Allison had woken up early that morning. The fire was dying so she added more wood and then she started digging through the underground storage below their garage. It was one sprawling shelf laden mess. Her mother was a hoarder of all things Allison so they had every single winter coat she’d ever worn, along with her snow pants, hats, and mittens. She’d only recently graduated to gloves. Her dad and mom’s things were a chaotic mess, but her mother had labeled every single one of Allison’s bins of clothes with season and age. The same went for her toys. Ostensibly so Allison could use them with her children.
Allison wasn’t even sure what eight-year-old girls played with anymore. Did girls on Yellowstone even play with the same things she would have played with. As much as the System’s Alliance tried to maintain the same culture in the various colonies, differences were bound to develop. From Allison’s experience in New Amazon, culture changed from section to section. Finally, she found her tub of winter clothes from eight years old. She pulled it down from a high shelf and wondered how her mom even reached high enough to put it up there. She put that on her toys from eight years ago box and carried them up the stairs.
She groaned when she saw Oozie giving her a hurt look. She put the boxes down and pulled out a packet of Oozie’s dehydrated meat which she quickly rehydrated and dumped into her bowl. She also filled the water dish then started looking through the boxes. She’d left the box of her grade three schoolwork safely where it was. No one needed to see that ever again. She stood up triumphantly holding a frumpy looking black winter coat which had a bunch of nonsense wiccan symbols on it. She frowned and looked it over.
“I wore this? Did I have a goth phase at eight?”
She saw a call coming in from the League embassy on her AR HUD and swept it to the wall display in their living room. She’d decided to do her search in front of the fireplace. A Yorleer woman showed up on the screen. Of course it was a woman, if she was talking to a male Yorleer she’d need to fast forward the conversation and it would be a tree. Allison recognized her as the ambassador’s aide.
“Hello T’hyl (Thil), how can I help you?”
T’hyl smiled.
“Battlelord, it is nice to see you in good health. I have a message to pass along to you, we have received a data bundle for you. It arrived just now with diplomatic encryption. It must be of great importance it is from the Grand Eminence himself. Also, we have received a hyperwave communication from a Doctor Futama on Silwra, he would like to speak to you at your earliest opportunity. I trust your personal hyperwave is functional?”
Allison nodded absently then looked back at the screen.
“Actually, no, my starfighter took catastrophic damage to the airframe during my latest mission. It is currently being rebuilt. May I use the embassy’s hyperwave to return his call?”
T’hyl bowed her head.
“Of course, Battlelord, we are ever at your service.”
Allison smiled at the screen.
“Thank you so much, T’hyl, I know handling my calls is not your job.”
T’hyl beamed.
“Which is why it is my pleasure, please, drive safely when you travel here.”
Allison held up her hand.
“Sorry, one thing, I have a guest, a young girl I took in do you mind if she joins me?”
T’hyl bowed her head.
“I look forward to meeting her, battlelord. We have taken in quite a few children whose parents could not be located or have left this plane of existence. She likely has friends among their number.”
Allison waved.
“See you soon, T’hyl.”
They ended the call. Allison laid out a clean set of clothes. She looked at the box of toys. She realized well over half of them would have been considered ‘boys’ toys, not so much that girls just would never play with them, but the corps marketed them towards boys. Little SA troopers figures and starfighters. So many starfighter toys. She set the box aside and called her mom. Apiyo looked exhausted.
“Allison, is something wrong?”
Allison shook her head.
“No mom, I just realized there are a bunch of displaced children some of which are now orphans. I have all those clothes and toys downstairs; We should donate them.”
Apiyo crossed her arms.
“They’re our memories, your memories that you can share with your children.”
Allison shrugged.
“Mom, there are now kids that lost everything including their families. I’d rather tell my kids that I donated my things to other kids who needed them more. Dad has been complaining about the fact there are no shelves left for like three years.”
Apiyo sighed.
“Fine, children whose parents are missing or are confirmed dead are for the most part staying at the Embassy. All the Yorleer there have already passed all of their human childcare tests according to the System’s Alliance, to open a daycare of all things. A bit odd if you ask me.”
Allison giggled.
“Mom, its not like that. All Yorleer take care all children on their homeworld, so when they’re away they miss being mothers, so the embassy opened a daycare, league science and sociology as outreach programs. It’s a good thing. Kids get used to seeing non-humans besides Sauroids. It’s free childcare. And! Most importantly school kids get a better field trip then the three lame ones to a farm, the colony government building and the base.”
Apiyo waved her hand dismissively.
“They’re your things, do what you want with them. I wash my hands of it.”
Allison blew a kiss.
“Love you mom. I hope you get sleep soon.”
Apiyo blew a kiss back and ended the call. Allison rubbed her hands together and while Robin was still sleeping loaded every single non-school work box of her childhood things onto her dad’s pickup truck. Anything she cared about was still in her room. Mostly every single thing her babu had given her. She was pulling a tarp over the boxes and tying it off when she heard Oozie barking. She rushed inside. Oozie never barked. She heard Robin screaming loudly. She rushed into the spare room. Robin was in the midst of a full blown panic attack and Oozie was trying to comfort her but Robin was completely incoherent. Allison pondered the morality of just stunning her but realized swiftly she had no idea where her sidearms were and that she didn’t want to potentially cause another person’s heart to stop.
It took several seconds of Allison just standing there listening to the screaming child for who was swatting at anything that got close to her to notice Allison watching over her. Robin scrambled out of bed and climbed onto Allison who held the child tightly.
“You’re safe here. Shh. I got you.”
There was trauma then there was trauma. Robin had seen something that Allison didn’t want to imagine. She looked around the room and spotted a large beetle-like insect. They were common in spring and summer. The kids called them Goober Bugs because they honestly had chitin that looked like dried snot in the light, or neon snot in the dark. They weren’t the least bit dangerous and in fact helped keep the bacteria carrying night insect numbers down because they spun bioluminescent webs the same texture and color as their chitin the light lured many unwanted bugs to their doom. They didn’t even bite humans, they couldn’t. Allison couldn’t have told you what the scientific name of it was. She realized quickly that if bugs triggered Robin, there were a whole lot of problems come spring, whatever colony she ended up on.
Allison scooped the goober bug up and walked it over to her room where she placed it gently by her bed so it could weave its web and keep the nasties away from her. Robin watched all of this with fear filled eyes. Allison spoke softly as she released the goober bug.
“They’re called goober bugs. They can’t bite us. They glow in the dark and spin glow in the dark webs that lure in all the nasty little bugs we don’t want and then they gobble them up. We call them goober bugs because well, they look like when you sneeze. In the summer if you go for a walk in the woods after dark, their webs light up the whole forest. It’s very pretty, but you can’t stay out too late. Or the bloodsuckers will come out. If they bite you and you eat meat of any kind you… well let’s just say you don’t want that. They come out after midnight.”
Robin peaked out further. Allison let Robin climb down off of her. She sort of remembered eight was when she stopped wanting hugs. Honestly, she had no idea what an eight-year-old girl would want from her. She expected most eight-year-olds to be pretty, not self-sufficient, but decently intelligent. She decided to stop trying to figure out what to do and just act normally. Robin crawled up on Allison’s bed and looked at the goober bug. She looked back at Allison.
“They really don’t bite?”
Allison nodded.
“They can’t bite. They suck small bugs into their mouth like a straw. The worst they can do is suck on your skin, which you won’t even feel.”
Robin poked the goober bug who lazily moved away from her.
“They’re also super lazy. Or maybe we just don’t scare them, but I have never seen them move at anything faster than a crawl. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast. Then we can go meet some of my friends and then we get to go shopping! My favorite part of that is the food court. So, what stores do you like to get your clothes from?”
Allison started putting out cereal and milk, she figured they could fill up at the food court. Robin ate her cereal quietly. Allison shrugged; It seemed like the kid had no preferences. She definitely had them at eight. Robin was only half finished her breakfast when she noticed the box of toys. The one thing completely absent from any of the bins was Allison’s stuffies. Those she had kept in her room. Allison smiled.
“Finish your cereal and you can take anything you want from that, they used to be mine before I outgrew them. Do you want to watch something?”
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Robin quickly finished her cereal without answering Allison. The girl was immediately drawn to the two dolls Allison had at her age. One was a cheesy Dark Mother doll with combat action and sword. The other was a doll modeled after an African girl. They were popular in Africa Dome. Robin ran her palm over African doll’s hair and smiled. Allison sat down on the couch and drank a coffee while she watched Robin play with the two dolls. Robin looked up at Allison.
“Who is the Dark Mother?”
Allison shifted in her seat.
“I thought you knew; You called me her daughter last night. I’m sorry, what do you want to know?”
Robin blushed.
“I just heard the other kids talking about her, and you. They were saying you were a hero. That they’d heard you flew in from the sky and killed all of the bugs. Can things fly for real?”
Allison was truly confused now.
“Of course they can, that’s how you got here, don’t you remember?”
Robin shook her head. Allison got down on the floor beside her toy box and pulled out one of the Mark II starfighter toys she held it up.
“This is a starfighter. It flies in the air and space. I have one. It’s how I got to your colony. I broke her though. She’s probably not going to talk to me for months after that. She told me it would happen. Have you never seen a flying ship before?”
Allison offered the toy to Robin.
“No. I heard things but papa told us the outside world was filled with the devil’s spawn. We weren’t allowed out of the forest. Then the bugs came and… and…”
Allison could see tears forming in Robins eyes.
“Shh, you can stop. It’s alright.”
Robin kept going.
“Then papa used his gun, but they kept coming. There was a noise so loud it felt like my head was going to explode, it was better in my room. I hid under my bed; Mama ran into my room, and she told me to wait until it was safe and to run towards the big Jim and past him, then ask the people for help. She kept hitting the bug hitting and hitting it, then it stopped moving. Then so did Mama. I didn’t hear any more bugs, they screamed so loud. I tried to do what mama said but it hurt so much when I left the old place went back to my room. Then it got quiet. I ran past Old Jim there were so many people. They were all dead like mama and papa and my brothers. Then the bugs came they were running to a big building with that on the front.”
Robin pointed at Allison’s Dark Mother pendant.
“I hid and they just kept running towards it. Then big metal men with guns like papa’s started killing all the bugs. I kept hiding then a big man found me. I was scared he had been with the metal men.”
Allison nodded.
“He promised I was safe. He told me he would take me someplace safe. He sat with me and told me to close my eyes. When he told me to open them, I was with those other kids. Billy pulled my hair and said I talked funny.”
Allison smiled.
“That man’s name is Thomas Elk. He is the person who rescued me from the school. That’s the building you saw the bugs running into.”
Robin looked up at Allison.
“When can I go home?”
Allison rubbed the back of her neck.
“For now, you are home. I’m not sure what Oozie would do if I tried to take you somewhere else. She’s kind of the boss around here. My mom thinks she is, but it’s totally Oozie.”
Robin looked around.
“Where does the light come from?”
Allison raised an eyebrow.
“Light bulbs.”
Robin nodded.
“Are they safe? This is a lot of candles.”
Allison was truly confused now.
“They’re not candles. They’re electric… ugg. There is something called a fusion reaction. It’s like a miniature sun. Like in the sky. Only its about the size of this box.”
Allison shook one of the boxes.
“It makes electricity which is what makes the lights work. Uh, you didn’t have lights? Or fusion reactors?’
Robin shook her head.
“Or trucks like the one we were in?”
Robin shook her head once again. Allison rubbed her face.
“So you used candles for light.”
Robin nodded.
“It was my job to light them and put them out. Papa said we had to be careful. The air in the old places was precious. He said that the lord made them, so we’d be safe from the devils outside.”
Allison blinked slowly. She just let the fact this kid was raised by Christian fanatics who hated technology go and focused on the fact she likely hadn’t had a medical check up ever. Allison bit her lower lip.
“When Thomas brought you to where Oozie found you, did anyone check you over? Make sure you weren’t hurt?”
Robin shook her head. Allison smiled.
“When you got hurt, cut yourself, who looked at it for you?”
Robin smiled and blushed.
“Mama. I’d get sweet berries afterwards if I didn’t cry.”
Allison nodded along.
“How would she do it? Was it foamy?”
Robin shook her head.
“No foam is bad. Bad. She’d use the blue leaves if it was a cut, and the orange ones if it was a bruise and give me some of the pink root if it hurt. Or my head was hot.”
Allison just realized there may be plants that had medicinal properties on Yellowstone no one realized. Allison held up her wrist and pointed at her holo-phone.
“How about this? Have you seen one of these before?”
Robin poked the wristband and then shook her head. Allison realized Robin was completely in the dark. It was like she was raised in the dark ages like Eyre and Helen. Allison stood up and dusted herself off.
“Well. I have a treat for you. Do you remember Sister Silra from last night?”
Robin nodded.
“The lizard lady. She was nice. Papa said anyone who wasn’t human was the devil’s spawn. She didn’t seem like the devil’s spawn.”
Allison laughed.
“That depends on if she’s your teacher or not. I shouldn’t say that. She’s my favorite teacher, who taught you to read and write?”
Robin shook her head.
“Oh no, gentile women don’t learn things like that, it is for the man of the house and Pastor Nixon. Only men are allowed to read the word of the lord. A girl who reads scripture is going to burn in hellfire. A girl who can read is worldly and not good for marrying. Tainted mind, tainted womb. That’s what the lord’s book says.”
Allison’s heart fell. How could people live like that? She reminded herself of an old saying, Rome wasn’t built in a day. She took a deep breath and decided to take baby steps. If the Alliance had suspected even half of what seemed to be going on, the children would have been taken away for their own good. She decided to use a tactic from her asset development training and agree but disagree slightly.
“It is true, a woman who spends a lot of time doing other things can have trouble finding a partner. In fact, my Auntie Eyre was just talking about that with me this morning. I know how to read and write. You need to fly a starfighter. If I didn’t know how to do that, I couldn’t have saved you. I used math to stop the noise. Admittadly I really do have trouble with boys. I really want Tyler, but there’s Edward who is super cute, and then there’s Vaedrick. His mom wants me to marry him and be a princess.”
Allison blushed slightly after admitting all that. Robin giggled then got quiet.
“Mama had a book she hid from papa, it was just for us girls. It had pictures in it. Mama told me it was about a peasant girl, Pastor Nixon used to say that the Lord chose us because we refused to be peasants and slaves to evil. Mama said peasants aren’t slaves, that they are farmers. She met a scary prince, he was a monster, but it was because he was cursed. When they kissed, he turned handsome, and they lived happily ever after. Her dress was so pretty. Will your prince turn handsome if you kiss him?”
Allison giggled at the thought.
“I am afraid not. He’s already pretty. I can’t say handsome. But wait, if I have three boys chasing after me, and I can read and do math… maybe Auntie Eyre is wrong. I’m not sure that’s possible she’s really old and wise.”
Robin blinked.
“She is really smart. She knows how to cook. I bet she is a good wife.”
Allison shook her head.
“No, she is not married, she is a widow her husband died a very long time ago. She had a lot of kids though. Wait, she knows how to read and write too. Something seems strange here. I know how to read and write, my trouble is too many boys, my mom knows how to read and write and she is married to my dad. Auntie Eyre knows how to read and write and she was married. My birth mother had so many kids. Like almost thirty and she definitely knew how to read and write. Hmm.”
Robin sat and seemed deep in thought as she rubbed the doll’s hair in her palm. She looked up at Allison.
“Are words hard?”
Allison sighed.
“They can be really hard. Oh, I am not good at words. Do you know that for some words they can mean like six separate things? If someone is talking you know exactly what it means but in writing, who knows how it was meant. I got in trouble once because I read something one way, and my teacher read it the complete opposite way. I was sure I was right; She knew she was right, and I got mad. Said stuff I shouldn’t have, and she sent me to office, then they called my mom. So, I got grounded. That means I couldn’t go out and play at least here anyway.”
Robin nodded.
“Did your mom wash your mouth out with soap? I said a bad word I heard papa say once, I never said it again.”
Allison smiled.
“No, she did threaten me with it though.”
Robin smiled right back at Allison. She continued to fiddle with the doll in her hands.
“Maybe Pastor Nixon read the words wrong. Like you did.”
Allison shook her head.
“I’m sure he didn’t, but it is really hard to tell without seeing the book. So maybe he did. We have a book about the Lord too. It’s my mother’s. She doesn’t read it much anymore. It doesn’t say anything about worldly women and reading. It does say a lot of good things though. Love thy neighbor. Forgiveness. Protect those who can’t protect themselves. Help those who cannot help themselves. Be charitable. It’s a really good book. Then there is the Dark Mother’s book. It talks about hope. About being strong. About standing up for yourself. About sacrifice. About how boys and girls are equal. About how being a mother is more then just giving birth, how it is about nurturing all children.”
Robin was hanging on Allison’s every word.
“There is a story in the Dark Mother’s book from before the Grey came. Do you know what the Grey is?”
Robin nodded.
“The wrath of the lord to purge the wickedness from humanity. It is our trial in the desert. An angel told everyone before the Grey but they did not listen.”
Allison smiled.
“Yes, that is in the Dark Mother’s book, but I know a secret.”
Robin leaned forward. Allison whispered.
“That angel, was the Dark Mother. She tried to warn everyone.”
Robin gasped.
“Are you an angel?”
Allison laughed and shook her head.
“No, I’m not an angel, or a saint, or anything in between. Just a girl like you. So, the story… wait.”
Allison hopped up and vanished into her room and returned with a picture book that her kindergarten religion teacher had handed out. It was mostly pictures. She opened it to a page near the middle. It was a picture book that basically retold the story of the Dark Mother in well, five year old terms. Allison pointed at a picture of a girl in a black hoodie clinging to a fence over rapidly flowing water.
“This is the first prophet of the Dark Mother. She started the book. She was in despair.”
Robin shook her head.
“To despair is to turn your back on the Lord.”
Allison nodded.
“Exactly, you’ll see. The prophet at the last minute decided she didn’t want to despair. She slipped and she fell. She would have drowned but a monster.”
Allison pointed at the picture of a humpbacked man with a twisted face pulling her out of the water and breathing life back into her.
“Pulled her out of the reservoir.”
She pointed to the next picture where the monster had his hand on a giant wall mural of the Dark Mother. Allison saw it now, her biological mother in the image. Her lip quivered as she read the next part. It always got her, now it was worse because they were her mother’s words. She held back her sniffles as best she could.
“The monster pounded his chest said, prophet, why do you throw your life away? She sacrificed herself for all of us, why would you waste her precious gift by living in despair? The Dark Mother is hope, let her in to your heart.”
The next image showed the prophet staring up at the giant mural of the Dark Mother.
“In that moment the prophet thought to herself, as she looked up at this beautiful mural in this dark, horrible place and the monster who was shuffling away… if such a monster living in such terrible pain can find beauty in this awful place, and in himself, then how can I not find beauty in myself? She wrote that as she looked up at the Dark Mother’s vivid green eyes, she felt the Dark Mother watching over her, her despair faded away and hope filled her heart. She felt the Dark Mother wrap her in a loving embrace. So, she went home and she wrote the story of the Dark Mother. That is why the book says, hope was the Dark Mother’s second gift to the world. That hope is what helped us human’s survive the Grey.”
Allison wiped away a couple of tears. She remembered what that embrace felt like and her heart wept that she would never feel it again. Apiyo could never be replaced but her biological mother was a goddess and it felt like the entire universe had wrapped itself around her. Robin touched the last picture of the prophet huddling in front of an old-style computer. Allison gave her the book. She had another one with more words and less pictures from grade three, and then of course the real one. Robin looked through each page with an eagerness Allison had not expected.