We Shadows

Chapter 20: not in Kansas anymore

Tyson wished he had work so he could focus his mind on something else. He stayed in bed for longer than he should have and then finally got up to shower and dress. Alcott was in the kitchen working on another one of Marcus's recipes. He didn't know what to say to her. He watched her search the small refrigerator.

"Are we out of eggs?" she asked. "Did you put the eggs in a weird spot again?"

"It's not a weird spot," Tyson told her, pulling out the eggs exactly where he had left them. "I put them in a bowl so they don't roll around. I don't want to clean egg out of the fridge again."

"Then don't break them," she laughed. "Merci, Tyson."

"No problem," he replied. "What are you making?"

"It's some sort of rosemary cookie," she said. "I thought you could take them to the baskets game."

"Oh. Thanks," he said, surprised.

"I used to play; hopefully I'll manage to play after little Marcus is born," Alcott mused. "If I have time. My madre tells me I won't have any time at all and children eat it all up." She took a couple eggs from the bowl and cracked them, mixing the eggs in with a spoon.

"How are you?" she asked. "Yesterday didn't go as you expected. Do you want to talk about it?"

Tyson did say anything for a long moment and then he sighed. "I had never thought being an idealist was an insult until last night."

"I didn't mean..."

"No, I think you were right," he cut in. "I had this...rose colored glasses view of this place. The horrible things in the past were some distant dream and the only evil was Dashiell and his methods from Earth. But there's a lot more happening here. And it's a mess." He offered a smile. "It's not usual to get served humble pie after accusing someone of murder."

"You have strange turns of phrase," she laughed. "But I think I understand. I wish you had asked me." She made a face. "Not that I would have told you I shot Lincoln. I've tried to put that night behind me. "

"I can understand that," Tyson admitted. "I don't like it, but maybe because, as messed up as our country was, America still had laws and courts and police. None of that exists here."

"If Dashiell ever finished the constitution, we'll have some better laws," Alcott remarked. "Keep people safe. And Harper was right, we have fewer guns on the base now, if we have any at all." She shook her braids. "So, when is your baskets game?"

"Just after lunch," he said. "I was going to organize my interviews we did yesterday, but I got onto Dylan yesterday about doing work on the weekend, so that seems hypocritical."

"You two have been hanging out a lot," Alcott noted.

Tyson nodded. "She's had questions about politics on Earth and has been helping me with some of my questions about the base. You're friends with Levi, but we've never really hung out with Dylan. Are you two not friends?"

Alcott shrugged. "We were. Lully, Dylan, and I were inseparable when we were younger. But Dylan became department head, and we stopped getting together. She's a little too intense for me." She snorted. "Figures you two would become friends. You both have the subtlety of an earthstorm."

"Last night was an anomaly," Tyson protested. "And to be fair, if I had accused someone on Earth of murder there would be immediate consequences."

"They have laws there," Alcott replied. "On an entirely different subject, how about you help me finish these cookies, and then we can head outside."