When we leave the council building, I pay close attention to landmarks. I want to come back here on my own later—to ambush Deirdre. Not that I want to jump out of the shadows at her, but I’m hoping to catch her when she leaves work for the day. I don’t want to derail tomorrow’s serious business with the shock of my presence here. I’m not expecting the same reception Cleve got from Roze. There are some uncomfortable truths about how I got here that Deirdre might not be so keen to hear.
Marina guides us back to the rover so that we can pick up the rest of our gear before heading to her apartment. Arms full of terrariums, we follow her through another market square. Cleve eyes the shops with the farmers’ list in mind, but it’s not like we have any money, local currency or otherwise. Marina makes some purchases at a few food stands. She tells us she’s not much of a cook herself, but she wants to make us one of her favorite comfort foods for dinner—she’s had a rough day, and the months leading up to it weren’t without their stresses either.
I’m surprised that she lives in an apartment all by herself. It’s an amazing luxury of space compared to some of the places I lived in LA. And it was allowed to sit here totally vacant while she was away for months! Lacking the constrictions of domes, space is not much of a concern for the Stepdaughters of Chiron.
I realize I’d expected her to be living with her parents. Upon reflection, though, she hasn’t mentioned them at all, and being planetfallers, it’s very possible they died from miasma exposure long ago. Her sibling’s death was far more recent, but I haven’t worked out where that influence falls on the timeline of events that drove her to take the Data Haven job. And it’s not something I’m going to bring up on my own out of the blue.
The one bedroom apartment has a living room with a shelftop-frame futon and a few chairs. The dining area is adjacent to a kitchen. While Marina gets the food ready, I arrange her new fungus samples on the shelves lining the wall, and Cleve starts cleaning his rifle, which he picked up from the rover. He’s in a good mood, pleased with how the day has gone. He got to experience thorough miasma protocols firsthand, lessons that he can apply to Data Haven. In particular, the smaller outlying compartments that don’t have as good a seal as the main residence could benefit from a strong plan. Part of making Data Haven thrive is helping its people to not fear the outdoors. All the farming advice in the world is not going to feed Data Haven if no one is willing to tend those plants.
The talk with Xiao has also lightened the approaching burden of persuasion. We’ve already talked with what passes for a military leader around here, and we have a viable plan for at least one part of what needs to happen. Plus Cleve thinks the planetfallers will come over to our side once they hear that Morgan is implicated in the death of Captain Garland.
Marina sets the food out on the table, and we join her for a home-cooked meal. “Ah, finally,” she says, digging in. “I haven’t had this for months! Sorry, but bush bugs are just not the same.”
I don’t eat any of the fish-type creature, sticking instead to the saucy side dish of vegetables, kelp, and fungus. “I just… I don’t want to eat anything that might be a person,” I tell Marina, feeling a need to apologize for seeming to slight her cooking.
She takes no offense, though, and actually pauses a moment in consideration of the fish. “No, I don’t think this is sentient,” she finally says. “And we call it fish, but obviously it’s very different from fish back on Earth. No… no, this can’t be—I’m sure it’s fine. I can eat it.”
“Doesn’t taste sentient,” Cleve says, serving himself a second helping.
Sticking to the side dishes is still a novel culinary experience. It’s pretty cool to eat an entire meal native to Chiron. With dinner done, and the suns getting lower, I excuse myself, telling Marina and Cleve that I’m going out for a walk.