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

be born a novonid. This reality had never before been driven home with such force.

The bus reached the corner outside the Green Zone. Lise stepped off the platform. Holding Rinn's hand she led him through the gate and toward the courtyard. She saw her mother sunning on the concrete bench. Glinda sat on the stub wall.

Rinn let go of Lise's hand and ran toward his mother. Glinda scooped him up and kissed his cheek. “What have we here?” She examined the plush toy.

“A present from one of the white children,” Lise replied.

“Isn't that something... Come on, Rinn.” The little boy trotted away with his mother.

“How did it go?” Rayla asked her daughter.

“Well. Pretty well. Where's father?”

“A meeting of elders. I don't expect him 'til late.”

“How's Glinda doing?”

“She spent all day with a BSS caseworker. Her owner didn't leave a will -- not one that was filed, at least. She's under BSS custody until the estate gets sorted out. She told me something about the murder.”

“What?”

“Her owner was killed with a garrote.”

“A what?”

“A length of rope with a handle on each end. It's formed into a loop, slipped over the victim's head and then...” Rayla made a gesture of pulling her fists apart. “Quick and silent. It's a favorite weapon of the street thugs.”

“Do they think street thugs killed her?”

“No -- they think it was made to look like that, though. She was killed getting out of her car -- right before curfew. Someone had been lying in wait for her. Street thugs don't operate in that part of Vyonna.”

Lise saw Grott approach. “Hello, Father.”

“Is the meeting over already?” Rayla asked.

“No -- it's still going on. I left early. I heard about all I could take.”

“What are they saying?”

“They're crazy. They think we can organize.”

“Organize?”

“Yes. If we work as a group, we become a force to be reckoned with. That's what they're saying. We've never been able to organize before.”

“Why not?” Lise asked.

“Because we can't organize the farms,” her mother replied. “Without the fieldworkers, there's no point in organizing.”

“Why can't we organize the farms?”

“Communication is too difficult,” Rayla replied. “The distances between farms are too great. Fieldworkers aren't permitted to have mediascreens. If one overseer found a mediascreen, every barracks on every farm would be torn apart looking for more.”

“That's what they're saying will be different, this time,” Grott said. “This thing is being organized by Mott.”

“Who's Mott?” Lise asked.

“He's a renegade,” Rayla replied. “He and his gang live on the far side of the Zone.”

“Some say he has his run of Vyonna,” Grott added, “he knows how to get around in the middle of the night despite curfew.”

“Yes,” Rayla added, “and some say he doesn't exist at all.”

“Why haven't I heard of him?” Lise asked.

“It's man talk,” Rayla replied. “You know how men like to talk.”

“Was Mott at the meeting?” Lise asked.

“No, but some of his gang were there. He's recruiting renegades and unregistereds and giving them shelter at his end of the Zone. They'll be the runners, going between the farms. Mott's training them to live in the hedgerows like the feral novonids do.”

“Training them?” Lise asked.

“Yes. He's training them how to steep minerals from the soil and how to trap small animals for protein.”

“Ugh!” Lise shuddered.

“That's an element I'd just as soon have out of the Zone,” Rayla replied. “Having them out in the hedgerows is fine with me.”

“And,” Grott continued, “they'll be equipped with mediascreens.”

Rayla snorted. “So the renegades have mediascreens. You know I've been wanting one.”

“You don't need a mediascreen,” Grott answered back.

“Father, what's wrong with her having one?”

“It's a needless ... thing,” he replied. “They say Mott's working with the street thugs, too. That's where the money to do this is coming from. There's even talk that Mott was responsible for killing Glinda's owner.”

“Do you think it's likely?”

“I wouldn't know.”

“She was garroted,” Rayla added.

“I hadn't heard that.”

“Glinda just told me this afternoon.”

Grott nodded. “That's one of Mott's signatures.”

“Why not go to the constables with it?” Lise asked.

“They're not interested in hearing any green talk,” Rayla replied.

VI

Lise arrived at number 505 and rang the bell. Megan answered and gestured her inside. “Klarissa told me what happened yesterday...”

“It's all right,” Lise interrupted. “I dealt with it.”

“She told me what ... word ... Geddes used. I was mortified. He did not hear it from me, Lise -- believe me.”

“I believe you. I hear that word all the time and I'm sure so do Klarissa and Geddes.”

“I am very sorry, Lise. Geddes has been punished.”

“I had forgotten it. I hope Klarissa told you the rest of the story ... how she gave one of her toys to Rinn.”

“Yes, I rewarded her for that. I think you handle Geddes well. He requires a firm hand ... firmer than mine, I'm afraid. How did you learn to deal with children?”

“I've been doing this for years. Before I was registered I couldn't risk wandering away from home ... in daylight, at least. The neighborhood moms would leave their kids with me. Some days I minded half a dozen.”

“Lise's day care,” Megan mused.

“I've had to deal with novonid boys who were very much like Geddes. Children are children. They behave exactly like ... children.”

“Any word on Rinn and his mom?”

“She was offered to be taken into a BSS shelter. She turned it down, because she would be separated from her man. She's pregnant -- about half-way along.”

“Then, what's next?”

“It could take some time to sort things out.”

“Does she have a job?”

“A female's job is making babies,” Lise replied. “Rinn is Glinda's...” She rolled her eyes in thought. “Her sixth I think.”

“Don't tell me the others have been taken from her.”

“As soon as they're old enough for training and conditioning...”

“Oh, my goodness...”

“...usually around age eleven or twelve.” Megan's eyes were brimming.

“I had no idea. I know what it felt like to have my children taken from me -- but I knew I'd get them back. I had no idea... Of course I didn't. I had no desire to know, and our society has no desire to tell anyone... What happens then?”

“They go to the pomma farms ... or, into the work force ... or, back into the Zone. Glinda had a little girl who died shortly after birth. Then, she spent a while as a wet nurse to a white family -- that's also females' work.”

Megan nodded. “I remember when the twins were born. I needed help nursing them. The hospital sent a novonid woman. She'd pick them both up, sit and feed them, one at each breast, and never say a word. After some days I was able to feed them both by myself. I never saw her again. I've wondered about her, though... How long was Glinda a wet nurse?”

“Until the child was weaned; then, she came back to the Zone and had Rinn. I like Glinda. I hope her new owner is kind to her. I'll go have a word with Geddes.”

She walked into the twins' room. Geddes sat on his bed. “Hi,” she said.

He turned from her. “You promised you wouldn't tell!”

“I didn't tell.”

“You told Klarissa to tell. She did your stupid gr... stupid dirty work for you.”

“As far as I was concerned, the matter was closed when you apologized to Rinn. What happens between you, Klarissa and your mom after I go home is no affair of mine.”

“It's all your fault. You brought Rinn. It wouldn't have happened if you didn't bring Rinn.”

“It wouldn't have happened if a lot of things had gone differently. The fact is, it did happen. You're going to face these situations, Geddes, as you grow up. How you deal with them is your choice. Think about this... In general, people will treat you the way you treat them. That goes for green people as well as white people. Maybe you're too young to fully understand. Keep it in mind as you go through life. Come on, Geddes. Let's have some breakfast.”

She coaxed him to his feet. He started toward the kitchen. Lise took his hand and he snatched it away.

Megan faced him. “So, did you apologize?”

“He certainly did,” Lise replied.

“Good. Geddes, your breakfast is on the table.” Megan nodded toward the door and stood in the house's small foyer. Lise approached her. “Lise, I have something for you.” Megan handed her a red 25-unit scrip card. “This is yours to keep.”

“I can't accept this.”

“You certainly can. Without you, Lise, I wouldn't have my twins back. Having them is more important to me than anything. Take it. It's a small, small token of my appreciation.”

Lise threw her arms around Megan. In that instant the magnitude of the breach of etiquette she was committing dawned on her. Before she could withdraw, she felt Megan's arms surrounding her in a strong embrace, and her hands squeezing her shoulder blades.

She stood back. “Thank you,” she said and slipped the card into the pocket of her shorts.

“I'll see you this after.”

Lise headed for the kitchen. “Klarissa ... Geddes ... let's get ready to go out.”

“I'm ready,” Klarissa said. She pulled on her sun bonnet.

“Come, Geddes.”

Lise locked the door and slipped the passcard into her pocket. She grasped the twins' hands and headed down the sidewalk, with Geddes dragging his feet. “Do you want me to carry you?”

“No!”

“Then walk with us.”

They reached the corner. A constable's squad car was parked. One deputy sat behind the controls while the other stood outside, leaning against the vehicle, using his communicator. Lise walked by them and made eye contact.

Geddes began to pull away. “Geddes!”

“NO!” he shouted “Help! Help!”

The deputy approached. “What's going on here?”

“Officer,” Lise replied, “I've been hired to mind these children. He's a bit cranky.”

The officer knelt and looked into Geddes's face. “Is that true? Is she your nanny?”

“NO!” Geddes shouted.

The officer whistled to his partner, who jumped out of the car. “Mind the kids. Miss -- step over here.” He looked at Lise's registration number and punched it into his communicator. “Your number comes back invalid. I'll have to take you in.”

“No! I'm registered! This is a valid number.”

He punched the number in again. “Not according to this.” He drew his baton. “Up against the car -- put your hands out.” The officer began patting her down. She felt his fingers probing her breasts, then his hands against her hips and buttocks. He reached into her pocket, withdrew the key card and the scrip and slipped them into a polymer envelope. “Now -- your left hand...” Something snapped around her wrist. The officer pulled her right hand behind her and secured it to her left. “Into the car...”

He pushed her into the seat. “This is a mistake,” she protested. She looked around and realized there were no door handles -- even if she could free her hands, there was no escape.

Geddes and Klarissa were now holding onto each other and crying. The deputy sat in the front of the car. “What about the children?” she cried. “What'll happen to the children?”

“A car will take them to Family Services.”

Lise watched out the window. The second deputy attempted to calm the twins. They cried and pointed toward the car.

Another squad pulled up. An officer stepped out and helped push Geddes and Klarissa into the back. Its turbine whined up and it pulled into traffic.

The front door opened. The deputy sat behind the controls, started the turbine and pushed the control stick to move into traffic.

The car stopped outside a fortress-like building in the center of Vyonna. The deputy opened the door and hauled Lise out. He drew his baton and used it to prod her down a hallway. He opened a door.

“What do we have?” another officer asked.

“Unregistered -- counterfeit registry number.”

“That's the second in two days.”

“Yeah -- but I spotted this one. I get to keep the bounty.”

The intake officer snapped a collar around Lise's neck with a tag marked with the number 8. He opened another door and pushed her into a holding cell.

Inside was a bench, seated upon which were