For Darkness Shows the Stars

peculiar fashion, as were all the Posts. Fabrics like Elliot had never seen, soft and almost fuzzy, shimmered in the light from the window in dark, rich colors that stood out in the room like Ro’s flowers hidden in a bed of fading autumn leaves. Andromeda and her brother were dressed like the admiral, in trousers, tall boots, and long, full jackets in purple and teal. Though Felicia Innovation looked slightly more traditional in a deep green dress, it featured none of the lace or embroidery on Tatiana’s pink creation. Its only decoration was a pair of golden shoulder epaulets accented with braided tassels. The coats of the other Posts were similarly ornamented.
    Elliot tugged the edge of her dirt-brown sweater down over the waist of her slate-gray trousers. Perhaps she should have taken the housekeeper’s advice and changed, even if it was only into a dress. Luddites tended to wear only the faded, drab colors that could be derived from natural dyes. It had been their tradition long before the Reduction, and of course it had been necessary in the days of scarcity. Elliot supposed these new colors were common in the free Post enclaves.
    Tatiana turned to Felicia. “Are you much involved in the operations of your common-law’s business?” she asked mildly.
    Felicia paused with her teacup halfway to her lips. “Nicodemus is my husband, Miss North. We are free Posts and do not subscribe to the restrictions the Luddites place on their servants.” But she said this all without a hint of malice or defensiveness, and it took a moment for Tatiana to collect herself enough to look offended.
    And Felicia did not allow the feeling to take root. “I am not involved in the operation of the Cloud Fleet, no,” she said. “I am not much of an explorer of the beyond, I’m afraid. Not when there are still so many mysteries to solve here at home.”
    “Mysteries?” Tatiana asked with a raise of her eyebrows. Elliot marveled at the woman’s behavior. Were all free Posts so open with heretical talk like this? Luddites held that nature’s mysteries were meant to remain unsolved. Attempts to improve upon nature had led to the Reduction.
    “Mrs. Innovation is a physician,” Andromeda broke in. “She trained as a healer on the estate where she grew up and has been studying in the field for decades.”
    “My wife is brilliant,” said the admiral. “She’s saved dozens of lives.”
    “Really,” said Tatiana. “Perhaps during your stay you can visit our COR healers and teach them a thing or two. We’ve been at very loose ends since our doctor passed away.” Which he’d done before Elliot’s birth, Elliot thought wryly.
    “And maybe you would be so kind as to look in on my grandfather,” Elliot said.
    “The Boatwright?” asked the admiral, sitting up in his chair. “I was wondering, given the . . .”
    Given the fact that Baron North controlled the shipyard.
    “What is the nature of his infirmity?” Felicia asked quickly.
    “A series of strokes, starting from when I was a very young girl,” Elliot replied. “No one has been able to do much for him.”
    Felicia nodded gravely, and an uneasy silence hovered in the room. Once, much had been done for stroke victims, but the Reduction had changed all that. The mind of man was not meant to be rebuilt, even if broken.
    “Oh, that would be lovely if you could find a way to help the old man,” said Tatiana. “Provided you remain within the protocols, of course.”
    “Of course,” said Felicia, exchanging a small glance with Andromeda, who merely sipped her tea.
    Brazen, these Posts, with their flippant little glances. Elliot had never seen anything like it, even in the North Posts’ most unguarded moments. The protocols had defined the Luddite way of life since the Reduction. It was simple: genetic enhancements had destroyed humanity. Advanced technology in the ensuing wars had nearly destroyed the world. The Luddites restricted both, and rebuilt. Elliot had long wondered if the Luddites’ strict rules had managed to atone for humanity’s sins all these years later. Was the rise of the Posts the result of their adherence to the protocols?
    And if so, what had she done by experimenting with the wheat?
    Tatiana’s words had been a test, and Felicia’s response neither as emphatic nor as automatic as Tatiana was used to seeing. It must come of the fact that these people owed nothing to the Luddite lords and therefore had nothing to fear from them, either.