Chapter 18: Martyrdom

Lise sat on the sofa in Megan’s living room. Klarissa snuggled under her left arm with the electronic book reader. Geddes cuddled to her right, sucking his thumb.

The news was on the mediascreen. Lise watched a reporter state that Thom, Lord Bromen was not contesting charges of sedition, and that a Varadan magistrate would sentence him tomorrow. She pressed a remote control to switch it off.

Megan sat in a chair. “Hey,” she said, “I’m beginning to feel a little jealous.”

Klarissa looked up at her mother, then hopped off the sofa and climbed into Megan’s lap.

“I do feel like a member of your family,” Lise said. “It’s a wonderful feeling.”

“You are a member of our family,” Megan replied.

“Does that mean we’ve adopted Lise?” Klarissa asked.

“In a way, I suppose it does. Lise, I mean it. You’re always welcome here. You’re so good with the twins. You gave them unconditional love and look how they responded. You’re good for me, too. I never knew unconditional love, so I didn’t know how to bestow it. You’ve taught me.”

“Surely you exaggerate.”

“Surely I do not. You’re a role model for me. Speaking of families — have you heard from your mom and dad?”

“Yes. They’re still living at the temporary shelters. They’ll be reopening the Zone in a few days, so I imagine we’ll head back there. There’s no telling what we’ll find. Since no one owns the buildings, it’s homesteaders’ rights. I don’t know if we’ll get our old place back again or not.”

“If I had the space, I’d invite all of you to live here.”

“At least, we’ve gone back to the old curfew.”

“Yes,” Megan replied. “Dusk-to-dawn was beginning to wear on one.” She smiled. “I wonder if we’ll have a curfew-fueled baby boom within the next standard.”

The doorchime sounded. “I’ll get it,” Lise said. “Excuse me, Geddes...” She went to the door and swung it open. “Bryce...”

“Lise, may I come in?” She stood aside. “The civil reserve are busy clearing debris in the Zone. In doing so, they ran across a group of novonids who had been holed up in the basement of one of the burned-out buildings They were caught in the firefight, so to speak. Some of them are injured — one in particular. He happens to be registered to Novonid Rescue, so he’s our concern. We had him transported to a novonid clinic in Quadrant Two. He’s in pretty bad shape and they don’t expect he’ll last the night. He’s asking for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes.”

Lise glanced at Megan. “Go to him,” she said. “We’ll manage ‘til you return.”

Bryce led Lise to a constable’s squad car. “Are these people your private taxi service?” Lise asked.

“They’re helping us get around with curfew.”

Lise heard the warning chimes sound as the car headed toward Quadrant Two. They drove past Ramina’s breedery and stopped outside a single-story building. Bryce led her inside and spoke to an attendant.

“This way,” the attendant said. “I should warn you, it’s not a pretty sight.”

“What happened to him?” Lise asked.

“He has a punctured spleen.”

“Can’t you help him?”

“This condition is invariably fatal in novonids. The spleen is a vital photosynthetic organ. There’s nothing we can do.”

Lise was led to a cot. She knelt beside him. Tagg’ skin had faded to a pale yellow and he lay, gasping. “Tagg ... Oh, Tagg...” She cradled him in her arms.

“Lise ... You came.”

“I came as soon as I heard. Oh, Tagg ... You should’ve listened to me. All your talent...”

“Don’t scold me, Lise,” he gasped.

“Oh, Tagg — I’m sorry.”

“I wanted you here, Lise ... to tell you ... I never stopped loving you.”

“I never stopped loving you, either. Oh, Tagg ... Your art. It did make a difference.”

“My art?”

“Yes. One of your sketches is on the cover of the Novonid Rescue newsletter. It means you reached people, Tagg. You got their attention.”