Savona, and the Contari Compound

[Karst]

Katherine walked slowly through the dusty streets of Savona.
She had visited very nearly every inhabited planet in Sirius and Gallia, but Malta was like no other.
She had seen the endless fields when approaching the location in her RV. Orange grasses everywhere, gently swaying in the breeze.....

It was certainly different, nothing like anything she had every dealt before.
She had no unshakable position toward the whole cardamine thing.
Of course, it was a problem in some places, but on the other hand she understood entirely why the Maltese were- no, had to do it.

A group of children had started to follow her around, excited and filled with laughter.
Red haired, freckled women were probably among the rarer guests around these parts, she mused.

A group of field laborers was taking a break under a larger, blue parasol by the side of the main road.

She had heard about how slavery was common practice among the Maltese plantations, and tried not think about it.
What an abhorrent thing it was, so contrary to everything any decent human believed in.....and she had no doubt Foster and the Tundra would disagree with it as well.

No, any K'Hara surely would. They were a species that had achieved not just peace, but universal compassion among themselves.
They surely would not approve of the treatment of others this way, those....."spirits", as the locals called them.

But this was not the time, Katherine thought. Perhaps, if things went well, she could bring it up at some point. Diplomacy was her strength, she had told Foster that, and all she needed to do now was believe in it herself.

She approached a grumpy-looking man in front of a large building complex, by far the most notable around, and asked:

"Excuse me signor, is this, er.....Vizio?"

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