Gardeners of the Universe by Ronald E. Peterson

Author:Ronald E. Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SCIENCE FICTION / GENETIC ENGINEERING / ALIEN CONTACT
Publisher: PTB Books
Published: 2019-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

Back to Reality

“We can get those later, Ma,” Adam said.

Andrea put on her apron and started scraping plates at the sink. “If my daughter’s going be on national news,” she said, “I don’t want dirty dishes sitting out on the table.”

Sarah stared at her mother in amazement and continued to bring plates to the counter. Some people never change. You’d think TV cameras were in her dining room.

“And I want my surgeon son to cut the Easter cake.”

Adam waved a knife in the air with a flourish and leaned over to carve precise squares, spirals, and trapezoids in the cake, wiping frosting off the blade after each cut.

“Just leave the platters on the counter,” Andrea said, “I can clean those later. And we’ll be needing more small forks for the dessert.”

“Okay,” Sarah said. “But let me ask you something. You know I’m talking on TV about the OWLs. I’ve been researching them for months. Do you still contribute to them each year? And do you get angry when I’m always criticizing them?”

“Heck no, you’re just being a reporter, Sarah. Y’all have to find bad things to say to make a good story. And I give lots more to Catholic Charities. But even the Church says the OWLs are doing good relief work. That vandalism stuff is just to stir up you guys, the media, to get their message out. I know you think they’re mixed up with the wire-heads, but maybe they want to help those poor kids.”

“They’re not kids anymore,” Adam said. “I see 30-year-old patients every day with bad wires who are going nuts. I wouldn’t trust the OWLs. The cake’s ready, Ma. You want me to put it on the table?

“Let Sarah take it,” Andrea said. “Why don’t you move card tables and some toys to the porch for the kids, so the adults can be alone.”

Sarah placed the cake tray at the center of the long dining room table. Most of the Warner clan waited patiently there for dessert. Everyone but Isaac had come out to the farm for Easter supper, 12 altogether. Craig, recovering from a recent heart attack, slouched glumly at the head of the table, obviously angry about something. As soon as the children scattered, he said, “Does anyone know why the hell Isaac isn’t here for Easter?”

Ben’s face colors went cold, like they always did when Craig got upset. “Isaac hasn’t talked to no one. And I been tryin’ hard to find him.” With Craig still recuperating, Ben felt responsible for the farm and tried to change the subject. He smiled awkwardly. “Let me tell you ’bout this sweet dream I had. I was thinkin’ that when the gasoline runs out, everyone’s gonna wanna buy our horses. They’ll be ridin’ ’em down the freeway, 10 abreast. They’ll have to add more dotted lines for the lanes, and there’ll be some new animal traffic laws. In my dream, all of us got to be millionaires ’cause we had the world’s biggest horse factory.”

Adam smirked.

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