After ending yesterday’s segment with who she is, here we begin to learn what Pai is. A little. Anyone familiar with Machine Civilization should have a pretty good idea where this is going. Although, Part 3 starts a little comedically as they walk toward Madison after an interesting night together. Mark XV’s are amazing, especially as Pai’s mom can afford to buy any mods and upgrades she wants.

This is pushing my 5000-word limit, so I’m assuming there will be five parts, with the last out this Friday. However, that leaves a lot untold for me to get back to the theme of “meeting in the middle of a river;” I mean, they already did, but I wanted a similar close. To me, that implies the second submission to this anthology will probably carry on with Pai and Graf.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Two hours later, with the windows of their house open for fresh air, Graf heard his kid sister clattering about the kitchen, putting dishes away.  First crossing the river, then on the walk back with his bucket of four fish and broken rod, he had explained things to his unexpected guest from the sky.

“Her name is Mindy,” he had begun, walking up their gravel drive.

“May I call her Min?” Pai laughed at a private joke.

“Sure, I guess,” he shrugged.  “Dad will be back in near sunset, from our land just north of here.  I really don’t know where to take you.  I guess the nearest big town would be Madison, about twenty miles east.  There’s bound to be someone with a shortwave or radio for you to call… well, whoever you need to.”

After Pai’s declaration as to who she was, she was content to lie down in the sand and close her eyes, only admonishing him to “look but do not touch!”  Uniform dryer later, she asked if she could paddle the canoe.  That was a surprise; she’s much stronger than she looks.  And she’s Russian?  Here?  Fell out of her plane?  On the way to where?  That imperium-something we’ve heard about way down south?  The only visitors I’ve ever heard of were Canadian.

“So,” he carried on, “I guess you speak Russian, too?”

“конечно я делаю,” she replied.  “And German, Hungarian, and Japanese.  All the languages of the Polar Alliance.  I am my mother’s daughter, after all.”

With a touch to Pai’s arm, which drew another broad grin, just before his porch, he stopped her.

“And you mother is?”

“Very important.” She responded by lightly putting her right index finger into the center of his chest.  “And now, you are important to me, too.”

“You fell out of the sky,” he shrugged.  “I was fishing.  Just a coincidence…”

About to take a step up, her overly strong hand grabbed his throat.  “Do not ever say something such as that to one of us!”  The red in her eyes looked like blood.

“I apologize,” Pai said, letting go.  “Mom says I’m also a little irrational at times.”

“Sure.  No worries.  C’mon.” Pulling open the screen door, he called, “Mindy!  I’m home!  With a guest!”

Just as tall as her older brother and with the same Norse-blond hair, the girl came around a corner drying a plate with a rag.  Seeing the short, dark figure next to her brother, she almost dropped both.

“Uh…” was all she could manage.  Into the silence, Graf made introductions, leaving the whole Russian Space Navy for later when his dad came home.  Pai took a few steps and kissed both of Mindy’s cheeks.

“Your brother said he has to see to the swine,” she said, keeping an eye on the wavering plate, “so I’ll clean the fish he caught.  Do y’all have refrigeration here?  Good.  No reason to freeze anything as four are fine for you three.”

“Pai, please,” Graf began.  “This is our home and you my guest.  You can help yourself to anything you want.”

“Electric power would be nice,” he barely heard her reply.  Louder:  “Thank you, newest friend.  You go do pig things and I will be older from your sister.  Come, please, Min.”

“What?  Who…?” was all she could manage.  Get used to her fast, little sister, he thought, passing through the house and going out the back door toward the farmhouse proper.

There was a stiff, cold wind for a late spring day.  Off the ice sheet halfway from Winnipeg to Fargo.  He heard his father stomp in from the same back door from his efforts to grow winter wheat in the spring, because of the cold.  Graf had been on the front porch trying to mend his fishing rod and coming to the conclusion it was hopeless.  I’ve got others, but this was my lucky one.

At the thought of luck, he rubbed his neck for a moment.  I didn’t even see her arm move and she could have crushed my throat.  Why was she so mad?  I guess, no matter what she looks like, she’s from the other side of the world and some kind of serving military.  Even with Dad making us read all those history and fiction books, I’ve never seen anyone like her.

At the thought of his father and hearing shared laughter from the kitchen, he bolted up to head off any other misunderstandings.

“Dad?” he called to the man looking in the direction of the kitchen.  Tall and well over two hundred pounds, built like a bear, his beard went white when his wife died, and his hair was thinning.  Doesn’t bode well for my future.  “Dad?  We’ve an unexpected guest.  Something happened when I was fishing this morning…”

“Here?  Odd, that,” was all he said.  Always few words.  “Lead on, son.”

Stepping into the kitchen, the fillets just starting to fry in butter, he watched Pai turn and draw herself up to attention.

“This is Pai Mendrovich…”

“Mendrovovitch, newest friend,” she corrected.

“Who apparently fell out of her airplane and almost into the canoe,” he carried on.  “I think we should try to get her to Madison tomorrow, so see if we can get her home.”

“And where is home, Miss?” his father asked, extending his hand.

“Lots of places.  Everywhere and nowhere, you might say,” she smiled, not letting go of his hand and enjoying the look in Graf’s eyes that provoked.  “But for now, I was due in the imperium for a meeting about the colony on Ceres.”

“Can’t say I’ve heard of the latter, but I’m sure my boy can help you out,” he said as she finally let go.  “You fell out of your plane?”

“It was not exactly a plane,” she corrected with her typical smile before turning the fish over, “but, yes, I went outside to check something and slipped.  Graf was there for me.  And, he did see me with my clothes off.  So I am already very fond of your son, Mister Winstead.”

“You did what to this girl?” his father demanded, rounding on his son.

“She wanted her clothes to dry,” he said, taking a step back, just in case.  As a boy, he’d got spankings which nearly crippled him.  “I tried to look somewhere else.”

His father looked from him to their grinning guest.  “I’m going to get cleaned up.  Thank you, Young Miss, for helping with dinner.”

Ten minutes later, with four plates out and the fish and some hushpuppies on platters in the middle, everyone helped themselves.  Except one.

“Are you not hungry after all today’s excitement, Miss?” Graf’s father asked.

She looked down at her plate, then to each of them in turn, her amazing eyes resting on Graf.

“Androids can eat.  But we generally do not.”

No one moved.