Part 3 (1/2)
”Yes, we were lucky,” the priest agreed, tousling his grandson's hair. ”We had some truly gifted botanists and agronomists. They managed to engineer Earth crops to survive here. Still, the first years were awfully scanty.”
”And there were the fevers.” The mayor's wife crossed herself; other women did likewise. The men stared at the ground.
”Those must have been hard times,” Ray said softly.
”Easy it hasn't been, but we've made this place our home.” The mayor hugged his wife; she flashed a smile and snuggled close. Ray felt a flush and wished Rita were here to hug. In the crowd of people seated around him were several women, large with child and many little ones. G.o.d, I miss you, Rita. But would he want her here, sharing a planet where mountains vanished?
Evening tiptoed in. The heat of the day fled, leaving behind a gentle breeze laden with the cool scent of green crops and satisfying beer. Somebody brought out a fiddle, another an accordion. Children collected around the musicians, doing little dances to the musicians' tentative efforts at tuning. Ray looked around for a place to relax on the gra.s.s.
”You're all going to h.e.l.l!” came from the far side of the shuttle. ”Papist superst.i.tion is leading you straight to death and d.a.m.nation!”
”Not again,” the mayor groaned.
”Grandpa, don't let him yell at me,” David whimpered.
”I'll take care of this,” the priest said, handing his young charge to the mayor's wife. He strode quickly to where a man in a flaxen jerkin was haranguing the lounging crowd.
”Repent your sins and you may yet be saved!”
”Reverend Jonah, these good people have worked hard today. G.o.d will not begrudge them a little rest and enjoyment.” The priest's gentle words carried just as well as the other's shouts. People began moving away from the two. Well, most.
Five or six made their way toward the two men of competing G.o.ds. One of them was Big Sean, the bully Ray had paid for the use of his field. Oops. ”Mary,” Ray started, but Kat and Ca.s.sie were already on their feet, jogging for the gathering.
”And you priest would stop up their ears, deprive them of the true Word of G.o.d.”
”No, Reverend, but I would respect their right to have a quiet evening without you or me interrupting them. Come back Sunday afternoon and we can talk to as many as want to gather under the tree behind the church.”
”Sunday may be too late. The Lord is coining to judge.”
”I'll tell you who's Coming to judge!” Sean shouted. ”It's me fist in your mouth, man, if you don't get off me land!”
”We'll have none of that, Sean.” The priest interposed himself.
”I don't need any papist protection.” Jonah tried to fill the same s.p.a.ce in front of Sean the padre was stepping into. Neither got anywhere.
”Excuse me.” Kat tapped the bully on his hip, about as far up as she could reach. ”The amba.s.sador has rented this field. I believe he expects us to keep the peace here.”
Big Sean turned on Kat with a sneer, raised his hand to her-and was sitting on the ground a moment later with no visible explanation, and a look of utter dismay on his face.
”Thank you,” Kat smiled down at him.
Ca.s.sie took the minister's arm. ”Sir, the amba.s.sador requests that you leave our facility. Our const.i.tution requires a strict separation of church and state. Use of these grounds for religious solicitation would be a violation of our code.”
”What?” the minister said in wonder.
”Thank you, sir.” Ca.s.sie continued, ”I know it's difficult to understand different people's ways of doing things. If you'll come with me, we can talk about that.” She took the reverend by the arm and escorted him away from the shuttle. Five people went with him. The priest stood for a moment, looking after them, then hiked back to the table. Taking David from the mayor's wife, he picked the boy up, hugged him, then sat him down on the bench and told him to eat his vegetables. The boy picked up a green bean and began eating it a millimeter at a time.
”Good riddance,” the mayor breathed.
Mary eyed Ca.s.sie and the minister. ”I hope he doesn't have a guitar handy. She might keep going,” she chuckled.
The priest shook his head. ”G.o.d bless them all.”
”Who are they?” Ray asked. As a young soldier, religion had been something he'd been glad to share his foxhole with. As he rose in rank and found himself with less time on his hands for empty worrying, it faded. Or maybe his questions got harder and the answers more difficult. Whatever he might think of religion, here it seemed an important part of their lives.
”The O'Donalds lost their first child last winter. She always was one for the scruples. G.o.d forgive me, but I could not answer her demand to know why G.o.d would give her a baby to love, then take it away so soon. Young Phillip seeks the face of G.o.d and cannot find it among the familiar. May G.o.d be gracious to all of them and forgive me for what I could not be.”
”Father, it's not your fault,” the mayor a.s.sured him. ”They're just wrongheaded.” Murmurs of agreement came from around the table. The priest smiled his thanks and gave David a hug. Ray doubted the padre accepted his people's absolution. More and more, he was coming to like the fellow. How could you fault a man who so clearly doted on his grandkid?
The musicians launched into a reel. People were on their feet and into the dance without a glance for those Ca.s.sie was still walking off the field. Ray watched through the first two songs, then turned to Mary. ”We've got to set up camp and unload the shuttle.”
”And you'll be wanting your field back,” the mayor said, standing. ”I'll have the fiddler dance them into town. You'll be wanting to go up early tomorrow with me to the County Clair Circle.”
”Circle,” Ray echoed, wondering where he'd missed a step and how far down it was.
”Aye, you've met with the Hazel Dell Circle.” The mayor made a sweeping arm gesture that might have included the entire town, or just those close by. ”You'll be wanting to talk to County Clair Circle next. I suspect Jeff will be going, too. You've sat in the Great Circle of Metalworkers, haven't you?”
”When Sis was busy and Mark out of town,” the man admitted.
”Then I guess I'll be going to the next circle tomorrow,” Ray agreed. Was the local chain of command more honest about how it ran people in circles? He grinned to himself.
Making a stop by the keg to refresh his mug, the mayor joined the musicians. In a moment, fiddler, accordion player, and singers began a careful retreat, not missing a beat. Dancers and watchers followed in a smooth flow that cleared the tables of serving dishes with no visible effort except for one young girl who came das.h.i.+ng back for a forgotten bowl.
Ray's work of arranging his mission and schedule was made easier; Mary had his command hut already set up. The shuttle was cleared for a return to the s.h.i.+p as soon as it was empty, and Ray called Matt to report. Matt had news, too. ”One of those blimps doesn't make regularly scheduled runs like the rest. It's headed your way, or was until it settled down at sunset.”
Someone cleared his throat behind Ray. He turned to find Jeff standing just outside the hut. ”Any idea what's up?”
”Probably my sister, Victoria, headed here to take over.”
Ray considered that for a moment. ”We'll see.” He turned back to finish briefing Matt on the day.
”Sounds like you've got things going fine dirtside.”
”Too early to tell. I've got company around still. I'll talk more later. Send down the rest of the ground team. I'll need at least one doc. A local boy here has migraines. He's the priest's grandkid, but the whole village has kind of adopted him.”
”Doc on the way. Anything else?”
”Not at the moment.” Ray clicked off and turned to Jeff. ”So big sister is headed our way.” The man nodded; Ray knew the type. He'd had plenty of experience with second and third sons shuffled off to the army. ”So what can we do for each other?”
The man entered slowly, fingering a map case. Clearly he wanted to say something. Just as clearly, he didn't know how. Ray waited, taking none of the pressure off him. Finally Jeff snapped open his case and pulled out several large photos. As if the pictures were coated with acid, he dropped them one by one on the table in front of Ray.
”Recognize the scene?” he asked, retreating back to the door.
In the shadows outside, Ray spotted Annie, the young woman who'd introduced Jeff. Waiting for her fellow? Ray turned to the pictures. Both showed the same mountain range. One shot was minus a peak.
”Annie, Da wants help gathering up the mugs!” came as a distant shout.