frame now. Why anyone would be experimenting with a device that made it impossible to walk properly was beyond Renzo's guessing.
The pilot had wobbled and jerked his way across the room, and was leaning against a wall, panting and sweating. He noticed Renzo looking at him, and smiled. "I bet you're wondering what's going on with this gizmo?" he said.
Renzo didn't know what to say, all the more so since he didn't know what a gizmo was.
"Sorry, my mistake," the pilot said. "I forgot that 'gizmo' isn't in the topside lingo, outside of pilot circles. It just means a gadget, or a device. In any case, I meant this wonderful, horrible, ugly, beautiful mess of bars and pads and wires that's strapped to me."
Renzo tried to appear agreeable, without committing himself to a conversation.
"Hang on a minute. Let me get seated again," the pilot said.
The other two men in the room (Renzo's guards) went to hold the pilot up while the 'gizmo' was taken off, and then they more or less carried him to the wheeled chair and sat him in it.
"Thanks, guys," he told the men.
"Any time," they said. "Anything else?"
"We ever get any coffee yet?"
"Nope."
"Water would be terrific."
"Broth would be better," the woman in the room said.
The pilot grimaced, but said, "What Nurse Chan wants, Nurse Chan gets. This time, anyway." He winked at the nurse.
She made a face at him, and offered to go make broth. The guards bowed and swept their arms theatrically, waving her to the food preparation area with exaggerated good manners.
Renzo couldn't tear his eyes off her as she worked. She was like Julia, and yet not like her at all, somehow. As much to the point, she was a woman working with men, as part of their team, as an equal – except when she seemed to have even more authority than any of the men. There was something more. Something he couldn't define, but couldn't deny. Watching her prepare food, he felt hungry, but not for food.
"Renzo, in case no one's told you, around here men do not touch women without permission," the pilot said. "We do not leer at them, either. I doubt you know what a leer is, but you're doing it now. She is not your woman, and you are not to look at her like that."
"I will adjust my behavior as advised," Renzo said, sending his eyes to the floor. "I regret if I appeared to consider her as mine. I am, of course, not highly enough placed to have my own person. It was remiss of me to imply that I did not know that."
The pilot rubbed his face with his hands. The guards got between Renzo and the nurse.
She said, "Thank you, gentlemen, but I don't think he'll be any trouble. He'll be no trouble for the wrong reasons, perhaps, but you can't expect him to understand yet." She looked at Renzo. "As I understand it, you haven't had much experience being around women?"
Renzo's blood ran cold. Perhaps this was an elaborate skit designed to get him to let his guard down, so he might admit having spent time with the cattle herder?! He hadn't thought of that. Having thought of that, he didn't know what to do. He saw the danger, but not the way out of it. However, it was too dangerous to not reply promptly, so he flung out the first loyalty proving statement that came to mind. "The government, in its wisdom, has arranged to keep men and women separate for most tasks," he said. He wasn't sure how to interpret the responses to that, so felt compelled to add, "Of course, I have seen documentation of men and women in other regions who are assigned to work together, so I know that the arrangement that is being employed here is not unprecedented. I do not understand why it is set up one way in some places, and the other way in others. I trust the experts to know when each arrangement is most efficacious."
"I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or be sick," one of the guards said.
"Let's change the subject back to the one we never got finished, shall we?" Harvey said. "I was going to explain my gizmo to the lad."
"First, explain to him why men don't lay hands on women or leer at them," Nurse Chan said, to the distress of every male in the room.
-
Harvey looked at the guards, who made it plain that since the nurse had spoken directly to him, he was on his own. For that matter, they gave the distinct impression that if duty had allowed, they'd bolt from the room so he could do it without having them as witnesses. Although he appreciated that they didn't want to be there while he made an ass of himself, it didn't help much.
He made a wordless appeal to Mrs. Chan, and got only a 'you can do this, I know you can' look in return. Sometimes he appreciated her faith in him. Right now, not so much. Still, he had enough of a warrior's heart to not abandon his post even though he had no idea how to defend it, so he prayed for help finding the right words, took a deep breath, and plunged in. "Renzo, God made men and women differently." One of the guards lost control enough to snicker. Harvey shot him a warning look, as did the other guard. Harvey resumed, "Men and women are equal, but they're different, and God gave men the duty of giving women extra respect, and protection when they need it."
He was so intent on making the explanation adequate while avoiding the subject of sex, that he made it a few more words before he got gobsmacked by what he'd said. He sat silent and still, his mind screaming "the duty of giving women… protection when they need it" while flashing images of his murdered wife.
-
Renzo didn't understand what was happening, but he tried to look like he trusted them, as government representatives, to be doing what was best. It was hard, though, when the pilot, who'd been talking to him, froze up like that. Whatever could that mean?
The nurse started to roll the pilot out of the room, but one of the guards shook his head, waved her to a stop, and sat where he was facing Renzo but could watch the pilot.
"Let's back up and try this again," the guard said to Renzo, gently. "You've been introduced to a number of people since you got here, and some of it was while you weren't coherent, so let's start there, with a refresher. I'm Joel Johnson. You need to call me Mr. Johnson for now. That's Trevin Lexington. Mr. Lexington to you. That's Nurse Chan. You can call her Mrs. Chan or Nurse Chan. That's Harvey Davis, Mr. Davis to you. What he was trying to explain is that men are made to be defenders of women and children. Sometimes we can be trained out of that, like most men are topside. Sometimes we can get so self-centered that we ignore our duty. But none of that changes the fact that one of the primary roles of a man is to protect women. That doesn't mean we can always succeed, of course. For example, that cattle herder who lived across the river here, she died recently, and we all feel bad about that, even though she wasn't someone in our community."
Renzo's heart nearly beat out of his chest. His head spun. They knew she was dead? How? He'd sent her body away. No one had asked about her, so he hadn't been able to suggest that wolves had carted her off. They shouldn't think she was dead. There was no evidence for it.
He saw Mr. Johnson see his confusion, and nearly threw himself at the man's feet. Perhaps he would be forgiven if he confessed to taking care of her and promised to never do anything like that again without having been given the duty?
Another thought struck him. Perhaps they thought Julia had deserted, and wanted to see if he'd confirm that for them? It was a horrible thought. She hadn't deserted. She'd been a good cattle herder. She had tried to live, so she could continue to be a good cattle herder.
Suddenly nothing in the world was as important as defending her good name. "She did not desert, if that is what you are thinking," he flung out, recklessly. "She was injured by wolves, and I got her away from the wolves and took care of her, but she died. She would still be a good cattle herder, if it was not for the wolves!"
He wasn't sure what they were thinking. He couldn't decipher their looks, or their body language.
He realized that he no longer cared what they thought. Furthermore, he didn't care what they did to him. He had to say it. "She only had a bow and arrows, and she couldn't get to those in time. If I had been there, I could have saved her with my g
un. You should have assigned us to work together."
There. He'd said it. They would see to it that he died now, like they'd already ordered him to die. But it didn't matter. He had told them the truth. He'd done it in defense of Julia. They might not really believe that men were supposed to defend women, they might just be saying it as a ruse – but he knew it to be true. He knew it. And it was worth dying for.
Anthony Davis was trying to concentrate on his studies, but the old man serving as volunteer church secretary for the day knocked on his door anyway, and stuck his head in. "Pastor, I think you should see this guy," he said.
"What's up?"
"I don't know. The man won't tell me anything, but he has me convinced it's serious."
"Send him in," Anthony said.
To his surprise, Trevin Lexington walked in, in uniform, wearing the badge that indicated he was on duty. Anthony's eyes involuntarily looked for another person, as was usual in notifications of a death.
"No one's dead," Trevin said, reading the pastor's reaction correctly. "Not physically, at least. Not on my beat, anyhow."
The church secretary seemed willing to hover just outside the door, so Trevin reached for the door to close it. The man took the hint, and closed himself out of the room.
Anthony went to greet his guest with a handshake. "Hello, Trevin. Welcome. What can I do for you?"
"Nurse Chan sent me to get