Guests for Dinner
© 2019 by Walter Reimer


(Setting and characters courtesy of E.O. Costello. Thanks!)
Thumbnail art by  steamfox


After a moment, Calibanescu finished shaking paws with Athenry. “May I present the Governing Committee, Chief Athenry?” He stepped to one side and gestured with his top hat before replacing it on his head.

“Thank you, Conducator,” the kangaroo said, and the deer started to make introductions, beginning with the gorilla femme in the ill-fitting wedding dress. “This is the Councilor for Education – “

“Chiuri Latifa,” the simian said gruffly. She seemed perturbed about something, and Athenry refrained from asking. She looked up at the buck. “Can I get out of this now?” As if to punctuate her question, the split seam at a strategic point split wider, causing one or two of the onlookers to snicker.

“Yes, you may,” Calibanescu said, “but please be back by sunsdown, or you’ll miss the dinner.” As the gorilla stamped off he said to the kangaroo, “We’d like to welcome you all, so dinner has been arranged.” He gestured at a large area that was roofed over with weather-beaten tarps and thatch. The two suns were nearing the horizon. “Astronomy,” and he nodded at the tall wolfhound, “assures me that both Bigsun and Littlesun will set simultaneously tonight.”

“Our planetologist will enjoy seeing that, I think,” Athenry said, and the skunk nodded, stepping up to introduce himself to the wolfhound. “The name of your planet, Tempest – “

“My grandfather named it, from some piece of literature.”

She nodded. “We gathered as much. I’m going to have to apologize.”

“Eh?” Calibanescu paused and looked down at her. “Why?”

“We named your stars Miranda and Ariel,” and she indicated which was which. “Two characters from the play The Tempest.”

“Oh, was it a play, then?” The elderly buck had an expression of almost childlike curiosity. “I wasn’t able to find it before the computer stopped working.”

Several of the contact team perked their ears, and Mari smiled. “Do you know if it’s intact? I have several people who’d like to take a look at the Tau Beta.” One or two were talking animatedly with Technology, the feline practically hopping from one foot to the other.

Calibanescu nodded. “Of course. It’s one of the Standing Orders, the final instructions given to us by the Captain. It’s been the basis of our whole society since Planetfall Day.”

“I – we – look forward to hearing all about it, Conducator.”


***


“After the ship came down,” the Conducator said, “the Captain organized parties to go into the holds. There were some sealed containers for a colony world.” Several older members of the community nodded confirmation of the buck’s statement, including the aged deer’s wife and children. “Most of the food here is from that.”

“I see,” Mari replied. “Likely genetically modified to grow quickly in many conditions.”

Calibanescu nodded. “The ship’s head chef and chief dietician found fish and algae already here, and tested it – “

“How?” Commander Adson asked. The fossa had the remains of two smoked fish in front of him.

“By eating them,” the buck said simply. “Our fishers know exactly what they can and don’t want to catch, Commander, don’t worry.”

A gentle rain was pattering down on the roof while those settlers who had wanted to join in the feast gathered under the tarps and thatch. There had been a double green flash as the suns had set, which had the CDT planetologist and Astronomy scratching diagrams in the sand. The wolfhound was listening absorbedly to the skunk’s description of the binary star system. Both mels were so wrapped up in their conversation that their dinners sat uneaten.

The dinner itself had been very good, with fruit, vegetables and fish served on flatbread trenchers. Fresh water and beer were served with the food, the beer having a slightly sour taste. “This is very good,” Mari said as she sipped at the beverage. “Was yeast among the colony stores?”

Calibanescu’s ears perked as a feline femme as old as himself cleared her throat. “No,” she said. “We didn’t have any yeast, but some bread dough was left out one night and the head chef noticed it’d gone foamy. She figured it was something native.” She shrugged bony shoulders. “It made the bread rise, and we use a claw-worth of it to brew beer when we want to.” She winked. “And we want to.” More than a few people laughed at that.

“We’ve done the best we could,” Claibanescu said.

“I think you have all done a wonderful job, Conducator,” Athenry said. The kangaroo looked around at everyone. “Given that you didn’t intend on being here, you’ve done very well. You’ve established a settlement and a society, and we’d like to stay a while to learn more.”

There was a stir at that, which quieted as the Conductor raised his paw. “We will allow you to stay and see what we’ve done here,” and that seemed to satisfy most of the settlers. “But are you not here to rescue us?”

The kangaroo femme set her beer aside. Some were looking at her expectantly.

Others, fearfully.

“Right now, we wish to get to know you better. You’ve been away from the Confederacy a long time – “

“’Confederacy?’” the old buck echoed. “Isn’t it still a Republic?”

“Like I said, Conducator, a long time. We have a lot of explaining to do to help you catch up, but you’ve created a society here. Rescue . . . well, we’ll discuss that later. Say, a few days?”

There was silence as the Conducator sat in thought. Finally he said, “It’s been eighty-seven years. A few more days won’t matter.” He smiled, and the settlers seemed to relax.

Athenry relaxed as well, and tried not to show it.

A kitten darted up and whispered something in the Conducator’s ear; the elderly buck gave the child a fond smile and nodded, and the kitten raced back to a group of his fellows. “Little Kei and his friends want to sing a song for you.”

The sociologist perked up. “A song?” He reached a paw into a pocket to activate his padd.

“Yes,” Calibanescu replied as the crowd muttered, making pleased comments and laughing as drums started to beat. “It’s one of the songs we kept after Planetfall. It’s about friendship, caring, and the necessity of sharing with our neighbors.” He took his wife’s paw and the survey team sat back to listen as the children started singing.

“I love my friends
And they love me!
We’re just as close
As we can be!
And just because
We truly care,
Whatever we get
We share!
I got it from Agnes . . . “