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IT WAS RAINING when Ava woke the next morning. Not an unusual circumstance as the area around the capital city of Savona got doused in water every other day. Upon her return from the bathroom, the vet-bot handed her Sunrise and a warmed bottle of Catamount formula, which the small creature sucked dry and whined for more.
“I think she’s ready for a little solid food, Miss Ava.” The vet-bot said.
“It sure looks like it,” Ava agreed. “What kind did Dr. Peele recommend?”
The bot pulled a small packet labeled ‘kitten starter’ out of its pouch and squeezed it into a small dish which it sat on the floor. “She’s apt to be messy,” he said, taking Sunrise from her and setting her down in front of the dish. He put a little on a finger and showed it to the kit before letting her lick it off. Sunrise dove eagerly into the food dish, smearing the food liberally over her nose and paws when she put both front feet into the dish.
The bot was cleaning Sunrise’s face and paws while Ava dressed. After a moment’s thought, she strapped a poniard sheath to her thigh, checking the sharpness of the blade before sliding it into the leather sheath.
“I brought you something,” Judith announced as she bounced into the room. She held out a soft-sided purse with a long crossbody strap. “I used this when Licorice was smaller. Sunrise can ride in the front pocket, and you can slip a bottle and maybe a food packet in the rear. It’s insulated.”
Ava accepted it gingerly before showing it to Sunrise, who, after sniffing it thoroughly, crawled inside the fur lined front pouch. “She likes it,” Ava exclaimed in surprise.
Judith nodded. “It probably smells like mother’s milk. I had it cleaned, but smells linger. I came in here to invite you to come with Randal and me to the Portal Opening this morning. Tash and Devon will be coming through. It will also save you from whatever social function Mom has planned.”
“Yes, I’d love to. I’m sure she has plans to attend some social thing where she thinks I’ll meet Mr. Right. Anything is better than that!”
Judith giggled. “I saw that guy trying to grope you at dinner. It would have been funnier if you’d really stabbed him though.”
Ava laughed. “What time does the Portal open?”
“Just before lunch time. I’m planning on showing them my new house too. Want to come?”
Ava grinned at her. “The longer I get to stay out of Mom’s match-making clutches, the better.”
Judith snorted. Since she and Randal had been affianced when they were children, she had never come under the type of pressure to choose a husband Ava had. Ava was a fourth-generation colonist. She knew what was expected of her. Sooner or later, she would need to marry to fulfil her duty to the colony. As was traditional in the Renaissance, parents usually chose their children’s life partners. The young couples involved did have the option of refusing a proposed match, which meant parents put single children under a lot of pressure to present an attractive prospect to future partners. The trouble was she and her parents didn’t agree on what was a good match for her, and Ava intensely disliked being put on display for future husbands. One of the reasons she had chosen a career that kept her out of most of the social whirl except for holidays or occasions like her sister’s wedding.
Randal picked the two girls up in front of their house. He greeted Judith with a kiss, which she returned with enthusiasm. As her mother had mentioned, Randal wasn’t overly tall for a man, but the tight breeches showed off his muscled legs, and he moved with the effortless ease of a master swordsman, which he was.
“I was just thinking how well you and Judith look together,” Ava said as he helped her into the carriage.
“I’m a lucky guy,” he agreed. “I’m looking forward to seeing Devon again. And Tash too, of course.”
The robot driver parked their sled (which resembled an old-fashioned carriage) just outside the staging area, while the two girls waited for the Portal to open.
Barsoom’s portal to Laughing Mountain had come out near the equator in the tropic zone. Rather than move the Portal to a more temperate climate, the original founders had decided not to waste resources by moving it. The structure had a gently sloping roof supported by steel pillars and was open to the air. Since it rained every other day, the floor was covered with rough cobblestones to minimize slippage.
The colony founders hadn’t made much effort to clear the area around the portal, except for allowing space to park transports dropping off or picking up people and items the colony couldn’t manufacture themselves, so the Portal site was surrounded by lush vegetation.
Like most things in the colony, the transports were not what they seemed. Incoming supplies were pulled through the colorful portal with golf carts attached to wagons. Robots in the colorful government uniforms would unload the wagons drawn by the carts and re-load them into the Modern transports disguised as old-fashioned horse drawn wagons. Of course, the horses too were robotic and mainly for show; the transports were powered by Gregor crystals imported from Lemuria.
“There they are!” Randal said, waving at a couple riding behind the driver on a golf cart. He took off for the cart and swung into the passenger seat. “We’re over there,” he directed the driver, one of Mark Connor’s sons towards the parked carriage.
Judith gave Tash a welcoming hug. “Tash, you remember my sister Ava, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” Tash replied, shaking hands. She was about medium height for a woman, with finely drawn features, blue-black hair, just now pulled back into a ponytail and a lush figure. She had a crossbody soft-sided animal pouch slung across her body. A lavender hued catamount popped her head out, spied Licorice and struggled to climb out of the purse. “Take it easy Fidget,” Tash said. “Give me a minute to fasten your leash.”
“You have a catamount,” Ava said in surprise. “What if Earth-Gov police spot her?”
“I just tell everyone she’s a new variety of hairless cat,” Tash said.
She looked with interest at Ava’s pouch when Sunrise woke up and poked her head out. “I see you have a pet with you as well. What is it?”
Ava chuckled. “This is Sunrise. She is a Catamount, but she’s a different variety than you two have. Her variety are called Hairy Catamounts. I rescued her from a pack of Kevlars just as her mom died.”
“Kevlars? What are they?” Tash asked eagerly. “I’m trying to assemble a photo diary of the various animals found on each colony. Of course it can’t be published on Earth, but there’s no reason why it can’t be sold on the colonies.”
“Kevlars are a carnivore found in the higher elevations, like the Hairy Catamounts,” Ava told her. “They occupy the same evolutionary niche as wolves did on earth. The scientist’s think they are genetically related somewhere way back.”
“If we have time, I’d love for you to take me to where you saw them. I’d pay you, of course.”
Judith laughed. “She’d probably do it for free if it kept her out of Mom’s clutches. She and my dad are vested in putting her on the Marriage Mart while she’s here.”
Ava made a face at her sister, but agreed, “She’s right. I hate that stuff.”
Tash frowned at her. “Your parents didn’t seem like the type to force you into anything. I’ve met them remember.”
“They aren’t,” Ava replied, “They won’t force me to accept anyone, but they are insistent I parade myself before all the eligible men while I’m here, and I hate being put on display.”
“I would too,” Tash sympathized.
Randal and Devon had finished loading the luggage and Devon’s equipment into the luggage area atop the carriage and in the boot in the rear.
“Did anyone tell you that Carter Willis arranged our own house for us?” Devon asked Tash as he and Randal settled into the coach.
“Oh, wow,” Judith said. “Are you going to accept?”
“Sure, why not?” Devon replied. “I understand it comes fully furnished with its own robot crew. That will make it a lot easier than asking Randal’s parents to host us.”
“Not that they wouldn’t be delighted to do so,” Randal said, “But the house is currently full of visiting relatives here for the wedding.”
“I’ll have to write and thank him,” Tash said.
“I’m so glad to have you to do that stuff,” Devon told her. “I’d probably forget to do it, if I thought of it in the first place.”
Tash laughed, kissing him on the cheek. “Yes, I know. When do we get to see it?”
“We’ll drop your stuff off there first, before we go on to our new house. We’re planning on having a picnic lunch there.”
The house Willis had rented for Devon and Tash was on the smaller size as far as Barsoomian houses went. It was only two stories, with the bedrooms on the second floor and rooms for dining, cooking and relaxing on the first. It floated on the edge of the Grantois Lake, its plasticrete foundation supported by steel coated pillars sunk deep into the lake. Like most houses on or near the edge of the lake, it could be lifted to keep the waters from flooding it whenever the lake rose due to the heavy rains. The home was surrounded by a plasticrete dock, allowing visitors to disembark before walking up the steps leading onto the wrap-around porch on the first floor.
As soon as their sled landed on the dock, two liveried robots began unloading the luggage and Devon’s equipment. Randal handed Devon a set of key cards, one of which he gave to Tash.
“Let’s go inside,” Tash said, “I’m eager to see what it looks like.”
Laughing, Devon offered her his arm to escort her into the foyer, where another robot servant waited to take their hats.
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