The Lord of the Plains by Sarah Chapman Page B

consisted of a sink, a counter and some
cupboards. It wasn’t much of a kitchen. Still, it was luxury
compared to what he had become used to. He vaguely remembered
something about a communal stove and icebox.
    After his survey of his new domain he had a
flip through the leaflets the hellishly slow lady at the testing
centre had given him. The first thing he looked at was a map of
Astar. Well, part of Astar. Mainly the poor parts. The clinic he
was to report to was marked. So was the office he was to go to if
he didn’t meet the standards of the clinic staff. He felt it was
more likely that they wouldn’t meet his standards. Shops
were also marked, as was Riley’s school. He studied it curiously.
It didn’t look too far. He fully intended to walk her to school and
pick her up. She didn’t have the sense of time city folk did and he
thought it was more likely she’d wander off and try and climb a few
buildings and probably arrive at school just as everyone was
leaving.
    There was also a set of instructions. It had
details on his payment plan- useful since he barely remembered any
of that- and rules and customs of Astar. It was like a traveller’s
guide in that respect. Then again, he didn’t think there were many
travellers these days, at least, not the type who travelled for
pleasure. There was also information on the education system. This
he read more closely. From a quick perusal it seemed education was
very important to the Astarians. Education was free. All of it.
After five years of schooling children were expected to choose a
general area of work- military, research, medicine, resources,
farming, administration or civilian. Research, medicine, farming
and resource followed the same path for two more years- two more
years where children could choose which path they wished to follow.
Afterwards they split, farming and resource students having one
more year of education together before learning the rest of their
trade on site. Administration and civilian also followed the same
path for three years. Military was entirely different. A year was
spent learning basic things, then they split off into four parts.
His eyes widened- space? Space followed military for a year,
seeming to weave in and out of research and the air force.
    ‘They are ambitious…’ he thought. But why?
Perhaps even more surprising than that was that education was free
even after the primary level. Getting in was solely determined by
ability. He had a closer read. Where did people go who couldn’t get
in anywhere else? It took some close reading that set his head
pounding again, but it sounded like military or civilian- whatever
that was-was the place for those people.
    As he looked over the pamphlets he wondered
how long they would stay here and whether Riley would have to make
a choice. He had a pretty good idea what she would choose. He was
supposed to return these pamphlets after a week. They were paper-
and paper, he was getting the feeling, was very valuable here. As
were stoves and iceboxes and bathrooms apparently.
    He spent the rest of the day in the
apartment. He left once around dinner time to talk to the landlord
on the first floor. The landlord was willing to show him around and
explain how everything worked. He showed him the ice box- it was
quite large and had a number of compartments in it. He handed him a
key and told him he was only to store food and told him how long
everything would last in there. Aerlid wondered what else he would
store in there but didn’t ask… He also found out where the laundry
facilities were.
    He checked on Riley, found her still
sleeping. He closed the door gently behind him. That night he slept
on the floor.

    The next day Aerlid awoke at dawn. He was
tired and gritty but he needed to get ready for his first day of
work. He stumbled around the apartment for about half an hour,
checking on Riley, nibbling on some food, checking on Riley
again.
    He was concerned about leaving her alone the
entire