Page 34 of Moon Tamed

Calden shook his head and went to work cutting the vegetables. “It’s like having kids, except we’re supposed to be the kids.”

“It’s tough work caring for a parent.”

“It really is.”

SEVEN

Those sound like famous last words.

Calden and I made enough food for several weeks, most of which went into my freezer. Once we’d put everything away, we sat down to eat.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the insanity of the situation.

“What’s so funny?”

“Everything, really.” I ripped off a piece of rabbit and popped it in my mouth to buy me some time to think. “We cleaned and put everything away before eating. Our entire city-state is quarantining because we’d rather run a risk of getting sick instead of seeing more people die. I’m surprised we were allowed to have any refugees, though.”

Calden nodded. “The risk of a pandemic is real, but word on the wire is that the initial verdict was overturned because Moonriver can set up a viable cordon. It’s possible for us to sustain ourselves long enough for the illnesses to die out—or everyone gets vaccinated. The vaccination formulas and necessary supplies were sent to our medical labs, so the rest of the planet will work on getting vaccinated while we take the hits. It should work out.”

His expression turned thoughtful, and he pushed his food around his plate. I recognized the habit as something I sometimes did when uncertain of what I wanted to say next—or if I worried what the person I spoke to might think about my next words.

As such, I waited.

“You might start showing symptoms as early as in the morning. With the number of people you interacted with, our limited ability to get sanitizers and masks to everybody, and how long you spent interacting with them, it’s inevitable you’ll catch something. In reality, even with the vaccinations, you’ll get ill, even if it’s a cold or influenza virus Earth has that we don’t. Our initial quarantine period when going to Earth isn’t just for illnesses; it’s to help us adapt to the cultural differences as well. We’re introduced to people who will get us sick, so we’re medically quarantined for two months afterwards. After, we begin integration, being educated on the differences between our cultural groups. The system has worked, although ten years is a long time to spend on another planet. We can come home sooner if we’re incompatible. It happens more often than you’d think. In any case, everyone from Earth is a carrier for some form of illness, and you were exposed to just about everything that part of Earth had to offer. Earth had lax vaccination policies in the general populace. Only those planning on leaving are forced to vaccinate.”

“That’s going to make some people unhappy,” I predicted, shaking my head. “We have a lot more mandatory than voluntary vaccinations here. And the voluntary ones are only for interplanetary travel.”

“Accepting a full set of our vaccines was an evacuation requirement, so they’re aware. I’m sure some will complain, but they’ll get vaccinated anyway. Dad checked the laws, and he’s covered for requiring everyone in the cordon to vaccinate.”

I worried what my future would hold, as I doubted I would be able to give Calden what he wanted unless his father carried around some deep, dark secrets nobody knew about. “Your father is incredible. I know he has staff helping him, but I don’t think I could handle the work and responsibilities he does daily. I’d die from mortification at the charity contributions alone.”

Calden snickered, and his expression eased. After a few moments, he smiled. “He’s delighted over it. He’ll have to go on dinner and lunch dates around the world. He’s just worried I’ll get upset if he meets someone he likes. I won’t. If he brings someone home, I’m set free. I’ll get to go guilt-free camping on my own. He can take his new friend out without me. I can do what I want, without worrying about him for a change.”

I raised a brow. While I hadn’t known the Stephans long, if Calden thought his father would be happy ditching his son, he was mistaken. “He’s going to expect you to go camping with your new step-mom. You’ll have to sneak out of the nest. You could try leaving children of other species as a distraction. That worked for me.” I stabbed a piece of roasted sweetroot and nibbled on it. “They might forgive me for giving them Lucky one day.”

Rather than continue to play with his food, Calden settled in to eat. I wondered at his grin, which made frequent appearances while he vanquished his dinner. I took my time with eating, spending an absurd amount of time wondering at his expression.

Something made him happy, and I wondered what held his attention.

After a few minutes, he said, “Maybe after the lions go to their new home, our fathers will forgive us for our extreme interest in animals. Yours made the mistake of offering to help when you aren’t available. He’ll take your cheetahs if needed, too. The vets will need a breather, as we have a ridiculous number of animals in need of medical care. The eruption made many of them ill. Because of the situation, we’re violating our tech levels for the sake of the furred and feathered among us. One of the nearby planets is sending a veterinarian team to quarantine with us along with their equipment. We won’t get to see the equipment or medications they’re using, and the ships will be under guard, but Dad made the arrangements, since many of these species are now classified as critically endangered.”

With their home planet destroyed, it would be a miracle if some of them lasted beyond a generation or two. The requirements for their habitats would leave our planet’s zoos struggling to accommodate every species.

“They’re actually going that far?” I asked with wide eyes.

“Our tech level just can’t handle this sort of mass animal migration and sickness. They have machines capable of helping animals recover from exposure to toxic fumes and volcanic ash. We don’t. They can also treat the refugees, as they have this level of tech on Earth but we don’t. They’ll have the machines on the ship needed to do it. It’s not a disaster we created, and it’s not a disaster we’re really equipped to handle. But doctors made a vow, and that’s to do no harm. So, this is the only way we do no harm. We segregate the ships that have the tech, and none of us go on it except the refugees—and the refugees will be checked for anything we can’t have on the planet. Their tech will be replaced with ours at no charge, and if there are those with medical conditions requiring additional tech to maintain their health, they’ll be given special exemptions.”

“And thus, we preserve our tech levels, the refugees get the help they need, and the animals are spared from suffering. That’s smart. Has your father decided how he’s going to deal with the mass evacuation of pets?”

Calden nodded. “He has. At registration, the refugees are being asked if they had any animals evacuated, what species, color, and any identifying information, and if we received the animals, they’re being reunited. All the refugees are being offered a pet from the displaced animals to help them settle. He came up with it when a refugee was reunited with her dog. She’d thought the dog had died and was pretty torn up over it. Dad decided to at least look to see if the animal had gotten evacuated. Within two hours, the woman had her dog back. It turns out Earth sent all the identifying information they had on the animals being evacuated, which is really helping to reunite pets and owners. We estimate a quarter of the animals we received will be reunited with their owners. The animals we identified as coming from a shelter are being sent off with refugees right away. Dad did confirm Lucky’s owner hadn’t survived the eruption.” Pausing, he regarded his food with a frown. “For a lot of these people, they’re stepping back to a rather archaic time. They’re going to have a difficult time adjusting to our society. Dad is hoping distributing pets is something that helps them get through the culture shock.”

I couldn’t even imagine their struggles, as we understood other places in the universe had advanced technologies we lacked. “I mean, they were essentially dumped into a grand science experiment, one where they’re expected to live in a period considered to be ancient history for them. Their ancient history.”

One of our sister worlds, preserved to mimic one of Earth’s early periods, counted as ancient history to even us. I couldn’t even guess what would happen if refugees had been dumped there, where gunpowder hadn’t been invented yet and wouldn’t be for another few hundred years. In many ways, gunpowder had driven the development of society and technology, something reinforced with the various preservation planets.

Only one thing separated the preservation planets from the past they represented: our unwillingness to sacrifice millions to plague.

When plague erupted on one of the preservation planets, people from more advanced worlds disguised themselves as holy men, wise women, or even witches and made an appearance, distributing medication or vaccinations in forms meant to hide the truth from those living there.

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