Cassie had never seen such a variety of flowers. Many of the blooms were totally unfamiliar to her, but she noticed orange and yellow mums between the daffodils. That shouldn't happen.
"How can you have both fall and spring flowers blooming at the same time?" she asked.
"There are no seasons here, so everything blooms all at once," replied Sten. "I like the way the garden looks and so that is the way I've designed it."
The two women walked to a shaded portion and sat amidst some vines that held flowers with a very delicate scent. It was not quite as sweet as a rose or lilac, or as overpowering as honeysuckle. "What is this plant?" asked Cassie.
"That's a dreniaha," said Sten. "Smells delicious, doesn't it?"
With the addition of a strange word, Cassie suddenly wondered if Sten and Frau spoke English or if she just heard it as English. She felt totally ignorant, but asked about it anyway.
"We speak a form of English that is similar in many respects to the dialect you speak, but without some translation we probably would be having a terrible time trying to talk," Sten told Cassie.
There was a pause in the conversation while both women simply enjoyed the beauty and tranquility of the garden.
"Can you tell me why you dislike Hiro?" Cassie ventured.
"It isn't so much dislike. It's more that we are embarrassed. Frau especially so. You see, soon after we got here, the Highwayman accosted us. We had no idea how to respond to this type of threat. It is unheard of on New Earth," Sten began the tale.
"I don't know if he would have hurt us and I have no idea why he would want to rob us. I think that to him, it was all a game of terror and submission without any malice or intent to actual physical harm."
Cassie was amazed that she could be so calm. She had met the Highwayman and he was a large, powerful man who had a broadsword at his side and a couple of ancient pistols – well to him they were probably very modern weaponry, but to Cassie they were ancient – tucked into his belt. He would be very scary on the attack. "So, what happened?"
"Frau was a very influential person on New Earth. A Diplomat who ensured that the planetary peace was maintained. He is very gifted with the power of persuasion, but he was totally helpless in the face of such weaponry. He was mortified, scared, and unable to defend us against this threat. He could keep the peace on a planet, and was helpless before this 'lesser' man.
"Before we knew it, this Samurai came out of the forest near where we were all standing. He was slashing and cutting with both swords. He yelled at the Highwayman and threatened him. The Highwayman looked at the Samurai and went to draw a pistol when the katana blade was suddenly pressing against the Highwayman's throat.
"The Samurai growled one more time telling the Highwayman to leave. And so he left."
"I assume the Samurai was Hiro?"
"Of course."
"Then I really don't understand. He saved you. He lived up to his name and his profession and he helped you. Why do you dislike him?"
"It isn't dislike. It is … I don't know. Frau was so helpless and then so … Hiro had no reason to come to our defense. He could have easily helped the Highwayman. Frau knows that his skills were useless in that situation. He couldn't mediate, he was too frightened. He is embarrassed and angry about it, too. He knows he should be grateful, but he can't seem to find that emotion, yet."
"Do you think he can get past this? Hiro is such a nice man." Cassie's voice carried more than a touch of worship in it.
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