with you.”
“You don’t want to be seen as a carpetbagger.”
Pella wanted to cover her ears. The world seemed tohave closed in around them there at the table, and the two voices flew at Pella from different directions: Efram’s a low ambient insinuation that wanted to surround her, take over the world, and Clement’s a tinny broadcast from too far away to matter, but too nagging to ignore.
“I don’t want to
be
a carpetbagger. I want to be a part of the community here. A growing place, that’s something entirely new to me. I want to learn.”
“Learning is good,” said Efram. He took his legs off the table, his pipe out of his mouth, and leaned forward to peer into the bowl of the pipe. When he spoke it was as if he were reading something from inside the bowl. “What if I told you I thought we
needed
some organization, a few rules around this place?”
“You’re headed somewhere, Efram. I don’t imagine you’re a person who ordinarily beats around the bush, but you’re doing it now.”
“Pella’s a lovely girl.”
“You’ll embarrass her.”
Clement’s words seemed to Pella the very definition of inadequate. She was past embarrassment.
Humming with obscure shame and dread was more like it.
“Then I’ll switch the subject,” said Efram. He turned the pipe around and pointed it at Clement. “I think we ought to draw a line around this town we’re starting here, Marsh. Make it a
human
settlement, a place where kids are safe.”
“You want to exclude the Archbuilders, is that it—”
“And I want Pella and her brothers to take thosepills.” The words were so lazily formed it was almost possible to ignore how he’d interrupted Clement to say them.
“This planet belongs to the Archbuilders, Efram,” said Clement, as though he couldn’t begin to address Efram’s suggestions directly.
“I’m just talking about moving them out of our settlement. They don’t care. They’ve got plenty of other places to wander around. A whole ruined planet for them to gawk at and wonder what the hell happened to their civilization.”
“If we become a little embattled preserve—”
“Maybe you’d rather we become
Archbuilders
.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Efram put his pipe in his mouth and pointed his thumb at Pella. “That’s what you’re doing to Pella if you don’t give her the medicine.”
“I don’t think medicine is the right word for it.”
“Do you think it’s right to put a political experiment ahead of your children’s welfare?”
“Politics you believe in should be reflected in the choices you make for your family,” said Clement, angry now. “There isn’t any difference between the two. If there is, you’re a hypocrite.”
“You were a Democrat, right?” Efram pronounced it so it nearly rhymed with
hypocrite
, as if he thought that might have been what Clement really meant. “I thought your party was against screwing with human biology.”
“Please. We’re a long way from our own scientific fiascoes here. These viruses have been stable for centuries.The Archbuilders remade their world from the ground up. It’s pointless to regard some of it as suspect, unnatural. If we’re going to live here, breathe the air, we’ve certainly got to find out what the viruses do to us.”
Pella heard her father as Caitlin must have heard him. His authentic principles, his rightness. Only his rightness seemed lost here. Hopeless. She’d made it hopeless, with the thing she was hiding from him.
“Do to her, you mean,” said Efram.
“Nothing’s happened to her,” said Clement confidently.
“Is that right?” Efram turned to Pella and raised his eyebrows, smiled.
Pella stared back, her mouth opening to speak. But nothing emerged.
It was her lie to defend.
The thing had only happened once. Twice if she counted the dream. Maybe never again.
But what if she wanted the pills?
She felt a swell of panic. She could sneak the pills, take them without anyone
“You don’t want to be seen as a carpetbagger.”
Pella wanted to cover her ears. The world seemed tohave closed in around them there at the table, and the two voices flew at Pella from different directions: Efram’s a low ambient insinuation that wanted to surround her, take over the world, and Clement’s a tinny broadcast from too far away to matter, but too nagging to ignore.
“I don’t want to
be
a carpetbagger. I want to be a part of the community here. A growing place, that’s something entirely new to me. I want to learn.”
“Learning is good,” said Efram. He took his legs off the table, his pipe out of his mouth, and leaned forward to peer into the bowl of the pipe. When he spoke it was as if he were reading something from inside the bowl. “What if I told you I thought we
needed
some organization, a few rules around this place?”
“You’re headed somewhere, Efram. I don’t imagine you’re a person who ordinarily beats around the bush, but you’re doing it now.”
“Pella’s a lovely girl.”
“You’ll embarrass her.”
Clement’s words seemed to Pella the very definition of inadequate. She was past embarrassment.
Humming with obscure shame and dread was more like it.
“Then I’ll switch the subject,” said Efram. He turned the pipe around and pointed it at Clement. “I think we ought to draw a line around this town we’re starting here, Marsh. Make it a
human
settlement, a place where kids are safe.”
“You want to exclude the Archbuilders, is that it—”
“And I want Pella and her brothers to take thosepills.” The words were so lazily formed it was almost possible to ignore how he’d interrupted Clement to say them.
“This planet belongs to the Archbuilders, Efram,” said Clement, as though he couldn’t begin to address Efram’s suggestions directly.
“I’m just talking about moving them out of our settlement. They don’t care. They’ve got plenty of other places to wander around. A whole ruined planet for them to gawk at and wonder what the hell happened to their civilization.”
“If we become a little embattled preserve—”
“Maybe you’d rather we become
Archbuilders
.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Efram put his pipe in his mouth and pointed his thumb at Pella. “That’s what you’re doing to Pella if you don’t give her the medicine.”
“I don’t think medicine is the right word for it.”
“Do you think it’s right to put a political experiment ahead of your children’s welfare?”
“Politics you believe in should be reflected in the choices you make for your family,” said Clement, angry now. “There isn’t any difference between the two. If there is, you’re a hypocrite.”
“You were a Democrat, right?” Efram pronounced it so it nearly rhymed with
hypocrite
, as if he thought that might have been what Clement really meant. “I thought your party was against screwing with human biology.”
“Please. We’re a long way from our own scientific fiascoes here. These viruses have been stable for centuries.The Archbuilders remade their world from the ground up. It’s pointless to regard some of it as suspect, unnatural. If we’re going to live here, breathe the air, we’ve certainly got to find out what the viruses do to us.”
Pella heard her father as Caitlin must have heard him. His authentic principles, his rightness. Only his rightness seemed lost here. Hopeless. She’d made it hopeless, with the thing she was hiding from him.
“Do to her, you mean,” said Efram.
“Nothing’s happened to her,” said Clement confidently.
“Is that right?” Efram turned to Pella and raised his eyebrows, smiled.
Pella stared back, her mouth opening to speak. But nothing emerged.
It was her lie to defend.
The thing had only happened once. Twice if she counted the dream. Maybe never again.
But what if she wanted the pills?
She felt a swell of panic. She could sneak the pills, take them without anyone
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