A Reluctant Sovereign by Mackey Chandler

Author:Mackey Chandler [Chandler, Mackey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B0D8RBS5B8
Goodreads: 216011689
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

“You figured out how the coffee maker works!” Lee said the next morning.

“I didn’t think it a terribly difficult intelligence test,” Sid said.

“Nothing is labelled and it has no warning symbols. I can think of several failure modes. I saw a Derf try to fake it without instructions and he didn’t figure out it needed a filter paper in the grounds basket.”

“Oh, extra crunchy, that pot,” Sid said amused.

“That mug,” Lee said. “This is a single cup Derf coffee maker. I found a carafe to fit.”

“I’m surprised coffee is common enough they are making their own equipment.”

“They were enthusiastic early adopters,” Lee said. “They are growing their own beans now and they aren’t half bad.”

“I made a business trip down to Earth not long before Home was snatched away to Derfhome. I’m lucky I didn’t stay a few more days and get left behind. I was staying in the European Union at an American franchise hotel and decided to use the room coffeemaker. Have you seen what they are like now?”

“No, last time I was on Earth my cousin used something like a big French press.”

“This had warning stickers for electric shock, burns, environmental hazards, and it had a theft alarm if you unplugged it. I didn’t mind those so much, but when I tried to start it brewing with the touch screen it made me read the entire safety briefing with multiple stop points to acknowledge it so you couldn’t just scroll through. I asked the clerk when I was going out how people live like that? He said most folks would just tell their phone to download the coffee maker app. Once it knows you are a user it will skip all the safety stuff because it knows you have viewed the warnings.”

“Did you try that?” Lee asked, filling her cup, heading to the balcony.

Sid gave a brittle little laugh that bordered on hysterical.

“Yes, the next morning. My last day there I got nonstop ads for coffee makers, coffee, mugs, cups, and taste tours of coffee plantations. I couldn’t remove them and they didn’t stop until we left the solar system. I started a new phone without transferring any of my old files directly to be sure I was rid of them.”

“There’s probably a trick to turn that off that ‘everybody knows’,” Lee speculated.

“Sid is not our IT guy,” Eddie joked when he emerged.

“You’ve got good hearing,” Lee said.

“It isn’t very noisy here to drown out your voices,” Eddie said with a wave encompassing the city. “It’s much quieter than an Earth city.”

“The Derf have very good hearing too,” Lee told him. “They’d never put up with police and ambulance sirens all night long or the rumble of heavy trucks. If I had a conventional aircar they wouldn’t welcome it to land regularly, even during the day. The Derf never got the fancy noise cancellation the newer aircars have.”

“They kind of pick and choose what bits of human tech they’ll use, don’t they?”

“And other things. They like the concept of a week.

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