The Lunar Deception (The Moon Colony Series Book 1) by T E Olivant

Author:T E Olivant [Olivant, T E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-03T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Mama’s cafe was in that quiet lull between lunch and dinner. There were only a few customers, drinking beers and eating bowls of stew while the waitresses chatted to them. Alya looked at them with more than a little envy. If she wasn’t hiding so many secrets, for herself and for others, would she be able to relax and make friends like them?

Maudlin thinking – unhelpful as usual. Alya took a deep breath and walked inside to ask for Mama.

“Sure, you just go right on through.”

Again, Alya wondered about the women that worked there. Were they related to Mama in some way? Were they involved in the conspiracy (or whatever the hell it was)? Or were they just students making a little extra cash on the side?

Mama was stirring one of her giant pots, but when Alya came in she ushered her through the back to the living quarters.

“I’ll just get the girls to mind the café,” she said, briefly disappearing again.

Alya sat down on one of the couches. She wondered if the colorful textiles on every surface had come from the Caribbean. When Mama came back she asked her.

“Ah, no, afraid not. After the islands were lost to the sea, our fabrics became very expensive. Scarcity drives price, or something like that. There are strange people back on earth who enjoy collecting these relics of lost worlds. I can’t think why.” Mama’s face was full of a bitterness that Alya hadn’t seen before, even when she was talking about the Continuum. The old woman caught her looking and the frown lifted.

“So these are copies that I bought to cheer myself up. Made in China, probably. The island of my ancestors, Saba, where my mother lived until her house fell into the sea, it was a place of wonderful textiles. You have heard of Saba lace?”

“Sorry, I haven’t.”

“Ah well, what does it matter, now that it is all gone? That’s why I think your young man, Paul, was sent to me. We are both people without land, islanders whose homes were reclaimed by the water.”

“Right.” Alya was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Mama seemed to be in a rather mystical mood, and she wasn’t too sure where the conversation was going. Plus she wasn’t at all sure about Paul being her young man. The phrase didn’t exactly suit whatever the hell their sort of relationship was. They had barely had one date.

“Your people come from a high place, is that right?”

“My grandmother was born on the base of the Carpathians. So yeah, I guess so. Still too far north to be one of the major players.”

Mama shrugged. “The equator countries are in the ascendancy now, but they might not be forever. The earth is changing faster than anyone ever expected. Who knows what it will look like tomorrow?”

This speech seemed a little rehearsed. Alya looked over and sure enough, Mama was scrolling through messages on her datapad.

“Sorry. Always too much to do, too little time.”

“I wondered if you might explain a little more to me about that.

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