by Elin Peer
As if Jonah felt that we were talking about him, he looked over. “You okay, sis?”
“Yeah. I’m fine, we were just admiring your ears.” She gave him a loving grin, and it reminded me of the way Willow always used to tease me.
Jonah did have large ears and he was clearly used to being teased about it, because with his hands behind them he pushed them out. “Wouldn’t give up these ears for anything. Told you; I hear everything.” He returned to his task.
“I can’t imagine having ten siblings. It’s not by the same mother, I assume.”
“No, but we grew up together in the same family unit. My mother only had Cole, Jonah, and me.
“Do you share the same father too?”
She turned her head and looked at me. “Nobody has the same father as their siblings.”
“Unless they’re twins like me and Willow.”
“Right. But none of us know who our father was. Insemination is always done with anonymous donors.”
“Except in the Northlands.” I didn’t point out that I knew several Nmen had moved to the Motherlands over the past ten years and that it was common knowledge that they were starting regular families here as well. “What about the color of your eyes? Did you get them from your mom or your dad?”
Emanuela began carrying the logs into the circle of stones and placed three of them against one another. I didn’t tell her that there was no way in hell she would make a fire that way.
“I got the light amber color from my mom. Jonah has them too.”
“I like your eyes.”
Her back stiffened a little but she didn’t turn around. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with your color before. They look almost yellow in the sunlight.”
“Some people find the light color a bit eerie.”
“You sure it’s not just because of the way you always scowl?” As expected, Emanuela did not answer me. Instead she picked up the box of matches.
“If you need help just let me know,” I offered.
From the beginning it was very clear that Emanuela had no experience starting a fire. She burned one match after the other trying to get the logs to burn.
I tapped my foot waiting for her to ask for my help, but she was a stubborn little thing and I counted eleven matches before I couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “How about you keep one match left for when you need me to take over?”
“Are you saying I’m not doing it right?”
I laughed. “I don’t need to tell you that. If you were doing it right you would have a fire by now.”
With a huff of frustration, she got up from the ground and brushed off her pants. “Then why don’t you do it?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” With deep satisfaction I walked over and carried the three logs back to the others. “It’s all about the preparations, dear. Let me show you.” I picked up the axe. “These logs are fine for an already burning fire, but we’ll need smaller ones to start it.” I split the logs into smaller pieces, and grabbed one of them, splitting it into sticks of various sizes and using the sharp edge of the axe as a knife to create more shavings and splinters.
“Is this going to take long?” I knew she was only pretending to be bored, because she was focused on everything I did.
“Honey, it’s important to take your time when you start a fire. Nothing good ever came from rushing. If you don’t start it the right way it will fizzle out too quickly. Much like sexual attraction, really.”
Emanuela narrowed her intriguing eyes and pinned me with them. “And I’m supposed to believe you are an expert on that?”
I shrugged. “I know about sex, but when it comes to relationships, I’m afraid my expertise is based on what I’ve read about the subject.”
Her cheeks were a little flustered, but she kept her voice cool. “Can we just focus on the fire?”
“Okay. First you pick two of your sticks and then you place them on the ground a little apart like this. Make sure they are firmly in the ground because we’re using them to create a raft to suspend the fine tinder up above the ground. This way, it allows us to get a match up underneath.” I reached for some of my middle-sized sticks and laid them across as a foundation for the shavings.
“This is the first step to setting off our fire.” I bundled the shavings nicely on top of the sticks. “It’s important that there is air between the shavings. It can’t be bundled up too tight since without oxygen in between it wouldn’t catch fire.” Picking up the box of matches, I gave her a smile. “Will you be impressed if I can light it up with just one match?”
“No. You just said that you were trained for it and that this is child’s play for you.”
“Yeah, but I would still like you to acknowledge that I am good at something.”
There was the beginning of a small smile on her lips. “And here I thought you didn’t need my approval.”
I had lit a fire plenty of times but I was still a bit nervous with my bragging that I only needed one match.
With one stroke I lit the match and even though there was no wind, I shielded the match with my other hand, afraid that she might blow on it to sabotage me.
Just as I’d been taught by my mentors, I leaned down to hold the match under the shavings and a deep satisfaction filled me when the shavings flamed up.
“Now we need to feed the fire with the little sticks. Notice how I place them around in tipi fashion.” I built the fire and when I began losing it a little, I blew from underneath to make it flame up again.
I nurtured the fire for a few minutes and once I had the base of coals, I added the larger splinters, and finally a whole log.
“Looking good, sis.” Cole came over. “Now all you have to do is decide how you’re going to make the bread.”
Emanuela looked around her. “Don’t we get something to bake it in?”
“Sure. Whatever you can find.”
“Cole, come on, don’t be like that. How did cowboys bake their bread in the old days?”
“It’s fine, we’ve got this.” I gave Cole a smile. “Just give us half an hour and we’ll have bread for everyone.”
He grinned back at me. “I like your attitude. You’re Hunter, right?”
“Yes, Hunter Hercules.” Standing up, I offered my hand to him.
Cole took it and grinned at me. “Jonah and I have been curious to meet you.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“We used to have a monopoly on annoying Ema. But now that you’re here it sounds like you’ve taken over.” It hit me that he seemed amused. If he had been a Northlander and his sister had complained about a man annoying her, it would’ve been natural for him to be protective of her and get aggressive.
“Just for the record, your sister is annoying me too.”
He laughed. “I can imagine. She’s always been proud and temperamental.” When someone called for Cole he excused himself and left me and Emanuela alone again.
“I’m honored that you talk about me to your family.”
Emanuela was clasping the bowl of dough in front of her and unlike her brother and me, she didn’t look amused. “I don’t talk about you.”
We both knew that wasn’t true, but I wasn’t a complete ass and I let her off the hook. “There are different ways to make bread over a fire. We can wrap the dough around sticks; we can bake the dough inside orange peels, a hollow onion, or some cans if we can find any. Worst case, we can make buns and just let them roast in the coals. The outside will be burned, but the inside will still be tasty.”
She wrinkled her nose up. “None of that sounds very appealing.”
“Just wait until you taste it.” I grabbed the axe and walked over to a tree, pulling down a branch and chopping it off.
Emanuela came running. “What are you doing? Put down that axe. You’re hurting the tree.” Others were looking over too; it was clear that what I had done was a major faux pas to them.
“Relax, this tree needed pruning anyway.”
Emanuela wa
s red in her face as she moved into my personal space. “Trees are living and you can’t just pick up an axe and massacre them.”
“How do you think those logs got there?” I nodded to the pile of logs next to the fire. Being that she was a head smaller than me, it was almost funny how she was scolding me. Breaking into a smug smile, I enjoyed her reaction when I cut off the long sticks I needed to bake the bread and showed no remorse. “Consider it part of the authentic cowboy experience. I guarantee you that no cowboy ever lost sleep over pruning a tree.”
Five minutes later, we were back on track. I taught Emanuela how to form the dough into a long roll and wrap it around the sticks. “You don’t want to hold it into the flames or the bread will be burned. It’s kind of an art form to make it golden brown.”
“I think I can handle it.”
Arranging four sticks between stones to keep them in the right position I began the production of bread.
Emanuela imitated me, and I had to admit that she was patient and that her bread looked good.
“Is this how you cook in the Northlands?”
I lowered my brow, wondering if she was serious. “You do know we have houses with normal kitchens, right?”
She nodded.
“Then why do you make it sound like we live in caves or something?”
“Because you said that you were trained to live in the wild.”
“Yes. It should be a fundamental skill everyone should know, don’t you think?”
“Why?”
“In case of a natural disaster.”
She ignored my comment but I got the sense that she didn’t see the point of the many survival camps I had been on throughout my years in school.
When we ate lunch, I sat down between her brothers Cole and Jonah. I was conditioned to feel more at ease around men, and to my surprise, these two reminded me of my friends back home. Like their sister they weren’t overly polite, and they looked almost buff for Motlander men.
Cole was talkative and curious about the Northlands. “I heard you brought your drone.”
“That’s right. It’s the fastest passenger hybrid in the world.”
His eyes widened. “No way.”
“Uh-huh. I had it custom made. My old teammate Jackson has an order in for an upgraded version of the one I have. According to him his hybrid is going to be faster than mine.” I shrugged.
“I wish we had hybrids here, but everything is so regulated and controlled.” Lowering his voice, Cole leaned in. “I can’t wait for my brother to get into the Council and start talking some sense to those women.”
“What do you mean?”
Jonah was occupied by questions from Sara and Vicki, and it dawned on me that from the moment we’d showed up, everyone had been acting like they knew him.
“Ten years ago, Jonah was handpicked for the role as a council member. He’s been in training ever since. We all thought he would be on the Council by now, and two years ago he came close. This time, however, Jonah is predicted to have a safe seat on the Council.”
I elbowed Jonah. “Congratulations, man. Your brother just told me you’re going to be in power soon. That’s amazing.”
He smiled. “Nothing is for sure until we have the final votes, and it’s not about being in power, it’s about serving the people.”
“I’ll vote for you,” Sara, who sat on his other side, promised.
“Me too,” Vicki chimed in. “I loved your speech on equality. It’s not fair that one gender isn’t allowed to have any power at all.”
“That’s right, ladies.” We were all sitting on the ground and Cole had to lean forward to see them better. “Don’t forget to tell your friends to vote for Jonah too.”
Jonah took a bite of the bread in his hands. “This is really good, did you make this one?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Emanuela was looking over and it was too tempting not to poke at her. “If it’s golden brown, I made it. If it’s burned, your sister made it.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Yeah? Then I definitely made it.” I met her eyes and sure enough, from the way her jaw tensed up, she had heard me.
“But, Jonah, how come you work here at the park if you’re campaigning to be a council member?”
“Oh, it’s only for today. I used to work here during summer breaks and it’s always a highlight for our family when the Dolphins visit.”
Like always, the mention of family made my heart constrict a little. I missed Willow like crazy and there wasn’t a day that I didn’t wonder how she was doing, and if she and Solo were happy together.
Jonah leaned a bit closer. “Hunter, do you by any chance know Pearl Pilotti?”
“Sure, I know her.”
Jonah’s hand clasped my arm and his eyes expanded to double size. “The real Pearl Pilotti?”
“Yeah, the woman who married our ruler. It was her idea that I come here and to be honest, I’m still pretty mad at her.”
“Oh, sweet Nature, you have no idea how big a fan I am of her. Pearl is the reason I was selected for the program to begin with. I have memorized the historical speech she delivered to the Council on August 5th, 2437.”
“Sorry, pal, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He looked surprised. “Pearl delivered a masterful speech about equality to the Council. It became a turning point in the integration between our nations. How can you not know about it?”
I shrugged. “Maybe because ten years ago, I was twelve.”
“But didn’t you learn about it in school?”
“If I did, I don’t remember.”
“Oh, you would remember. It was brilliant the way Pearl spoke up against the injustice done to men. I dream of meeting her in person.”
“Really?” I scrunched my face up. “She’s kind of irritating, to be honest.”
“What do you mean?”
I stretched my legs. “Well, I guess you won’t find her as annoying as I do, but we Nmen like things a certain way and she keeps changing things. Just before I left, she spoke up for a friend of mine called Raven. She was born a Motlander too but after living ten years in the Northlands, she has gotten the ludicrous idea that she wants to join the police force.” I shook my head. “Sometimes you Motlanders don’t think things through.”
“I’m sure if Pearl thought it was a good idea, then she must have her reasons,” Jonah defended his idol. “You can’t deny that it’s because of Pearl that the integration process is moving forward so fast.”
I shrugged. “You might have a point about that. I don’t know, I guess I’m just grumpy about the way I ended up here.”
“Were you forced?”
“More or less. It’s difficult to say no when your ruler and his family are all asking you to go for the sake of world peace.”
Jonah bit his lip and at that moment he reminded me so much of his sister. “I would see it as a great honor to serve world peace.”
I patted Jonah’s shoulder. “I’ll bet you would. Tell you what, next time I go back to the Northlands you should come with me and meet Pearl yourself.”
He gaped and took a second before he answered. “You would take me with you?”
“Yeah. I have no doubt she’ll be pleased to meet you too, with you being a potential council member and all.”
“Did you hear that, Cole?” Jonah grinned at his brother. “Our new friend here is going to take me back to the Northlands so I can meet Pearl Pilotti.”
“Wow. That’s great. Just don’t embarrass us too much. I know you’re a major fan but try to stay collected, will you?”
There was a childish joy coming off in waves from Jonah, who was touching his cheeks. “Just the thought of meeting her in person. I don’t know what I would do.”
I picked at the salad on my plate. “You’ll be fine, but I’m warning you; she and Khan always have an agenda. It’s just their way.”
After lunch we traveled more than a hundred years ahead in ti
me and entered the twenty-first century.
The street they had built to set the scene was a shopping street with two restaurants with outside seating that looked very inviting. The team spread out to see the different shop windows and I stopped in front of an electronic store and stared at the devices on display. “World’s Largest TV” a sign said, and a few of us smiled at the description of a one-hundred-and-two-inch screen that hung in the center of the store window.
Sara took a step forward and placed a hand on the window. “I thought they were supposed to be way more technologically advanced than us. We have screens far bigger than that.”
“That’s because this is 2005 – look, it says so right there.” Silas pointed to a square machine that had a sign saying “2005 Canon with FAX.”
“What is that thing?”
“I have no idea. Maybe a kitchen gadget?”
Silas gave a deep sigh. “I’ll bet it was something spectacular. They had some incredible things that we can only dream of.”
“Doesn’t look like a canon. Could be a medical device.” Sara pointed to the machine again. “Maybe FAX stands for Fast Available X-Ray.”
“Oh, you mean like a home x-ray machine?”
“Yes.”
I tilted my head. “Nah, I think it’s some sophisticated gaming device. Games were huge back then. Maybe canon is a reference to the player being propelled into a different universe, and FAX could stand for Feel and Experiment.”
Silas and Sara were still staring at the machine when I walked to the next window and took a step back to see the whole display behind the massive text on the window saying “The future is here.”
It was a robotic arm for cooking that was installed in the wall over a half kitchen.
“I’ve seen those in movies. It was the first robot to cook for people.”
“Cute. I couldn’t imagine not having my domestic helper; even though Alex is a bit broken he’s still the best machine I own.”
Silas and I both looked at Sara when she gave a laugh that ended in a sweet snort. “The thing is that he’s had these breakdowns these past weeks. Twice he’s burned my food and on Monday he shut down while cleaning the toilet. I had to crawl over him to use it and I was literally peeing when I rebooted him, which was a big mistake because he went straight back to wanting to clean the toilet with me still on it.”
