In The Beginning, Gail Daley [red white royal blue .TXT] 📗

"Don’t be silly Katherine," Corrine said. "Of course we want to hear it."

Zack set up the playback on the vid screen. They could see that Lister and Lewiston were alone in the brig, the duty crewman having gone to fetch Lister’s meal.

"I kind of figured you might be joining me here," Darla remarked. "She looked pretty mad to me after the hearing. What did you do, dose her up with Submit again?"

He glared at her. "This is the second time you’ve gone off half-cocked about those kids. Even if they were following you, what harm could it do?"

"And yes, I did have to slip a little into our after dinner drinks. I only got a limited supply from Grouter you know, and as I may need to use it on her mother too, I would appreciate it if you would quit making me waste it to cover up your mistakes!"

"I don’t like kids," Darla said sullenly, "You think they’re no danger to us just because they’re kids but you’re wrong. And that Juliette—she gives me the willies."

He snorted. "Never mind that. Once we get to the ground, I want you and Georgios to steal some transport and get out to the coordinates where the ammo is going to come down. I was going to send someone else with him, but I’ve decided to get you away from the O’Teague until we’re ready to move. I need time to win over Mama DeMedici to our plan," he reminded her, "and I can’t do that if you keep stirring the pot."

When the vid finished, everyone sat and looked at each other in speculative silence.

"It almost sounds as if he’s still planning some type of coup," Vernal remarked.

"Maybe he’s just planning on running the DeMedici Clan," suggested Corrine.

"Would he need weapons to do that?" asked Juliette.

"I don’t know hon, but then I don’t know what their clan set up is like," Zack responded. "In any case, I’m against allowing him access to additional weapons on general principals."

"Well, I think our best bet will be to send Genevieve a copy of that vid and ask her to pass along the warning about Lewiston’s ammo drop to Clan DeMedici," stated Katherine.

A New Home

ARRIVAL DAY on Vensoog was chaos. The Dancing Gryphon only boasted three shuttles and two of them had already been re-fitted by the crew as cargo carriers.

"We drew lots," Katherine explained to her frustrated family. "Captain Heidelberg only made one shuttle available to us for unloading people. The other three shuttles are going to be busy unloading cargo. We won’t have them available until the cargo has been unloaded. The Clans are going to alternate shuttle usage for landing our new members. Yang will go down first, then the DeMedici’s and then us. I arranged for the fifteen of us and three more families with children to be in the first shuttle we’ve been allotted. I wanted families with children to have a chance to settle them into O’Teague Manor before the ceremony this afternoon, so they will be first down."

"What about our stuff," Jayla asked gesturing at the pile of luggage they had needed during the trip.

"There is a cargo lift outside. If you kids will put all that stuff on it, one of the crew is going to take it down to the loading area. From there it will be taken on one of the cargo shuttles down to the port. Once it’s down on the planet, it will be taken over to the barge we’re going to ride out to our Glass Manor."

A New Family

PORT RECOVERY’S spaceport was a series of plain ulitarian domes. The first building on the site had been a tower that had blown over during the colonists first storm season. Next to it was a larger secondary dome with partitions where colonists could store trade goods while they waited for a ship.

Several of the clans had reception committees waiting for the new arrivals. Clan O’Teagues’ consisted of Genevieve, Drusilla and three women who oversaw the handling and transition of both cargo and new immigrants. After freeing herself from strangling hugs from Genevieve and Drusilla, Katherine turned to Margie, a medium sized, brown haired woman accompanied by two very large shorthaired dogs.

"Are these them?" she inquired.

Margie nodded, stroking their heads. "This is Ulnae and Karton, the best in our kennels, Just as you requested."

Katherine gestured Jayne forward. "Jayne, I’d like for you and your boys to meet Margie. She will be instructing you on handling your new Nanny Dogs, Ulnae and Karton."

Jayne looked puzzled. "Nanny Dogs?"

Katherine nodded. "Your boys are both too young to recognize dangerous plants or animals. On Vensoog, we use Nanny Dogs to keep very young children safe from things in their environment that might hurt them. Ulnae and Karton will help keep them from doing things like accidentally falling in the water, tasting poison plants, handling venomous insects, stuff like that."

"They’re quite safe," Margie assured her. "Let’s step over here shall we, so we’re out of the way while I introduce you. Hold out your hand so they can get your scent."

Margie, Jayne and her boys moved over by the open windows while she made the introductions and explained to Jayne and the boys about the dog’s duties.

Katherine turned to the waiting men. "Genevieve, may I present Colonel Gideon Michaels, his son Lucas and his daughter Jayla?"

Genevieve held out her hand and Gideon bowed over it, brushing it with a kiss. "Lady Genevieve, I am honored to meet you," he said.

She smiled back at him. "Just Genevieve, please. Since we are to be Handfasted, I suggest we start with first names instead of titles." She turned to Lucas and Jayla. "These are your wards?"

"Yes, this is Lucas and Jayla." Lucas had been staring dumbstruck at Drusilla ever since he laid eyes on her and had apparently not heard the introduction.

Gideon kicked him sharply in the ankle