Aarn Becomes a Man

Aarn was the eldest son of a well-known landlord in the largest agricultural section of Amelus. He spent most of his days making the rounds with his father to ensure that the farmers leasing sections of their land were attending to the crops that would pay their leases. Aarn like his father could tell if a field was well tended or not from looking at the aerial images relayed from their satellites but his father insisted on them making an appearance at every field regularly. He said that ensured that those leasing from them knew they cared and kept them conscious of the need to deliver a good crop. Today they were going to evict a family who had not been able to keep up with the lease payments, and Aarn’s father insisted that Aarn would do the eviction. Apparently he needed to prove that he could do the job when his father retired someday. Only he knew these people, they had been hard workers for many solar cycles and had only recently fallen on hard times after their oldest son had gone off to the military leaving only a daughter a couple years younger than Aarn to help them tend the fields and bring in the crops. Aarn had argued with his father that they should simply reduce the lease as the family had requested and give them time to recover, but his father was unforgiving when it came to paying the lease on time.