Liberty's Heirs

Chapter 3

"Look, Blion, you have to start an apprenticeship somewhere. It doesn't matter if it isn't something you'd like to do." As Blion's father lectured him, he stared nonchalantly through the great windows of their living room at an orange and purple cluster of bird of paradise flowers.

"You can always switch as soon as a better opportunity comes along," his mother added. She knew full well that trading up was what had gotten into this mess in the first place.

"Architectural design is not my thing, Dad," said Blion as he sprawled out on the couch. A Santa Ana wind was picking up outside, inaudible from the comfort of the living room, but quite visible by the way it tugged on the leaves of the sycamore trees.

"You don't have a choice, young man!" His mother said. "You have been turned down by every Master in our Community Center that does anything you're even remotely like what you want. Any day now we are going to get an Advocate dropping by starting and to threaten us with Discipline if you don't start work soon."

"Discipline's not so bad. I think I could endure it for a while." Blion knew what Discipline meant, though he had never suffered it before. It wouldn't be starvation. There would be no further deliveries of the family's choice of foods and their vacikarces would stop taking them anywhere but work. Restaurants would no longer serve them and anyone who helped them would be warned. If the warning was ignored, they would have their supplies cut off similarly. Raw vegetables would be supplied and fruits from their trees would still be available.

"Maybe you could, but I will not go outside picking fruits and leaves like a monkey," his mother hissed. "I have a party scheduled in two weeks and I don't want it canceled. Especially not for something so humiliating as Discipline."

"Son, you're coming with me tomorrow. One of the guys in the building is a Master Architect and he's agreed to take you in."

"I suppose you're right, Dad," Blion sighed, "I don't want to embarrass you or Mom."

Just then a big black object with widely spaced yellow stripes outside caught Blion's eye as it descended from the sky to the landing pad in front of the house. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it. From his splayed position on the couch, he instantly snapped to his feet, startling both his parents.

His father catching the direction of Blion's glare, looked outside just in time to catch the vehicle going behind the sycamores. "Uh oh."

His mother also looked out but could strained to see any part of the vehicle through the trees and bushes.

"It's an Advocate." Blion said with eyes wide open. Black and yellow vacikarces were reserved for Advocates. If one landed at a house, there would definitely be gossip in the area about just what sort of criminal or nearly criminal behavior had been committed to necessitate such a visit.

"Looks like we let this go on too long," said his father getting to his feet with his lips pursed.

"We haven't had an Advocate here in years." His mother put her hand up to her chest and covered her neck dimple and addressed his father. "I didn't really they would come in just a couple of weeks."