She made her way to Eric's table and was cordially greeted, notic-ing that some of his paperwork included maps: maps that showed the destruction of vast areas of New York City.
"I think I might be lucky. The building remains standing," he be-gan, tapping the map. "And there is relatively little damage below Fourteenth Street, where the dental supply house is. What'll we be able to use for barter back on Earth?"
"I think we'll be able to take some wheat with us. Possibly even the rock squats, as fresh food would be appreciated," Kris replied. "There are hunting parties out today to see what they can gather and, from the smell of the kitchen, some are being broiled even as we speak. And I smell fresh bread cooking."
"Now, all we need to figure out is how to hump heavy equipment down eighteen flights of stairs," Eric said with a despondent sigh. "Oh"he smiled at him-"you didn't know that the Catteni have 'lift' platforms that handle that sort of thing quite comfortably?" "No, I didn't, but see me grinning," Eric replied, and he was, his eyes sparkling with relief and humor. "Glad I asked. Those units are very heavy and even with a lot of manpower, getting them down to where they can be loaded was worrying me."
She patted his hand. "Well, fret no more. That was actually the least of our problems."
"What's the most?"
Kris was thoughtful. "Being sure we have the right stuff to trade with the Barevi."
"Count on me, Kris! And, if we can find him, I know another dentist who does splendid work. Also in my building. He has the sort of personality that would deal well with the Catteni. Even as allies, they would be tricky, I suppose." He gave her a shrewd glance.
"Some more than others," she replied, grinning.
"Answer me a question, if it's not out of line," Eric went on, cocking his head to one side. "Why is Zainal seemingly working against his own people?"
"It might look that way, but it was the Eosi that he wanted to overthrow-"
"And did, I understand, with no small effort on his part." His manner was that of someone hoping to be told more than he had actually asked for.
"When he was dropped here as an unwilling colonist-with the rest of us"-her gesture included everyone in the dining room-"he wanted to free his people from Eosi domination."
"He did that," Eric agreed, wanting her to continue to explain a situation she really didn't have an explanation for.
"There were other like-minded Catteni Emassi, remember. He couldn't have pulled it off without their help."
"This Kamiton being one of them?"
"Yes."
"So?" Eric prompted, lifting both arms in a gesture of perplexity. "I think the situation was not as simple on Catten itself and obviously not on Barevi. The Catteni are set in their ways, and Kamiton may have overestimated support from other Emassi. Zainal achieved freedom for Botany and the other enforced colony worlds. It wasn't just Botany that the Catteni dumped people on, you know"
"No, I didn't know," and Eric slightly stressed the last word. "There are three other planets that the Eosi were colonizing the same way.
"Those planets that worked out were then taken over by the Eosi?" Kris nodded. "We were exceedingly fortunate, you know"
"To have someone like Chuck Mitford, you," and he pointed a finger at her, daring her to deny his role, "and Zainal."
"We were lucky," she amended, "to have the right mix of people to work with."
"I like your positive attitude, Kris Bjornsen."
"I dropped, I stay," she replied, with a broad grin, pleased that he was willing to accept Zainal and work with him.
"Is that Botany's motto? I hear it often enough," Eric said. "It's been a rallying slogan as well as a promise, Eric."
Eric glanced around, from the duty roster to the glass doors open-ing outside. "I like the promise! If I could just practice my profession here, I'd stay."
"Don't you have family back on Earth?"
"Nephews; my wife, Molly, was in Florida when the Catteni invaded so I've no idea what happened to her. Her name hasn't appeared on any of the Florida lists of survivors."
Kris touched his hand sympathetically. "Not all the survivors are listed yet, Eric. We'll be picking up the updated lists when we touch down on Earth. One of the goals of this ransom trip is to widen the communication channels so we can find where survivors are-and get back those who were taken."
Eric's eyebrows rose high. "That's a large job to undertake."
"The Holocaust survivors managed to trace their relatives. And we have just as many dedicated folk!"
"Why don't you just relax and raise your kids?"
"I can't." She gave a self-deprecating grin. "Zainal feels responsi-ble, in a bizarre way, and so do I:"
"Responsible for entire worlds? Oh, c'mon now, girl. Be rea-sonable."
"I don't think 'reason' has much place in my feelings, Eric. People who are unreasonable sometimes achieve more than those who are totally rational!"
"Admittedly. Ah, here comes Zainal now."
Kris saw him entering, with his sons and Clime, Ferris, and Ditsy, obviously showing them around. The boys all wore new clothing, suitable to the cooler weather at Retreat, and had packs slung carelessly on their backs or over one shoulder.
She tried to keep Eric at the table but he rose, gave her a little bow from the waist, and, smiling at the approaching group, made his way out of the hall. Zainal waved for her to stay where she was as he took the boys to the serving tables and introduced them to the people on duty. With laden trays, they all converged on her. Zainal thoughtfully brought her an extra cup of coffee.
"The boys don't drink it yet," he said when he saw her expression of doubt. "You might as well enjoy a cup of their ration."
"We must get more coffee, even if instant is all we can scrounge," she said, turning the cup around to get the handle to the left for her to lift. "I see everyone is spruced up." She nodded to the boys as they took seats.
"Boy, this grub looks good," Ferris said, picking up his fork and digging it into a mound of mashed tubers. "Oh, it's not potatoes," he added, both surprised and outraged by the unexpected flavor.
"It's indigenous but not a bad substitute," Kris replied, grinning as he swallowed the big mouthful.
"Hey, it is pretty close! Will we be able to grow potatoes here?"
"I believe so, but we'd have to import seed potatoes, if we can find them. I believe it's high on the list of 'wish' items."
"You got rock squats up north here, too?" Clime asked, slathering a portion on his fork with his knife in the English manner. "Principal source of protein," she said. "They were the main course in the first hot meal we had on Botany."
"Who named it Botany?" Ditsy asked, disgusted.
"We all did. After another colony of transported folk on Earth," she said.
"You mean, Australia?" Ferris asked, wrinkling his nose. "Not very inventive."
"What would you have named it?"
"I dunno," Ferris admitted, and then attended to the task of eating. "I'm not good at naming things."
"We put it up for a vote and everyone had a chance to put forward their names," Kris said, remembering the occasion very well. "Botany won, hands down. A good choice, I think, since it reminds us of a similar experiment that was successful."
"Yes, but that was ex-cons."
"What do you think we were considered?"
"Well, you weren't criminals."
"Most of the English and Irish who were transported to Australia weren't really criminals. There was great poverty at that point in history, and a person could be transported for stealing food to feed his family."