“I was incredibly busy today,” I said.
“Savitri briefed me on just how busy you were when I called back,” Jane said.
“Oops,” I said.
“Oops,” Jane agreed. We started walking in the direction of our home. “What I was going to tell you is that you could expect Gopal Boparai to come by tomorrow to find out what his community service would be. He was drunk and disorderly again. He was yelling at a cow.”
“Bad karma,” I said.
“The cow thought so, too,” Jane said. “It butted him in the chest and sent him through a shop window.”
“Is Go okay?” I asked.
“Scratches,” Jane said. “The pane popped out. Plastic. Didn’t break.”
“This is the third time this year,” I said. “He should be up in front of the actual magistrate, not me.”
“That’s what I told him, too,” Jane said. “But he’d be up for a mandatory forty days in the district gaol and Shashi is due in a couple of weeks. She needs him around more than he needs gaol.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll figure out something for him.”
“How was your day?” Jane asked. “Besides the nap, I mean.”
“I had a Chengelpet day,” I said. “This time with a goat.”
Jane and I chatted about our day on our walk home, like we do every day on our walk home, to the small farm we keep just outside the village proper. As we turned onto our road we ran into our daughter Zo?, walking Babar the mutt, who was typically deliriously happy to see us.
“He knew you were coming,” Zo? said, slightly out of breath. “Took off halfway down the road. Had to run to keep up.”
“Nice to know we were missed,” I said. Jane petted Babar, who wagged up a storm. I gave Zo? a peck on the cheek.
“You two have a visitor,” Zo? said. “He showed up at the house about an hour ago. In a floater.”
No one in town had a floater; they were ostentatious and impractical for a farming community. I glanced over to Jane, who shrugged, as if to say, I’m not expecting anyone. “Who did he say he was?” I asked.
“He didn’t,” Zo? said. “All he said was that he was an old friend of yours, John. I told him I could call you and he said he was happy to wait.”
“Well, what does he look like, at least?” I asked.
“Young,” Zo? said. “Kinda cute.”
“I don’t think I know any cute guys,” I said. “That’s more your department, teenage daughter.”
Zo? crossed her eyes and gave a mock sneer. “Thanks, ninety-year-old dad. If you had let me finish speaking, you would have heard the clue that tells me you might actually know him. Which is that he’s also green.”
This got another shared glance between me and Jane. CDF members had green skin, a result of modified chlorophyll that gave them extra energy for combat. Both Jane and I had had green skin once; I was back to my original hue and Jane was allowed to choose a more standard skin tone when she changed bodies.
“He didn’t say what he wanted?” Jane asked Zo?.
“Nope,” Zo? said. “And I didn’t ask. I just figured I’d come find you and give you advance warning. I left him on the front porch.”
“Probably sneaking around the house by now,” I said.
“Doubtful,” Zo? said. “I left Hickory and Dickory to watch him.”
I grinned. “That should keep him in one place,” I said.
“My thought exactly,” Zo? said.
“You are wise beyond your years, teenage daughter,” I said.
“Makes up for you, ninety-year-old dad,” she said. She jogged back to the house, Babar padding behind.
“Such attitude,” I said to Jane. “She gets it from your side.”
“She’s adopted,” Jane said. “And I’m not the smart-ass in the family.”
“These are details,” I said, and took her hand. “Come on. I want to see just how scared shitless our guest is.”
We found our guest on the porch swing, watched intently and silently by our two Obin. I recognized him immediately.
“General Rybicki,” I said. “This is a surprise.”
“Hello, Major,” Rybicki said, referring to my former rank. He pointed to the Obin. “You’ve made some interesting friends since the last time I saw you.”
“Hickory and Dickory,” I said. “They’re my daughter’s companions. Perfectly nice, unless they think you’re a threat to her.”
“And then what happens?” Rybicki asked.
“It varies,” I said. “But it’s usually quick.”
“Wonderful,” Rybicki said. I excused the Obin; they went off to find Zo?.
“Thank you,” Rybicki said. “Obin make me nervous.”
“That’s the point,” Jane said.
“I realize that,” Rybicki said. “If you don’t mind me asking, why does your daughter have Obin bodyguards?”