colonization and expansion.
“How do you know about it, then?” Skylar continued with some curiosity. “If all the histories were lost, how do you know about Romans?”
Patrick considered his response, “My family is a bit eccentric. And… wealthy. They could afford to keep their books during the purge by virtue of their stature. My tutor liked to use them for my sessions instead of the viewer.”
Skylar feigned outrage, “Criminals!” She asserted.
“Guilty as charged. My crime is knowing useless facts.”
“Not so useless,” Skylar disagreed. “I like Libero. What was the Roman word for Home?”
Patrick thought for a moment, “Lorem.”
“Yea,” Skylar nodded. “Now that has a much better ring to it than Colony Alpha.”
ɸ ɸ ɸ
“Don’t you think it’s a little odd?” Ndale asked Luca.
“What?”
“That it’s been three months and the Chinese girl has barely spoken two words to anyone.”
This again , Luca thought as he sighed – for some reason Ndale had taken to creating wild theories about Jia and her silence. “That’s not why I’m here,” Luca pointed out. Ndale lay on his bunk, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of dried synthetic meat as Luca knelt near the foot of the bed. “I was asking you about the instant coffee. Got anymore?”
“Got anything to trade?” Ndale wondered.
Luca put on his best and most trustworthy face before asking, “Take store credit?”
“No,” Ndale didn’t even take a moment to consider it. “Tell you what, though,” he sat up from his bunk and gestured with the dried meat to Jia, who was folding paper by herself at one of the community tables. “You get me her story, and I’ll give you all the instant coffee I have left.”
Luca smiled widely, “Deal.” He said and stuck out his hand. Ndale shook it firmly and Luca turned to consider his task. He may not have been the most accomplished of his family, but his personality did lend itself to making friends. He’d made a lot of questionable friends in his time, but this was different. This was his new start. He would use his powers for good, he told himself.
In the end, he went with the most direct approach. He casually made his way over to the table, pulled out his hand-held and gestured to the seat across from Jia, “Can I sit here?”
Jia looked up mid-fold and nodded after a moment of consideration. He sat and placed his glass device on the table, opened an application and started reading it with feigned interest. After a few minutes of silence between them, he looked up and took notice of the craft she was working on.
“Huh. Paper. You don’t see much of that these days.” Luca observed. She had been using the same piece to fold over many times, making some sort of creature shape with paper. Luca finally recognized it as a frog. All frogs had been extinct on Earth for a long time, but they were still in the database to search and learn about. “Did you bring it with you?”
Jia nodded again.
“Some sort of family tradition?”
She shook her head.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Luca was determined to get a verbal response out of her.
“Grade school,” She answered simply.
“Pretty fancy grade school to have paper!” Luca exclaimed. The fact she had gone to a school at all was impressive. Most children learned at home on the viewer, with confederation curriculum. Glass technology was so pervasive that no home – not even the poorest – went without a viewer. Another thing had surprised Luca – Jia was educated. Children were not sent to grade school just to stop there – it was often a track for graduate school, at minimum. On this point he had, along with many others, assumed Jia was just a simple girl. “So what did you do back at Earth?” He wondered aloud.
“If I tell you, will you share the coffee with me?” She asked, her gaze lifting from her project to give Luca a poignant look.
His cheeks flushed instantly. “S-sure,” he stammered,
“How do you know about it, then?” Skylar continued with some curiosity. “If all the histories were lost, how do you know about Romans?”
Patrick considered his response, “My family is a bit eccentric. And… wealthy. They could afford to keep their books during the purge by virtue of their stature. My tutor liked to use them for my sessions instead of the viewer.”
Skylar feigned outrage, “Criminals!” She asserted.
“Guilty as charged. My crime is knowing useless facts.”
“Not so useless,” Skylar disagreed. “I like Libero. What was the Roman word for Home?”
Patrick thought for a moment, “Lorem.”
“Yea,” Skylar nodded. “Now that has a much better ring to it than Colony Alpha.”
ɸ ɸ ɸ
“Don’t you think it’s a little odd?” Ndale asked Luca.
“What?”
“That it’s been three months and the Chinese girl has barely spoken two words to anyone.”
This again , Luca thought as he sighed – for some reason Ndale had taken to creating wild theories about Jia and her silence. “That’s not why I’m here,” Luca pointed out. Ndale lay on his bunk, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of dried synthetic meat as Luca knelt near the foot of the bed. “I was asking you about the instant coffee. Got anymore?”
“Got anything to trade?” Ndale wondered.
Luca put on his best and most trustworthy face before asking, “Take store credit?”
“No,” Ndale didn’t even take a moment to consider it. “Tell you what, though,” he sat up from his bunk and gestured with the dried meat to Jia, who was folding paper by herself at one of the community tables. “You get me her story, and I’ll give you all the instant coffee I have left.”
Luca smiled widely, “Deal.” He said and stuck out his hand. Ndale shook it firmly and Luca turned to consider his task. He may not have been the most accomplished of his family, but his personality did lend itself to making friends. He’d made a lot of questionable friends in his time, but this was different. This was his new start. He would use his powers for good, he told himself.
In the end, he went with the most direct approach. He casually made his way over to the table, pulled out his hand-held and gestured to the seat across from Jia, “Can I sit here?”
Jia looked up mid-fold and nodded after a moment of consideration. He sat and placed his glass device on the table, opened an application and started reading it with feigned interest. After a few minutes of silence between them, he looked up and took notice of the craft she was working on.
“Huh. Paper. You don’t see much of that these days.” Luca observed. She had been using the same piece to fold over many times, making some sort of creature shape with paper. Luca finally recognized it as a frog. All frogs had been extinct on Earth for a long time, but they were still in the database to search and learn about. “Did you bring it with you?”
Jia nodded again.
“Some sort of family tradition?”
She shook her head.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Luca was determined to get a verbal response out of her.
“Grade school,” She answered simply.
“Pretty fancy grade school to have paper!” Luca exclaimed. The fact she had gone to a school at all was impressive. Most children learned at home on the viewer, with confederation curriculum. Glass technology was so pervasive that no home – not even the poorest – went without a viewer. Another thing had surprised Luca – Jia was educated. Children were not sent to grade school just to stop there – it was often a track for graduate school, at minimum. On this point he had, along with many others, assumed Jia was just a simple girl. “So what did you do back at Earth?” He wondered aloud.
“If I tell you, will you share the coffee with me?” She asked, her gaze lifting from her project to give Luca a poignant look.
His cheeks flushed instantly. “S-sure,” he stammered,
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