A/N: TRIPLE Update, make sure you go back and read. Couldn't quite fit the confrontation in, but it's the next two chapters.
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SEVENTEEN
My dad picked me up after school in his truck. He was whistling, happy. "Harvest's done." He said when I sat down. "Miguel settled up and extended for another five years. Wheat goes in next month."
My dad was involving me in how the farm ran more and more as I got older. We stabled other people's horses in our barn, sometimes, and we rented our fields. That way the land didn't just sit fallow, and we could pay property taxes and upkeep the buildings without it coming out of mom's salary or the—
I took a breath. The barn didn't have a sponsor anymore. I couldn't want it to be around anymore. Not if it meant being sponsored by The Sharing.
"That's great." I said. It was. "Are we gonna talk more about the sponsor offer?"
"The offer you were perfectly fine with and excited about when Melanie talked about it yesterday?" He asked archly, smiling at me.
Yeah, Aftran had been panicking and determined to not make her suspicious. I had… just been panicking. "I wasn't going to tell her I think her group is a cult. That's not polite." I could always rely on manners with my parents. They were big on polite.
".. That's true." My dad had no defense in the face of politeness. "She's such a nice young woman. So happy to help."
I grimaced. He'd never met Melanie.
I felt Aftran pay attention for a moment, then dismiss my surroundings. "I want to say no." I said. "I'm not comfortable with them offering to fund the barn."
He was silent for a moment. "Any reason beyond 'they're a cult'?"
"... I just think a lot of the people are kind of creepy." I said weakly. "Everybody's a little too focused on getting you to join up. Super happy to say how much better life is once you join. I don't like it." I shut my mouth. I couldn't say anything else. I was already dangerously close to saying too much.
He turned onto the dirt road that led to our house in silence. Drove. Turned onto our driveway. Drove down. Parked near the barn and turned off the truck. The whole way, he seemed mildly perturbed, lost in thought.
"... You know," he said when he'd unbuckled his seatbelt, "I joked about it this morning, but your mother said almost the same thing to me last night. Plus a few comments that weren't… I'm sure they're not another Heaven's Gate, or anything."
He had no idea. "She thinks they're creepy too."
"Yeah. She wasn't a huge fan of Melanie, thought she came on too strong."
"She did, dad." I hoped I wasn't pushing too hard. "Does mom want to say no?"
"... Yes. She was saying yes for you."
My heart leapt. "Okay, well, I want to say no too."
"Cassie…" He looked at me sadly. "I tried, but no one else will sponsor us. If we don't take this…"
I closed my eyes.
"I know, dad." It would be the end of the clinic. Injured animals would no longer have anywhere to go, would just drag themselves off and die, or die from second hits because no one was there to save them after the first.
"Okay, honey. If that's what you want."
He opened the door, stepped out. I sat there for a second, stunned and hopeful, then popped my door and followed him into the house.
Aftran started strategizing the second I got to my room.
«The real difficulty will be the Empire.» She said as I took off my backpack and set it on the floor. «Your largest current advantage is that your family is incredibly low-priority as hosts. The Empire has no use for veterinarians. It will be difficult to even find yeerks willing and able to take the assignment.» She was focused. Tense.
I stared out the window at the empty fields. There were still a few broken cornstalks sticking up.
«If you can successfully also convince the Empire that there's nothing to pursue, they will simply drop the ruse entirely and move on to higher-priority hosts to target.» Her voice was steady, persuasive. «Their only interest is what you potentially know, what I might have told you before my 'death.'»
«So how do I do that?» I felt dizzy with hope.
«I don't know.» She said flatly. «I don't dare lie to Nilset. She'll know. She always knows.»
«Great.» I said, deflating. «That really doesn't help me.»
«I think…» Dread wafted off of her. «I think… you're going to have to do it, Cassie. If you can convince her that I never said a word to you…»
«Do you think that would work?»
«The Empire doesn't care about a dead host,» her voice was callous,«they care about a possible security breach. If you can convince Nilset there is no breach, then there's no point in pursuing infestation now. They'll just wait for late-invasion and sweep up your family then.»
It was a cold, harsh assessment. It made sense. It gave me hope.
«Nilset will be back Sunday.» Aftran said. «She will confront you once your parents decline. You'll need to be ready.»
"Great." I whispered.