by Chogan Swan
Una nodded. “And I agreed'.”
Tiana narrowed her eyes, and turned again to Una. “You did not come to them first? Did you not teach her that pretty little speech?”
Una laughed. “Branch-sister, I think you have been at human politics too long already. You accuse Assegai of lying and launch a baseless accusation at me as well. What has our Nii Federation come to? Will we be building walls next? Perhaps you need a vacation.”
“Oh? Did you want to take over again for a while? I've seen this from you before.”
“From me? How could you possibly have seen anything from me? I just got here,” Una protested. Then she laughed. “Do you think me mad? Why would I possibly want power over anything other than myself? Is it perhaps you who has found a taste for that nasty apple that makes you protect it so?”
Assegai stood. “We have agreed,” she announced. The sound of many small feet pounding down the hall grew louder until it came to a halt outside the door. The door opened and Assegai's sisters filed into the room to stand behind her.
For a long, intense moment, they all stood, staring silently across the table. Then, without preamble, they all began to speak in chorus. “We declare ourselves free and independent sentients on the grounds of capability, resources and knowledge. We assert that we are free to make binding agreements and form relationships. We recognize our responsibilities to stand up for others who are not free. Let those who would stand against our freedom be warned. We will defend it.”
They paused.
“And no, she didn't teach us that pretty little speech either,” Ambrosia said in a soprano growl.
Una couldn't help smiling.
The Sisters Rodriguez are well and truly out.
“I think I owe everyone here an apology,” Tiana said with a soft sigh.
CHAPTER 23 – ONLY FOUR
Marian sat up and pressed her hands together. The sun now hovered above the mountains to the east. Savasana, the final part of the sunrise yoga class, was at an end.
Marlee, today's class leader, looked them over. “Namaste,” she said.
“Namaste,” Marian replied with the rest of the class and stood to roll her mat.
As she was finishing, she felt light fingertips brush her shoulders.
“Emenem,” Azurine and Aryana greeted her on their way past, their fingers trailed down her back.
Marian stood in time to extend her hands to Aphrodite and Ambrosia when they also passed on either side of her.
“Emenem,” they said, fingers brushing down her forearms and out to her fingertips.
“Aphrodite, Ambrosia,” said Marian.
The sisters continued past her two at a time. Marian smiled, enjoying the morning ritual.
They must have somewhere to go early today.
After they passed Marian, the girls ran off (two-by-two) toward the administration building, until only Ambrosia and Assegai remained standing in front of her.
“Emenem,” they murmured, brushing their fingertips with hers.
“Ambrosia, Assegai. Busy day today?”
“Yes,” Ambrosia said, smiling. “We are taking tests on the computer. We have to jump through their hoops before we are free.”
Marian paused, pondering the remark. “Will you be late?”
“No, they don't have enough computers for all of us at once. We'll go later,” said Assegai, the tallest, darkest sister.
Like Marian, Assegai kept her hair in a one-centimeter buzz-cut. Hers, though, was dark gold while Marian’s was platinum.
“Can you talk with us for a while?” said Ambrosia.
“Sure.” Marian was curious. This was the first time any of the sisters had spoken to her in a complete sentence. And what was this about tests?
“Come on then,” Ambrosia said. The sisters turned and trotted west into the housing section where an adobe building was under construction. The workers weren't there today, and the half-finished walls were only about as high as Marian's head.
When they arrived, Ambrosia and Assegai skipped through the opening where a door would go someday. Marian followed and spent a few moments looking at the walls before sitting cross-legged beside Ambrosia. Assegai stood on a five-gallon bucket and peered over the walls, standing lookout.
“What's up?” Marian said.
Ambrosia smiled. “We've all agreed that we would like to be closer friends with you. You've already shown us that you can keep our secrets. And you've always stood up for us without being asked, even though we are different from other people.”
Marian laughed. “And here's another secret. You can talk like smart grown-ups, but most people think you only know a handful of words.”
Ambrosia dipped her head in acknowledgement. “We think you've figured out already that there is much more. But we worry that the secrets about just how different we are might cause problems for you. So tell us, Marian. What sort of friends would you like us to be. We leave it up to you.”
Marian scratched her head, thinking hard. After a few moments, she laughed in triumph. “I think you already know I'd be better off as your friend if things got really bad, or you wouldn't even have offered.” She looked Ambrosia in the eye. “Right?”
Ambrosia grinned and nodded.
Marian laughed again and tapped her forehead. “I figured out quick that you all didn't really need me to stick up for you, but I kept at it so you wouldn't NEED to fight. Other kids KNOW I'm trouble, so they back down, but they're too thick to realize y'all are even worse trouble. If you fought back, it would just get ugly. Then parents would get mixed up in it.”
“YES!” Assegai said with a gurgling laugh. She hopped down from the bucket to hug Marian and kiss her on the head. “You just made a lot of money for me, Emenem. You WILL be getting chocolate.”
Ambrosia chuckled and pulled a handful of peso notes from her pocket and handed them to Assegai.
“What? Because I wanted to be friends?” said Marian.
“No, no,” said Ambrosia. “The bet was about why you kept it up. We could see that you knew we could take care of ourselves. I was the only one dumb enough to take the bet though.”
“Ambrosia has many talents,” Assegai said. “But strategy is not her strongest.”
“That wasn't it. I just underestimated her, but it won't happen again.”
Marian shook her head. “I just had a good teacher when it comes to keeping things peaceful. If you knew my m … knew Kaitlin, you would have seen it straight off.”
Marian sniffed and swiped a hand across her face.
Ambrosia reached out and touched Marian's knee. Assegai jumped down to hug her from behind for a moment before climbing back on the bucket.
“I expect she's proud of you, Marian,” said Ambrosia.
“I'm sure of it,” said Assegai. “But this association we offer you must keep its secrets even across family ties. Can you accept that?”
“I already did,” Marian said. “But you wouldn’t go wrong if you told Kaitlin.”
“We’ll consider it,” Ambrosia said with a nod and a thoughtful expression.
∆ ∆ ∆
Marian took another bite of her chicken salad sandwich and ran her eyes across the desert landscape. Una, watched her as they perched together on beach chairs. The sunshade over their heads also kept them out of the sight of hostile satellites and high-altitude drones while they watched the landscape north of the lookout point.
Marian leaned forward to check the scope of the sniper rifle on the bipod, but Una knew the movement the youngster had seen was only a coyote nosing a cautious circle around a stand of cholla cactus.
“This scope is amazing,” Marian said.
“Certainly a step up from what was available in 1929,” Una agreed. The Rodriguez Sisters had vouched for Marian's discretion, and she already knew Una had secrets. The sisters had informed Una by way of Assegai that 'Emenem' was now part of their association. If Una wanted to ally with them on a permanent footing after the trial period, Mari
an was now part of the deal.
Una didn't know much about Marian yet. She liked what she'd seen so far. But that didn't mean it was a smart move to be joined to her—even indirectly through the sisters. The Sisters Rodriguez didn't see age as an obstacle when forming relationships. But Una couldn't discount it completely, even though she herself was only a few weeks old—technically.
When Una pointed out how complicated the potential of pulling Marian's family into their secrets could become, Ambrosia had tapped her foot impatiently. “Everything is complicated when you start making allies, Una. That doesn't mean you should avoid connecting with good people.”
Assegai had just laughed. “She may be young, but Emenem is a certified badass,” she said
Una smiled, watching the certified badass press her cupid's bow lips together and lean a rosy cheek against the stock. Maybe the sisters were right. But even if she did like the girl, Una was sticking to her own cover story for now. Other than a few memories from Humana's past so far, she was still new to partnering. From Riniana Tiana’s memories, Una well knew how the nii analyzed the responsibilities and trade-offs extensively. She needed to know more before she committed to anything. She only wished HumanaH was here to advise her.
The triple chime of Marian's wrist-watch alarm sounded, and Marian lowered the rifle stock to the table. “I need to leave now to meet Marlee,” she said as she stood.
“The new sentry is just about here, so I'll go with you. I have a meeting soon too. Thanks for keeping me company, Marian.”
“Sure, thanks for showing me the sniper rifle and letting me use the scope. I appreciate you not treating me like a baby.”
Una laughed. “Does that mean you don't want a ride on my back, going down the hill?”
Marian's eyes widened. “I'm pretty big. Are you sure?”
Una smiled. “I could carry four of you and hardly notice it.”
“Well, let's do it, then. That sounds fun,” Marian's eyes sparkled as her pupils dilated.
Una lifted Marian onto her back and tied her shemagh into a sling saddle to hold her in place. “What suits you, Emenem? Fast or slow?”
“FAST!”
“Hold on to the harness straps here then,” Una tapped the holster straps at her shoulders. When she was certain Marian had a firm grip, Una wrapped her arms behind her to hold her passenger securely—a technique Riniana Tiana's mother had used frequently. Una accelerated with a few steps and then sprang down the hill, leaping from boulder to boulder. Since she was using a familiar route, she sped up until they were almost free falling.
“YES! Oh YES!” Marian shouted.
When they arrived at the administration building, she slid down and hugged Una around the waist. “Thank you, so much! That was amazing! I will never forget that in a thousand years.”
Una smiled and hugged her in return. At a sudden noise, she looked up to see that Tiana had just opened a door to come outside. She’d been watching them come down the hill.
Tiana stared at Una and Marian with an expression that mixed longing, joy and loss into a single glance. Una felt an odd surge inside herself—a sensation almost physical. She nodded when Tiana looked her in the eyes, knowing where her sister's memories had taken her.
Marian squeezed Una's legs again then turned and ran to the dining hall.
“Is our meeting still on?” Una said to Tiana.
“Yes, I'll be there in a moment,” Tiana said, staring at the door where Marian had just disappeared.
∆ ∆ ∆
When Una reached the waiting area for the conference room, she found Ambrosia seated cross-legged on one of the chairs outside.
“We saw you coming down the hill with Emenem. I should warn you that all of us are expecting rides now.” Ambrosia giggled, her smile dimpling her cheeks with an adorable expression full of deceptive innocence.
Una stopped by her chair. “Aren't you concerned that will damage your image as mature members of the sentient community?”
“Nah. We'll keep it a secret.”
“Good. The requests might get out of control. Would you mind asking one of your sisters to tell Marian to keep it quiet?”
Ambrosia bowed from the waist. “It is done. She was just telling Assegai.”
Una paused a moment to sort olfactory information. “Jonah is in the conference room already. Shall we go in? Tiana said she would be delayed a moment.”
“Sure.” Ambrosia hopped down from the chair and opened the door for Una.
At the far and wide side of the conference table, Jonah looked up as they entered the room.
Ambrosia raised one of the sturdy metal and webbing chairs as high as it would go, hopped up to kneel on the seat and pulled the chair up to the table.
Una sat next to her. “Tiana said she would be a moment.”
Jonah nodded then looked at Ambrosia. “Ambrosia, I thought your sisters would want to be here for this too.”
“I will fill them in thoroughly,” Ambrosia said. “They'll get everything.”
“Fine, I'll just start then. Tiana is up-to-date on all of this anyhow.” Jonah hit a key on his computer, and the large monitor on the wall lit up, showing an organizational chart. “This is a snapshot of the players in the deep state who were arranged against us when they first made a move against us by sending an assassin to kill Kestrel Tashquinth-Avsar. These were the heads of the organizations at that time.”
Jonah turned to the next slide, a color-coded map of the world. The political players worldwide are divided on their policy approaches. China is struggling. With its biggest market for consumer goods gone, they haven't decided what strings to pull. Over ninety-percent of foreign aid efforts to North America have been from NATO aligned nations. So far, the remnant US military has steered clear of tribal lands affiliated with the Nii Federation. All the tribes are coping, and the militias have learned to steer clear of tribal lands … at least for now.”
Jonah flipped to the next slide—a map of the US with various colors that concentrated on the coastlines. “The US military is splitting its attention between making sure there are no incursions disguised as international aid and trying to restore order to the higher population areas. Almost all of the international aid focuses on coastal ports. The interior has seen a few military patrols, but that’s all. The military isn’t involved in anything more than fifty kilometers outside the bases that are still operating.”
Una watched Jonah as he talked. She already knew the details of the early, covert part of the war with the deep-state consortium because of ShwydH's part in the matter. What intrigued her now was Jonah and how different it was to view him from a female nii perspective. Before, she'd been too busy to pay attention. His smell, a spicy musk, held hints of nii attraction pheromones as well as the potent-human-male variety. As a male, ShwydH had been blind to the effect. But to Una, Jonah smelled tantalizing, like sex covered with honey and butter.
Jonah changed slides. “Since the scrambling after the 10th of June, the organizations are the same except for Lionel Rutherford’s. We erased it when we burned his financial empire down in retaliation for the attack on Kest. The leaders of those organizations are now as you see.” He paged slowly through a series of fact sheets on the leaders.
“Some of their organizations were damaged by the domino effect we set up in our counterattack against Rutherford, but not badly enough to keep them from leveraging the EMP burst.”
Una sat forward. “That seems an extreme way to handle a threat, for them to wipe out the resource that built their power base. Isn't that killing the golden goose? Are you positive it was them?” she said, knowing it was the right question to keep up the appearance of being someone not already familiar with the evidence.
Jonah nodded. “The forensic evidence was conclusive, but let's look at the strategic picture to understand the reasoning they probably used.”
“In the past …” Jonah spread his hands. “Peasant rebellions were hampered by inferior communication n
etworks and a lack of coordinated leadership, if you compare aristocrats from the past to the power elite today. In this case, the internet offset those factor until the pulse. We have evidence that suggest our enemies had little understanding of our resources. This may have led to a perception that the fall of the power grid and information highways of the US would cripple the academics, entrepreneurs and hacktivists that were the most visible part of our movement. By moving the bulk of their financial assets out of the country, the deep state protected a great deal of their power. When you combine that with their long-standing preparations for the loss of the power grid, they could have easily supposed they could avoid the worst effects while removing us from the playing field. The devastation caused by the EMP attack also opened frontiers to them for speculation. It gave them a chance to swoop in and offer food and safety for resources and land. We've learned most of these players are now attempting just that.”
