Lise, DM Arnold [bearly read books .TXT] 📗

gang -- let's get across before the traffic starts up again.”

They sprinted across the street and Lise led them down a boulevard. The Varadan mid-day sun fell on her head, neck and shoulders. It was beginning to do its work, activating the chlorophyll in her skin and making sugars from carbon dioxide and water. It felt good -- warm, satisfying, invigorating and relaxing at the same time. A full day in the sun would fill her of sunshine -- with enough calories to last two or three days in the shade.

They reached the park. Klarissa and Geddes let go of her hands and sprinted toward a swing set. “Lise!” Klarissa yelled. “Come push us.”

Lise stood between two swings and began pushing them. “Higher!” Klarissa yelled.

“That's plenty high.”

“Look! A sandbox!” Klarissa dragged her feet, tumbled out of the swing and ran. Geddes followed her.

Lise sat on a bench near the sandbox, stretched out her long legs, leaned back and lifted her face to the sun. She watched the twins play and saw others wandering through the park. Hers was the only green face, she realized, and imagined what the other adults must be thinking. How desperate must a parent be to employ a novonid as a nanny?

She was beginning to feel full of sunlight. Lise stood and approached the children. “Maybe we should head home now,” she said.

“I don't want to,” Geddes retorted.

“We want to be home when your mommy comes from work.”

“Why?” asked Klarissa.

“So she won't worry.”

Geddes bolted from the sandbox and headed for a hedge of native shrubs. “Geddes!” Lise called. “Come on, Klarissa -- let's see if we can find him.”

Lise walked to the spot where Geddes was hiding and pretended not to see him. “Where is he, Klarissa?” Klarissa giggled and soon Geddes was giggling, too. “There you are. Come on -- let's go.”

They headed home. Geddes began to lag behind. “I'm tired,” he whined and sat on the sidewalk.

“I'll carry you,” Lise said and picked him up.

“Carry me, too!” Klarissa shouted. Lise stooped, picked her up and strode down the sidewalk with each child slung over a shoulder.

Lise heard the front door open and Megan walked in. “How did it go?”

“They're both napping, mam,” Lise whispered. “They're wonderful children. I love them both. Shall I come tomorrow, same time?”

“A bit earlier if you could.”

“Certainly, Ms Megan.”

“Oh, Lise?”

“Yes, mam?”

“Can we dispense with the Ms and mam? You can call me Megan.”

“Yes, m... Ms... Yes, Megan.” Lise smiled. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Lise headed to the corner and waited at the bus stop. The bus routes were numbered and color coded. She knew which buses she needed to ride -- a blue number eight, then transfer to a yellow number fourteen. One of the streetcars approached, marked with a blue circle with the number 8. She sprinted toward the rear of the bus, climbed onto the platform and held onto the overhead rail as it pulled into traffic.

She watched the foot traffic on the sidewalks as the bus worked its route, peering around the side at street and bus stop signs looking for her transfer point. This part of town was one where novonids weren't seen very frequently. She wondered how Megan's neighbors would react upon learning of her new nanny.

The bus reached a transfer point in Vyonna's business district. She hopped off the platform, crossed the street and waited for another bus to carry her to a sector within walking distance to the Green Zone.

Lise descended the stairs to the basement apartment. She spotted Tagg's sketch lying on the bench, picked it up and examined it; then rolled it into a cylinder. Her eyes scanned the joists above for a suitable hiding place. Standing on the bench, she tucked it out of sight.

She climbed to the courtyard and tended her garden of native plants, picking off spent blossoms and carrying water from the standpipe. The sun was still high in the afternoon sky and she stood to intercept the strongest rays.

Other novonid residents began to filter in from their jobs around the city. Some loitered in the courtyard and others on the streets outside. For many whose jobs were indoors, between quitting-time and dusk constituted their principal sunlight meal of the day.

Rayla and Grott came into the courtyard. Rayla lay flat on the concrete plaza. Grott headed below into the basement. Lise's eyes met her mother's. “How did it go?” Rayla asked.

Lise nodded. “Well. Very well. They're two delightful children.”

“Good. How much scrip did you bring home?”

“None. Ramina says I must pay off her fees and expenses, first.”

“And here we are, thinking she was different.” She heard her stepfather's voice coming from the stairs leading below.

“She told me my registration and medical bills amount to four thousand units,” Lise protested.

“They all say that,” Grott replied. “Our owner has been telling us for years we still owe him this or that. We'll never see any of our wages. And -- we can't quit because then he'd call us renegade and send bounty hunters after us.”

“We do owe her for Lise's registration,” Rayla said. “I for one am happy that's done. I'd lie awake worrying that some bounty hunter might spot her.”

“Ramina says she'll be paid after forty pay periods,” Lise added. “We won't owe her anything after that.”

“Besides,” Rayla noted, “she has her fertile breeder, now. We can argue whether or not transplanting Lise's ovary was our responsibility or hers. Remember -- a male is worth one but a fertile female is worth ten.”

“It was the agreement,” Lise replied.

“That will be the test, won't it?” Grott said. “We'll see how she treats Lise after forty pay periods are up.”

III

“Lise! Wake up.” Rayla shook her.

“Mmmmph...”

“Grott and I are going to work. You said you needed to be up earlier.”

“Yes ... and I must ride the streetcars today.” She sat cross-legged on the mat and rubbed her eyes. Lise took a towel out to the courtyard. She scanned the area for Tagg and didn't see him. She began her bathing.

She rode the streetcar to Megan's home, changing lines in the center city. The busses were crowded and traffic was slowed by the commuting rush. She found house number 505, climbed to the door and pressed the chime.

Megan cracked open the door, smiled and let her in. “Klarissa and Geddes are finishing breakfast,” she said. “Thank you for coming early... Lise -- last night after you left Klarissa had a hundred and one questions about adopting novonids. I was wondering if you knew what prompted it.”

“She saw a BSS announcement on the mediascreen,” Lise replied. “Klarissa is a bright girl who thinks about things.”

“She certainly always is thinking.”

“I know this topic could be awkward, especially since I don't know your circumstances. I'm grateful for the work you've given me. I'm aware that females are often adopted out of the shelters to serve as caregivers, and...” Megan closed her eyes and shook her head. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Not at all, Lise. I can see you think about things, too.” Megan lowered her voice. “I would never own one of you because I don't believe in it.”

“Someone has to own us. I'd rather it be a kindly person like yourself than some of the owners.”

“I never looked at it that way. I agreed to hire you because I'm comfortable with how Ramina runs her end of it. The city gives me a stipend toward the twins' day care. I prefer the individual attention you can give them, rather than sending them to a center. I'm telling you this, Lise, in case one of them starts asking you awkward questions.”

“I understand. Thank you, Megan.”

“Now -- I must be on my way.”

“Before you go... Yesterday the twins convinced me you permit them to watch a program on the mediascreen ... 'Ask Jaks.'”

“That horrid thing? I hope you didn't let them.”

“I'm afraid I did. I watched it with them and realized it probably wasn't ... appropriate.”

“I suppose once won't injure them too badly. I hate that program. I wonder why they play it at a time when little ones are at home.”

“I'll make sure they don't watch it today. Have a good day, M...Megan.”

The twins' mother headed out the door.

Lise filled a glass with water and sat with Klarissa and Geddes at the kitchen table. Klarissa regarded her. “Don't you eat anything?”

“Not much,” Lise replied. “We talked about this yesterday. I get my food from the sun.”

“You don't eat at all?”

“We must eat for protein and minerals,” Lise replied, “once every two or three days. I do need to drink lots of water.”

“Do you go to the bathroom?” Klarissa asked. Geddes giggled.

“Yes.”

“Do you pee or poo?”

“I do both -- though I don't poo very often.” Geddes giggled again. “What's funny, Geddes?”

“That you poo.”

“Why is it funnier for me than you?”

“Because you're different,” Klarissa interjected.

“Yes, I am -- but I'm also like you.” She took Klarissa's hand and pressed it against her wrist. “I have a pulse like you do.”

“Let me feel,” Geddes said. Klarissa felt her own wrist.

Klarissa rubbed her finger along Lise's forearm and then examined her fingertips. “It doesn't rub off,” Lise said.

“Oh! It's time for 'Ask Jaks,” Klarissa said.

“You're not going to watch it,” Lise replied. “Your mommy gave me explicit orders. It's not an appropriate show for children your age. I don't think it's appropriate for anyone.” She turned to Geddes. “You lied to me yesterday when you said you always watched it -- didn't you?” Geddes sat stone-faced. “Geddes -- and, Klarissa, too -- we can't have lying. Some day it may be very important that I believe something you say. I need to know I can trust you. I won't lie to you. Don't lie to me.”

Klarissa looked at the floor. Geddes sat, closed his eyes and began to breath deeply and deliberately. He reached into himself for something and found it. His lip began to quiver and tears began to flow. “I want to watch Jaks!” he exclaimed, sobbing. “Please, let me watch Jaks.”

“This isn't going to work, Geddes,” Lise said. “You might as well save your effort.”

“I WANNA WATCH JAKS!” Geddes shrieked. He fell on the floor and began pounding his fists and kicking.

“Come on, Klarissa,” Lise said. “Let's go into the bedroom and I'll read you a story or something.”

“YOU can read?”

“Of course I can. Come on...”

Klarissa accompanied Lise into the bedroom she shared with Geddes. Geddes followed them, wailing, and threw himself onto the floor.

Lise picked up the squirming boy, carried him to the living room and set him on the floor. “You can carry on all you want, but you're NOT going to disrupt our story.”

Geddes doubled and redoubled the volume of his wailing. “Okay, Klarissa -- what shall we read?” The door chime sounded. “Just a minute...”

Lise opened the door to a middle-aged white woman. The woman looked her up, down and up again. “Hello -- my name is Lise. Megan hired me to watch her twins.”

“What is the commotion?”

“Geddes is throwing a tantrum because I won't let him watch 'Ask Jaks.'”

“Is that all it is? It sounded like someone was being flayed...”

“I'm letting him wear himself out.”

The woman lowered her voice. “I've baby-sat for Megan. Geddes is a strong-willed boy. I think you're handling it the right way.”

“Sorry to have disturbed you.”

Lise joined Klarissa in her bedroom and began reading a story from an electronic book device. Geddes's wailing tapered off to silence. Lise looked into the living room and saw him, lying asleep in a puddle of tears and drool. She picked Geddes up and placed him on his bed.

Lise let Geddes nap. He roused around lunch time, walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, avoiding eye contact.

“Here's your lunch, Geddes,” Lise said. The boy turned his head away. “Geddes -- let's get something straight. I don't care if you like me or hate me. Well -- I DO care -- I'd rather you like me. I like you -- I think you are a darling little boy. But -- if