Episode 21
Dear Son,
The onions should be in this shipment, I hope they’ve arrived undamaged. It’s amazing how large they are, and how many there were. Those tomatoes were beauties, too, come to think of it. Cousin Ted swears he never does anything in that garden (at least as far as I can make out, he’s kind of hard to understand), but I don’t know how he gets results like that. And there isn’t a weed in the whole thing, either--that garden is neat as a pin. Oh, I’ve also sent some herbs, that Ted said weren’t there last year, and he swears he didn’t plant them. Very mysterious.
At least he didn’t spray me with the hose. I think he must have remembered me from last time. He invited me in for drinks and told me the Evil One was an instrument of the onions. Or I think that’s what he said-- it’s amazing how helpful prepositions are, when it comes to making yourself understood. I thought it wisest not to drink any of his homemade beer, which smelled a bit strange. He drank quite a lot of it, though, and we had a very interesting conversation. Apparently, if I understood him correctly (prepositions again), Bu-javid security is constantly monitoring him. Last week they tried to kill him by causing him to slip on the steps and twist his ankle. The beer helps detoxify his system, which he needs because of all the mind-control drugs the government puts in the water. I did ask him why the atevi were so interested in his garden, and the best I could get out of him was that it was their aim to discredit him by making pizza. It was about then I decided it was time to go home.
Your sister has been quite the social butterfly lately--tea with the President’s wife, no less, and she and Angie and your mother are very excited at Mrs. Tyers’ agreeing to wear their designs at the soccer nationals. And the police seem to always be at the apartment these days to consult. Quite a change from not long ago. Officer 2 seems like quite a pleasant young man, I’m sure he’ll go far. He seems to like your mom’s spaghetti as much as Bob does. And I know that song is annoying, but as Missy rightly says, at least he’s not stalking her.
I was sorry to hear about your injury. They were saying in the paper that these sorts of sprains had become increasingly common on the station, but that they weren’t work-related. Which seems odd to me, because you wouldn’t think there’d be much chance of hurting yourself otherwise. Your mother is worried that you’re keeping warm, because she read in the same article that there are lots of cases of frostbite, too. I told her that she didn’t need to worry about you, she knows you have a head on your shoulders, but you know how mothers are. Still, you’ve got to wonder how people manage to get frostbite in their off hours, on a heated station.
Besides the things on the news, there are a few rumors going around, too. Angie’s cousin’s friend’s uncle’s half-sister came back from the station a few months ago, and she tells the most amazing stories about humans and atevi meeting at night in parts of the station that are only partially refitted, to trade and talk. It would be illegal, if it were true, of course, and I don’t know why station security would let it continue. Of course, I know that you would never be involved in anything like that, even if it were really happening. Some of the people who’ve come back from the station behave rather oddly, too. Angie said that Rick told Emily that Mike was out at a party one night, and a woman who’d recently returned from the station suddenly slapped him for no apparent reason. Angie asked Emily what he’d said to her--she said that when the hosts had put some food out, he had just asked her politely if she’d like to eat a salad.
Congratulations on the business deal! Here’s hoping it works out. What luck, a chance to start up a human-atevi company in a totally new market. Who would have imagined that people on the station would be so desperate to have socks? I thought maybe the socks would get you a little extra spending money, at most, and now I wouldn’t be surprised if soon you managed to get into the drawers of everyone on the station. It’s amazing how these things happen, isn’t it? I know you’ll give it the best you’ve got, and however it comes out, I want you to know that I love you and I’m proud of you.
Love,
Dad