Rain of Tears Read Online Free PDF Page B

planting.
    Reyan stepped down and grinned. “Who is here to get dirty?”
    The crowd raised their hands, and Unrik pretended that she didn’t still have tears on her cheeks. “We are ready. Let’s begin.”
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Specialist Hobbs’s talent became apparent the moment that the first block of seeds had been sown. In an effort to get as much fresh produce into the market as possible, he was using his talent to force the first crop. The stalks would be composted and mulched back into the soil in an effort at enrichment, and no additional crops would be sown in until six months had passed.
    Unrik plunged his hands into the dirt where the seeds had landed, and while the rest of the volunteers were planting, he worked to bring plants to ripeness. He paused when the flowers showed and pulled his hands from the soil.
    A Citadel member walked in with a box that hummed and set it down. “I will help them along a bit.”
    Reyan stood and raised an eyebrow. “Animal control?”
    It was their female pilot from the first day. “Insect, less control, more nudging. They agree to assist provided that they be given more flowers tomorrow.”
    Unrik grinned. “I can do that.”
    Reyan noted that he was shorter, so she idly wrapped him in fog cloud.
    He chuckled. “Thank you, Rain.”
    “You are welcome.”
    He returned his hands to the soil and the flowers bloomed. He jerked his hands out of the soil, and the pilot removed the top of the box, letting a column of insects out to visit the flowers and exchange the pollen from one to another.
    Reyan smiled and continued to scatter seeds with the rest of the volunteers, maintaining the fog around Unrik’s body so that he didn’t use all of his personal stores to start the next crop.
    The machine must have been watching, because it watered the seeds that had yet to be sprouted to ease Unrik’s work but kept the water off the bugs that were still working.
    Reyan flicked her wrist and scattered seeds over a wide area, moving quickly and covering as much ground as she could. Others followed her example, and soon, they were onto the next patch and the next seed.
    There was no way that they would be able to seed a field larger than a city in a day, but they could and did get a variety of foods started under the new dome. The farming families were moving in, but they would only be the gatekeepers of the farms. The families would rotate out to the city every three years to keep the balance of power. The farmers also needed the labour for harvesting, so there would be no chance of them holding the crops hostage.
    Mind you, if anyone did try to withhold crops, they would soon find themselves on the pointy end of a lightning bolt. No one needed to know that, but it made Reyan feel secure to know that she wasn’t enriching only a small portion of the population of Nekahar.
    The machine followed them with a light, nourishing rain every time they finished a segment. It took them two weeks, but when every seed had been sown, there were three different vegetables and two fruits ready for harvest.
    Reyan was amused and entertained watching the children of Nekahar running through the fields and returning with armloads of vegetables, wide eyes and big grins.
    The community needed this change more than she had imagined, but it was bittersweet that her part in it was coming to a close.
    They had food that could be rotated seasonally and some crops had been jump started while others would come into their own in a few weeks.
    Unrik walked up next to her and smiled. “The election is tomorrow. After they vote in my replacement, it would be my honour to escort you to the Citadel you are assigned to.”
    She smiled back and nudged his hip with hers. They had become used to each other physically, and it was nice to have this closeness with someone who understood what she actually was. They still slept in the mayor’s office and took meals together, when they remembered to