Labor's Love Lost 13

Nilpa drew in a breath, and concentrated. It was always hard to work when there were so many people around. Even though she didn't hear very well, what she did hear drowned out her thoughts. She summoned a strange field around herself, which blocked out most of the noise while still letting in (or perhaps, recycling and purifying) the air. Her project for one of the Breeders was almost finished, a device which allowed the vital signs of it's wearer to be detected at a distance. Finished at last, after another half hour of effort, she dropped her force shield and went into the main hall.

Two excited couples were being escorted into their exam rooms, while another single Slave woman stood nervously near her Owner. “I've finished this,” Nilpa announced to the Breed Lady Chul. She turned to the Slave, “it will allow you to work, without having to worry if your labor comes.”

Her pregnancy hardly showed, she was not fat, but neither was her belly much swollen. Unusual, but not unheard of for Zekiran women. People, she said, rarely believed her when she told them she was pregnant, and would keep her hanging about longer than she should. “I figure if you keep a comm unit with her, you can call and have her hand off the unit to whoever's pestering her.” A broad smile from the Slave made Nilpa chuckle.

“Actually that's exactly what I was thinking of doing, thank you!” Chul said. Her goldenrod features were framed by deep teal hair, she was a relaxed looking Breeder.

Normally used to the discomfort and ire that Third Degree Breeders got, Chul always enjoyed her visits to this clinic. That and the Women's House, of course, where everyone was made to feel absolutely at home. “I wish that I could get you to come to my clinic and work, Land Mistress,” Chul said. “Don't your mother and uncle have things under control here?”

Nilpa looked about, and while it was usually busy, they'd hired on several Workers and freshly Raised ex-Bayaran, knowing how hard getting back on their feet it was. There was always cleaning and disinfecting to be done, in addition to the lawn and trees in the courtyard, cooking or catering for the little finger foods that were always ready in the waiting room.

For Land Holders, the pair of siblings really had their hands full. Nilpa knew that her mother would far rather be just playing with the machinery or working alone late at night. Her uncle was the same way, only he tended to enjoy now watching people from one-way glass or listening in on conversations through the devices he made.

Nilpa hadn't really gotten her own methods or work schedule down yet. “Well, it's not a decision I want to rush,” she said. “What sort of Holdings are available in Polaen? Is this one of those chilly mountain things?”

“Oh heavens no,” Chul laughed. Her Slave was busy playing with the device, holding it over her belly where she found it read not only her heart beat but her child's. “It's on the plains, north of the coast by a few hundred miles. Lovely place, not much to it, though. I'm the only Breeder there, at the moment, that's why I ask for your help.”

“Then I'm going to consider it more firmly,” Nilpa grinned again. “And if it's so isolated and sparse, maybe it'll be quieter?”

“That it is,” Chul said. “If anything it's too quiet, but I know how you like things to be.” She turned and chuckled at the Slave, “well if you're finished trying it on we can go now, Biya.” Somewhat startled, the Slave put the belt-like device around her waist, where it was snug and comfortable. They left, and Nilpa noticed her mother standing nearby.

“She's asked you to go with her,” Finbor said, her voice was more monotone when she tried asking a question, but her pronounciation had gotten slowly better and more accurate over the years. Finbor was almost sixty, Nilpa in her thirties, and they had finally begun to understand one another.

“Yes, I'm … thinking about doing it. It sounds like a big change from here, though.”

“Breeders always need help, Nilpa,” Finbor said with a smile. “It's getting so crowded here, too, why don't you look into it. Where did she say it was?”

“An unZoned place, but she told me before that it's going to be soon enough. Maybe,” Nilpa said turning to nudge her mother with her shoulder, “if I Hold land there, it'll get enough to Zone!”

The first time Nilpa arrived at the site where Umtl sat, she stood in awe of the size of the plains. It was so completely different from Teklel! That huge city was sprawling when it was Zoned, bustled up against the bay and eventually dwindling to suburbs and finally rural areas to the east. In Teklel there was always a street corner, motion, people to see and move from their path. But here?

Slightly rolling hills moved in waves down to the coast, for at least three hundred miles. But far past those to the north, unseen at this distance, were the huge towering mountains of Polaen. Mada was just under their shadow, but was the only large location anywhere near here.

No buildings caught Nilpa's eyes. Only the hover port, and a smallish buiding that framed a river fishing business. It was almost silent, but to her dim ears that was normal. Nilpa more often felt with her air manipulation those things around her. Sounds came to her other senses, rather than her ears. Birds and beetles sang, something was moving through the thick grass and it might have had four or six legs, the wind … The endless wind blew over the hills from the south to a slightly north-west course.

There was nothing here. No. Thing. Only the whine of the hovercraft she'd arrived upon, as it died, and the slight bumping and rocking of a boat which was moored around the fishing house. At a complete loss, Nilpa stood there trying to take everything in. Taking nothing in, after a life of bustling city, was very hard for her. She wasn't panicking, but she was feeling a little helpless.

Soon though, a pair of Steeds flew down from … where had they been? Nilpa had come from the south, since the winds would cause Hovers to flip over if they came in from the east. One of the Steeds was a bright winged yellow and blue – upon whom sat a yellow and blue rider! His companion Steed, a more sedate mushroom-yellow and beige mare, also had a rider, and that one Nilpa recognized as Chul.

“Heyo!” Chul called down, as they landed. “We'll have your things brought up to the Mansion, but we thought you might like to see the place from up here instead!”

The Steeds landed, expertly placing their heavy hooves upon the soft ground. The grass was so heavy their feet were obscured, and little insects flew out from under them when they stamped down. It was completely wild here, so Nilpa thought.

She caught up with what Chul suggested. Looking up at the Steeds, they were so huge! Chul and the other rider seemed so at ease on their backs, even though Nilpa wasn't a betting woman she had watched many races on the vid, and enjoyed seeing the proud riders in their saddles. This pair looked almost like them, only more relaxed, more wild.

“I've… never ridden a Steed before,” Nilpa said, almost dumbfounded. “That Steed looks just like him,” she said of the rider of the first she'd seen. “And he looks a lot like you… Brother?”

The man nodded, he was about Nilpa's age, and with the same bright smile as Chul. Instead of goldenrod skin, though, he had vivid yellow skin that was dotted with bright blue spots – tiny ones – along his chin, neck and probaly shoulders and arms. They were covered, their riding gear looked warm and comfortable in the wind. Nilpa hadn't realized how windy it would be here, so she hadn't prepared. The rider coughed, and brought her attention back to him.

“Oarch,” he announced, and held his hand out. “Come on, the Blot can handle both of us.”

“The – Blot?” Nilpa stammered with a smile, “You named your Steed Blot ?”

It seemed that Chul agreed with her, on this one. She'd always thought Blot was a ridiculous name for a Steed.

“Well that's what he looks like, doesn't he?” Oarch said, The Steed looked entirely nothing like a blot, except… His tail was paler at his rump and drew darker the longer it got. As though it were … blotting up ink?

Well, one mystery solved, so when a more modest hovercraft and two sturdy Slaves came over the hill nearby to pick up Nilpa's bags, she swallowed her fear and was helped up onto Blot by Oarch.

“Just hold on to my waist, and grip with your knees,” he told her, “we will not let you fall.”

She nestled her knees slightly behind the Steed's wings, they fit nicely there though she felt the muscles working under them. Then, suddenly, the ground lurched away and she pushed her face into Oarch's back. Eyes clenched tightly shut, she waited for the feeling of panic to leave her.

“Open your eyes, Nilpa!” Called Chul from her Steed, the wind making it very difficult indeed to hear. But – that was it!

The wind was her friend, there was no doubt about that. Nilpa came to an agreement with the air around her. She wouldn't fall, no need to worry. Straightening up, but still with her three-fingered hands clutching Oarch's waist, she dared open her eyes.

Her power created two small pockets of wind-resistant air around her eyes, just so she could see properly. And when she did so…

The landscape was so different from above! The rippling of the hills could be seen quite clearly. As though mud had frozen on its way down the side of a very slight incline. Covered in bright green grasses and longer tan stalks of what Nilpa assumed was grains, each hill was almost indistinguishable from the next. However, here and there between them sat one building, then another. Rounded rooftops, some with gardens right on them, disguised everything from above.

“Amazing!” Nilpa shouted, “this is amazing!”

They flew at a good speed toward the northern area, where Chul and her brother had their shared Holdings. Two houses became apparent – if ‘apparent' meant ‘faintly visible as artificial structures and not natural outcroppings'. They had a wide glen between them, and three of the same rolling hills framed their Land.

Oarch guided his Steed around to the west, and Nilpa almost lost her lunch when she realized just how high up they were. Their shadow below the noonday sun glanced over every little nook or bump, so very very far below.

“That's where there is still unHeld lands, and we thought you might want to see it!” Oarch announced. “And it's cheap, really cheap, right now!”

She didn't expect it to be as cheap as it was. In fact, it was free. No one had settled there, therefore there was no one to actually purchase it from. Since it was unZoned yet, no legal fees for processing, no donations to the local funds, no bureaucracy to fund. All that came when a place was Zoned, everyone's land was added up and charged a fee based upon size to start up the committee for governing it later. So… All she really needed to do was put down a fence and call it hers.

Which is exactly what she did, less than two years later. After helping with Chul's breeding house here, which needed wiring put in and ventilation worked out – Nilpa's two favorite things to play with – Nilpa had saved up enough to set down a largish house for herself and family should they visit. Workers aplenty set up the foundation, which was dug into one of the hillocks. There were a surprising number of streamlets and underground openings, and several of these were exploited to facilitate a power supply. It would be nearly impossible to get regular electric power to this remote of a site, like many homesteads out across the plains – or in almost any unzoned but populated area. Chul's place had three tall windmills, elegant white panes cutting the air with blades over thirty Spans long. Their Steeds were trained to stay away from those blades, though occasionally Nilpa saw that daredevil Master Oarch guiding Blot between them as pilons in a race.

With her own windmill being built, Nilpa was almost at a loss for what to do before her real power supply came online. It was the spring of 2100, with a celebration planned in more populated areas of the world topping even the second millennium affairs. Nilpa spent her time at Chul's, and in her Breeding facility in town.

What little ‘town' there was. Little more than two hundred structures scattered as far as the eye could see – from Steedback – was what Umtl consisted of. It was not impossible to get the entire population into Chul's glade for a party… And on the eve of new year's 2101, that's what they had done. Drawing to a close, the old century – proposing dozens of toasts and flinging party favors and silly plastic toys to everyone within reach, Chul certainly knew how to throw a party.

Her Slaves were happy, though Nilpa was told not quite as well-off as her mother had been when she was a Slave to a Breeder. Perhaps it was because these poor things had to work very hard to please their Lady. She had a lot of social engagements, as well as her brother's to attend to. Master Oarch enjoyed the benefits of having Slaves even though he was only able to bond.

And Nilpa too, soon developed a taste for service. She worked hard like they all did, so she understood the need to just be able to come home and settle down, have a drink and have dinner there waiting. It was a relief, it was what made ‘home' such a nice place to be.

The others were busy as well. Chul went out and did legwork so often, literally striding around cities looking for Breeding material. That itself told Nilpa she was serious about this. She wasn't as focused and specialized as Nilpa's family had been – Chul enjoyed making servants for people on whims. That couple would look pretty together. This man is so strong, how can we resist putting him together with that sturdy lass? She did at least confine her Breeder's Eye to Slaves and Bayaran – she claimed she could spot a Status pin from a mile away. And when in doubt, she moved on. No sense in waiting or embarrassing herself, if someone turned out to be a High Holder or Suzerain instead of a Slave.

Master Oarch was a bit less intense than his sister, but just as full of surprises. His love for Steeds for instance, brought half a flock of them to his Lands here. Eight huge winged Steeds, plus the odd boy out, one with the fashionable leather type wings. They weren't as pretty as their feathery counterparts, but Oarch thought they were the wave of the future. Especially in a windy area like this, where their scoop shaped wings caught a lot more air and could remain actually moving instead of just gliding on thermals like his feathery ones did.

His profession, manipulating Stock and holding Hard auctions (mainly for his sister's stock, making things a bit less haphazard), was certainly quite prosperous as his sister's. He did have to travel every time he held an auction, or was to preside over an Inheritance. No one came out here – this was where you came home .

Soon enough, after Nilpa's homestead and power supply were fixed up and her shop established, Nilpa's tastes turned to the same as her friend's. With the business of keeping everyone's power supply up and running, Nilpa could afford to extend her Lands, and did so surpsisingly well.

Several of the local Workers that had helped assemble her homestead were hired on permanently in the shop. They knew the ins and outs of the landscape, and one of them even had some kind of stone-shaping power that allowed him to sense where to put down foundation and where to avoid. Thus, the business thrived as people's homes required constant attention. The windy landscape was apt to topple anything bigger than three stories, so every once in a while a windmill was brought low for repairs or even to be replaced.

Nilpa was happy, prosperous. She'd added on twice to her Lands since moving there, in only a few years. Most of the land was just empty, she allowed Oarch to graze his Steeds there if he needed to. She even thought about perhaps putting in a farm or boarding area for them.

Things were going so well.

Until one day she got a letter from the local Area government, asking why she hadn't retitled yet.

“Retitle to what?” Nilpa asked with a bit of a laugh. She was attending yet another of Chul's Breeder get-togethers and there were plenty of other conversations to listen in to. Had her uncle been there he would have been overworked to see who to spy upon first. “I mean, I'm not tending Steeds like you, and I certainly don't have the head for Membayar work.”

“To High Mistress,” Chul pointed out. She popped a delightfully cooked sand-beetle into her mouth, and enjoyed its crunchy exterior as much as the juicy spiced insides. The party continued on, while Nilpa stood there dumbfounded.

Though the others were smiling and laughing, Nilpa put the letter down and wondered if her defective hearing had just-

“To the new High Mistress Nilpa!” Chul yelled, and several of her visitors cheered as well. It was just a little party, but one that Nilpa would never forget. It was where she went from the daughter of Slaves, to a High Holder.