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The marriage contract was a convenience, a protocol we assented to just to get outbound to Zeta colony, easily put asunder after first harvest, a mere ten years beyond planetfall. The marriage contract was an archaic remnant inherited from the founding great-grand of AgriTech, whose old-fashioned notion to keep growers committed was part of a plan to turn derelict planets into agri-rich assets. And the marriage contract did work keep to keep us there when half the bio-engineered saplings failed to thrive, when Gen-Corp tried to takeoer and supply ships didn't arrive, when we buried too many friends in a cemetary under the hill. We keep the marriage contract in a drawer in the bureau, the one crafted from remnants of the first harvest. It is renewed every ten years, the day after harvest. Tonight we celebrate the sixth and salute Great-Grand's old-fashioned notion. |
