Astra (35 page)

She was nearing the table now. The three IMBOD officers occupied the centre, flanked by Nimma and Ahn. The officer beside Ahn was a thin, pale, blonde woman, and the one beside Nimma was a broad-shouldered, coffee-coloured man. The man in the centre was taller than his colleagues, olive-skinned with a hairy chest. He had a high forehead and was wearing rectangular rimless glasses. He looked familiar. As Astra reached the front of the aisle she realised why.

* * *

Sometimes Astra and the other Or-kids played a game in the kitchen with the walk-in freezer, opening it to let a blast of ice vapour sear their skin. Right now, Dr Samrod Blesserson could have been that open freezer door. For a second, every muscle in her body stiffened and her flesh felt as though it was shrivelling on her bones. Miraculously, the moment passed; she realised her legs were somehow still pacing forward to the rhythm of the chant, but inside her thoughts were chattering like her teeth had done the day Torrent had dared her to stand inside the freezer for as long as she could. Dr Blesserson had said he didn’t want to have anything to do with Or any more. Why was he here? Where was Hokma?

She and Yoki reached the head of the aisle; in front of her, Meem turned left. Above Dr Blesserson the Kezcam was recording the procession. She drew herself up, focused on a point a short distance ahead and chanted as loudly as possible. She wasn’t sure, but possibly Dr Blesserson’s gaze clicked on her. Then she was following Meem into the grassy space in front of the table. From the corner of her eye she could see Hokma in the second row of chairs. Beside her was Lil.

Hokma nodded at her. Then she was out of sight, unless Astra turned her head, and she wasn’t allowed to do that. She joined Meem, standing with her back to the adults and Lil and facing the table: fortunately not directly in front of Dr Blesserson. It was agonising, not being able to turn and see Hokma – but she had smiled. Did that mean everything was okay? And why was Lil here? Was she coming to the banquet too? No one ever told her frigging
anything
.

The female officer was practically ogling her and Meem, head tilted as if to say ‘what adorable children’. Beside her, Ahn was unobtrusively swiping his Tablette, his hair a springy puffball in the yellowish glow of the marquee. Above him, Silver was preening, using his beak to rehook the barbules on a flight feather, realigning it into a perfectly smooth surface. If she clicked her tongue he would look at her, but she was on no
account allowed to do that, and nor did she want to attract Dr Blesserson’s attention. Torrent and Stream processed in front of the table, the last strains of the hymn died away and as applause filled the tent, the Or-kids, as one, bowed to the table. Then, still as one, they turned and acknowledged the Or-adults. Completing the circle, they faced front again and sat down on the grass.

At the table, Nimma leaned into her microphone. ‘Thank you, Or-kids,’ she proclaimed, ‘for that stirring welcome to our distinguished guests. I’m honoured to introduce our IMBOD panel, who have worked so hard with us over the last six months, combing through our records and inspecting every last inch of Or. We’re so looking forward to their response, and learning from experts how to improve all of the work we do here. I am especially pleased to welcome IMBOD Chief Inspector Dr Samrod Blesserson. We are all grateful for Dr Blesserson’s profound work on psychological recovery from IMBOD Service. Not everyone may yet know of his current return to the GeneIsis project, developing new National Service training methods for the Sec Gens, for which he has – very reluctantly, he tells me – taken up the honour and responsibility of a full IMBOD officership. Community inspection isn’t his normal field of duties, but as many of you know, our original lead officer had to step down due to illness, so we are deeply grateful to Dr Blesserson for taking time out of his invaluable research to step in at the last moment to deliver our Report.’

Dr Blesserson –
Chief Inspector
Blesserson – leaned forward into his microphone. ‘Thank you, Nimma, for the gracious welcome,’ he said. Astra could see his IMBOD boots and bare calves under the table: he wasn’t wearing long trousers today. ‘First, please let me assure you all that this Inspection has given me invaluable insights into Sec Gen behavioural patterns that will contribute greatly to my own ongoing research. But we all know that the health of our own careers depends on the health of our nation, and it was my honour to be asked to help monitor and nurture the overall performance of one of the bioregion’s top-performing communities. Let me introduce my esteemed colleagues, who after all have done all the work on this report!’

People laughed and the other officers smiled, acknowledging the compliment. Behind them, Helium, as if alarmed, raised his wings. Dr Blesserson introduced his fellow officers, reeling off lists of their accomplishments, and the marquee fell quiet again.

Beside Astra, Meem’s breath had slowed. She was probably meditating, as Modem, with a wink, had suggested they do during the reading of the report. The best thing to do, Astra decided, was to concentrate on her own breath and keep watching Silver. If she never caught Dr Blesserson’s eye the whole ceremony could pass without any trouble. He might not even recognise her, after all. She must look very different now she was nearly thirteen.

The other two officers were Inspectors, a rank below Dr Blesserson, but clearly experienced community investigators. The woman gave her report on Code House, talking about each team and praising their biggest commercial successes, including the gro-light sensitive fruit trees for north-facing balconies. These, she said, had made a significant contribution to Or’s financial stability. She named the top members of the urbag team, including Sorrel, who all stood up to be applauded. She also named Klor, for his work on the Visitor team. Or, she said, was fast becoming a must-see spot on a national tour, extending the average length of Is-Land visits by 1.63 days and bringing valuable tourist revenues to the bioregion. Klor stood up to receive his accolades and Meem and Astra both turned and craned to see him. On the other side of the aisle, he rose above the sea of bodies, his face creased up in a big Klor smile. He nodded at the officer, then waved his hand dismissively at his Or colleagues as if batting away a fly. You could almost hear him thinking,
Pah! I did nothing! They came to see the apple trees, not me!
People laughed, and Meem and Astra hugged each other, only stifling their giggles when Nimma shot them a warning look from the table.

Silver finished preening and hunched on the rail. The Owleons were so striking, overlooking the tent, totems of Or’s exceptional role in the bioregion and beyond. Astra was expecting Hokma to be named next, for her work with the Edition Four birds, but the female officer concluded with some words of general appreciation for Wise House, which continued to contribute greatly to the vital work of national defence, not to mention – and here she turned and gestured up at the birds – ceremonial marquee decoration.

As if on cue, Helium let loose a dropping, a white streak that hurtled to the grass behind Dr Blesserson. The tent exploded with laughter, startling the birds, who flapped up from the rail, straining at their leads. Silver squawked and moulted, losing a feather, which floated down to the ground behind the female officer, who was explaining the joke to her
colleagues. Dr Blesserson grinned and placed his hand on his head, as if for protection.

Astra frowned. The Owleons weren’t
decorations
. They were here representing Gaia’s creatures. It wasn’t funny if they had to shit, and it wasn’t right to scare them. But the adults clapped loudly, the female officer bowed her head and then the tall male Inspector, who was also a top woodsman, was giving his report on Craft House. He praised Or’s national reputation for excellence in fabric work, and named Nimma and her team, who stood and bobbed quickly, clapping each other. The officer concluded by commenting that, considering its forest location and fine stands of lacebark, Craft House could offer more in the way of woodwork, but he noted that Or had recently made an application to IMBOD to fund two new woodcarvers and a studio extension, and he assured Craft House that he would personally recommend that this funding was approved. This announcement was met with the biggest round of applause yet.

Now it was Dr Blesserson’s turn. Astra knew she ought to look at him now, in case later, on the Kezcam video, her head was out of line with the other children’s. She tried to focus, not on his face but on the marquee flap behind him. Dr Blesserson tapped his Tablette screen, glanced up over his glasses and began.

‘To me falls the honour of delivering the report’s overall conclusions, and the final recommendations of the panel. The full text will be available on your Tablettes tomorrow, and we are all understandably looking forward to one of Or’s mouth-watering banquets, so you will be delighted to hear that I am going to keep this brief.’ Again, people chuckled. Even though he was head and shoulders taller than most people, and a genius, Dr Blesserson, Astra realised, had a way of making himself seem unimportant.

‘I am delighted to report that Or has excelled in nearly all of its long-term objectives, and indeed has surpassed several not even dreamt of at the time of the last Inspection. The committee has no hesitation in awarding another Outstanding result.’

A tumult of applause shook the marquee. Nimma was beaming like a sunflower, and Ahn looked up from his Tablette to cast one of his pale, crooked smiles over the audience. Meem threw herself at Astra and nearly knocked her over with a hug. Behind them adults were whispering,
Well done!
and,
Oh, what a relief
.

Dr Blesserson raised his hands and waited for silence. ‘I must add, however,’ he went on, ‘that the committee is concerned that Or’s high performance to date may be in part due to the heavy workloads undertaken by some of the founding members. While dedication and commitment are of course to be commended, we note that over time such work rates may paradoxically result in a drop-off of efficiency. We note, for example, that attendance at Or Parents’ Committee meetings has recently been, shall we say, less than consistent. We therefore recommend that the post of School Spoke be offered to a new member of the community, allowing Dr Hokma Blesser to concentrate on the Code work for which she is justly renowned.’

A man behind Astra made a little ‘hmp’ sound in his throat. Otherwise you could have heard a sparrow’s heartbeat in the tent. Nimma was still smiling, but she wasn’t looking in Hokma’s direction; Ahn was back at his Kezcamming. Astra’s face flooded with rage. She wanted to run up to the table and bang her fists on the cloth and shout at Dr Blesserson:
Hokma works all day, and she looks after me and Lil at night. She knows all about Or-kid education and who cares if she doesn’t have time to go to frigging meetings to talk about washing frigging nappies
.

She wanted Helium and Silver to shit all over the head table, but the meeting was rolling smoothly on, like a granite boulder crushing wild-flowers in its path. ‘Thank you, Dr Blesserson,’ Nimma said. ‘We of course take the committee’s recommendation in the generous spirit in which it is offered, and will act on it immediately.’

‘I have no doubt that you will.’ Dr Blesserson addressed the audience, looking out into the middle distance, although he must have been perfectly aware that his sister was sitting in the second row. ‘Just as I have no doubt that Dr Hokma Blesser’s achievements will figure prominently again in the next Inspection Report. But let me finish on an uplifting note. I once again offer my congratulations to you all for maintaining your stellar position in the IMBOD Community Rankings. I have also been asked to make a special announcement on behalf of the Or Steering Committee. It therefore gives me huge pleasure to officially announce that just this morning in Sippur the Steppes Wheel Meet awarded the contract for the design of its new Bioregional Arts and Crafts Gallery to your Founding Member Ahn Orson, who has beaten out top candidates from all over the country. This prize is another gilded laurel leaf in Or’s crown, and I can think of
no better way to end this meeting than with a standing ovation to Ahn, and to you all.’

Dr Blesserson and the two Inspectors stood up and clapped vigorously, raising their hands above their heads. They were sky-clad except for their armbands, hydrobelts and boots. Wearing shorts or a dhoti in Or, Astra realised, as she and everyone in the tent got to their feet, would have been a big mistake. Dr Blesserson had come to Or to attack his own sister, to tell the Or Steering and Parents’ Committees what to do. He needed to pretend he was one of the team, not a city Gaian who thought he was smarter and more sophisticated than mountain Is-Landers. But that, Astra now knew, was
exactly
what he was.

Astra trailed out of the marquee side exit with the other Or-kids. Meem and Yoki were mimicking Klor’s funny hand wave, and Peat was enthusing about the possible new woodcarving studio. Astra detached herself and searched on the lawn for Hokma. There she was: standing at the side exit talking to her brother.
How could she do that?
He had just humiliated her in front of the whole of Or. All over the lawn adults were sneaking glances at her Shelter mother. ‘Our first recommendation,’ an urbagger near Astra murmured. ‘Well, I suppose it had to happen sometime.’

‘She
has
looked tired lately,’ one of Klor’s team replied, sympathetically.

‘She’s up at Wise House the whole time with that feral child,’ another man commented. ‘Seems like a sensible decision to me.’

Lil was clinging to Hokma’s hand, her legs crossed as if she were a seven-year-old who needed a wee. As Astra watched, Hokma pushed her forward and introduced her to Dr Blesserson. He did exactly what he’d done to Astra at his house: glance briefly at her as if she were an inconvenience. Lil leaned against Hokma and averted her head. Her eyes met Astra’s and she stuck out her tongue.