Escape Pod 813: A Consideration of Trees

Escape Pod

Escape Artists Foundation

Fiction, Science Fiction, Drama

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A Consideration of Trees By Beth Cato As a xenoarbitrator, I was accustomed to working with concepts and situations deemed peculiar by most of humanity. Often, though, my own species confounded me most of all. "I fear you misunderstood my advertisement." I stood in Mari Kane's miniscule parlor on Bradbury Orbital Station. My felizard partner, Petey, twitched in his nest atop my silvering crown braids. "I usually mediate between different species. You need a private investigator to look into a suspicious death--" "Rainbow Charm Corporation owns the local investigators. Madam Alameda, you're from off station. I couldn't find any corporate affiliations in your history. You're the independent investigator I want to hire." A pleading note crept into her voice. "I appreciate your confidence in me, but--" "Bradbury Orbital is property of Rainbow Charm." Petey spoke directly into my mind via our neural bond, his four-inch-long body flexing as he hummed in thought. "That's a Thrassi-owned firm. This could be a cultural misunderstanding." "--this still isn't my purview," I finished, speaking aloud to both of them at once. "I study stories, new and old, and use them to bridge misunderstandings between different kinds of lifeforms. If you had a Murkle as your neighbor, for instance, who began screaming nonstop if rain lasted for more than a day, I could explain why and advise the Murkle on more appropriate responses." Honestly, I would have preferred to work with a screaming Murkle about then. Humans had been decisively immoral in every one of my recent jobs--cruel to fellow humans, and other kinds of life, too. Jaded as I felt, I had to wonder what crime her husband had committed to end up dead.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Warning, the story contains mature content that may not be appropriate for listeners under 13.
0:16.0	EscapePod Episode 813
0:20.0	A Consideration of Trees by Beth Kato
0:30.0	Hi everyone, I'm Alistair, your host and this, this is EscapePod, so as we round the corner into December, get ready, because boy do we have a story for you in this, the first week of the last chunk of this week.
1:00.0	This at times seemingly endless, a seeming year.
1:03.0	Nebula award-nominated Beth Kato is the author of Clockwork Dagger Geology and The Blood of Earth Trilogy, both available from Harper Voyager.
1:11.0	Beth is a Hanford, California native, transplanted to the Arizona desert where she lives with her husband, son and requisite cats.
1:18.0	Follow her at BethKato.com and on Twitter at BethKato.
1:23.0	Read it this week is Sandra Espinosa. Sandra is the New York-born and raised voice actress. By Lingle, with a background in English literature and writing, she's always been fascinated with what people were saying and the broad, positive ways to say it.
1:36.0	After childhood where video games were banned from the house, she's 180'd so hard that she's finally in them and never leaving.
1:43.0	Some games Sandra's voiced for include Brawl Stars, Heroes of New Earth, Marvel's Adventure's Academy and the critically acclaimed Watched Eye Games points and click adventure game on about.
1:53.0	Get to know her at DustyOldRoses.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook. Once again, at DustyOldRoses.
2:03.0	So, should we go to the woods? Because I hear it story time.
2:13.0	A consideration of trees. By BethKato. Narrated by Sandra Espinosa.
2:20.0	As a Zeno-arbitrator, I was accustomed to working with concepts and situations deemed peculiar by most of humanity. Often, though, my own species confounded me most of all.
2:32.0	I fear you misunderstood my advertisement. I stood in Marie Kane's minuscule parlor on Bradbury Orbital Station.
2:41.0	My Blizzard partner, PD, twitched in his nest atop my silvering crown braids.
2:46.0	I usually mediate between different species. You need a private investigator to look into a suspicious death.
2:54.0	Rainbow Charm Corporation owns the local investigators. Madam Alameda, you're from offstation. I couldn't find any corporate affiliations in your history. You're the independent investigator I want to hire.
3:08.0	A pleading note crept into her voice.
3:12.0	I appreciate your confidence in me, but Bradbury Orbital is property of Rainbow Charm.
3:18.0	PD spoke directly into my mind via our neural bond. His four-inch long-body flexing as he hummed and thought.
	...

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