"But you gave us both matching necklaces on our birthday," she objected. "Aren't they made of solid gold?"

"Sweety thin gold chains are very inexpensive," her companion explained. "Even girl's in the working-class have chokers like those. Heck, despite being from the upper-middle class, I had nicer trinkets by the time I was your age. Holly originally didn't want me to give you those cheap things. Luckily she changed her mind a few days later or you never would have received them."

Christiana unconsciously grasped the pendant of the chain she was wearing under her shirt. To her, the necklace her secMother had given her was extremely precious. The sentimental value of that "cheap" golden gift was incalculable to her.

"I guess she didn't want you to give us things because Mother knows you are saving up for a house," she suggested.

"Look around you, kiddo. Do you really think that I am hurting for creds'?" the woman said. Then, after drinking the rest of her tea in one gulp, she continued, "I am accumulating money to purchase a dwelling of my own. However, this apartment is large enough for a family of five. In fact, I could fit a full-sized matFam in here if I doubled up the smallest ones in the same room. Truthfully, I'd only have to do that until the oldest two get Married. "

"Then why do you want to move?" she asked.

"I don't," her secMother finally admitted with a sigh. "It's a complicated situation involving the new metal refinery that we've scheduled to open in the far west. That's where the next push for expansion is supposed to take place, and there are rich copper veins in the region. Since Washington Mines has already secured the rights to those mineral beds, it makes more sense to refine the ores on-site as opposed to shipping things back and forth. Besides, they are going to need a lot of electrical cables for the proposed towns and villages in those areas. So eventually we will build a small cable production facility there as well. While I was planning on commuting between here and the construction site, that keeps looking less and less likely."

"Why's that?" she asked with interest.

"We keep having incidents like the one that happened last night," she explained. After manipulating her com' for a few seconds, part of the window in front of them became opaque and a viewing area appeared at its center. Then, with a gesture, her secMother copied an image to the viewscreen.

"What is that?" the child asked. On the screen was a large round object partially embedded into the ground. In the background, a few scattered trees were visibly silhouetted against a Mainday sunset. The twilight of a partly cloudy Alterday was illuminating the foreground, so the spherical body was quite visible. A small group of people emerging from the back of a lorry was also discernible. Because they were carrying high-intensity hand lights, one of the beams caused a strange ray-like pattern in the photo as it struck the lens of the camera. That added an interesting visual effect to an otherwise ordinary picture.

"That results from a cargo dump about a kay-emm from the end of a runway at the Cooper's Landing spaceport. The plane was forced to drop its load during ascent when one of its four engines crapped out and couldn't be restarted."

"Oh, no! What was the shipment?" she asked in horror.

"Just the new core for the live micro-fusion reactor in Planetfall," her companion replied, her disgust clearly evident in her voice.

"What!" the girl exclaimed as she sat bolt upright. "Don't they always ship those via rail? They are far too precious to lose."

"Well," she began as she rose from her seat, both tea cups in her hands, "that was the bright idea of the Planetfall City Council. They were trying to transport the core as quickly as possible to cover up several 'clerical errors.'"

Christiana got up and followed her into the kitchen where she refilled both glasses. Then she continued her explanation as they both returned to their seats. "While the micro-fusion reactor there can supply the city with sufficient electricity with only seven of its eight cores, doing so puts significant strain on the remaining reaction chambers. So the maintenance schedule is government-controlled and carefully adhered to."

After they both sat down, she handed the girl her drink before resuming. "Somewhere along the line, somebody decided it wouldn't hurt to cut some corners, which ended up causing production delays. Then, they apparently realized that it would literally take an act of Congress to change the aforementioned activation schedule. So they tried and shave off a few days shipping time by transporting it via air. All to avoid being discovered. Morons!"

"So how long are commercial flights grounded?" the schoolgirl asked after taking a drink of her tea.

"We don't know, and that's the problem. It seems like they ground planes every few months pending safety concerns. Air travel is so expensive fuel-wise that very few people can afford to employ it. That's why it's only businesswomen who fly with any regularity. It also means that there are only a hand full of commercial carriers, and they all use the same models of plane. It's all so frustrating!" her second Mother explained.

"I guess the delays will be even longer than usual this time," Christiana responded in a dispirited tone of voice.

"Yes," the woman replied before taking another sip of her tea. "With so many governmental agencies involved, it'll take weeks of investigations at the city, prefectural, and national levels to find out how this fiasco happened. The actual safety concern caused by the engine shutdown will probably become buried under so much red tape that planes won't be flying for a month or two."

"It's hard to commute via air travel when incidents like this keep happening. It would be a lot easier to relocate to the job site and do my work here in Simmon's Town virtually. The thing is, I'd prefer not to do that," she finally revealed.

Yet again the child asked, "Why?"

"Because I don't want to move away from you," her secMother explained. "In case you haven't noticed, I am rather fond of both you and Haruhi."

The girl responded by giving the older female a big hug. "I would miss you too, mommy. I love you!"

"I love you too, kiddo. I think of you as my Daughter. The same goes for Haruhi," she replied, returning Christiana's embrace.

The two stayed like that for a little while until the slightly embarrassed girl pulled away. Then, looking for a way to change the subject, her eyes settled upon the photo on the viewscreen. "So what's the condition of the core?" Christiana asked.

"According to the article I read, they don't know yet. Since this just happened, they will have to disassemble it to assess any damage. While micro-fusion reactors can withstand drops from high altitudes, they design those units solely for use on shuttles and trains. Mini-fusion power plants were only used on planetary surfaces or on large ships incapable of entering an atmosphere. Therefore, they aren't nearly as tough. Luckily, the plane was only a couple hundred emms up when the engine failed."

"I just hope things work out for the people in Planetfall," The girl responded with a frown.

"I'm sure that it will be fine. After all, they have a backup reactor just in case something like this happens." Then, in an irritated voice she added, "Of course, that's if the Conservatives allow them to use it."

There were only four mini-fusion reactors on Cooper's World. They carried two from Earth during the First Wave, while they brought the rest in the Second. Unfortunately, they had no way of constructing additional fusion plants. In fact, they could barely build the replacement cores to keep them running. Thus, one was kept in reserve in case any of the others went down. That's why the Conservatives had blocked its use since its placement, just outside of Planetfall.

There was a good reason for this. If they ever used the extra reactor, then it would become radioactive. Because it also served as a backup for Cooper's Landing, the generator would have to be moved there if a failure occurred. If the cores became contaminated, then they would have to be replaced before transport because of safety concerns. Even if they utilized one of the remaining shuttles, there was still the possibility of a mishap during the emergency shipment. While much less dangerous than the nucleus of a fission plant, that region of the continent was heavily populated. If a core were to fall and rupture, it would irradiate thousands. That was not a chance that the Conservatives were willing to take.

"Now sweetheart, we have to get back on our original subject," her secMother gently urged. With a few gestures, she returned the window to its normal transparent state. "Why don't you want to become Johnathan's Keeper?"

"Umm, before I respond," Christiana began. "I need to clarify a few matters. Is that okay?"

The older female merely shrugged and replied, "I'll answer any questions you might have to the best of my ability."

"I have some questions about the Uprising," the girl stated. "I just found out from a friend who is currently wearing the Black that some things we do in my matFam are highly unusual. I even made her brother cry in happiness when I shook his hand and I talked to him the same way I do with John-nii."

"Well, that is a very long story. Would you like a snack or use the bathroom before I begin?" her mommy replied.

Christiana merely shook her head. "I'm fine."

"There are a group of families here in the East who have some unusual customs. Since our Houses tend to intermarry, these practices are virtually unknown outside of our households. You had no way of knowing not to talk about our ways of doing things with other people. After all, we do not instruct members of our clans to keep these family guidelines secret until their sixteenth birthday. It doesn't help that Holly takes those traditions to the EXTREME!" she said with unexpected intensity.

Startled, Christiana pulled away without meaning to. Her secMother rarely raised her voice like this.

"She should have given you a few hints about the way things work. Of course, she also seems to ignore the two of you while being incredibly protective from the shadows. I don't think I will ever understand why your Mother treats both of you in that manner." After saying that, she paused for another sip of iced tea.

"Getting back on the subject, all the Houses give their menfolk more freedom in private, but not in public. The more liberal groups even permit their males to eat at the table with their Sisters during breakfast and lunch. They also let them make some basic choices."

"For instance, these families introduce the young men to prospective Brides and allow them to get to know each other. Then, after a month-long 'honeymoon' where they spend time with each other every day, they are asked if they would prefer to marry the girl. If he says no, then the contract with that woman is canceled. Most clans limit the male's ability to refuse two out of the first five ladies we introduce them to since you need three women to begin a Marriage. Ultimately, this process is much less stressful on the man than introducing him to his new Brides at the altar like they do in the East. It also gives him some say in the matter."

"That's still not a lot of freedom," the girl interjected.

"No, it isn't if you compare it to the rights of females. However, when compared to having zero input in their own lives, it is pretty revolutionary. To put it bluntly, having some independence is better than having none."