The Rivening

Square Meal

When Connie returned to the bike shed, Harnell was waiting for her. She showed Connie how to hook the produce boxes from the bike onto the conveyance system for moving it up to the Squares. It was like a miniature funicular that rang a bell when the box reached the top.

In the Octo center room, Fanik sat in the craft area fiddling with some kind of gadget. He barely looked up. After all the warm smiles on Joyund farm, Connie decided to withdraw to her room even if she had nothing to occupy her time.

"I think I'm going to go to my rooms. One of you is taking me to the Squares to have dinner with Peter? Is that soon?"

Harnell responded, "Not for half a tick. I'll come get you. I left more clothes for you on your bed. They should be enough."

"Thank you. That's very kind." Connie wondered if half a tick had a specific meaning but thought she'd wait and ask Tessa tomorrow. She hadn't noticed any clocks to speak of. Yet the day and timing of food breaks had had a comfortable rhythm.

Connie took her time looking over the clothes Harnell left. Some she hung on the several pegs attached to the wall next to the half-bath and the rest she placed in one of the drawers imbedded in the shelving units dividing her living space. From the feel and look of the clothes, she assumed they must be more of Harnell's handiwork and found herself looking forward to wearing them.

That done, she wasn't sure what to do. She moved one of the chairs from her sitting area, placed it in front of the window by the bed, and sat watching the sporadic activity on the roadway. She saw a 7-5 going from the direction of town toward Joyund Farm and thought she saw Quill. Even if it wasn't him, she liked imagining she recognized him.

After what seemed like an hour, Harnell and Fanik both went with her to the Squares. With so few of them currently living at Octo, they said, there was no point cooking separately. Connie showed them the Go game and asked if she could take it to play with Peter and they gave her a sort of shrugged okay.

The long dining hall ran along one side of Square Two. The room had large windows on both sides – one side overlooked the river and the other, the walkway along the inner courtyard. The room was set up with a row of six, spacious tables and a food buffet at one end of the room. Ten or so people were scattered around the tables. Connie saw Rennish deep in conversation with a young woman who gave Connie a steely look - as did everyone else in the dining room.

The pleasant warmth of Joyund Farm had almost made Connie forget the dangerous situation she and Peter were navigating. Clearly no friendly faces in this room. What did they know or not know, or suspect or not suspect about her? Did this mean that all of these Dahrians were in on the plans to open up and control the Ireland passage with Hastings' Earthside crew? How many were there? And how could she and Peter possibly make their way across an ocean to Arden?

Connie filled a plate with food and as she was about to sit down, she saw Peter come into the dining room. Vossey was pushing him in a wheelchair.