately realizing his mistake, stooped to pick up the escaping balls of fur. “Emerson, I owe you an apology. I mistook your act of charity for something other than what it was.”
Emerson nodded. His jaw hurt too much to speak. Blood ran down his cheek from the break in the skin below his eye. Hearing the commotion, the rest of the family ran into the kitchen. They gasped when they saw Emerson’s face.
“I hit him. It was a mistake. I will go pray for forgiveness.”
The eldest girl brought Emerson to the sink and cleaned the wound while the rest of the family tended to the kittens. The Reverend never punished Emerson again, and Emerson never gave him reason. The residual pain of the blow lasted for months. The psychological pain for years. Emerson long remained wary of The Reverend’s temper because seeing him lash out this time was much different from the way he had lashed out on the day he had rescued Emerson from the four bullies on the front steps. The Reverend was not so unlike his own father, Emerson concluded. It was not a comforting thought.
Emerson was drawn to Harumi, the second daughter, in spite of his fear of her father. Harumi seemed to like him the same way she liked the kittens and birds she rescued. Maybe she thought of him as a big stray kitten. He often wished he thought an orphan boy with no money and no family could have a chance with one as goodhearted as her.
Emerson’s grades improved with every test he took. Quiet in class, his papers and essays revealed a depth of thought and a thoroughness of research that was unusual in someone from one of the city’s lower level schools. He did get into fights from time to time, but none of his assailants got closer than the flat of his knuckles. Obsessively focused on his goal, Emerson strove with all his energy for the day when he could take the Academy admission test.
ERETZ - CHAPTER FIVE
A COMPUTERIZED VOICE GREETED the inbound cargo ship on an open channel. “Welcome to Eretz. Please identify your ships and your personnel.”
Greg read off the identification codes for the two warships and the cargo ship. This was a formality since the cargo ship’s computer had already sent that information when the defense system’s computer had hailed it. He recited the names and ranks of his family members. He transmitted a manifest with the cargo of machinery and spare parts that had been loaded on his ship for transfer to this planet.
“Please hold your current course and wait for escort.”
A Valiant Industries Model 86 approached them and instructed them to follow. The ship was painted bright white with pale blue accent stripes and pale blue six pointed stars on its flat surfaces. They parked the cargo ship on a small moon at what was clearly a freight marshaling area. What struck them the most as they approached was the fact that everything was painted white with blue trim and boasted large blue identification signs in both Federation Standard and Hebrew. Myriads of small white and blue cargo handling craft bustled around both on and above the surface. Stevedores immediately swarmed over the cargo ship efficiently unloading everything into nearby warehouses.
The traffic controller instructed them to separate the warships from the cargo ship and descend to the planet’s landing site with the warships.
A small but impressive spaceport awaited them on the surface. Like the freight yard, the spaceport swarmed with small vehicles both on and above the surface carrying freight and personnel. As with the other port, everything was painted a high gloss white with blue trim. The vehicles were painted white with blue highlighting and carried the Star of David on their flat surfaces. The port itself was impeccably clean. The workers wore uniforms that were either white with blue trim or blue with white trim. There was an aura obvious even as the new arrivals walked down the steps to the surface that order reigned supreme. This was a spaceport unlike any they had ever seen. Even Admiral Davidson’s impeccably managed port was not this organized.
Two heavily armed soldiers in formal dress blue uniforms sporting the Star of David on their helmets stood at parade rest at the bottom of the stairs and waited until Greg and family were on the ground. They snapped to attention and saluted. Stunned, Greg and Avi returned the salutes. “Welcome to Eretz. Please follow us.” The soldiers turned and marched toward one of the buildings.
Greg and Avi fell in behind the soldiers. The girls and Rose followed behind them. Still in their Federation gray flight suits, they felt out of place amongst all this white and blue.
The soldiers held open a pair of double doors. The five travelers entered. The soldiers closed the doors and departed. The contrast between this reception and the one at the Swordsman base crossed their minds. A large empty waiting room appeared before them. A solitary elderly man sat behind a long counter beneath a giant “Immigration” sign written in Federation Standard, Cyrillic and in Hebrew. Beyond his position was another set of doors and another sign in three languages that read “Welcome to Eretz” The man looked up as they approached. He was old enough to have been Greg’s father and did bear a passing resemblance to the old man now over two decades gone. “Documents please, one at a time, you first.” He reached out to Greg. He examined the documents and asked for Avi’s then each of the others’ documents. He then asked each of them to place their hands on a pair of pedestals for verification of identification. Once he was satisfied, he placed all their documents in a drawer. “You won’t need these,” he said as Greg and Avi stared at him shocked at the loss of their passports.
He handed them each a plastic card. “This is your identification, your passport and your credit card. Keep it with you at all times. The young ladies must immediately report to the Ba-it Sepher, the school. Young people from the age of 3 years to 21 years must be either in class at the Ba-it Sepher from 0800 hours to 1700 hours or in the infirmary. Penalties for failure to report are severe. Corporal Yitzhak Franks will escort you to the cafeteria as it is now lunchtime. One of the administrators will meet you and set up placement examinations.”
“Don’t we even get to change?” Rachel asked.
“No. You must go now, or as I said, the penalties are severe.”
“Our first day in a new school, and we have to show up in our flight suits? This sucks!” Wendy exclaimed.
“Young lady, I must remind you to watch your language. We are a religious community. I don’t know where you have been in the past, but such vocabulary is not welcome here.”
Yitzhak, barely over 21 himself, was dressed in the same uniform as the soldiers that met them at the ramp. “Ladies, please follow me.”
As the girls left, the old man turned to Rose, Avi and Greg. “Sergeant Jacob Stein will escort you back to your ships so you may pick up your luggage and show you to your new quarters. Your ships will be ferried to the staging facility on the moon.”
“We are used to having our ships nearby,” Greg protested.
“That is not allowed. There are rules you will need to learn if you are to stay here among us.”
“I am beginning to think we have made a huge mistake,” Avi mumbled to Greg.
The old man ignored the comment and said, “The two of you are to report to Space Flight Operations Briefing Room at 1500 hours. That does not leave you much time. Welcome to Eretz.”
Jacob looked like Yitzhak’s twin. He escorted them back to their ships. Greg, Avi and Rose packed what they thought they would need for their next few days and headed for their new quarters. Their quarters were a furnished four-bedroom apartment in a large complex of similar apartments. Fortunately it came with dishes and linen because none of what they had on the ship would be appropriate for the new space. The apartment was brightly decorated with a heavy emphasis on religious themes. Avi didn’t hate it, but it certainly was not how she would have done it.
Rose surveyed the apartment and said, “You get changed, and I will see about turning this decorator’s nightmare into a place where we can be comfortable.”
Yitzhak escorted the girls to the beginning of the cafeteria serving line and said, “You must be hungry.”
The girls had never seen a cafeteria line before. “Do we take what we want?” Rachel asked.
Yitzhak smiled. “Yes, here take a tray. Plates are there. Utensils are at the end of the line.”
“Don’t we have to pay for this?” Rachel asked.
“Slide your card into the reader at the end of the line, and it charges your food to your account.”
“How do we know we have money in our account?” Wendy asked.
“That’s your parents’ problem not yours. Get some food. Sit and eat. Someone will be along for you shortly.” He left them alone.
“He seemed like a nice guy,” Wendy said.
“He’s too old for you,” Rachel shot back.
The girls were shocked at the amount of food that was sitting out for them to choose from. Even when the harvests had been good during their childhood on Homestead, there had never been this much food in one place ready to eat. The ladies behind the line cheerfully answered their questions about what the food was and helped them select what to eat from the strange dishes. They filled their trays and slid their cards into the card reader. They turned to search for an empty table.
The room was packed with children ranging from very small ones under the strict supervision of their teachers to teenagers, most of whom were dressed in bright colors and some of whom had dyed their hair in what seemed to the girls to be outlandish styles. They instinctively ran their hands over their own heads and their hair trimmed to a spacer’s traditional centimeter length. They found an empty table and sat down. They had no sooner taken their seats than a girl they guessed to be Rachel’s age approached them.
“May I join you?”
Rachel looked up, her mouth full of food and gestured to an open chair.
“Hi. My name is Faye Anne. What’s yours?”
Wendy recovered first. “I’m Wendy Solomon, and my sister is Rachel.”
“Welcome. We expected you ages ago. Did you have a problem?”
“No. What do you mean you were expecting us?” Rachel asked.
“My dad says you’re some kind of heroes. Your whole family are, even your grandmother. Something about keeping the Swordsmen from conquering a planet. Do you feel like heroes?”
Wendy choked on the milk she was drinking. “No, not at all.” Wendy unloaded emotions she had been suppressing for months. “We barely got out of there alive. My god, so many people died. Less than a dozen of the people we’ve known since we were babies lived to tell their stories. I still see the faces of the friends we lost and have nightmares about how they died. The battle destroyed so much of what everyone worked to build. It was horrible. We don’t want to be heroes. We want to be normal.”
Rachel nodded her agreement.
Faye Anne looked crestfallen. “I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”
“Why not?” Rachel asked, suddenly upset.
“You need to face the fact that you’re not like everyone else. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is real. We’ve seen the video of your mother killing Stonebridge and you killing those Marines.”
“The Swordsmen must be furious,” Rachel observed.
“Yes, which is why you can never leave us. You’ll be safe here. This may be the only place you are safe.”
“Wonderful,” Wendy said.
Faye Anne leaned forward, her tone conspiratorial, “You have a more immediate problem than the Swordsmen. Some of our mothers and fathers want us to be like you, and others hate you for what you are. Some of the girls think you’re wonderful, and others are afraid you’ll steal their boyfriends. Some of the guys want to challenge you to duels and prove themselves against you. They’ll make your lives difficult until you establish yourselves in the community.”
“I wish we could have stayed where we were,” Wendy said, “or travel from port to port like the ancient mariners.”
“My dad said if you tried, someone would find you and kill you. Don’t even think about it.”
“Who is your dad, by the way?” Wendy asked.
“He’s the commander of the planetary defense forces. He was a couple of classes behind your parents at the Academy and is your parents’ best friend on the planet. They’ll meet him this afternoon.”
“At least someone’s on our side. Where do you stand?” Wendy asked.
“You fascinate me. I am all about people. I love learning about people and how they think and why they do what they do. I have never met anyone like you before. I want to be your friend, not because I want to be like you, I can’t, but because I want to understand you. Maybe that’s selfish, but that’s who I am.”
Wendy smiled, “We’re glad to meet you Faye Anne. Promise you’ll keep our secrets secret.”
Faye Anne beamed. “Yes, of course. Look, there are these two guys that could really use your help, and they could help you learn your way around. Do you mind if I bring them over?”
“Yenta?” Wendy asked.
Faye Anne huffed. “No, they’re nice guys. They’re brothers. One’s your age, and the other is your age. They’re real smart and don’t have girlfriends. They’re geeky, but they’re all right. If you hung out with them you could keep the other girls off your backs until you get settled. This way it won’t look like you’re on the prowl. Even if they’re just friends, it’ll be good for you and for them.”
“Sure, I guess,” Rachel said.
Faye Anne left to collect the boys. She returned with two very tall, pale, awkward looking young men who had trouble looking directly at the girls. “Wendy, Rachel, Reuben and Rashi.” The boys nodded.
Wendy and Rachel stood to greet them, but before they could say anything, a group of three boys elbowed their way in front of Faye Anne. Their leader pushed Fay Anne aside. “These must be the aliens from the Planet X!” He took a breath and threw his arms wide. “Mighty Mouse! Come to save the day!” He sang the words to the old cartoon. “My dad doesn’t think your dad is as hot stuff as her dad does, and I don’t think you are either.”
“David!” Faye Anne tried to get in front of him but he roughly pushed her away. He pushed her so hard she hit the next table and knocked over some of the dishes on it.
Rachel turned to face David. “You leave her alone!”
“Oh-h! I’m scared! Are you the great protector?” Rachel assumed a fighting stance. “Guys, she’s a fighter.”
“Turn around and go away.” Rachel commanded, “We have no issues with you.”
“She’s been here an hour and already bossing people around,” David taunted.
Faye Anne recovered her balance, “David leave us alone. You don’t know how much trouble you’re causing.”
“Ooh, tough talk for a girl. What are you going to do about it?” David snarled.
Maintaining her steady force, Rachel said, “David, this is neither the time nor the place. If you have something you wish to discuss with me, we can discuss it later.”
“I want to talk about it now!” He reached for her arm, and she slapped his hand down so hard he hit the boy standing behind him.
“David, go away,” Rachel commanded a little more forcefully this time.
“Rachel, let’s go,” Wendy said, “You know what happens when you get mad. Remember what you did to Sean!”
“What did you do to Sean, stick him with that toy knife of yours?”
Rachel took a deep breath. Wendy screamed, “Rachel! NO!!” But it was already too late. Rachel’s throwing knife whizzed by David’s ear taking a lock of his long hair with it and lodged firmly in the throat of the person in the “Drink Milk” poster on the bulletin board five meters behind him. The sudden silence in the cafeteria was overwhelming. The color drained from David’s face.
One of the instructors calmly removed the knife from the poster, admired it for a second and walked over to the now silent group. He pointed to each of them in turn, “Detention. Tonight. My office.”
He handed the knife back to Rachel and said, “You will never bring that into this buil
ding again.”
One of the boys who had stood silently behind David protested, “Why me? I didn’t do anything?”
The instructor calmly replied, “For failing to stop it. We have responsibilities for the sins of others. You know the prayers as well as I do.” He looked at the crestfallen Reuben and Rashi. “Do you boys have math competition tonight?”
“Yes, sir, well, we did until now,” Reuben, the older one replied, subdued.
The instructor paused a moment. “We need you to win that competition. You come see me after it’s over. If we haven’t won, I’m going to want to know why, and I will deal with you accordingly.”
The boys brightened. “Yes sir!” they said together.
He turned to Wendy and Rachel. “Have you finished eating?”
“I’m not hungry,” Rachel replied.
The instructor looked David and his buddies and said, “You may go now. Remember, tonight immediately after school in my office.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied.
“Reuben, Rashi, please take the ladies to the media center for their placement exams. Faye Anne, help me clean up this mess. Oh, ladies, when you come to my office, bring your work out clothes.”
As soon as they had turned the corner Rachel asked, “Who was that?”
“Rev Schwartz is the physical training instructor. He is very strict,” Reuben replied.
“What is detention like with him?”
“Very physical!” Rashi said.
“Can’t be any worse than our mother,” Wendy said. “At least we’re only at one G.”
“G like in gravity?” Rashi asked.
“Yeah,” Wendy answered. “Why?”
“Do you exercise at more than one G?”
“Sometimes our ship accelerates as much as two G’s when we’re in a hurry, but that’s hard.”
“Then you must be real strong,” Rashi sounded impressed.
“We’ll keep that our little secret.”
Solomon Family Warriors II Page 35
