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“But I don’t want to be a stay-at-home mom dependent on a man for everything, for every penny. I never wanted that.”
Understanding the societal expectation that able-bodied people should work and accurately guessing that Louella wanted to ensure she could be independent and support herself if her relationship with Yas’kihn failed, Evangeline paused to think for a moment, then grinned. “You know what Ahn’hudin doesn’t have?”
“No, what?”
“A department of health.” Her eyes lit up. “With a little fast talk and some sweet persuasion, I’ll bet you can get Yas’kihn to put you in charge of an Ahn’hudi health department. You’d have authority, respect, and a salary in your own right, while putting all that health care knowledge to use.”
“You know, that’s a brilliant idea,” Louella said and sent a calculating look toward her mate.
He must have felt her gaze upon him. He raised his head and his yellow eyes met hers. Heat shimmered between them.
Chapter18
Yas’kihn, Horas, and Sarus moved to another room in the suite and spent the rest of the day in meetings with various planetary officials. Louella and Evangeline were not included in those meetings, which meant they had plenty of time to further their acquaintance into a firm friendship.
“Don’t you resent being excluded?” Louella finally asked.
Evangeline shrugged and admitted, “A little. But think about it: how involved were you in the politics and legislation back on Earth? I wasn’t involved at all beyond voting in the general elections, so it seems rather unfair that I would come to another planet and try to impose my views on a foreign culture.”
Louella nodded. “You’ve got a point. I remember people in the old neighborhood hearing about Middle Eastern folks emigrating to America and trying to impose sharia law on the cities where they moved to. Wow, talk about backlash! Folks commented that they were trying to turn their new homes into the ‘shit hole countries—’” she made air quotes with her fingers “—they’d left.”
The women lapsed into a companionable quiet for a few minutes before Louella asked, “Do they have TV here or something like that?”
Evangeline smiled. “You know, they don’t have the sort of entertainment industry we do on Earth. I mean, they have music. If you’re into classical stuff, you’ll probably enjoy it. I’m more of an oldies rock ‘n’ roll fan myself. Anyway, they don’t really do radio broadcasts here. I’ve been to a few plays; the Ahn’hudinlovetheater. I mean, they don’t even do social media like humans do.”
Louella pondered that. “Maybe they’ve already been through the digital revolution and discarded it as not worth the cost to their society.”
“Could be. Regardless, I’m glad I won’t be trying to pry John away from screens as he grows up.”
“That’s one advantage,” Louella agreed. With a short chuckle, she added, “I remember Grandma telling us that, when she was a kid, her mom told her to go outside and play and not come back until lunchtime or suppertime. Grandma’s mom was one of the few parents in our neighborhood who did that.”Too many parents back home just don’t care where their kids are or what they’re doing.
The door to the room slid open. The two women stopped talking and looked at the parade of servants who entered bearing trays and pitchers. With silent efficiency the servants quickly set a table, then departed, each bowing to the women with respect, but none of them uttering a single word.
“I guess it’s dinnertime,” Louella said.
Evangeline again shook her head, her expression bemused. “It’s weird to be waited on by people. I think Horas and Sarus are right: having sentient beings as servantsisbarbaric.”
“What do you mean?” Louella asked as they examined the plates and bowls on the table.
“Ahn’hudin don’t employ servants or menial laborers,” Evangeline said as she served herself.
Louella followed suit and filled her plate. “You mean they have robots that do all that work?”
“Yep.”
“Then what do people do?”
“People work as craftsmen and tradesmen and other professionals.” Evangeline took a bite of something soft and yellowish, frowned, and speared a purple vegetable. “I mean, I was never that great at cleaning house, but Rosie and the other robots do a great job keeping the castle spic and span.”
“I can’t imagine having a robot army to clean the house. Do they do the laundry, weed the flowerbeds, and mow the yard, too?”
Evangeline laughed at her new friend’s incredulity. “You bet they do! But I’ve been using more natural means to accomplish much the same thing with the yard.”
“Do tell.”
“I started with empty acreage. I had it fertilized and planted. The droids did all that work, which was great, because I have no idea how to drive a tractor even if I could have gotten one onto the planet. I had my mates contact some of the big equipment companies, but none of them would part with the specifications that I could pass on to this planet—something about trade secrets. Anyway, once I managed to get grass to grow, I imported some goats. Now I’ve got thousands of acres in pasture and hundreds of sheep and goats. With intensive grazing practices, they keep all those pastures looking like we mow them.”
“Did you grow up on a farm or something?” Louella asked, amazed at what Evangeline had been able to accomplish.
