“Wait, really? She’s still at Rosita’s ranch? How did I get home last night?”
What was the last thing I remembered? Sam and the twins had run back to the Serrano ranch for more booze. My sister and Ariceli had been out in Rosita’s greenhouse along with several others blasting music. I’d been with Rosita in the main house, and I’d complained that everyone wouldn’t stop talking about Earth politics. She’d snapped at me, and, and…
“Melissa and Trixie 2 brought you home,” Roger said. “You were retrieved at Lulu’s request. You were unconscious.”
“Wait,whobrought me home? Were they drones?”
“Melissa and Trixie 2 are scouts. This is why you were dragged and not carried.”
“Trixie 2,” I muttered. I rolled my shoulders. They haddraggedmehome? Christ, how drunk had I been? My arms were a little sore, weren’t they? The thought of being strung between two of the wobbly dog-sized robots was terrifying. They weren’t meant to carry something as heavy as me, especially not the smaller-sized scout robots. They wouldn’t have been able to fly, not with my weight. I was lucky I hadn’t been brained against a rock. “How far out is the unit? What’s her name again? Melissa?”
“Melissa is recharging in the barn. Priscilla is the missing one.”
I sighed. This naming thing was never going to work. I reached for my com bracelet to send a text message to Lulu, and I grabbed my bare wrist. My bracelet wasn’t there. I started to curse out loud, but I caught myself.
“Okay. Where’s the unit? And where’s my bracelet?”
“Priscilla lost contact with the control center two hours and ten minutes ago. She is seven kilometers southwest of here. Your bracelet is being repaired. You vomited directly on it last evening, which is a direct violation of—”
“Yes, I know. Rule number two. Always keep your bracelet in good working order. Southwest. So, she’s in the hills?”
“That is correct.” Roger rotated in midair to reveal the small, dingy screen on the bottom of his abdomen. The cracked display barely worked, and I had to squint to see what he was showing me. It was a relief map of the low, hilly swamps with a blinking dot.
I groaned. This was going to take hours. “If it’s in the hills, I won’t be able to bring the quad.”
“That is also correct. The quad is with your sister anyway. I have already packed your repair kit. If you aren’t going to change your clothes, I will wait for you to vomit, and then we will leave.”
“Let’s go now,” I said, pulling myself to my feet. The world wobbled, and my stomach lurched. What was it Rosita had said last night?You’re a worthless, shiftless dirt jockey who will die alone? “I’ll vomit on the way.”
The Rhythm Mafia Tapes. Scene one.
Description prepared by Lana Lipovsky for the Joint Republic Hearing Committee on the New Sonora Incident.
This is a written description of the scenes as shown via multiple streams during the final night of theOperation Bounce Housedisaster. The recordings are part of an unfinished documentary broadcast by one Rosita Zapatero, twenty-six, a colonist farmer on the planet New Sonora. Records indicate Zapatero is a descendant of colonists fromHibiscoandForlorn, two of the fifteen generation ships that originally settled New Sonora. Most of the colonists in the subsequent videos are descendants of one of those two ships, unless otherwise noted.(See exhibit 5 at the end of the full report titled “The 15 Colony Ships.”) The documentary video itself is available as exhibit 13 under the header “Night Five of Five.”
We are in a barn. A thin, dark-haired man is playing an upright bass. Behind the man are several instruments, including a drum set, a few amplifiers, and a PA system. A banner on the wall behind the drum set reads,The Rhythm Mafia.
There is no date on this particular clip, but evidence suggests this was filmed approximately six months before the incident.
The man is Sam Amboya, twenty-five, a colonist farmer. He shakes his head to the rhythm while he plays the large instrument, which is unfinished and appears to be made of plywood. Watching from a chair with her arms crossed is a red-haired woman. She is HarrietRiggs, a twenty-four-year-old colonist. Records indicate her as a direct descendant of the shipQuinceañera.
Rosita (off camera):Okay. Introduce yourselves.
Sam:My name is Sam, and this is my soon-to-be-wife, Harriet. I slipped one past the goalie, if you know what I’m saying.
Harriet:Sam. Don’t say it like that.
Sam:How else would I say it?
Harriet:I don’t know. We’re going to have a baby. They’re going to see this one day. They don’t need to hear their father say he “slipped one past the goalie.” I took a pill to dissolve the pregnancy blocker. There is no goalie.
Sam leans his bass up against the wall. He moves his face to the camera and grins.
Sam:Hey, kid. If you’re seeing this, I want you to know something. I banged your mom.
Harriet shouts as she jumps up from her chair, picks up a drumstick, and hurls it at a laughing Sam. The camera cuts before the drumstick makes contact.
(A time cut.)
