Return Of The Fontalo
by Linda Rigsbee
Chapter 30
Donte woke, tired and hungry. He was tired because both children had slept in their bed with them that night. He was hungry because he hadn’t felt like eating the night before, so he skipped the evening meal.
He carefully slid out of bed without waking the others. He dressed in his clothing from the day before. He would do the milking and come back to bathe and change into a clean uniform. He descended the stairs, grabbed the clean milk pail from the kitchen and quietly escaped through the front door.
A Premier Infantry trooper looked up from his sentry at the foot of the porch stairs. Donte nodded at him and descended the stairs. A light fog surrounded the barn, giving it a magical feel.
In the barn, he dumped feed in the trough and opened the door to let the bovine in. She went straight to the trough and began eating. He closed the stanchion and grabbed the stool, placing it next to the cow. He washed the udder and milked a few squirts from each teat into a cup. Once he determined there were no lumps or indication of a problem, he sat down with the bucket between his knees and began to milk. He grasped alternate teats in each hand and leaned his head against the bovine, listening to the sound of the milk hitting the side of the pail. As the milk foamed, the sound changed. The smell of warm milk comforted him. Milking was comforting. In the months that they had been at the farm, he had thought a lot about the abandoned farm and his position as ruler. After his talk with Rianne, he wondered if it was possible to have a farm and be a functional ruler. Pieter had been concerned that he could not be both a ruler and fill The Prophesy at the same time. Maybe he couldn’t. Gerritt was on Purlieu ruling while he was on Oriel…milking bovines. If he had to choose between the farm and ruler, which one would he choose? He smiled. Oddly enough, the farm was more attractive. Still, if he gave up the position of ruler, would he regret it?
No matter what a person chose to do, they were bound to regret their decision sometime, if only briefly. Some would probably think he would be abandoning the people. Maybe he would, but if they needed him; he would be only short distance away.
He was thinking as if The Prophesy was over. It wouldn’t be over until they gained freedom from Oriel. That might never happen, but they had gained freedom from Fontalo. Was that where The Prophesy ended?
He finished milking the bovine and stood, pushing the stool back as he lifted the pail of milk. He released the bovine and headed for the house.
He entered a quiet house and went to the kitchen. He absently put a filter on the funnel, before straining the milk into a clean glass jar. He tightened the lid and placed the milk into the refrigerator. After that, he washed the buck and strainer. As he dried his hands, he considered how nice it would be to have Weja serve him in the kitchen of the Groot Thuis. Was that what had brought on all this nostalgia about the farm? His life had been a constant upheaval for the last ten years. He longed to see Saskia’s smile, and walk to the pond to watch the anatidae. He missed the mountains and the snow – the celebrations with long-time friends and family. He missed the camaraderie of the cabinet. He would miss those things on a farm too.
He turned to find Lovita watching him. It was odd that he hadn’t felt her presence. He smiled. “Good morning.”
She sighed as she moved away from the door. “Sometimes it’s difficult to think of you as a ruler.”
Donte chuckled. “I suppose so. It’s so different on Purlieu. I think you might like it there.”
“Maybe so, but like you, I would miss my home.”
“Soon we will be going back. I hope we haven’t disrupted your lives too badly.”
She smiled and patted his arm. “Donte, this has been an adventure I wouldn’t have missed for anything.” She sobered. “I wish things had turned out better for your friend, though. Are you feeling better this morning?”
Donte nodded. “It was such a shock. I thought many times that I might not live through this, but I didn’t think Beier….” Donte paused when a lump in his throat caused his eyes to burn. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Things will never be the same without him.”
She walked to the refrigerator. “Life happens in stages. Some of them we want to last longer and some we want to end as quickly as possible.” She opened the door and took out a carton of eggs. “Life is never the same from one stage to the next. All we can do is embrace the present and make the most of what we have. Before you know it, your children will be grown.” She stopped and smiled. “I started to say that you’d turn around and discover you were old, but it will be a very long time before that happens to you.”
Donte shook his head. “Beier had a life expectancy of 350 to 400 years.”
She looked up at him and smiled. “I suppose you’re right. I was thinking how nice it would be to have a life expectancy like that, but that doesn’t mean you’ll live longer than I will.”
He hugged her. “I’m going to miss you.” He looked down at his uniform. “I’d better bathe and change clothes before breakfast.”
He left the kitchen, feeling better about things. Sometimes a good talk with an older person could be so thought provoking. He was going to miss Beier’s sage advice.
Later that day Jason arrived with Roger and the news they had been waiting for. A decision had been made about freedom of Purlieu from Oriel.
Jason smiled. “Purlieu has been put on a Tentative Freedom List. A team from Oriel will be sent to Purlieu to determine if it qualifies as a sovereign colony. If it does, and I think it will, it will be considered a planet capable of governing itself and free from Oriel. After that, it will be put on an ally list.”
“I guess that means we can return to Purlieu now,” Donte said. It was difficult to get excited about the news. They had won, but at what cost?
Jason nodded. “As soon as you select the spaceship you want. Do you have a crew and someone to navigate it?”
Donte looked at Nieke. “I think so.”
She caught her breath. “You would give me that position after what I did?
He shook his head. “Nieke, everyone makes mistakes. You learn from your mistakes. I don’t have less faith in you now because of what happened. I have more faith in you because I know you have more experience.”
She looked at him a moment. “I don’t know if I have learned anything from what happened except how vulnerable I am.”
Donte smiled. “Sometimes that is the lesson. You didn’t do anything wrong, Nieke. There was no reason to suspect that the captain was driving Jason’s car. There was no reason to suspect the captain was going to shoot Beier or take Andras. It was all irrational. Yet everything that happens to us gives us the experience to perceive things differently the next time something similar happens.”
She glanced at Neirin before turning back to Donte. “It’s only temporary, right? Until we get back to Purlieu?”
Donte nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
Donte returned his attention to Jason. “I anticipated problems, so the crew on the Azar is larger than we need. I’ll have to divide it between two ships, meaning both will be a little short-handed, but I think we can manage.” He hesitated to state the real problem. The people of Oriel had been supporting them for months. Still, the problem had to be addressed. Receiving a spaceship free was one thing. Getting it home was another. “The biggest issue is fuel for the second ship.”
Roger smiled. “Don’t worry about that. Since you arrived, we have been getting a lot of donations and even a larger budget. Both of your ships will be fueled and stocked with food at our expense.” He glanced at Jason before returning his attention to Donte. “Regarding that team Jason spoke of; I’m going to be heading it and we’d like a ride to Purlieu with you, if you don’t mind. We will be picked up later by one of our ships. Riding there with you will give us valuable information about how you work together. We already know you have the ability to adapt and are compatible with Oriel’s lifestyle.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Donte said. “How soon would we be able to leave?”
Roger laughed. “In about a week. I assume that’s not soon enough, but it will have to do.”
Donte smiled. “It will be fine. If you don’t need us here, we will return to the Azar and address any needs in preparation to leaving.”
Roger looked at Jason. “We don’t have anything to hold you on Oriel.”
“I need you to sign some papers at my office,” Jason said. “Other than that, if something comes up, we know where to find you.”
Donte signed the papers that day and they left for the Azar the next morning. They never thought it would feel good to be back in space again, but it was the first step in their trip home. Their home didn’t contain the conveniences that existed on Oriel, but it did have the necessities. It didn’t have a legal or monetary system like Oriel, but their experience on Oriel had given them insight to the pitfalls and advantages of a more complicated society. If and when they developed them, they would be better informed. That was an advantage that Oriel hadn't had. Oriel had to learn by trial and error over centuries. A continued connection with Oriel might spare Purlieu some of the problems associated with failure. Like the pollution issue, Purlieu had the advantage of experience before their colonies were entrenched in a way of life that seemed to provide no way out. It was ironic that Purlieu had been the experimental colony of Oriel, but Oriel was the true experiment. Hopefully they would find other planets to populate using the knowledge they had gained from their ventures. Hopefully, Purlieu would continue to grow in a positive way. Having Mascots that lived hundreds of years with fully functional memories might help prevent some of the problems Oriel now faced. Often the solution to a problem required long term resolutions. When things got better, people didn’t have the memories or experiences to understand why they should not do some things. Logic only existed with a wealth of facts.
Soft Science Fiction
