"After dinner there's going to be a celebration party in the square for you boys. All the terrafarmers in the region should be there. You'll have a chance to see everyone you're protecting." David said.
"Great! That's wonderful. What does a celebration look like? What does it look like in the outlays, I mean." Said Cadmus.
"We play music, dance, and talk. Nothing different than Roanoke I'm sure."
"Of course not. I wasn't sure if it was different maybe. What should we wear? This food is delicious, Sarah, thank you." Sarah looked down.
"Wear whatever you want. I saw the papers, I'm sure you all like to make an entrance."
"Well, we don't have much clothes. I think I'll wear my dress uniform. What do you think the others are going to wear? We should probably wear our dress uniforms so we don't look like slobs."
"Cadmus, I'm not sure the other terrafarmers will be focused on your clothes."
"What do you mean, Mr. Eltsina? I haven't read about that aspect of the outlays. Do you not care about clothing?"
"Cadmus, I mean you have an other attribute that is more curious than your clothing."
"Oh. Right. I forgot."
"Though I'm sure they'll be impressed with your fine clothes, too." Elizabeth said looking at David.
"We're used to being around each other, Mr. Eltsina. To us, we're normal." Said Balthasar.
"Well, what are we?" Asked David. We looked at each other. Memories. The past. Bad dreams.
"Our charge."
"Well, I thought we might be friends." Said Elizabeth.
"You now live in my house. That makes you a part of my family." Said David.
"This food is really delicious, Sarah." Said Cadmus
"Yes, it is very good. We're used to mess hall food." Said Balthasar.
"Thanks." Said Sarah. She looked at Elizabeth, "It's mom's recipe."
"So, Aaron, what'd you think of the farm? Why don't you debrief us all of my home?" Asked David. I had been chewing a good piece of potato when he asked. It was becoming uncomfortably hot in the kitchen.
"Well. This isn't how we normally debrief, sir."
"That's fine, Aaron. Just tell us what you thought of the place. I'm curious, too."
"Well. There are three cows in the pasture to the west, four horses in the stables. The loft has eight bales of hay. There are extra horse shoes along with farm tools in the south corner of the barn, neatly organized. There is a chicken coup west of the house with about 8 chickens in it. I couldn't see them all. To the north are the fields, Adjacent to the fields is the large oak tree, about two bodies wide at the bole and a half mile to the east of that is the copse, mostly heather trees and heath. There are some other low growing shrubs. This area is roughly 100 square feet. There are many areas to hide in the heath between the soil and the branches. The outlay waste perimeter half-circles the farm from north to west. It is mostly flat with modest rolling hills and scattered rock outcroppings. The silo is three stories high and half stocked. I'll draw us a detailed map later tonight before first watch duty." Cadmus and Balthasar nodded their heads. I was proud of my work.
"But, what did you think of our home?" Asked David.
"It is large and lacking in natural strategic defense. I'm sure we may have to post two guards depending on the threat level to the area. We will discuss between the three of us and our commander the best staging areas for the three of us to be located near at all times to ensure adequate response time to any incoming hostiles. I'm sure we can use the copse and the oak tree to our advantage, even the silo, though I'm reluctant to use damageable assets as potential battle areas and protection. Hopefully we'll never have anything close to that. The area affords us no mistakes."
"Well, I don't know what I think about that."
"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Eltsina, we won't make any mistakes."
"No, I'm not sure you understand my question. How does my home make you feel?" I looked at Cadmus and Balthasar. They shrugged.
"I don't know, Mr. Eltsina. I'm not sure I understand how that applies to us being here."
"Well, I like my home. I would hope that my guests and protectors would like it to." Sarah was still looking down, Jack was playing with his fork and Elizabeth was staring at me with David.
"Oh. Cadmus and Balthasar don't need to know if I liked it or not." They shook their heads.
"I'm not asking for their sake. I'm sorry. Let me rephrase my original question." David said. Elizabeth was wiping her mouth with her napkin.
"Forget about debriefing us. Did you like the tour of my home?" I wasn't sure if it was because the oven was still on in the kitchen, but it was terrifically hot in their house.
"We weren't taught to think like that, sir. But I suppose, when I got out of the transport, the hot wind and the dirt reminded me of something good."
"Well, I suppose that will do for now."
"I bet Dimitris' group will wear their dress uniforms. I think we should really wear them." Said Cadmus.