Page 10 of Kameer's Mate
Tasha shuts the door, and we stand silently in the entryway, staring at each other in disbelief. “Am I a terrible person,” she eventually asks, “for being happy that you no longer have to marry that old man?” She clutches me and a sort of crazed smile plays over her features. “You’re free, Mandy! You’re free! You won’t have to marry an old man who looks down on you and wants to make you quit your job. You won’t have to marry a Darrvason either. You’re free, sis!”
She’s right. I’m free. But I can’t shake the feeling that something’s still not right. The foreboding from earlier remains.
“Hey, are you okay?” She releases me and steps back. “Oh, honey, are you… sad?”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “No, I’m not sad, though I feel guilty that I’m not sad. Yes, Ned looked down on me, he looked down on all of us, but I don’t think he was evil. He wielded his power over Captain Warren to keep me off the list, and I am very grateful for his help. I suppose I’m a bit overwhelmed by the news and I’m not sure how to take it, though I won’t lie—there’s a huge part of me that’s relieved I won’t be marrying Ned in a week. Please don’t tell anyone I said that though.”
Tasha gives me a gentle look, then mimics zipping her lips. “Your secrets are safe with me, and it’s perfectly understandable that you’re overwhelmed and unsure how to feel about the situation. As you know, I wasn’t heartbroken when Allen died two weeks ago,” she says, referring to the elderly Founder towhom she had been engaged, “but I still felt a tiny bit sad since he was a rather nice man, much nicer than Ned if it’s not too bold of me to point out. But he was ninety-five and I’m pretty sure he was starting to display signs of dementia. I’m glad he passed peacefully in his sleep. It sounds like Ned died quickly too, whatever it was that happened to him.”
“Thanks for understanding. Yeah, I guess it’s good they both died quickly rather than enduring a…” I almost say ‘rather than enduring a long, drawn-out illness’ but stop myself just in time. I don’t want to remind Tasha of the illness that stole too many years of her life, so I clear my throat and give her a comforting smile. “Well, we’re both free now.” And in just a month, we will arrive on 58-Z and embark upon a different kind of life. A life outside the confines of the worldship. I pray we’ll live under less restrictions after we disembark theJansonnafor good. Excitement churns within me as I consider the future.
“Yes, both of us, free.” Tasha grins and gestures for me to follow her back to the kitchen.
We resume our work on the cookies, even though they won’t be going to the original intended recipient. Though perhaps later I’ll drop off a tray to Ned’s family. I decide that’s exactly what I’ll do, and Tasha agrees it’s a thoughtful gesture.
As we continue listening to music and baking the last of the cookies, my relief grows and grows. I’m not relieved Ned is dead, simply relieved I won’t have to marry him. I can keep working with my mother at the salon on Deck Twenty. I won’t have to break her heart and leave the profession I enjoy. After we reach 58-Z, we can run a salon out of the house we’ll eventually build.
For the first time since my engagement to Ned, I feel like I can finally breathe. I’m no longer weighed down with worry and impending doom.
Once the cookies finish cooling, I arrange a platter for Ned’s family, then Tasha and I sit at the table and enjoy a few cookies as we chat about our future on 58-Z.
“A real planet,” she says. “I wonder what it will be like to step onto solid ground for the first time. I wonder if we’ll be able to feel the planet spinning. Dad says we won’t because of gravity, but it’s not like he’s set foot on a planet before either.” She blows on her tea and takes a careful sip.
“Do you think there are any humans left on Earth?” I reach for another cookie. “Maybe the Frexorlians didn’t annihilate all those who were left behind.” I’m referring, of course, to the time when, many decades ago, a race of powerful aliens known as the Frexorlians ordered all of humanity to evacuate Earth.Planet-thieving bastards. That’s what my father calls the Frexorlians, never mind that he himself has never called Earth home. Neither has my mother. Both my parents were born on theJansonna.
“It’s certainly fun to think about,” Tasha says. “Maybe some of the humans who were left behind went into hiding and survived long enough to procreate. There might be a secret society of our people living in a cave somewhere on Earth, or in an underground bunker.”
“I like to pretend that theJansonnadoesn’t truly house the last of humanity,” I admit. “It’s a comfort to think that perhaps there’s another civilization of humans somewhere in the universe, whether on Earth or another planet or even an outpost.”
Tasha holds my gaze and smiles. “I believe there must be. Not only that, but they’re thriving, and their numbers are greater than ours.” Her expression turns mischievous. “And they aren’t under the leadership of a corrupt asshole known as Captain Warren.”
I chuckle, then take a sip of tea. “Don’t let anyone hear you say that, Tasha. I’m serious. People have been thrown in thebrig for far less.” My smile fades as I think about my friends and acquaintances who’ve spent time in the brig over the years for what I would consider minor offenses. Like staying out after curfew, consuming alcohol, watching banned movies, reading forbidden books, and listening to music deemed too carnal or rebellious.
“I know, I know.” For the second time this afternoon, she pretends to zip her lips. Then a faraway look falls over her, and she regards me a bit warily, as though she’s trying to decide whether to tell me something.
“Spill it,” I say. “Whatever it is, spill it.”
“Can you keep a secret, Mandy?”
“You know I can.” I pretend to zip my lips, copying her favorite mannerism with my own dramatic flair, which makes her laugh.
“After Allen died, I knew I needed to do something to make sure I wasn’t on the list of two thousand.” Her face grows red, and she casts a nervous glance around our quarters even though no one else is home.
“What did you do?” I hold my breath, awaiting her answer while praying it wasn’t anything too terrible.
“I spoke with Allen’s oldest grandson, Frederick, and he offered to help me. In exchange for him using his family’s influence to keep me off the list, I met him in an alcove a few times and we kissed. That’s it. Just some kissing.”
Utterly shocked, I stare at her in silence for a long moment. I want to scold her for doing something so dangerous—if they’d gotten caught by morality officers, they would’ve likely been arrested and dragged to the brig—but I can’t quite scold her when her scandalous actions kept her safe from the Darrvasons. “Just kissing? You swear?”
“Just kissing.”
“And the deal is done? You won’t have to meet Frederick in an alcove again?” I start making plans to visit Frederick’s quarters and give him a piece of my mind, but my sister is quick to assure me that all is well.
“Chill out, would you?” She chuckles. “Yes, the deal is done. We won’t be meeting anymore, and no one else knows about it.”
Relief fills me, and I nod. “Okay, I will try to stay chill about this, but you must promise you’ll never do something so dangerous again. Not without coming to me first, okay?”
She rolls her eyes. “Okay, okay, I promise.”
