Earth Legend (3 page)

He was. That almost smile ghosted across his
face again and sent such a shock through my system that I ended up
careening into the back of the nearest colonist who sorely disliked
being knocked sidewise by a slip of a redhead. But, with a
long-suffering frown, he held his temper and kept the door open
until I was though. I heard him mutter something about redheads and
why'd they have to be on the Destiny anyway? When I was through he
let it slam shut and then he turned away and deliberately ignored
me. Good.

I took a second to lean against the wall and
breathe a sigh of relief. I was finally beyond notice of the head
of Security and I was on the Destiny, the largest space ship ever
built, possibly the largest that ever would be built. If I wasn't
discovered and sent home in disgrace, I'd soon be heading into deep
space and a life I'd never have imagined in my wildest dreams.

No one showed the colonists where to go or
gave them any orders, which meant they already knew their way
around the Destiny. The media had been full of details of life on
the Destiny so I should know all about it but I'd been too busy
with finals and orals and writing my doctoral thesis to notice. Now
I wracked my brain for any tiny detail I might have noticed on the
TV as I passed it on my way to write still another paper.

There were villages, I remembered that much,
ten in all with a thousand people in each. That's what they called
the clusters of housing units or whatever the colonists and crew
lived in. I also knew that babies could only be conceived as space
and resources allowed, a necessity on a ship of limited size and
capacity though the ship could hold ten times the number of people
going into space. They'd deliberately planned for future population
growth. Pets, too, were limited, though they were allowed. Food
would be grown on the Destiny but I didn't remember where it would
be grown or how. Greenhouses? Terrariums? Container gardens? My
knowledge was woefully lacking.

I followed the colonists and we all headed
for what looked like a huge tube that ran down the center of the
ship. I remembered reading that the center tube was the part with
no gravity so it was used for transportation among other things.
Once in the tube, we all grabbed straps and were pulled along at a
decent clip. Most of the tube was opaque, filled with cubicles and
offices but every so often we'd pass a clear area.

The first time it happened I almost puked.
The ground was miles below. I looked every which way to avoid
looking down but even up was down in the tube. The Destiny was
huge, ten miles across and fifty miles long. I'd read the numbers
but they'd meant nothing to me at the time. Now they did. I
swallowed a few times and concentrated on the tube itself and the
other colonists and gradually forgot the ground so far below.

We slowed as we reached a tube that branched
off from the main one. It was an elevator. A handful of colonists
let go of their straps and drifted towards it. Then they punched a
button and it started down. But most stayed where they were. Soon
we reached a second such tube and more colonists left. They were
all headed to their new homes.

If I stayed where I was, I'd end up at the
other end of the Destiny and there wouldn't be any more elevators
to take me to ground level. I didn't know what might be waiting for
me at the end and I didn't want to know, which meant I'd have to
pick a village and go down the elevator with a group of colonists.
I'd have to pretend I belonged and hope they didn't know the
difference.

When we reached the next elevator, I let go
of my strap and floated to it along with a few dozen colonists.
Rather, I tumbled and was grabbed by a man with a lazy grin who
could be my grandfather. "Not got your space legs yet?"

"Nope." I tried to be nonchalant.

"It happens. Took my grandson a while to get
his, but he made it." He swung me around and plunked my feet on the
floor of the elevator and put my hands on the straps that would
keep me from flying aimlessly about until gravity kicked in and
kept me in place. I couldn't wait.

He looked like he was enjoying the ride,
doing a double somersault before settling down with a strap of his
own. He looked like a nice guy. The first I'd met since reluctantly
joining the colonists. "You remind me of my grandfather."

"I remind everyone of their grandfather." He
grinned again and held out a hand. "Wilkes Zander at your service
and I have three real grandkids waiting for me down there and
anyone who needs a grandfather can call on me any time."

"I might do that," I managed, figuring out
why he was there with other elderly people heading out into space.
Remembering something I'd read and not paid attention to at the
time. That every family and every colony needs grandparents.

As gravity took hold, my stomach settled and
I began to think I had a chance after all. The elevator sides were
clear, I could watch the ground rushing towards us and I held my
breath because it looked just like home. Like Earth. Green growing
things as far as I could see and fruit trees in bloom. It was
beautiful.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Wilkes Zander looked
proudly around. "No place on the real Earth is prettier."

"It's just like home."

"It is home, girlie. It's your new home and
you'll never be homesick for Earth as long as you're on the
Destiny."

All that green would sicken and die if I
wasn't there. But I was there so it would remain green and healthy
and the colonists would live. I knew that as surely as I knew my
own name.

As the elevator hit the ground with a slight
bump, Wilkes Zander added, "A few normal trees would be nice, but
these bushes are almost as good."

What looked like normal trees from the
elevator were actually bushes or dwarf trees. As a botanist I knew
they required less food and water and produced just as much fruit
or nuts as a normal sized tree and as much oxygen. As I looked
around, I realized that every bush or dwarf tree in sight bore
something that could be harvested and eaten, as did the very grass
that grew along the path that stretched before us. The Destiny was
one huge farm. I was sure that there was a blueprint somewhere with
every bush and tree on it, along with exactly how much oxygen it
should create and how much fruit or nuts it should produce.

I'd make sure that those carefully selected
plants would do what they were supposed to do. I'd make sure the
harvest was on time and bountiful. I'd keep the food alive that
kept the colonists alive even in the dead of outer space. But first
I had to find a place to hide.

"You coming?" Wilkes Zander was waiting.
Everyone else had gone on ahead. "We should get going. Check in and
do whatever else there is to do." He held out a hand.

I froze. I couldn't check in. But neither
could I take a chance and alienate this man. I put my hands on my
stomach. "In a little while."

"Still feeling sick?" I nodded. "It takes a
while with some people."

I leaned against an apple tree, carefully
fitting myself between two low-growing branches. The tree nicely
made room for me and I thanked it silently. "I'll be along in a
bit. I just need to sit a moment."

"Sure. I understand." He started away. "I, on
the other hand, want to get all that paperwork over with, but I'll
come back when I'm done to make sure you're okay. You might need to
take something for a while. A week or so. My grandson took pills
for two weeks before his stomach settled down."

"I'm sure I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"I'll check back anyway. Wouldn't want anyone
to be sick when the Destiny gets going. That'll be something. Don't
want to miss it."

"Soon?" I pretended interest.

"Don't know when, exactly. It's not as if we
are on a schedule. We'll leave when everything is ready. When the
countdown is done. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. Or maybe
tonight. We're all staying up late just in case. Even the kids,
we're taking them over to the viewing room. What about you?"

"Sounds like fun."

He looked me over. "You don't look good. Are
you sure you're okay?"

"I look worse then I feel. Don't worry about
me." I made a shooing motion. "Go fill out those papers and find
your grandkids."

With a guilty look, he took me at my word.
"Join us tonight if you feel up to it. Lots of people, good food
and drinks." He scampered after the handful of colonists heading
towards a nearby cluster of buildings. The village. There was even
a sign. New Rochelle. Whoever designed the Destiny went to great
lengths to make it resemble a series of rural communities. He waved
as he followed the path into the thicket of cherry bushes between
New Rochelle and the elevator that was cleverly hidden in an
orchard so as to add to the rural feel of the place. "See you."

I took a deep breath and leaned against that
dwarf apple tree and wondered what to do next. Then I moved because
I was on what was probably a well-traveled path and the last thing
I needed was someone else coming along and asking questions. So I
stepped off the path and into the orchard and started walking.

As soon as I left the path I was surrounded
by trees that had to have been planted as soon as that section of
the Destiny was closed in from space in order to have grown to
their present size. Apples hung ripe and ready for the picking. I
plucked one and knew I'd not starve as long as I could wander
around the huge farm that was the Destiny.

I took another step and several cherry bushes
closed behind me. I was well hidden. What better place to take
stock and plan my next move? And check out whatever Betts had
shoved into my pocket back on earth.

I took it out. It was a comunit. I slapped it
on the back of my hand. After a few seconds of adjustment, during
which it did whatever comunits do, it disappeared, replaced by a
tiny, multi-colored tattoo similar to the ones worn by every
legitimate person on the Destiny. Small enough that my bare wrist
hadn't been noticed but I sighed with relief that I, too, could now
pass a close inspection.

The comunit was better than anything I'd ever
owned on earth. The Destiny had gotten the best of everything
because out there in space, if something went wrong, they'd need
the best of the best in order to cope and stay alive. For now,
though, with my new and very funky comunit, I could link to the
Destiny's mainframe. I relaxed against the apple tree trunk and
pulled up an index of the kind of information I'd need to
survive.

First things first. Where was I? Where could
I hide best? In moments I realized I was probably already in the
best place though I'd have to get water, clothing and other things
from the nearby village. New Rochelle.

I decided to sleep in the orchard hidden by
thick bushes, but other than that, I'd be well advised to mingle
with colonists until they got so used to seeing me that they
thought I was one of them. Wilkes Zander already thought I was a
colonist. So did the man who hated redheads as did the scary Cullen
Vail but Wilkes Zander had invited me to the launch party. It would
be wise to accept and begin the process of mingling.

I checked the comunit again. I had time to
saunter into New Rochelle, scope it out and hopefully find
something to wear. Would I steal from a clothesline? Did they have
clotheslines? Somehow I'd have to find party clothes and hopefully,
some kind of food other than fruit to still the rumbling in my
stomach. Apples and cherries were great but I'd need more than that
to be well nourished.

Chapter Three

I
figure out how life works on the Destiny.

Once on the path again, it was a short walk
to the village. As I stepped from the protective foliage of the
orchard I took a deep breath and headed straight to the nearest
store as if I had as much right as anyone to go inside. I wouldn't
buy anything, of course, but maybe I could figure out where
necessities were stored on the Destiny. Then I could return in the
night and steal what I needed.

I looked around desperately for Wilkes
Zander. If he was around, I wanted to wave and greet him as if I
belonged. But he was nowhere to be seen. The only person in sight
was a little girl of around six or seven with short, blonde hair.
She was sitting on the curb and holding a very fat cat. "Do you
want a kitten? Gracie will have some pretty soon." She held the cat
towards me and pointed to the cat's stomach. "She's pregnant."

A pet would make hiding more difficult. "I
don't think I want one right now." Her face fell so I added, "Maybe
next time she has kittens."

Her lower lip trembled. "There won't be a
next time. She shouldn't be having kittens now." Her hands trembled
to match her quivering lip until she had to drop the cat to her
lap. "If I can't find homes for her kittens, they'll have to be …
"

"No!" I couldn't believe it. The kittens
weren't even born and already they were scheduled for execution.
"Why?" But I knew why. Because the Destiny had a policy. One pet
per family. No exceptions. "I'm so sorry."

"Please." She held the cat out again, tears
wetting her face.

I shook my head. "I can't. I just can't." I
felt awful, as if I personally was executing the unborn kittens. "I
wish I could."

On impulse I picked up the cat and cuddled
her. She was heavy, it wouldn't be long before she gave birth. I
sent up a small prayer that all of her kittens would be adopted,
then I gave her back to the little girl and went into what passed
for a store on the Destiny.

It was more of a supply depot than a store,
with racks and shelves of clothing sorted by color, type and size.
"Not much variety. I hope they do better when the real storekeepers
take over. Whoever chose this stuff didn't have much imagination."
The woman who spoke carried an armful of shirts and shorts. She
waved her chin towards the little girl with the cat. "I'm sorry
Alicia bothered you."