The Ecstasy of Tral-Gothica by Victor Hadnot and Amanda Travis (speed reading book .TXT) 📕

got through taking a bath.”
“Oh, nice, I wish I was there. It would have been fun.”
“Yeah. But, it wasn’t too bad without you.”
“Oh, that hurts, Stella.” Simon returned. He was a rugged man, around her age. Dark hair, black and slightly long. Stella thought that it might be time for a haircut, but what the fuck, he looked so cute with it that way, it really didn’t bother her.
“So, what are you doing?” Stella followed up.
“I’m in town, there was a small fair, took some of the good stuff, sold it to some buyers from off world.”
When he said that, she thought about the spacecraft she had seen earlier in the day. “Oh, well that is good. Hope you didn’t let them cheat you down. You know, this season’s crop is pretty good. I’m smoking it right now.” She took a puff.
“Cool. I’m glad you liked it. Blow me a puff.” And with that Stella took a puff and then blew it at the tiny holographic image that was above the call-all. The POV changed and now it was a closeup of his face as he shared a puff with her. “Thanks. Are you going to go to the town concert this weekend?”
“If you are going.” She responded.
“Yeah. I just have to finish selling my crop and then I’ll buy us tickets.”
“Babe, you might want to buy an extra pair.”
Simon ruffled his brow. “Really? Why?”
“I think my mom and dad would like to see the headlines.”
“Oh. Ok, when I pick up ours I’ll get an extra pair.”
“Great, and I’ll pay you when I see you.”
“What? That’s crazy, Stella. I’ll just get them. I’m pretty sure I’m going to make a good profit off my crop.”
“Are you sure?” Her big green eyes expressed.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Look, I gotta go.”
“Ok, Babe, you be careful for me, okay?” And with that, she held up the call-all and they kissed, then the device went silent and dark. She put it away and just rested back, listening to the music on the radio. The DJ was talking about a student protest that was suppose to be getting ready to happen. They were looking for anyone who felt that the system was failing them to join. Stella listened to various people talking about the way that humans were treating the indigenous population that was on the planet before it was colonized. The protest was suppose to be held in several towns, linked and meant to send a signal to the government, that oppressing the natives of Tral-Gothica was morally wrong. She really didn’t know where she came down on the subject. At some point she decided that those people were just trouble makers, some of the more well to do, children of the colony, that had way too much time on their hands. They bitched about the cost of an education, that it should actually be free. Education, she thought, people like her and Simon, had to be home schooled, as did most of the kids who lived in the rural areas. The young people who lived in the urban areas, their lifestyles were very different. They had lots of things that they took for granted. So, Stella was having a hard time relating to some spoiled rich young people, calling for change, when they had it made. They were the privileged ones. What were they bitching about?
Still, as she listened and in between neo-hippy talk and the great music being played, she began to wonder if some of the people, who were protesting against the oppression of the indigenous beings, didn’t in some way have a point. It was that she had been brought up a certain way. Colonization had to succeed at all cost, the very survival of the human race depended on mankind’s ability to re-allocate the natives, for their own safety. After all, the many different kinds of machines that people used to mine the planet and extract natural resources, resources, which by the way was the main reason that the colony was created in the first place, the machines of mankind could do serious damage to the simple mined natives of Tral-Gothica.
As she finally wandered on off to sleep, she wondered what it might have been like, if humans had just tried to work with the inhabitants of the planet. The next day was anything but routine. As she was doing her routine, a group of military vehicles came close by several of the farms, as they headed on into town. Stella had never seen military combat robots up close. Fact of the matter was that most people had never had anything to do with the military operations of colonization.
“Why are they headed into town?” asked Stella’s mother, as they all stood and watched the spectacle.
Her father uttered. “I don’t like it.”
“Why?” asked Stella.
“You are too young to remember, but way back in the day...” oh, here we go again, dad is going to be going down memory lane, “...and a little less than half the young men and women were drafted into the service.”
Stella’s mother said, “Honey, maybe they are just coming to town for some kind of a parade or something. You know, every once in a while, the government likes to remind us of how it is still on top of everything.”
Her dad shrugged, “Maybe you are right. There is nothing out here but farms. All the massive mining is hundreds of miles away. And that goes for the other natural resources as well, that they drill for.”
Stella shocked her parents by saying. “You ever think that maybe the native Tral-Gothican’s should be allowed to profit from the immense wealth that we generate from their planet?”
Her mother and father stopped what they were doing and studied their daughter for a moment. “Honey, we are as liberal as the next family. But the natives of this world, while not exactly stupid, don’t have the mental capacity to fully understand the complexity of who we are and where we came from.”
“Mom, Dad, that sounds prejudice.” Stella retorted.
“I know it sounds harsh, sweetie, but it is the truth. They thought we were some kind of gods, when the first colonist arrived about a hundred years ago. We tried to teach them our ways, but they were never able to adapt to our way of life. So, it is better for them and us, that the two species don’t mix.”
Stella said, “I know what we’ve been taught. But, seriously, there has to be some other way. I mean, they didn’t do anything, they were here first. Crimes against humanity...”
“That is the whole point, dear. They are not human. They are more animal than intelligent being. Genetic testing has confirmed. They are about three fourths as good as us.” Stella’s mother said.
Her dad spoke. “No, I think it is more like two thirds, hon.” And with that they walked on a little closer to the military spectacle passing on down the road.
Stella pulled her long pretty wavy red hair back. Tied it and then, started on back. As she walked down the path, she came across Patty, who was also watching the spectacle.
Patty questioned. “Trouble, Stella?”
Stella stopped and studied the robot. Now if Patty had enough sense to wonder what was going on, and she was just an appliance, how much more intelligence did the native Tral-Gothicans possess?

THE HAND THAT FEEDS
“Never question what is wrong, you already know what is wrong, question rather, what is right.” Catherine Xio

It was a nice drive into town. If one chose to use an aircar, you could be there in no time. But aircars were very expensive and a good old truck got you there in a reasonable period of time. Stella took the family truck into town where she was suppose to meet her boy friend Simon. He’d been there for a few days taking care of business. Most of the farmers grew two types of crops, one that could feed and one that produced cash. Even on the farm where Stella and her parents lived, the same was true. The drive would take her through several small patches, where there were mom and pop stores, nothing really fancy, just practical. Like the people who lived in the farming sector. The land had been partitioned off into purposes. There was a section for farming and a section for cattle and livestock, orchards and vineyards. Just depended on who you were and what you were good at doing. That was how it all started, but over the decades, children were born and after awhile, things were just the way that they were. Stella’s dog, Bark, came along for the ride, he liked to travel when ever someone would let him. Bark stuck his head out of the window, on the passenger’s side of the truck. Stella had loud music playing and she would try and sing along whenever she felt the need. She wasn’t a good singer, but she could hold a tune when she had to. Most of the time her singing was kept to singing at church. But, there was the occasional fair and other opportunities that presented itself. She wasn’t fooling herself, she knew that there was only so many ways to get out of the rut that most young people found themselves in, back on the farm.
You hear about all sorts of things that go on in the city, then you look at your life in contrast, watching things grow very slow, it was like time almost stood still. She passed by a small outdoor store that was selling fresh fruit, supposedly from the farm that sat way back down a small road. She and Bark got out of the truck and went over to the two kids that were sitting comfortably under the shade of the stand.
“What kind of fruit do you have?” asked Stella, picking up something that looked like an apple, but wasn’t.
The teenage girl answered, “Most of the fruit comes from our farm. Here try this, it’s something that my paw and maw developed.”
Developed was the key word in what the teenager said. Even though they were miles away from real civilization, science was deeply ingrained in everything that people did on Tral-Gothica, even when it appeared to be backwards and ignorant, which for the most part, happened all the time. It wasn’t that the people were backwards or ignorant, for the most part traveling from Earth to a distant star took all sorts of technology. But, over the course of time, after settling in, people began to form clans and develop notions and ideas. It wasn’t long until a small copy of Earth’s prejudices and morality, or lack thereof began to dominate and dictate who they were.
The teenaged boy, who was remarkably ordinary studied Stella, then uttered, “You are pretty.”
Stella and presumably his sister bother fixed their eyes on him. “Thanks for the fruit.” Stella turned to the girl, flatly ignoring the boy.
As Stella and Bark went back to the truck, she could hear his sister scolding him, as to how to properly treat customers. After all, it wasn’t like there were a whole flock of people traveling down the single lonely road. After having left in the morning, Stella and Bark arrived in town by evening. The truck ran on hydrogen, which was stored in a perfect form, water. Because water was the natural way to store hydrogen, the truck’s engine was designed to take the water, run a small electrical current through it, which would dislodge the oxygen from the hydrogen, send it into the combustion chambers, where the hydrogen and oxygen were reintroduced, and finally, converted back into water.