Page 107 of The Explorer
Freya arched a brow. “There is.”
Without her saying it out loud, we all knew she was hinting at the fact that Khan still refused to change the law that would make it possible for her to be his heir. Despite Thor’s being younger than Freya, he was in line to take over the Northlands one day.
Thor ignored his sister’s comment and clapped his hands together. “Okay, so we have a plan then. Freya, call Dad and work your magic. In the meantime, I’ll go talk with the Motlanders and see what they’re willing to give us if we help them convince France to open their borders. I’m thinking that they could revisit the contract for new drones that they’re buying from us. They reduced the yearly order by fifteen percent this year.”
Mason pushed his hands through his hair. “Hell’s bells.”
“What?” Thor asked.
“Are you truly going to ask the Motherlands to pay the Northlands for doing something we’re eager to do?”
“Not pay directly. Just increase the numbers of drones they order from us yearly.” With a shrug, Thor walked away with a last comment hanging in the air. “It’s politics.”
CHAPTER 27
Agenda
Indiana
We hiked three miles to a cultural center that the Motlanders were proud of.
Holly, who was the youngest of the Motlanders, opened our first day of debating with a speech.
“So much of history was lost after the war. The survivors were few and, unfortunately, they didn’t have the resources to bury all the dead and restore what had been destroyed. Their decision to bury whole cities was probably what saved them, but it also left a painful void that we’ve collectively been grieving for centuries. For the longest time, the strategy was to not talk or think about the past. Generations before us were solely focused on moving forward and creating a better world for everyone. We still are, but with the contact with the Northlands and Old Europe, a new curiosity has risen in the Motherlands to understand our roots. This cultural center was built with the help of archeologists. Everything is replicated to show how some of the original people on these lands lived. I encourage you to walk around and take in the beautiful patterns and drawings on the fabric of the tents here.”
“Tepees… they’re called tepees,” Doreen called out to Holly.
“Oh, sorry, yes. Anyway, according to the history there were many different groups of people living in small areas and each group held on to an identity of belonging to a certain tribe. Sometimes feuds would happen because of territorial disputes or… ehh…” Holly looked around as if trying to think of something. “Well, I’m not sure why they would argue, but apparently when they did, the leaders of the different groups would come together in a tepee like this and have a peace meeting. That’s why we thought it would be perfect for us to have our first debate in here today.”
“That’s fine, but can we at least have chairs to sit on?” Mason asked.
“They didn’t have chairs back then.”
“They probably didn’t have drones either, but that’s not my problem. This is the year 2466 and I don’t want to sit on the ground for a whole fucking day.”
“Don’t worry, Mason, we’ve brought cushions,” Oliver said.
“A cushion isn’t the same as a chair. All you yoga-loving people might be flexible enough to sit on the ground for a whole day, but we Northlanders aren’t. Well, maybe except for Freya and Aubri. Look, I’m fine sleeping on the ground if I have to, but I’m gonna be one grumpy fucker if you ask me to sit cross-legged for hours. Ask yourself if that’s good for the debate.”
“If you’re getting a chair for the Northlanders, I would like one too,” Victor said.
“Me too,” Celeste added and was quickly followed by the other three Europeans.
Holly’s shoulders sank. “All right, we’ll find chairs for you, but just for the record, we didn’t set it up this way to torture you. We did it to imitate a real peace meeting.”
“You did it to show off how flexible you are.” Aubri’s tone was playful and held no malice.
I knew from experience that my wife was extremely flexible herself. Her fighting style was based on her acrobatic jumps and kicks. Sitting like this wouldn’t have bothered her, but Thor, Mason, and I were stiffer, and I was pleased that Mason had protested against sitting on the ground.
“Are we smoking a peace pipe as well?” Victor asked as we waited for the chairs to be brought in.
“A what?”
“The ritual of the peace meetings included sharing a pipe of tobacco.”
The Motlanders whispered among themselves before Lachlan answered, “Even if that’s true, no one today knows where to find tobacco.”
“You don’t find it. You grow it and turn it into the product that can be smoked in a pipe.”
