“Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s a metaphor, J’ni.”
Duin offered to deal with the discussions, email and comments that he inspired—and he was inspiring thousands. INC had already set up filters to sort her email, identify redundant keywords and rank topics of interest, so that he and Genny didn’t need to read every message. She gave him moderator access and authorship privileges on her blog. He also adopted her ten-fingered typing style, which had improved his speed to seventy wpm over his previous two-fingered thirty-two.
She left him working on the blog while she went out the back door into the communal garden she shared with her blockmates. Filtered light poured in through the ceiling and illuminated the sunflower wall, the trellises of beans and cucumbers, and the columns of strawberries and peas.
Genny loved the garden.
Asteria Colony always had light because the planet was tidally locked and did not rotate, so there was a constant supply of solar energy. The glass windows in the ceiling contained filters programmed to lighten and darken throughout the “day” to mimic Earth’s patterns. At 1200 colony time, the garden appeared to be lit in the full light of noon. At 2400 it was dark as night.
Automatic sprinklers did most of the watering, and pests and weeds were nonexistent. But there were extensive interrelated systems which were essential, and those systems required tending. The bee hives, soil sensors, aquaponic fish, nutrient-release systems, water recycling machines, microbe and mineral levels, and the block’s composter all had to be checked and maintained throughout the day. There was also the work of constant harvesting, replanting, weighing, recording and storing of the food products. The blockmates shared an app for tracking their garden data, food consumption and inventory. Any surpluses would be sold or traded through the Asternet or the Colony Square.
Genny was picking raspberries and singing to herself when she noticed Duin standing in the shadows under the hydroponic potatoes, watching her. Glin were hunter-gatherers. They did not have cities or cultivation, so gardening was yet another fascinating human technology to him, like the Stellarnet.
“I’m not s’posed to be eating them until they’re weighed and logged,” she admitted with blithe guilt. “But I can’t help it. Raspberries are my favorite. I just have to make sure I pick as many as I eat, then double the weight and manually input the data. Can you eat raspberries?” She picked one and offered it to him.
“Yes.” He took the fruit from her but didn’t eat it. Instead, he cradled it in his hand, holding it out into the light where it sparkled like a jewel.
“I’ll make us some raspberry leaf tea tomorrow.”
“I won’t be here tomorrow. I have to leave for a few days. Colonel Villanueva has asked for more water.”
“But that’s perfect. I can go with you and—”
“No. It’s much too dangerous, J’ni.”
“More dangerous than shifting space in a metal box and living on a planet without any atmosphere?”
“Much more.”
“More dangerous than the risk of becoming an alien egg sac?”
This made him smile, but it didn’t drive the seriousness from his eyes. “Much, much more.”
She felt a flutter of worry in the pit of her stomach. He was flying a stolen enemy ship to an occupied world, after all. “But you’ve done this before. So, it’s not that dangerous.”
“Of course.” It was said in a tone both consoling and hollow of conviction.
“Please be careful.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to hug him, but she didn’t know if Glin hugged each other or what hugging meant to them. Instead, she placed her hand on his arm.
Duin looked at her hand and then looked into her eyes. “Before I leave, would you finish the song for me? You were singing about a flower and a river.”
“Oh, right. I’ll l’up it for you.” She looked up the Irish playlist on her bracer, but he
Duin offered to deal with the discussions, email and comments that he inspired—and he was inspiring thousands. INC had already set up filters to sort her email, identify redundant keywords and rank topics of interest, so that he and Genny didn’t need to read every message. She gave him moderator access and authorship privileges on her blog. He also adopted her ten-fingered typing style, which had improved his speed to seventy wpm over his previous two-fingered thirty-two.
She left him working on the blog while she went out the back door into the communal garden she shared with her blockmates. Filtered light poured in through the ceiling and illuminated the sunflower wall, the trellises of beans and cucumbers, and the columns of strawberries and peas.
Genny loved the garden.
Asteria Colony always had light because the planet was tidally locked and did not rotate, so there was a constant supply of solar energy. The glass windows in the ceiling contained filters programmed to lighten and darken throughout the “day” to mimic Earth’s patterns. At 1200 colony time, the garden appeared to be lit in the full light of noon. At 2400 it was dark as night.
Automatic sprinklers did most of the watering, and pests and weeds were nonexistent. But there were extensive interrelated systems which were essential, and those systems required tending. The bee hives, soil sensors, aquaponic fish, nutrient-release systems, water recycling machines, microbe and mineral levels, and the block’s composter all had to be checked and maintained throughout the day. There was also the work of constant harvesting, replanting, weighing, recording and storing of the food products. The blockmates shared an app for tracking their garden data, food consumption and inventory. Any surpluses would be sold or traded through the Asternet or the Colony Square.
Genny was picking raspberries and singing to herself when she noticed Duin standing in the shadows under the hydroponic potatoes, watching her. Glin were hunter-gatherers. They did not have cities or cultivation, so gardening was yet another fascinating human technology to him, like the Stellarnet.
“I’m not s’posed to be eating them until they’re weighed and logged,” she admitted with blithe guilt. “But I can’t help it. Raspberries are my favorite. I just have to make sure I pick as many as I eat, then double the weight and manually input the data. Can you eat raspberries?” She picked one and offered it to him.
“Yes.” He took the fruit from her but didn’t eat it. Instead, he cradled it in his hand, holding it out into the light where it sparkled like a jewel.
“I’ll make us some raspberry leaf tea tomorrow.”
“I won’t be here tomorrow. I have to leave for a few days. Colonel Villanueva has asked for more water.”
“But that’s perfect. I can go with you and—”
“No. It’s much too dangerous, J’ni.”
“More dangerous than shifting space in a metal box and living on a planet without any atmosphere?”
“Much more.”
“More dangerous than the risk of becoming an alien egg sac?”
This made him smile, but it didn’t drive the seriousness from his eyes. “Much, much more.”
She felt a flutter of worry in the pit of her stomach. He was flying a stolen enemy ship to an occupied world, after all. “But you’ve done this before. So, it’s not that dangerous.”
“Of course.” It was said in a tone both consoling and hollow of conviction.
“Please be careful.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wanted to hug him, but she didn’t know if Glin hugged each other or what hugging meant to them. Instead, she placed her hand on his arm.
Duin looked at her hand and then looked into her eyes. “Before I leave, would you finish the song for me? You were singing about a flower and a river.”
“Oh, right. I’ll l’up it for you.” She looked up the Irish playlist on her bracer, but he
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