The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

Blight

I scented the earth carefully, rolling the soil around between my fingertips. Denise and Fiona looked down at me on the ground, Denise had her hands on her hips, her face set on 'scowl'. The setting she uses when Crew is working on a brand new situation.

"This just started?" I asked Fiona.

"Yes. Only this one area." Fiona gestured to indicate the problem area to me. "No one understands how it happened. These plantings are fairly recent. This area's usage was reassigned from the traditional varieties and is part of the experimental varieties we recently added. The original vines were replanted to start a new vineyard on the far west side of the property. We had these new vines looked over by four different Vampires before they went into the ground to be sure they were healthy and that we were not bringing in anything untoward from the outside world. This Claremont soil is ancient. The organics are the only new things, but we use the same fertilizers here as everywhere. All organic, all checked over, and certified by Vampires. The same source and blend we have used since forever. Only here is infected."

I stood up and looked around the dead and dying vines. "It's weird that it is in this shape. A half parabola."

"It is not weird if the neighbor has been doing it." Denise said. She pointed to the fence line in the middle distance. The reason for her facial expression becoming clear.

Fiona looked where Denise is pointing and added a scowl to her face. Default face setting today. "They are not fans of Claremont."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Goes back to before my time. As I understand it, Claremont has outsold that winery for centuries. You can't throw a rock around here without hitting another wine-making operation. Some huge companies. That particular business is family-owned, but a much smaller operation than we are. While Helen has never worried about being the biggest winery, she has always been focused on being the best one. Growth kept under control and managed to keep the quality up."

"That sounds like my Helen. This place has been one of her passions almost since she turned." I said.

"How I knew Helen loved you. Claremont Estates has been her baby since forever. Some of her most sophisticated identity management work to keep it in the family when she was in reality the only family. There has been a 'Claremont' running this estate for centuries. Part of why she was so excited to find me. Her plan, before you, was to allow me to be the face of the winery to the public. Not a Claremont, but the manager that runs the winery. In various forums, my redheaded self would be who people say. Make it less obvious that she has always looked like that, and that she is the same person."

"Sorry." I said.

"No, no. I came into the job knowing the plan. As I have told you every time you try to give me a raise other than the one I want, I am well paid."

"Oh, brother." Denise told Fiona.

"Down the years, Claremont has made many offers for that land over there to add it to the space we have, but the family has always refused. The new Shiraz varietal sold well in the gift shop and brought outrage from various traditionalists. This is the Burgundy region. Here, you make only Burgundy! As if...." Fiona crossed her arms, and her body assumed a stance to match her scowl. "As I hear it, the current generation of the family over there is unhappy from both the traditional point of view and the sales point of view. They view Claremont as a monopoly in the area because of our size. Damn stupid since there are much larger global wine-making companies all over the place. Other than to Helen in the States, we don't even ship outside of France!"

"Let's have a closer look at the neighbors." Denise headed to the fence. Fiona and I exchanged a helpless set of expressions and followed the angry Vampire.