Gratuitous Epilogue : Touchstone Extras by Andrea Höst Page B

enjoying living with their families near them, but their
places can get pretty raucous. We sat out on the balcony (Maze and
Alay were my guards) and talked about the transformation Siriath –
and all of Muina – has undergone in such a short time. I still feel
guilty about it sometimes, particularly when I found out that my
otters seem to have moved away from their stream – or died – and
that KOTIS Command is talking about settling Border Collie-ville
next.
    Maze is looking very
alive and non-tired these days, and full of plans to turn his bit
of Siriath into a test ground for his landscaping ideas. He's been
doing courses in his spare time, and takes very seriously the time
he spends with Rye, who had a lot of practical experience on Nuri
(at least until the bastard head of his house realised how much he
loved gardening and wouldn't let him tend the vegetables any more).
Rye and Maze are actually doing a couple of the same courses, and
while Rye struggles a little with reading (he does okay, but it's
not quick and natural for him yet and he has to use the
text-to-speech facility a lot), he's picking up the scientific
concepts quite well for a kid of twelve. [Rye's not able to do the
level of courses that Maze is doing, yet, but they can both attend
all the 'practical farming' courses which the 'university' is
running. Re-learning how to farm Muina, and getting large-scale
food production established, is a very important part of KOTIS'
settlement plans.]
    The kids came home
while Mara was still here (we've more than a couple of boats
between us now – simple covered sleds that are slow but easy to
drive about – and we rotate kid-collection). I could tell from the
way Sen behaved that Alay was, as I'd suspected, not feeling nearly
as happy with the world as everyone else. She's always been 'the
quiet one' of First Squad – she isn't shy, is actually pretty
decisive and definite about things, but she's the least chatty.
Since Nils told me about how she'd loved one of the Setari killed
by the massive – Suzlein – I've wondered whether part of the reason
Alay's quiet is the same as the reason Maze is (or was)
sad.
    The way Nils talked
about him, I don't think Alay was very in love with her technician,
which is probably a good thing because so far I haven't seen any
sign that he's coming to Muina to be with her. Perhaps she cared
about him more than Nils suggested, and that's why she's down, or
maybe it's just because she's surrounded by romantic things, and
the person she loved is dead.
    She really likes Sen,
though (everyone does!) and let herself get drawn into a silly game
with Sen and the kittens and it was nice to see both of them
laughing. Sen's had such a rough time of it the past couple of
months, and still her first instinct is to cheer up anyone who
isn't happy.
    My kids are the
best.
    The Muinan new year is
at the end of this month. The one-Muinan year anniversary of me
telling the platform that Kaoren was Muinan. We'll be going into
Muina Year 2, and there's plans for all sorts of ceremonies and I
have turned down numerous invitations. Still going to celebrate,
will maybe start a tradition of a New Year's Cake or
something.
     

Chapter 7
    June
June 24
    Sudden Developments
    Picture me wide-eyed.
Scarcely know what to think.
    I'd noticed that when
Maze schedules people to be my babysitter, he's usually obliging
about sticking couples together – Nils and Zee, for instance. Not
Lohn and Mara together any more, since they adopted, but he'll
usually pair Ketz and Jeh, or Ketz and Grif. And Mori with Ro,
since Eighth is currently stationed on Muina. Maze obviously knows
all about people's love lives. I thought that scheduling himself
and Alay together semi-frequently was just because they were
'left-overs' and didn't have kids to look after.
    They never acted like
there was anything to it, but a short time after the wedding I
noticed that Maze and Alay were awake long after midnight out on
the balcony, and the