More silence. Stephanie thought she knew exactly what was going on in the minds of those gathered around the long dining room table. The adults-all of whom except her mom and dad thought Trudy must be Stephanie’s friend or she wouldn’t have been invited to the party-were reluctant to argue and so ruin Stephanie’s fun. The kids, all of whom labored under no such illusion, were too polite to want to start a fight. Nonetheless, from the way his broad shoulders were shifting under his tuxedo jacket, Karl was definitely about to say something, and whatever he said wouldn’t be in agreement with Trudy.
Stephanie guessed what Trudy would say to any opinion of Karl’s…Something like, “Oh!” Giggle. Giggle. Flutter of eyelashes. Bounce of assets. “But you’re Stephanie’s special friend. Of course you’d say that…”
Trudy might even say “you’re Stephanie’s boyfriend,” and then what would Anders think?
I mean, I can’t go to him later and say, “Listen, Karl’s not really my boyfriend, no matter what Trudy said. I mean, he’s my buddy, but he’s not my boyfriend, and I want you to know this because…”
Feeling herself about to become embarrassed over a conversation that hadn’t even happened, Stephanie spoke into the uncomfortable silence. She had meant to take anything Trudy said with stoic silence, so her mom wouldn’t feel bad about inviting Trudy, but this was getting serious!
She spoke in her sweetest, most reasonable tone of voice, the one she’d perfected in what seemed like millions of interviews. “Trudy, does ‘just how it is’ mean that even if Dr. Whittaker’s study ends up showing that treecats aren’t ‘intelligent’ or ‘sentient’ or whatever term they decide to use, you don’t think treecats have any rights? They were here on Sphinx before us. This is their only planet.”
Trudy laughed, a loud, completely genuine laugh that was worse than any mockery could be.
“Oh, come on, Stephanie. I’d never take you for a hypocrite. Look at this house you’re living in! Do you think the trees that got cut down to make it wouldn’t have preferred to keep living? What about all the birds and beasts that lost their homes so your family could have this great big house-and greenhouses and vehicle hangars and gazebos. You’re not telling me you’re going to take up living in a tent so you minimize your ecological footprint? If you do, remind me not to come visit you in the winter!”
Stephanie found herself fumbling to explain. The problem was, Trudy clearly thought that the treecats didn’t have any more right than did a tree. And how could Stephanie explain that there were times she did feel bad when she considered the majestic crown oaks, near-pines, and rock trees that had died so that the space in which her family’s home now stood could be cleared? Trudy would probably laugh so hard that Scott would need to give her a tranquilizer to calm her down.
To Stephanie’s surprise, it was neither Karl nor one of her adult friends who spoke out, but Jessica Pheriss.
“Don’t be a moron, Trudy. Don’t you see? You’re making Stephanie’s point for her-or at least the Forestry Service’s point. Responsible settlers must pay attention to the local ecology. That protocol has been followed from the start of settlement here. I read speculations that one of the reasons humans didn’t find treecats sooner was because early biological surveys showed that picketwood trees might look like groves, but they’re actually one huge tree. Treecats-as I’m sure you know-prefer picketwood over other types of trees for their colonies, but since clearing picketwood was so destructive of a segment of the local ecosystem, humans tended to stay clear of them-and so the treecats stayed hidden.”
“So…” Trudy sneered. “This means what?”
“So this means,” Jessica continued speaking slowly, almost, but not quite, as if to a very small child, “that from the very start, colonization on Sphinx has been done with an awareness of the local ecology. That policy isn’t going to change. If the treecats are ruled sentient, that awareness will be adapted. I mean, we can’t just move in on the local residents.”
Trudy rolled her eyes. “Wow, Jessica, you already know so much, and your family just got here. Well, let me tell you this. Humans, not treecats, are the ones who vote in the assembly. My dad and his friends aren’t going to let a bunch of cute mini-hexapumas be used to get around their rights.”
Jessica’s intervention had given Stephanie a chance to organize her thoughts. Now she spoke up, striving with all her might to be reasonable when what she wanted to do was shout something like, “You moron! Maybe if Dr. Whittaker proves treecats are sentient, then they will get a vote. What would you do then?”
Instead, she said calmly. “Trudy, I can send you files and files about what happens when humans start forgetting that we’re only one part of the local ecosystem-one part that can be destructive all out of proportion.”
“Fizz on the files,” Trudy said, laughing dismissively. “Like I want to spend my time reading propaganda written by people who are only interested in taking away the rights of serious land-holders.”
At this point, Marjorie Harrington interrupted, using her best “mom” voice, the one that held the snap of a starship commander beneath its reasonable tones.
“I can see we have some quite varied opinions here. Perhaps we should stop before we ruin our appetites for dessert? I’ve made both chocolate cake and tanapple pie. I thought we’d move into the living room for dessert.”
The Mom Voice-or maybe the prospect of dessert-stopped the debate, but Stephanie didn’t think Trudy’s mind had been changed one bit. In the general movement to clear away dishes and move into the living room, she noticed Trudy moving over to talk to Anders. From the way Trudy was pressing close to him, she, at least, hadn’t given up her campaign.
“Ultra-stonishing,” said Jessica, speaking very quietly, but so the kids closest could hear. “Is Trudy obvious or what? I wonder if I should take a picture or two and e-mail them anonymously to Stan…”
She was grinning mischievously, but Stephanie didn’t doubt she’d do it.
“Don’t,” Chet said. He wasn’t grinning. “Stan isn’t nice. I mean, really isn’t nice. Trudy’s family seems to like to play with fire.”
Christine nodded. “Yeah. Listen, Steph. You were great there. I mean, I’ve seen you lose it a whole lot more at practice when Trudy gets dumb. This was a lot nastier than blocking your glider.”
Toby bounced in agreement. “You were great. I thought we were going to see you use Trudy’s head to mash the ice potatoes.”
Stephanie laughed. “My folks would have killed me. They take hospitality seriously-and so do I. I saw Karl carrying the tanapple pie out. I hope you’ll try it. It’s his Aunt Irina’s recipe. It’s seriously wonderful, sour at first, but with a sweet note.”
“Kinda like Steph herself,” Chet said, grinning. “Right, Christine?”
“Absolutely,” Christine said.
“Bleek!” agreed Lionheart, scampering ahead to where a tray of celery had been put out for his and Fisher’s dessert. “Bleek! Bleek!”
Chapter Seven
Stephanie slid into the pilot’s seat of the government air car, belted herself in, and took a quick minute to familiarize herself with the control panel while Ms. Schwartz, the test administrator-a wiry woman whose jaded expression said she’d seen it all and expected to see worse-got in on the other side.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Ms. Schwartz said, positioning her uni-link so she could take notes. “We’ll start with the vehicle on automatic. Then, if you pass the first part of the test, we’ll go through the same areas with the air car on manual so you can attempt to qualify for a provisional license. The route should be coming up on the HUD.”
Stephanie noted where a neat shocking-green line was taking form on the heads-up display and nodded. She checked right and left, as well as behind and above, before taking the air car out of its parking space and into the streets of Twin Forks.