Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 21, 2025
A woman shouldn't be bothered with such things any more than is absolutely necessary. It upsets them. Understand?" Anketam nodded. "Yes, sir." "Very well. Good-by, Anketam. I hope to see you again before the next harvest." And with that, he turned and walked through the gate, toward the woman who was standing anxiously on the porch of his home.
Basom had a tendency to do a sloppy job, and if it had showed up as bruised or poorly planted seedlings, Anketam would have seen to it that Basom got what was coming to him. But the section looked as good as anyone else's, so Anketam said nothing to Basom. Russat had come back after twenty days and reported that there was an awful lot of fuss in Chromdin, but nothing was really developing.
In twenty-two years, he had not used his fists except to discipline one of his crew, and that had only happened four times that Anketam knew of. Jacovik had shown that he had ability as well as strength, that he could control men by words as well as by force, and The Chief had made him a supervisor. He had proved himself worthy of the job; next to Anketam, he was the best supervisor in the barony.
Then they began to march eastward. For the first time in his life, Anketam was feeling genuine fear. He had feared for his life before, yes. And he had feared for his family. But now he feared for his world, which was vaster by far. He blinked at the tall, gangling Kevenoe, who was still out of breath from running. "Say that again."
There's a ground-car coming down the road with four Invaders in it." Lady Samas looked up at him, her fine old face calm and emotionless. "Let them come," she said. "We can't stop them, Anketam. And we have nothing to lose." Three minutes later, the ground-car pulled up in front of the hut. Anketam watched silently as one of the men got out. The other three stayed in the car, their handguns ready.
Work became all but impossible, except during the early morning and late afternoon. Fortunately, there wasn't much that had to be done. At this stage of their growth, the plants pretty much took care of themselves. Anketam spent most of his time fishing.
Anketam's frown grew deeper. He knew that there were other planets besides Xedii; he had heard that some of the stars in the sky were planets and suns. He didn't really understand how that could be, but even The Chief had said it was true, so Anketam accepted it as he did the truth about God. It was so, and that was enough for Anketam. Why should he bother himself with other people's business?
Not plant cataca? That was the crop that they had grown since well, since ever. Anketam felt as though someone had jerked a rug from beneath him. "There is a reason for this," The Chief went on. "Because of the blockade that surrounds Xedii, we are unable to export cataca leaves. The rest of the galaxy will have to do without the drug that is extracted from the leaves.
The sun's lower edge was just barely touching the western horizon, and all the seedlings were in. Anketam had kept his crew sweating to get them all in, but now the greenhouses were all empty and ready for seeding in the next crop while this one grew to maturity. But that could wait.
The day that the war intruded on Anketam's consciousness again had started off just like any other day. Anketam got his fishing gear together, including a lunch that Memi had packed for him, and gone over to pick up Blejjo. Blejjo was the oldest man in the village. Some said he was over a hundred, but Blejjo himself only admitted to eighty.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking