reach.
Supper was a fried pastry ball filled with vegetables and slices of beef that had been marinated in a spicy sauce, washed down with more of the butter-and-salt tea.
“The people who settled this planet came in two different colony ships,” Rafael began. “One from Israel and the other from Morocco. Like most of the colony ships at the time, they were leaving Earth to get away from the plagues. They didn’t intend to come together, but the Israeli ship had engine problems and couldn’t fix it. They drifted in space for months before the Moroccan ship heard their distress beacon and stopped to assist. While the Israelis were glad of the help, it was a tense visit. Israel and Morocco, while not actual enemies, belonged to two rival religions and there was a lot of animosity.” Rafael tossed more sticks on the fire. “The Moroccans had the spare parts the ship needed and the repair was completed, but then some of the Moroccan colonists fell ill. The first to die were the Moroccan doctors.”
“It was the plague,” Emily said. “The Cairo Plague.” She had read the story as a girl.
“The plague,” Rafael confirmed. “At first the Israeli ship Captain wanted to leave to protect his passengers, but the leader of the colonists persuaded him to stay and Israeli doctors went aboard to treat the plague victims. When things finally settled down, the two ships decided to stay together in case of more problems and they finally made it to this world, which they named ‘Refuge’ because that is what they hoped it would be.
“The first years were hard. The colonists started farms in the lowlands near the river, built several small towns and began to branch out, exploring the planet. One group of five hundred – mixed Moroccan and Israeli – moved into the mountains, which they named the Atlas Mountains after a mountain range on Earth. Uncle Danny says the mountains were in Israel, but Uncle Yael says Morocco. Knowing Uncle Yael, he’s probably right. Anyway, the colonists climbed this mountain and found the valley where Ouididi is now. The soil was good enough for corn and grains to grow and they had embryonic livestock with them, which they grew in artificial wombs. In a year or so they had a small village going, sort of an alpine garden.
“They also discovered the grogin, or maybe the grogin discovered them. At first the grogin packs were small. The villagers lost some livestock, but it was more a nuisance than anything else. Anyway, sometime in their first summer, a large group of villagers went on an adventure. Some sixty adults and seventy or eighty children climbed to the peak of the mountain, where they discovered a large windswept promontory. They set up camp, intending to spend the night and hike back down the following day. That’s when a doom of grogin found them.”
“A ‘doom’ of grogin?” Emily asked. “What’s a ‘doom’?”
Rafael smiled. “Gruesome, yes? But it’s just a name, like an ‘obstinacy’ of buffalo, a ‘flock’ of birds, a ‘colony’ of bats or an ‘unkindness’ of ravens. But the name fits. We call any large group of grogin a ‘doom,’ because that is what it is.”
“But surely the villagers were armed,” Emily said.
“Yes, but not well enough,” he replied. “The doom was more than one hundred grogin. They may have been following the trail of a sambar herd, but they stumbled onto the villagers while they were eating supper. No one had posted guards; they just didn’t think there was any danger.”
Thinking of the Dominion surprise attack on Victoria, Emily grunted. “Lot of that going around.”
“The grogin swept in and attacked before the villagers understood what was happening,” Rafael continued. “A lot died in the first couple of
Supper was a fried pastry ball filled with vegetables and slices of beef that had been marinated in a spicy sauce, washed down with more of the butter-and-salt tea.
“The people who settled this planet came in two different colony ships,” Rafael began. “One from Israel and the other from Morocco. Like most of the colony ships at the time, they were leaving Earth to get away from the plagues. They didn’t intend to come together, but the Israeli ship had engine problems and couldn’t fix it. They drifted in space for months before the Moroccan ship heard their distress beacon and stopped to assist. While the Israelis were glad of the help, it was a tense visit. Israel and Morocco, while not actual enemies, belonged to two rival religions and there was a lot of animosity.” Rafael tossed more sticks on the fire. “The Moroccans had the spare parts the ship needed and the repair was completed, but then some of the Moroccan colonists fell ill. The first to die were the Moroccan doctors.”
“It was the plague,” Emily said. “The Cairo Plague.” She had read the story as a girl.
“The plague,” Rafael confirmed. “At first the Israeli ship Captain wanted to leave to protect his passengers, but the leader of the colonists persuaded him to stay and Israeli doctors went aboard to treat the plague victims. When things finally settled down, the two ships decided to stay together in case of more problems and they finally made it to this world, which they named ‘Refuge’ because that is what they hoped it would be.
“The first years were hard. The colonists started farms in the lowlands near the river, built several small towns and began to branch out, exploring the planet. One group of five hundred – mixed Moroccan and Israeli – moved into the mountains, which they named the Atlas Mountains after a mountain range on Earth. Uncle Danny says the mountains were in Israel, but Uncle Yael says Morocco. Knowing Uncle Yael, he’s probably right. Anyway, the colonists climbed this mountain and found the valley where Ouididi is now. The soil was good enough for corn and grains to grow and they had embryonic livestock with them, which they grew in artificial wombs. In a year or so they had a small village going, sort of an alpine garden.
“They also discovered the grogin, or maybe the grogin discovered them. At first the grogin packs were small. The villagers lost some livestock, but it was more a nuisance than anything else. Anyway, sometime in their first summer, a large group of villagers went on an adventure. Some sixty adults and seventy or eighty children climbed to the peak of the mountain, where they discovered a large windswept promontory. They set up camp, intending to spend the night and hike back down the following day. That’s when a doom of grogin found them.”
“A ‘doom’ of grogin?” Emily asked. “What’s a ‘doom’?”
Rafael smiled. “Gruesome, yes? But it’s just a name, like an ‘obstinacy’ of buffalo, a ‘flock’ of birds, a ‘colony’ of bats or an ‘unkindness’ of ravens. But the name fits. We call any large group of grogin a ‘doom,’ because that is what it is.”
“But surely the villagers were armed,” Emily said.
“Yes, but not well enough,” he replied. “The doom was more than one hundred grogin. They may have been following the trail of a sambar herd, but they stumbled onto the villagers while they were eating supper. No one had posted guards; they just didn’t think there was any danger.”
Thinking of the Dominion surprise attack on Victoria, Emily grunted. “Lot of that going around.”
“The grogin swept in and attacked before the villagers understood what was happening,” Rafael continued. “A lot died in the first couple of
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