Return Of The Fontalo
by Linda Rigsbee
Chapter 27
Donte felt a little intimidated by the McKillum “farm house.” It was almost as big as the Groot Thuis. The house was a white three-story building set back a mile off the highway on a straight paved lane lined with trees on both sides. On one side, the land lay open and flat for miles. On the other side, forested hills gave way to pinnacles of rock. It was a beautiful setting.
Their van approached the house and turned around a teardrop entry where all sorts of flowers and foliage flourished. A deck on the third level was supported by tall pillars placed on a large front porch. A gray-haired couple came out to meet them when the van stopped.
Donte helped Rianne from the van and lifted Andras to one arm. When they were all out of the van, Roger introduced them to Mr. and Mrs. McKillum. He didn’t designate which was which. Donte tried to remember whether Mr. represented the male or the female. People had so many names and titles on Oriel.
He extended a hand to the woman. “It’s nice to meet you…” He still couldn’t remember, so he asked. “Are you Mr. or Mrs. McKillum?”
She looked startled for a second and glanced down at her trousers. She looked at Roger, who obviously didn’t know what to think. Her gaze came back to Donte and her smile was uncertain. “Just call me Lovita.”
Her mate offered a hand to Donte, obviously struggling to refrain from laughing. “I’m John - Mr. McKillum. Mr. is the man and Mrs. is the woman.”
Donte accepted his hand and smiled. “Thank you for clearing that up. I’m afraid my knowledge of the old language isn’t as good as I would like it to be.”
Lovita’s face turned red. “Oh, I’m sorry. It never occurred to me that you didn’t know…. I would never have guessed that you were struggling with the language. You barely have an accent.”
Roger cleared his throat. “It was my fault. I should have introduced you individually. He proceeded to introduce each person, giving their name and title.
John glanced at all of them, his gaze coming to rest on Donte. “You each have only one name? Doesn’t that get confusing when someone else has the same name?”
Donte shook his head. “I was looking at a directory of names in our room and noticed how many people had the same first and last name. I wondered if that got confusing.”
Lovita laughed. “Oh, this is going to be the most educational experience. I’m so excited.” She gently took Rianne by the arm. “Let’s get all of you settled in your rooms and let you rest before dinner.”
“They only eat two meals a day,” Roger offered.
Lovita looked at John and smiled. “That is perfect. I think that would work out better for us as well – breakfast and dinner.”
Rianne smiled. “We don’t want to disrupt your schedule.” She looked uncertain. “I assume breakfast is the morning meal and dinner is the evening meal.”
Lovita grinned. “Yes, and you won’t be disrupting us. We eat when we’re hungry, and we would like you to do the same. You are welcome in the kitchen at any time, day or night.”
Beier, Nieke and the Premier Infantry had arrived and set up before them so that they could assure the safety of their arrival. Nieke and Beier joined the group and welcomed them. Donte glanced up as Fyfe arrived. Fyfe bowed and smiled before offering a hand to Donte. “It is good to see you are safe, Monomi.”
Donte shook his hand. “It’s comforting to see you. I don’t think I thanked you for your assistance at the space dock.”
Fyfe nodded. “That is why we are here, Monomi.” He nodded at the McKillums and returned his attention to Donte. “I’d better get back to the others. If you need us…” he touched his medallion. “Any time; day or night – for any reason.”
John stayed behind talking to Roger while Lovita took the rest of them inside to see their rooms. Donte had never seen anything so lavish as the McKillum home. The floor was covered with rugs that went from wall to wall. They were light colored and Donte wondered how they kept them clean. Even the stairs were covered with long rugs and they had no lift to take them to the rooms on the upper levels. That wasn’t an issue for his group, of course, but with all the other luxuries, it seemed strange.
After Roger left, the McKillum’s son, Jason, arrived to talk to them. Nieke took Petra and Andras to explore the farm so they could discuss their case.
Jason was thorough. He didn’t have a thick stack of papers containing pre-conceived ideas. He started at the beginning, taking notes and recording information on a little machine. He prompted them and simply listened to each person. He didn’t exclude Tabia or ask who she belonged to, whatever that was all about. When he finished, he shut off the machine and leaned back in his chair.
“I don’t think it is necessary to prove you are human. Anyone who spends a little time with you can clearly see that you are humans. Unless you transform into beasts on occasion, I fail to see where that is relevant.”
Donte lifted his brows. “Well…”
Rianne shook her head and gave him a stern look. “Donte.”
Jason laughed. “Don’t we all?” He sipped his coffee. “You are here and you are human. In order to claim you as property, Fontalo would have to admit to genetically modifying humans. That’s illegal, so they couldn’t own you anyway. Captain Pacilio was trying to bluff you into turning over the Mascots so that he could destroy the evidence. I see no point in bringing up the subject of whether you are or are not human. If they bring it up, they will have to prove you’re not human.” He sipped his coffee and eyed Donte. “I’d like to see them try that. You’ve got women swooning over you all over Oriel and they haven’t even met you.”
Donte frowned. “Swooning? What does that mean?”
Jason laughed. “It doesn’t matter.” He leaned forward and put his cup on the table. “Now, what we can charge them with is attempted murder, destruction of public property…”
“Attempted?” Donte interrupted. “Their serum killed a lot of people - adults and children. After they knew what it would do, they intentionally administered it to more Mascots. It nearly killed my father and complications from it did kill my grandfather. They abandoned us while many Mascots lay dying.”
Jason glanced at Quade. “I don’t think we’ll be able to go back that far, nor can we prove that they were actually trying to kill anyone. I was talking about the attempted murder of you by this guy…” he searched his notes. “Chait? That was murder for hire. There is no question that Captain Pacillio ordered the attack on the Bergen tram station.”
Donte looked at Quade. They didn’t want to go back forty years and charge them with murder. He looked at Jason. “What about the fact that they abandoned us for forty years and now they want the spaceships back? What about the freedom of the colonists?”
Jason looked at him for a few minutes. “The freedom of the colonists isn’t a civil matter. You would have to approach the government about that. I can see where you are going with the Spaceships. If we don’t charge them for what they did forty years ago, we won’t have much of a case for Purlieu to keep the spaceships. Let me work on that one. I didn’t realize that was something you were trying to do.”
Donte shifted in his chair, uncomfortable about bringing up a sensitive subject in mixed company.
Jason looked at him. “Go ahead. If you have something else, I need to know about it now.”
Donte glanced at Lovita. Akira and Tabia were members of the medical profession, it probably wouldn’t embarrass them. “Captain Shea thought they might want to…fix me…so I couldn’t have more children.”
Jason smiled. “First, Captain Shea isn’t a lawyer; and second, she is employed by Fontalo.”
Rianne broke into the conversation. “This probably isn’t a good time to tell you I’m pregnant.”
She was trying to lighten the mood with humor. It wasn’t as if he was above that ploy, but the subject wasn’t one she normally joked about. “There isn’t a bad time to discover you’re pregnant.” He glanced at her and looked at Jason. Rianne didn’t look like she was joking. He looked at her again. She met his gaze without a hint of humor.
“Are you serious?” Donte asked.
She nodded.
“How long…when?”
“A little over four months. I’ll let you calculate when.”
He stared at her. It had to have been after she left the underground shelter. Not that it mattered. They were going to have another baby. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Congratulations.”
She smiled up at him. “The same to you.”
Donte looked at Jason. “We thought she was going through the change of life and couldn’t have any more.”
Jason rubbed his jaw. “You thought they might want to stop the reproduction of mutants?” He shook his head. “All of you are stellar examples of how humans should be. All you need to do is get out where the public can see you a little more. Donte, you and Rianne are the most incredibly attractive people I have ever seen. I can’t imagine why anyone would not want to see more offspring from you.”
He pulled a tablet from his briefcase. “Cheska sent me an interesting video and it gives me an idea. There is going to be an ice-skating competition in Ovaltown soon and they need some kind of entertainment. I think you two are exactly what they need.” He tapped and slid his finger across the tablet, nodded and pushed the tablet down the table where everyone could see.
Donte looked at Rianne. She lifted her brows. They thought they were alone in the snow on the ice. Obviously Cheska had been watching and recording.
Jason looked at his mother, who was leaning over to watch. “What do you think?”
She smiled, still watching the video. “Interesting…amazing, in fact.” She looked at Donte and Rianne. “Could you do that in a building in front of hundreds of people and a television camera?”
Quade laughed. “They are used to performing in front of people. You should see them romp to music.”
Lovita smiled at them. “Would you mind if I set you up for an audition?”
Donte looked at Rianne and shrugged. Rianne looked at Lovita. “I think that would be exciting.”
The front door flew open and Andras burst into the room, racing to Donte’s side. His eyes were wide and his hands animated his speech. “Daddy, there is a huge equine in the barn. It has feet this big with white hair on them. I think you need to come and see it!”
Petra gently shut the front door and cautiously came into the room. She took Andras by the hand. “Come on, Andras. They’re in a meeting.”
Donte stood and smiled at the others. “If we are done here, I think my presence is required in the barn.”
Jason laughed. “Go ahead. I need to go anyway. I’ll be back to talk to you tomorrow.”
***
Akira watched Donte go out the door with his children; gently scolding Andras for leaving the door open. Andras looked appropriately receptive, but he remained excited about the equine. He tugged Donte out the door with one hand and pulled the door shut with the other.
Lovita sighed. “Such sweet children; so well behaved.”
“Thank you,” Rianne said. “Donte spoils them.”
Quade laughed. “I believe he has a lot of help.”
Rianne grinned. “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”
Rianne didn’t spoil the children as far as Akira knew. Donte did, but not in a bad way. Quade helped spoil them, and she was certain that was what he was referring to.
Akira looked at Jason. “Do you have any children?”
“Yes, three; they all live with their mother.” He frowned. “Do you get divorced on Purlieu?”
“What is divorce?” Akira asked.
He smiled. “Obviously not. A divorce is a legal method of dissolving a marriage – a union between man and wife – a spouse.” He paused. “I believe Donte referred to it as a mate.”
“Oh,” Akira said. “We don’t need any legal interference to dissolve a union. We exchange vows of our choice when we take a mate. Sometimes people don’t honor those vows and the union dissolves. I suppose it is little different from your…divorce…on Oriel.”
Jason frowned. “What happens if one mate leaves and doesn’t help take care of the children?”
Akira shrugged. “Then the one with the children takes care of them. Families and friends assist when it is needed.”
“And the one who shirked their responsibility never pays for what they did – is never forced to take care of the children?”
Rianne took it from there. “On Purlieu, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. If you refuse to take care of your children, then a portion of the food you worked for will be given to your children. That’s true whether you stay with your mate or not. We don’t have a legal system as such. Relatives, friends and neighbors are expected to handle most situations. If it is too much for them, the situation is brought before the cabinet or council. Punishment can range from a work camp to termination. It depends on the severity of the crime. If someone repeatedly shows up in front of the cabinet or council, they may be subject to termination. It’s a powerful incentive to prevent the situation from getting to that point.”
Jason nodded. “Work camp…That’s like a prison?”
“I don’t know what a prison is,” Rianne said. “They are restricted to a farm where they work. Each person is individually assessed as to the reason for their crime and given jobs that will help them rehabilitate.”
John looked at her. “What happens if they kill a guard and escape?”
Quade answered without hesitation. “They would be terminated.”
Jason rubbed his chin. “Terminated. That’s a euphemism for killed. It sounds less barbaric, doesn’t it?”
Quade smiled. “On Purlieu, Termination is a lawful execution.”
“What about assassination?”
Quade leaned back and sighed. “If you’re referring to Chait, he was returned to his colony for punishment. He was put in a work camp because of the circumstances involved. Hopefully he will be rehabilitated.” He shrugged. “If you’re referring to what Donte did to Farasi, he came within seconds of being beheaded in an execution for his crime.” Quade glanced at Tabia and returned his attention to Jason. “They changed their mind and exiled him. All the colonies, including Nyumbani, have since decided that he terminated Farasi. Donte terminated an insane murderer in order to rescue Akira and prevent retribution to the people of Nyumbani.”
Akira nodded. “Donte accepted their decision to execute him. He didn’t resist. His act was intended to save other lives, including the life of his daughter.”
Jason frowned. “Petra?”
“Chiku,” Tabia said, and explained the reason Donte was in Nyumbani.
Quade sighed. “We could talk about this for the next century and not come to an agreement about punishment.”
Jason smiled. “You could. I don’t have that long. How old are you now? You look about forty, but even a Mascot couldn’t have a child before he was born.”
Quade laughed. “I’ll be a century old in a few months.”
Jason looked at his mother. “That must make you feel like a kid.”
She considered it for a minute. “If he has a life expectancy of four hundred, that would compare to a twenty-five-year-old man on Oriel. No, it doesn’t make me feel young.”
Neirin studied his coffee. “It’s all relative, isn’t it? I’m forty years older than Nieke, but when I’m a century old, I’ll still be young and Nieke will be growing old.”
Akira lifted a brow. “Are you just now thinking about that?”
Neirin looked at her. “No. I’ve given it a lot of thought.” He gave her a wry smile. “But there are a lot of years between now and then and she’s a lot of woman.”
Akira dropped the subject. Age wasn’t the greatest obstacle for Nieke and Neirin. First Nieke would have to get over Donte. Maybe Donte thought she would grow closer to Neirin because they spent so much time together on this mission. Unfortunately, she was also spending a lot of time with Donte. What was Donte thinking when he decided to bring her along? This would have been the perfect opportunity for her to get over him.
Soft Science Fiction
