Liaden Universe [19] - Alliance of Equals - eARC Read Free Page B

dea’Ken’s resignation. She was a few Standards older than Padi, willing to answer questions and to ask them. Not that either of them would shirk their work, of course, but they might exchange some conversation, and working with Faw Chen was much preferable to sharing a shift, and proximity, with Inleen, Padi’s fellow ’prentice, or with Head Tech Varoth. Jeri, the other garden tech, was agreeable enough, but not much given to talk.
    She turned the corner and there was a thin woman in green overalls, bent diligently above Tank Hr6, a toolbox open on the shelf beside her.
    “Faw Chen!” she said. “I’m glad to see you!”
    The gardener looked up, a ready smile on her face.
    “I’m glad to see you, too! And on time!”
    That was a joke. It might even be a joke with a point turned toward Inleen, who, in Padi’s experience, had never in his life been on time.
    “Only imagine the ringing scold I would earn from the head tech if I were late,” Padi said, pulling the log for Gr2. Jeri had marked out the sections that wanted thinning, and, in Gr3, two sections that needed to be deadheaded. Padi nodded to herself and moved to the first marked section.
    Gr2 was peas, and the first section was, in fact, fearfully overgrown. Padi dutifully performed the required measurements, testing the medium for moisture and acidity, logged the readings, and finally leaned in to run her fingers lightly over the fragile green seedlings.
    Thinning was soothing work in its way, though her attention, and her care, as well as her hands, had to be in the garden , as Tech Varoth had it.
    One needed, first, to observe the segment to be thinned, identifying the robust plants and those that were less so. On the first pass, those plants that were clearly failing would be removed, and sacrificed to the composting frames. The second pass would take those seedlings that were somewhat more robust, but still unthrifty, and so on, until only the healthiest and strongest seedlings remained.
    She hummed as she worked, a wordless little tune she had learned from Grandfather Luken, when they had sheltered in the Rock together. The leaves were cool against her fingertips, and her attention was wholly engaged.
    “Do you think she would?” Faw Chen asked quietly.
    Padi blinked, her fingers fumbling among the seedlings. She raised her head, but Faw Chen was bent over her section, a diagnostic stick in her hand.
    Padi frowned, trying to recall her last—ah, yes. Tech Varoth’s likely reaction to Padi being tardy.
    Despite her determination to do well, Padi had felt from the beginning that Head Tech Varoth had taken her in dislike. She had not been able to discover why this was so. At first, she had wondered if there might be some deficiency in her work, but, if that were the case, surely the tech would merely have corrected her, instead of barely acknowledging her presence, on the increasingly rare occasions when their schedules put them on the same shift?
    “Why wouldn’t she scold me?” she asked Faw Chen, turning back to the seedlings. “She certainly scolds Inleen when he’s late.”
    “True. But Inleen’s mother is not the captain of this ship.”
    Padi blinked, her fingers gone still among the seedlings, wondering what Inleen’s lineage had to do with—
    “As your mother is, the captain of this ship,” Faw Chen continued, her voice gentle.
    Padi looked down at her fingers, and moved them among the cool leaves, working deliberately now, as she tried to think how best to explain, for it was an error of culture that Faw Chen posited—and a very disturbing conclusion drawn from it…
    “My mother ,” she said, her voice as careful as her fingers. “ My mother is Vestin yos’Thomaz Clan Ebrim.” She raised her head slightly and saw Faw Chen pause, her head cocked to one side. She said nothing.
    Good, Padi thought, she wants to understand. To learn.
    “Now,” she continued, still careful. “Now, it is true that Priscilla Mendoza and my