The old man coughed and chuckled.

“Youthful exuberance. Rest assured they are more poised on the battlefield than they are in the spotlight.” And he smiled. The crowd laughed with him again. This man could announce he was retiring to the outlays and the farmers would follow him to the deserts.

“What is this man’s name?” I asked Balthasar.

“Casimir Pulaski Skowronski. He’s been here since the second wave. They call him father. I asked the man who was next to me. He left after Dimitris’ pulse blast.”

“He could take them to the middle of nowhere and they’d thank him.”

Cadmus nodded. “He was an ex-general in the Polish army living in Chicago. He was an engineer before he came to Mars.” He shrugged at Balthasar’s raised eyebrows. “I read about him at the home. I saw his name and liked it. What?”

Balthasar said, “Nothing. I didn’t know you read anything but comics and homework.”

“I liked his name. I swear, Balthasar. You don’t have to be such a jerk.”

Casimir spoke again, “Let us make our adopted ones welcome. Let us retire to song, dancing and feasting!”

At that the crowd erupted into applause and shouting. The crowd quickly moved to the outskirts of the square and David and his band mates took up their instruments and began to play a quick dance melody. The young farmers, men and boys, women and girls, separated from the crowd like drops of water from a dripping faucet and began to dance in an unorganized circle.

We drew back against a pillar and watched the dancing.

“What are you going to do about Demitris, Aaron?” Asked Balthasar.

“What do you mean?”

“You provoked him. He’s got our superior in his back pocket. Demitris can get him to assign us farm hand duty for the rest of the month,” said Cadmus.

“I know. He was lewd. Did you see him lifting that girl’s dress?”
“Don’t get over your head. He’s a fop. But he’s clever and can make you feel like a moron. Don’t talk to him if you can help it.”

“Fine. I know. He’s such a bastard though.”

“All three of them are,” said Cadmus. “Just leave them alone and it will make our life a lot easier. As it is we’re going to have to watch out for some juvenile retaliation after you punched him in the nose.”
“I can’t believe you guys saw that.”

“What, you thought we were more concerned with Casimir than you? Anyway, everyone saw that. You were sort of the entertainment for the night.” Said Balthasar.

“It was an accident.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Well, you got Abbot to shake his head at you two.”

“What’s new? I’m surprised he came at all. Or at least didn’t convince our superior to keep us at the farms. Associating with filth like us really tarnishes his reputation.”

“I think his arm is made out of gold, actually.”

“And when he shoots dogs his pulse beams frown at them.”

“In fact, he doesn’t kill them, he just convinces them they’re worthless and they leave in shame and die in the outlays.”

“Hey, look at him trying to dance out there.”

“He’s with that girl that you helped up, Aaron.”

“No, really? Well, he’s no dancer. It looks like he’s marching in formation.”

“You should go cut in, Aaron.” Cadmus smiled at me.

“Yeah, I must have missed all the dance lessons at the home. You know, the ones you guys attended all the time? I can’t dance.”

“Come on, Aaron. You saved her from the wicked Demitris. You should let her repay your kindness.”

Abbot and the girl were dancing, and as we talked they moved in an awkward circle by us. The girl looked at me as they turned. Cadmus and Balthasar laughed.

“See that, Aaron? She wants you to save her from the clutches of another ruthless, armed man.”

“Okay. You know what? I’m going to go get something to eat. I’ll leave you two to keep each other company. Maybe you can dance with each other.”

“Ah, poor Aaron! Try not to punch anyone else in the face, okay?” Cadmus yelled after me. Balthasar laughed.

I loved them. They were my brothers. Yet Casimir’s words were still ringing in my ears. His speech praised us, yet somehow it seemed more like a plea to accept us rather than elation for our arrival. They distrusted us. We were sent from Roanoke, someplace they hadn’t been to in years or at all. The place from which the commands to subdue came every year. We may have been like them once. But we were no longer. What did they see when they looked at me? Did they see their children? Did they see them laughing in their yards, or dragged away in a trail of blood and broken pieces? Did they long to see a trace of their hope in my eyes? Did they search for it in their reflections in my arm?

They tried not to look at me or my arm directly, but I could feel their eyes on me the whole night. It made my shoulders tight. I was eating by the musicians. I liked how loud it was. There were no voices, no noises but music. Cadmus and Balthasar had found two girls to dance with. It was funny to see us dancing with one awkward arm held behind the girls, shining and incongruous in such a benign setting. Abbot gave all of us license to disregard the women directive from our superiors. The night was so long and without direction. We were not used to the night without a task. The only concern was to look impressive to the terrafarmers. I didn’t feel so impressive. Neither did our young faces and shining clothes look inspiring beside the rough hands and ruddy features of the seasoned terrafarmers. They had been protecting and defending their homes for much longer than we’d been in training. Some of them had been at it much longer than we had been alive.