The Sarran Senator (5 page)

::
Don’t
worry, Michael, you will drink the vial in
Tierest
juice. There will be no needles used here
this rising.
::
TeAxit
chuckled.

::
Thank
you,
::
Michael said
feverently
.

Mark dumped the contents of the first vial in
a glass of juice and handed it to Michael. “Drink up, offspring.
This will enable
a true
bond for you and
Naffer when you reach the age of culpability.”

::
Okay,
Poppie, I trust you.
::
Michael
downed his drink in one swallow. Michael
grinned,
::Now
I can
truly be
Naffie’s
Bonded.
::

“Sam, your vial is in my hand. Do you want it
with juice?”

“No, Mark. I always take my medicine as well
as my liquor straight up.” The council put their hands over their
mouths to cover their laughter at Sam’s sally.

Mark handed Sam the vial and he drank it
down. He turned around and spotted Tarin in the chamber and gazed
at him. “I am now
Sarran
and fully capable of
bonding.” Sam and Michael stood next to Syn, Anya, and Sara.

“We award you the title of Duke of ClanEarth
and Special Advisor to the Council on Earthen Affairs. You may
choose your estate when you bond. So says the council. You may be
seated.”

“The next order of business is the elevation
of Tarin to a dukedom.”

“Tarin, from this day
forward
you are the newly constituted Duke of ClanWater.”
Sam watched Tarin’s face. It exhibited surprise and delight.

Tarin stood. “What did I do to deserve this
great honor?”

TeZaron answered. “The duty of all Sarran
Warriors is to serve our
fems
and defend our
galaxy from the Zyptz. Your war record with the fleet was both
stellar and honorable despite the great loss of your bonded,
Nezier.

“Your work with Bron on a top secret project
and your recent invention of a device that enables a
fem
to keep track of her bebe when they are too young to
mind speak for themselves exemplify service to Sarran and our fems.
Your bebe monitor relieves the
Zinnas
of
worry,
and therefore,
fulfills the spirit of
the Goddess’ command to ease the lives of our fems. Your war record
and your service to both Sarran and our
fems
brought you to the attention of the
council
who voted
unanimously
to award you this honor.
Every Warrior in Triad on the planet has fabricated one of your
devices to ensure the safety of their bebes and peace of mind for
their Triad. Your work with Bron contributes to the continued
safety of Sarran itself. Approach the dais.”

Tarin moved forward. “Here is the deed to the
estate of the Duchy of ClanWater and this scroll is certification
of your title recorded in the histories, outlining the services for
which you earned the estate. You may be seated. Is there any other
business pending for this special session?” TeBron asked.

“I have the report of the last mission to
Earth and have placed it in the histories. The most significant
occurrance
was the appearance of the former
Lieutenant
Septis
in an altered form. The
Zyptz have
rearranged
his DNA. We have him in
custody at a clean site. Our personnel are making an inspection of
his modifications while wearing impenetrable hazard suits.” Mark
passed out crystals including the history of the voyage.

“We have five thousand
new
fems
and quite a number of them
have offspring and
femspring
. Out of the 5,690
fems, 2,982 bonded with the WarriorPairs in the fleet. That leaves
2,708 fems available to our bonded pairs here on Sarran. There may
also be some matches still to be made by Warriors of the
Fleet
who were too busy performing their
duties to mingle with the Earthen fems,”
Juraens
reported. “This leaves us with approximately
twenty-five hundred fems left to recruit to make sure every Warrior
has a chance to bond in Triad.”

TeWell continued. “Before the arrival of the
Brightstar we had a council session. This is what was decided. We
will have a meeting of all of the unbonded WarriorPairs, unbonded
Warriors, and the Earthen fems in the hangar and see what happens.
Let’s allow the
fems
to settle in and we will
hold the mixing in a tide. That should be well before the bonded
fems give birth. The council will provide food and music, both
Earthen and
Sarran,
in addition to a place to
dance. This course of action was suggested by TaSyn, TaAnya,
TaEllen, and
TaAdele
who should be commended
for their initiative.” TeWell rang the gong. “This special council
meeting is concluded.”

The newly made Duke of ClanWater came over to
the newly
made
Duke of ClanEarth and
said,
::I
believe I owe you some coffee.
::

::
I
believe
you do.
::
Sam turned to Sara and said, “I’ll be late.”
Then he walked over and took Tarin’s hand.

* * * *

Coffee House on the Grounds of the Council Chambers:
11:00 tines

They walked across the field to the shop
where the barista had set up her business. “I’m not, as yet, that
familiar with coffee. The sign outside says they received a
shipment of fresh coffee beans from Earth. Would you like to order
for me?” Tarin
placed
his hand on Sam’s jaw
and ran his thumb over Sam’s cheek while staring at his lips. Sam
smiled and kissed Tarin’s palm.

“It looks like one of the
fem
was a barista on Earth because that is a pretty
sophisticated coffee machine she must have had fabricated. Do you
like sweets?”

“I love sweets for dessert but not in my
beverages,
” Tarin answered with a smile.

“I think you’ll take your coffee like I take
mine. A dollop of cream with no sugar. Wait here.”

Sam went up to the counter and ordered, “Two
extra large
, please, cream, no sugar,
Kona
beans if you have them.”

“That’s one-half-credit each for the
Kona.”

Sam started to turn red. “I don’t think I
have…”

“Oh, you’re Senator Johnson. You have credits
in your account. I put some in myself, last rising. I bought some
of the coffee beans, chocolate, and cocoa you brought from Earth.
I’ll charge the coffee against that.”

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good
thing his sons had invested a large portion of the funds he hadn’t
donated to the Humane Society in the coffee and chocolate they
brought back and that he decided to invest in the cocoa.
It
wouldn’t do to ask my new bonded for credits.
The barista,
Angela, brought out two plain coffees with cream and Sam carried
them to the small, secluded, corner table where Tarin waited for
him.

Sam sat down. “I was almost very embarrassed.
I don’t even know what my financial status is on this planet and
for a moment, I didn’t know if I could afford to pay for the
coffee. I thought I was penniless.” Sam’s face was still flushed
with embarrassment.

“Let me show you. Do you have your comm
unit?” Tarin asked.

“Yes, Mark told me to always have it near me.
I have it in my pocket.”

“Take it out and press this combination.”

Sam copied Tarin’s motions.

“It says here that I have almost one-hundred
thousand credits. How can that be? I haven’t been to a bank.”

“From what I understand, your offspring
brought coffee and chocolate back from Earth as trade items. You,
entirely on your own, brought cocoa for a drink called ‘hot
chocolate’ which seems to be widely popular. Although anyone can
fabricate it, fresh is always best. Mark and Juraens invested some
of your Earthen credits in the coffee and chocolate.”

“Yes, and I bought huge quantities of cocoa
for Sara to use for baking. They also suggested I keep funds in a
large banking institution so they can be invested on the next
voyage.”

“These things are trade items and the
government pays the traders credit for their investment. The price
of imported goods is high. Sarran is very self-sufficient and
prefers to remain that way, but humanoids are humanoids and we like
our small luxuries, like this coffee. So you’ve earned credits for
the trade.”

“I better be careful, if coffee is a
half-credit. I drink it every dawntine and I make lousy
coffee.”

“Coffee and chocolate will be expensive
because they are import items. For goods made on Sarran, you have
plenty. You could refurbish the Duchy of ClanWater with all
handmade and hand hewn appointments, thrice. You are not, as you
say, penniless,” Tarin said, laughing.

Sam decided to attack the issue head on.
“Where will we live? I have no ties but Sara, Michael, and my new
offspring. Now they are only a thought away.”

“The council said you could pick an estate
when you bonded. Sara goes to the Castle of ClanWater in the
Eastern Quadrant of Sarran. I have been awarded the title of Duke
of ClanWater, also in the Eastern Quadrant. This is the first time
the title has been used in over five thousand cycles. Along with
the title comes the ducal residence, Falling Waters, a very rundown
estate,” Tarin said dryly.

“Of course, they knew! There were two Elder
Triads there at the moontine meal plus Sara’s Warriors who were
told they’d be called to serve on council. They watched as we
discovered the bond last moontine. Hell, Naffer told them. That’s
why they gave you the Duchy of ClanWater. Zaron, Bron, Jonal, and
Tonas all knew I’d want to be near Sara as did Mark and
Juraens.”

“We spoke about your credits; we didn’t speak
about mine. As you heard at council, I invented a bebe psy monitor
that lets a mother know of a bebe’s distress anywhere on the
planet. Every single household on Sarran with a pregnant fem
fabricated one and I got twenty credits for each from the
government because it is an item that helps our fems. In this
instance it’s the government that gives out the credits, because
this is a necessity. To the fem, it’s free. This and another
defense project is why I received the Duchy and the title. I have
more than you do. We don’t deal in large sums of credits on
Sarran.”

::My new offspring say that on Sarran we
barter.::

::Do you hunt, my fox?::

::I do, not for a long time, but I used to
hunt with my sire…deer and waterfowl. Why do you call me fox?::

::Because your hair is the color of an
Earthen silver fox and its thick texture, shine, and colorful
beauty move me.::

Sam was momentarily speechless, so Tarin
continued.

::We hunt. We use some of the fresh meat and
we barter the rest for vegetables grown in small copses in the
forests and fields. I know you write, I read your book on the
Earthen Gulf Wars. You can earn credits by citizens downloading
your books, which with all of the Earthen fems, will be in demand.
Our Warriors will want to know Earthen history.::

::How can I research Earthen history on
Sarran?::
Sam was puzzled.

::Here on your comm unit, you can research
anything. Jonal and Tonas brought back every bit of media from
Earth for the fems, including items in ancient and government
archives. I’m afraid we know all of Earth’s secrets: government,
military, and personal. They were unaware that Earth required
payment for the entertainment media. They rectified this on the
second trip out; but I’m sure Mark and Juraens made no mention that
we had
all
of Earth’s treaties, documents, and secrets.
These things will help us help the Earth unite.::

::About the credits, I was under the
impression that everything here is free.::

::That’s a misconception. Food, shelter,
clothing, medicine, education, and basic household goods are free
and anything can be fabricated. But the fabricator, although it
eliminates poverty, can’t reproduce the special properties of
anything handmade. Anything like coffee, chocolate, and cocoa cost
credits. The government controls the allocation of credits although
you can make speculative investments as you did with the items I
mentioned. Jonal and Tonas are masters of PTA, Primary Trade
Application, and have made a fortune in credits over the years by
bringing back to Sarran useful objects for trade. We are not only
Warriors, although that is our principal function.::

“Tell me about you…” Sam asked Tarin. “I know
I love you, deep in my soul, but I know nothing about you.”

“There isn’t much to say, really. I grew up
in Vineleaf, the village next to Castle Air. My birth Triad
perished when the Zyptz’s virus killed my Zinna. It was a dark time
for me because I had just lost Nezier, followed closely by my
family.”

Sam saw Tarin’s eyes fill up so he pulled him
close, rubbing his cheek. Tarin shrugged as if the act itself could
banish bad memories. “I liked to tinker. When I went to the Academy
as a youth, they recognized my engineering abilities and put me on
the fast track to command in the engineering corps. I rose to
Commander in fleet engineering, then I bonded. We served together
against the Zyptz.”

Sam nodded and said, “I also started my
career in a military academy. I went to West Point, the United
States’ college for army officers. I served my country in the first
Gulf War, the Somali War, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and
Iraq. I made two-star general, then resigned my commission at age
forty-two. I ran for senator from New Jersey, my home state, and
won the election and became a senator five years ago.”