First Channel

"And Simes have to eat, too," said Kadi, "or have you forgotten? You look as if you haven't eaten since you left us."

Del's face twisted momentarily. "I haven't," he admitted. "My last kill was… pretty horrible. I kept seeing Billy." His nager rang with such pain that Rimon couldn't breathe, but Kadi said firmly, "I'm hoping you'll learn to live without killing, the way Rimon does, if only for your own peace of mind."

Del turned away from the grave on the hillside. "I don't think anyone else has a chance. Rimon found you first."

She felt it then, but all she said was, "Come, Del, and have tea with us."

Rimon and Kadi went back to camping until they could rebuild on a spot away from the Raiders' trail. Meanwhile, they cleared more ground, and salvaged what they could of the trampled field. In return for Del's help, they spent several days helping him build his cabin. He had already broken several of the wild horses and sold them in town; as he had money, he often bought things Rimon could not afford—presents for Kadi, he would insist.

One such present was a supply of jars for ca

One day Del arrived for an unexpected visit, bringing with him a young Sime woman and two small children, in a wagon that Rimon didn't recognize. The woman was Carlana Lodge, one of the out-Territory Simes from the neat little community that Kadi always admired. She spoke Simelan with a heavy Gen accent, and was the first Sime other than Rimon and Del to be willing to speak with Kadi. Kadi at once took a liking to the Sime woman. She was a breathtaking natural beauty, with pale skin, huge blue eyes ringed with thick dark lashes, and straight dark hair worn center-parted and pulled back into a coil at the nape of her neck. She wore a dress with a high bodice and skirts to the ground, even in the heat of summer. The sleeves of her dress looked as if they'd been designed to come down to the wrist, but then cut off and hemmed at the elbow instead, to avoid pressure on her tentacle sheaths. Apparently Carlana had carried an extreme form of Gen modesty with her across the border.

When they showed her around the garden, Carlana said, "Your tea plants are doing much better than mine. I never heard of trin tea before I… came here, but it is such a necessity. I don't think anyone in Fort Freedom grows it as well as you do."

"Fort Freedom?" said Kadi, struggling with the odd accent.

Carlana translated, apparently unaware of the irony in the name—for the out-Territory Simes had walled themselves in against whatever freedom Sime Territory had to offer.

Rimon and Del stood back, watching the women talk, and for the first time Rimon realized Kadi must be missing the company of another woman. They were soon chatting amiably, and he ignored them until there was a small nageric shock from the end of the garden. He looked over to see that Kadi had put her arm around Carlana. He heard her say gently, "I don't think nature intended us to kill one another." She took her arm away.

"Del—Mr. Erick—told me something about you, but I didn't expect…" Carlana spread hands and tentacles. "I'm sorry."

"I'm getting used to the fact that I'll never have them," Kadi reassured her.

But Carlana rushed on, not hearing her. "They're so repulsive. You shouldn't have to look at them."

"… what?"

"They seem to have a life of their own," the Sime woman apologized. "Of course, we all use them for working—we can get so much more done—but that makes it hard to remember to keep them decently sheathed in company."

"Carlana… are you saying you actually try to hide your tentacles? But they're beautiful!"

Carlana took Kadi's hands, holding her arms up. "No, Kadi, you are beautiful. Normal. Not a mutant monster like me."

Rimon glanced at Del. "Carlana comes from Gen Territory," Del said. "She has a lot of strange beliefs… but I guess I can sympathize with some of them now."

"Do you know," Kadi told Rimon after their visitors had gone, "Carlana was surprised that I call myself a Gen? She thought it was purely a derogatory term for the Pen-raised Gens that are hardly more than animals."

"What do the Wild Gens call themselves?"

"People."

Rimon stared at Kadi, then chuckled. "Of course!"

"And most of the Simes at Fort Freedom were members of something called the Church of the Purity in Gen Territory."

"What's that?" asked Rimon.

"It's an… organization to worship God. I think. I didn't really understand it all," Kadi admitted. "They seem to believe that if a child changes over, it's a punishment from God for the parents' wrongs. They think Simes are inhuman monsters visited on the Earth because of witches and sorcerers who once tried to control the forces of nature, instead of obeying God's Law. Really, Rimon– she told me this in all seriousness!" Rimon stared. She added, "Did Del tell you about Abel Veritt?"

"No—Del was too busy telling me how wonderful Carlana is. He likes her kids, too. I think we're going to see him settling down pretty soon."

"That fast?" asked Kadi. "Carlana only lost her husband last winter—and the way of life she's found at Fort Freedom means a lot to her. I'm not sure they can adapt to one another's customs. And from the way Carlana talks about Abel Veritt—their spiritual leader—I don't think Del will be welcome in Fort Freedom if he questions anything that man teaches!"

Wistfully, Rimon said, "You want to be welcome there, too, don't you, Kadi?"

"Well—yes. And I'd like to have Carlana and her children for friends. She wants us to come talk to Mr. Veritt– that's what they call each other, Mister this-or-that, some kind of—Genlan?—honorific, I think."

"They call their language—English. I always intended to study it, but never got around to it. I was sick so often during my First Year after changeover when it would have been so easy to learn…"

"I think you should tell Carlana all about Zeth if you get a chance. Rimon, she killed her mother in First Need."

"Her mother!"

"I think we should go talk to this Abel Veritt. These people could use our help as much as we could use theirs. They're all from out-Territory, and most of them have never had any contact with—civilization. Can you imagine what they go through—believing they've become demons? At least Veritt has given them some self-respect, but they've got a long way to go."

"Even the ones who don't think they've become demons have a hard time," Rimon said. "Remember Charlie Horvan? Even after my father hired him, he was still depressed all the time, couldn't learn Simelan very well, poisoned himself a couple of times, and finally hanged himself."

"I remember," Kadi said. "Mama and I had to take care of him when he made himself sick. Your dad came in one day and bawled him out for being such a fool… but I don't think he knew those things he ate were poison, Rimon. We couldn't feed Gens a lot of Sime foods. Surely there are things that Gens can eat that would poison us. You," she amended, with a chuckle. "I'll ask Carlana. There's no reason to restrict our larder to food suitable for both of us."

Kadi got her chance to ask a few days later, when she and Rimon were invited into Fort Freedom to meet Abel Veritt. The leader of the community was an imposing man who reminded Rimon of his father—not in appearance, but in air of command.

Veritt was actually shorter than Rimon, but stockier than most Simes, with broad shoulders. There was no malnutrition evident among the Simes in Fort Freedom. Apparently they kept up the Gen habit of regular meals.

It was difficult to judge Veritt's age, although his hair was so silver that one couldn't guess the color it had once been. His face was sunta