“It is,” Donall agreed, sympathy on his face.
“You’re talking as if you can’t go back to Reunion,” Girard said, his voice quiet, as if he didn’t want his words to travel around the room, but still wanted the answers.
With a start, Hallie realised he was right. She’d been caught up in putting the puzzle pieces together about Reunion and hadn’t noticed the grief in Donall’s voice.
“Nicholas said it’s not needed. Said that all resources are needed here,” Donall answered, eyes on the cup he was still holding.
“But he’s not in charge,” Hallie said slowly, “so why does he think he can get away with it?” Even as she spoke, she thought she knew the answer. The gunners. Nicholas was in charge of the people with the guns.
“Because no one challenges him,” Rhodda said, and sent a glare in Donall’s direction that surprised Hallie. It seemed the other woman thought Donall had some blame.
“I didn’t come here to fight,” Donall said, a sad smile lifting his mouth. “I came to make a life for myself, for my family.” He hesitated, what looked like grief crossing his face. “Our home city was crowded and filthy. My wife and daughter got sicker by the year. We needed a fresh start. All of us did,” he added, gesturing around the room. “We don’t care about titles or fancy houses or any of that kind of thing. We just wanted space. Clean air. A quiet life where we could make our own decisions.”
Fascinated, Hallie had a dozen questions crowding her mind.
“We came from all over,” Rhodda said, sounding almost as weary as Donall. “Almost all of us were strangers when we came here. We wanted the promise. Paradise.” There was so muchbitterness laced into that last word that Hallie could almost see it in the air.
“It’s there,” Donall said, another sad smile pulling his mouth. “I still believe it’s there. We just haven’t found our way to it yet.”
“There’s so much potential,” Rhodda agreed, even though Hallie could tell she wasn’t sure she entirely believed it. There were unshed tears in the other woman’s eyes. “But only if someone other than Nicholas is in charge.”
“What did you hope to gain with a Conclave seat?” Hallie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
Rhodda sighed and looked at Donall, who echoed her sigh.
“Peace,” Donall answered. The simple word weighed on Hallie’s shoulders, carrying far too much meaning and burden for one syllable. He looked at Girard. “We know that thehochlendon’t think we’ve got a right to be here. They’ve left us alone so far, but we know even twenty years isn’t all that long for one of your kind.” The words were spoken with no heat or bitterness, just simple acceptance. “We know that the Conclave could just decide to reclaim the land. But if we get a Conclave seat, we get the land rights. We get to stay here, to govern ourselves.”
Hallie remembered the background information provided by the Conclave Investigators that she’d read just before leaving Daydawn to come here. She’d wondered then if the humans had realised just how precarious their hold over the island was and now had her answer. They were keenly aware that the Conclave andhochlenmay just decide to take the island back. But the settlers thought they had a way of ensuring their future, using ahochlenmechanism. It was a bold move. Hallie could also imagine how uneasy the islanders had been. Making the approach to the Conclave drew attention to the existence of the island and its human population.
“Is that right?” Hallie asked Girard, fascinated.
“Essentially, yes,” Girard answered. He tilted his head to Donall. “It wouldn’t be quite as simple as having a Conclave seat would entitle anyone to hold a particular spot of land, but in setting up a seat on the Conclave for Paradise, it recognises an independent territory.”
“I can see why you would want that,” Hallie said, turning back to Rhodda and Donall. “It’s why you all came here, after all, isn’t it? To make your own rules.” She frowned slightly. “But Nicholas wasn’t talking to the Conclave directly.” Hallie saw the look Rhodda and Donall exchanged. Something they had noticed and discussed before, she thought.
“No,” Donall said, voice clipped. “Said he didn’t want any dealings withhochlen. Begging your pardon,” he added, a trace of worry in his face and voice as he looked at Girard.
“He made his feelings clear,” Girard said, a touch of wry humour in his voice and face. Donall’s mouth twitched in response.
“He does like to make his feelings clear, yes,” Donall agreed.
“But you needed to contact the Conclave. Was that why the radio was set up?” Hallie asked.
“That had been planned before. Lots of people here have families, friends, in other places. Radio was a cheap way of staying in touch. Something we could afford. Unlike a phone tower or net connection,” Rhodda said, a shadow crossing her face. With her expertise, she would have a good idea of what was involved in that process, Hallie thought. “Although the radio was supposed to be in New Hope, where most of the people are.”
“But, right now, Rhodda is the only one on the island who can set up and repair the radio, so it came to Reunion with us,” Donall put in with a faint smile. Under the exhaustion they were friends, Hallie realised.
“And I’m assuming Nicholas wouldn’t have wanted to travel to Reunion to use the radio?” Hallie asked. It was making a bitmore sense now, although it still seemed strange to her that a man as controlling as Nicholas Rigg would have allowed a powerful tool like the radio to be mounted outside his influence.
“Him? No. He doesn’t like anything that involves an effort. He sent work crews out to make the road,” Rhodda said, a sharp edge to her voice. “Didn’t want to fight through the forest like the rest of us. Wanted a nice, smooth road he could drive on. He’s got a personal ATV with cushions on the seats,” Rhodda added, the sourness in her voice making Hallie smile. “Once the road was done, this past summer, he came to Reunion. Just once, after we’d got the radio all set up. He was sniffing around, trying to work out how it was all put together. I think he wanted to see if it could be moved back to New Hope.”
And that last made more sense to Hallie. Nicholas hadn’t kept Rhodda in New Hope when she’d wanted to leave, with the others. Perhaps he saw them as trouble makers that he was glad to be rid of. But he’d wanted to see if he could get the radio back under his control.
“You never told me that,” Donall said.
“There was enough going on,” Rhodda answered, and for a moment she looked as weary as Donall.
“With Nicholas in New Hope, and the radio in Reunion, the liaison for the Conclave was Waller Howther,” Hallie said, trying to match the calm tone that Girard often used when interviewing witnesses. “Is Waller Howther here?”
