Love and War
19 May 2020Maggie Oz
I sat with Pris out on the sun deck, basking .... The raised deck formed a mezzanine level out from the VIP quarters that were now Pris and Monique's home and it had a spectacular view of the lake, framed by the lush rainforest gardens that Pris has created. It made the perfect spot for a Sunday brekky and doing so had become a bit of a tradition.
"I think we may need to put some larger animals in Mags," she said
"How much larger?"
"Up to about possum size, I should think. The insects are doing well, a bit too well so we need some insectivores to keep them in check. So some small to medium size mammals are the go. Bats too I think."
"How's the budget?"
"Very healthy, the previous Lords and Ladies hardly spent a Cred of the budget in the last 10 years so there is a good few million left, even with all I've done so far. We can monetise the gardens too if it comes to that."
"I'm not having people pay to visit them, their taxes pay for them anyway"
"I was meaning more of it becoming useful to film crews and possibly looking at holding Horticultural and Terraforming Conventions, get the corporations to shell out for tours for the delegates and that sort of thing"
"That's a grand idea, put the proposal together and give it to Afia to run her accountants eye over. "
"Ok ... oi oi, have you seen this" Pris said "DAC turn up the volume"
The volume of the broadscreen we had on in the corner showing the news feed rose
It was a news article from a Federation Border world
"Clones! OUT! Clones! OUT! ... OUT! OUT! OUT!" came the chant.
"Excuse me Sir, do you have a comment for the media?" The reporter asked of the lead rabble rouser.
"There int no place in the whol' ga'xy that shud be alloin' cloners , they's just int right. Ery sin'gle one on this her' pla't has gots to peck thir bags and git. They's got til the en o' the week and if they's int gawn baa then...... we's gonna git rid o' dem or'sells"
"How do you know who is a clone and who isn't?"
"Whaaat?"
"How will you know someone is a clone?"
"Weell ..... um .... wel firs we know they's talk with that fancy eempeeryal voice, so anyone speekin' like that is has to proove they int a clone"
"OK how will they prove that?"
"See this is wheer we is usin' tek-no-lo-gee" he said with triumph " See we's worked out they has this im-plan' thaang in the back o' thir hed. And cos it's ee-lec-traw-nik if we's hit it with a dose o' EE EM PEE then they's gonna co-lapse and we can git rid o' dem"
As he said this he pulled out a jury rigged device consisting of a high tension coil fashioned onto a power cell.
"See, we's just put this on the back o' their neck" the rouser said and leaned towards the reporter
"Don't touch me with that! "
"Whaay? Is yo a clone?"
"No but that much power will hurt anyone, not just a clone. I'm also wired for broadcast"
"That soun's like an ex-cuse ta me! Grab him Jed"
There was a scuffle and the camera recorded the news crew fleeing to their van and then making a fast exit through an unruly mob.
DAC turned the volume back down
I sighed .... a big sigh
"There probably isn't clone within a hundred light years of that bloody planet. Certainly no Generationals" I said
"Hate's pretty powerful Mags" said Pris, sadly
...
"So is love," I said pensively, resting my chin on my hands on the table and looking out over the lake.
...
"You're not ...... " Pris started
Without lifting my chin off my hands I turned and looked at Pris, and made a face.
"I might be ...... " I said quietly in a voice a child might use when they were admitting to taking an extra biscuit.
"Oh wow." She said, seemingly not sure what to say, "Well, he is a super chap"
"Yes, he is," I said emphatically, "But could it be more complicated?"
"How is it complicated?"
"He's Navy, I'm a run about ship Commander. I'm fighting Thargoids, I've got Federals still hounding me, I've just set the Galaxy on fire with bloody .... "clonism" " I said waving at the now silent TV " He's 10 years older than me, but I'm nearly 100 older than him, if that makes any sense at all which it doesn't. And what are we supposed to do about it? Get Married? ... why? we can't raise a family, or do we just spend the next century in perpetual "date night"? "
"Have you not thought this through before Mags? " Pris said sounding a little surprised.
"No, not really. I mean you think about things but it's different when you are confronted by them. To be honest I'd more or less given up on the idea of commitment and all that. I've been married before, I thought that was it you know? I had thought that the rest of my time would be more or less just friends and casual lovers, with any deep emotional attachment coming from my cell mates. "
"Does he feel the same?"
"Well he hasn't said anything of course, but you can see from space he's head over bloody heels"
"So what do you think you'll do?"
"Probably get my heart broken ... again"
"Hmmm"
We sat in silence and watched the insects happily buzzing about the trees and flowers and I thought about Pris' plan to introduce things to devour them.