Putting Up Roots

by Charles Sheffield

  "I'm sorry I was rotten to you earlier." Topaz's cheeks were ruddy, and her expression earnest in the half-light. "But what you suggested was really impossible."

  "It was?" Josh wondered what she was talking about.

  "Yes. Impossible for Ruby, I mean. She's too little, and Saph would never agree. But it's not impossible for me. I like Dawn a lot, and I think I get through to her better than anyone. I feel sure that she likes me, too. I'd take really good care of her."

  "But what about Sapphire?" Josh had finally caught on to what the conversation was about. "And what about Brewster? You must have as many duties as I do. What will he do if you and Dawn up and vanish?"

  "Who cares what he'll do? What can he do, worse than what he does all the time? Especially if we come back with a smart rupert. He'll have to admit that you were right. It was your idea, you know, not mine."

  "So if anyone goes, it ought to be me." But something inside Josh hesitated at the thought.

  "No. I'd be better—and it's not because you're incompetent, or anything like that."

  "Then why?"

  "Because you're male. I'd be able to help Dawn with female stuff, and you wouldn't. Do you want to hear the details of what I mean?"

  "No." On that point at least, Josh was sure.

  "So you agree?" Topaz leaned closer. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and her face was a pale blur with no features distinguishable. "If you do agree, I'll start to make plans. It won't work the way you suggested, though. I can't just wander off with Dawn, and then if we don't find anything, come back and do the same thing over again the next day. Brewster would never allow it to happen twice. This has to be a one-shot deal. All right?"

  "Go slower. I guess I am dumb, even though you say I'm not. You're right about it being a one-time opportunity, but I still don't understand why. Why do you want to do this? It can't be just to find a rupert."

  "You're not dumb. You're supersmart to realize there must be something more in it for me. If you promise not to tell anyone else—ever—I'll explain what it is."

  "I'll never tell." Josh felt oddly flattered. "No matter who asks me."

  "Good. Now tell me, I'm one of four sisters. Which one am I?"

  "You're Topaz." That was enough of an answer for Josh, but obviously not for her, because she stood waiting. He tried again. "You're the second oldest."

  "Right." But it still wasn't the correct answer, because Topaz made an annoyed noise that Josh had heard a thousand times from his mother.

  "And—you're the most attractive," he said at last.

  Topaz snorted louder this time. "Get lost, Josh Kerrigan. I'm not fishing for half-baked compliments. You had it right before. I'm the second oldest, number-two child. That's all you or anyone else can think of to say about me. Saph is the oldest, she's the boss and acts like she's our mother. Amy is the brain, she remembers everything she reads on the first go while the rest of us struggle. Ruby is the baby. We all look out for her and try to give her whatever she wants. But I'm not anything, I'm just child number two. That's why I want to do this. I want to be someone special and different."

  It was no reason at all, and that's why Josh couldn't argue with it. He nodded, realized that Topaz probably could not see the movement, and said, "All right. I agree. And I do trust you with Dawn. I always have."

  "Thanks, Josh. I appreciate that."

  "And I meant what I said about you being the most attractive."

  "Now you're trying a come-on." Arms reached out in the darkness, located Josh, and hugged him. "That's all right, I like it anyway. You couldn't have said anything to make me happier."

  It was always nice to feel that you were someone special, Josh had to agree with that. It was also all right to be hugged.

  There was only one problem. Josh, strolling back around the building with Topaz on his arm, under the alien sky of Solferino, was sure that he had done nothing to deserve either.

  Chapter Fifteen

  NEXT morning Josh awoke filled with excitement. The feeling faded as the morning went on, for during that day and the three following it became clear that planning was one thing, but carrying something out was quite a different matter.

  The problem was Brewster. He was loud, and bullying, and sometimes strangely ignorant or disorganized; but he was the boss. He kept everyone running from early in the morning to late at night. Even Ruby was not excused, which shot down Josh's idea that she might be able to come and go as she pleased. Winnie Carlson was the subject of special wrath and scorn. Something on Solferino did not agree with her, and she appeared each day yawning, pale, and blotchy, with dark bags under her eyes. Brewster assumed that she was his personal slave, and ordered her around accordingly; Winnie never uttered one word of protest.

  Josh was able to talk to Topaz for only a few minutes a day, and rarely alone. Their plan had to be unsuspected not only by Brewster, but also by everyone else—especially Sapphire. Josh had to be content with a quick nod from Topaz, or her terse, "Getting stuff together. Making a food cache beyond the fence. Pass me anything you can snitch—I can't take too much, and I don't think we dare try to live off the land." He had no idea what Topaz said to Dawn, but his cousin's smile was as Sphinx-like and mysterious as ever.

  The compound and buildings began to feel like home. Everyone learned how to use the cleaning facilities, the kitchen, and what was left of the computer systems. After four days it even felt natural to wake to a dawn of reds and orange, or stroll from building to building across a purple sward.

  Finally, the evening came when Topaz, standing at Josh's side putting plates into the disposal, muttered: "Tomorrow. Don't look for the two of us after midday."

  Before midday, however, other events intruded.

  Early in the morning, when everyone was waiting in the dining area to be assigned their daily duties, Sol Brewster threw them another curveball.

  "You've all adjusted to Solferino." He was standing at the wall display, and grinning as though something was giving him special pleasure. "That's good. What's not so good is that you haven't done a stroke of work since you came here."

  He watched closely for signs of protest. Everyone stoically waited, and finally he went on: "I mean real work. Something that will repay Foodlines for the expense of shipping your carcasses out here and training you. Well, the holiday ends today. You begin to earn your keep. Take a look."

  The wall behind him came to life. It provided a view of Solferino, taken from space. As they watched, the picture zoomed in on one area of the upper hemisphere.

  "We are here." Brewster placed his finger on a point near the center of the display. "To give you an idea of scale, these are the Barbican Hills, near the bottom. But the area that the company is more interested in is this one." He tapped the wall, where a long, dark gash showed in the surface of Solferino. "That is the Avernus Fissure. It's a low-lying area, some of it well below sea level, and it's volcanically active. It was chosen by a space survey as a place which may have new and valuable biological products. However, there has never so far been a systematic ground survey. I, with your assistance, will be performing the first. We'll be taking the cargo aircar there later this morning. Each of you will be issued a test kit, designed to detect the presence of certain substances valuable to Foodlines, in the native plant life. I will assign you your territories and monitor your results. All clear? Good. I want you back here and ready to leave in"—he paused, as usual when he was giving out schedules—"five minutes. A personal pack is not to exceed six kilos. Don't try to bring your usual rubbish. Carlson!"

  Everyone stared at Winnie. She had been standing with her mouth open and her eyes closed, and she came to attention only when Brewster shouted her name.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Did you hear what I said, Carlson? You certainly didn't look like you were listening."

  "I was, sir. Sir, do you wish me to go with the group?"

  "Why, yes, I think that would be nice." Brewster's voice dripped sarcasm. "I cert
ainly had it in mind. Surely you do not imagine that we could get along without your valuable presence? What other plans do you have? To spend the period of our absence loafing in bed?"

  "No, sir."

  "Then let's get moving." His voice rose to a roar. "Any questions?"

  "How long will we be gone, sir?" Josh was breaking the golden rule: With Sol Brewster, you never drew attention to yourself in any way. But he had to ask for Topaz's benefit.

  The question didn't receive Brewster's usual dismissal of the questioner as a total moron. It rather seemed to surprise him. "Three days," he said after a moment of frowning uncertainty. "Yes, that's right. You should plan to be away for three days. Any other questions? No? Then go to it."

  Topaz walked with Josh to the door. As they went out she muttered from the side of her mouth, "Think he guessed, and did it on purpose? We're screwed. I daren't take the cache on the flier, and by the time we get back most of the food will spoil."

  The test kit was so simple, even Ruby would have no trouble using it. Brewster demonstrated it as the flier's automatic pilot took them east.

  "Here's the feeder." He pointed to an aperture in the top of the unit, which was a squat upright cylinder about six inches tall and three across. "All you have to do is put in a sample of the plant you've picked. Leaves, stem, or root—but don't assume that because you've tested one part, there's no need to test another. Some plants concentrate materials in one particular place."

  "Like hydrogen cyanide in peach kernels, sir? Or vanadium in tunicates."

  It was Amethyst again, determined to show off even if it guaranteed a roasting. The comment didn't get praise from Brewster—nothing seemed to—but this time all it led to was a startled glare and a mild, "When I want your inputs I will ask for them."

  "Yes, sir."

  "You put the sample in here." Brewster took a piece of umbrella plant leaf. For a change, he sounded enthusiastic about what he was doing. "There's only one thing to remember: You put the plant into the unit where you collect it. Don't go wandering off with a sample, then decide it's time you processed it. There's a good reason for that. Each kit has its own inertial navigation system, good enough to determine your position on the surface of Solferino to within a meter. But the unit doesn't know where you pick the sample, only where you are when you process it.

  "Once the sample is inside, you press this." He touched a button on the side of the cylinder. "Then you wait for five to ten seconds. If there is nothing in the sample to merit more detailed analysis, this light on the side will flash yellow. That will happen most of the time. Any substances that we already know about, but find interesting, will be identified here. The light will flash red. Real anomalies—substances that the test kit has never seen before, and can't explain chemically—make the light on the side flash bright blue. Before you get excited, I'll tell you that an anomaly is a one-in-ten-thousand chance. It's so rare that you shouldn't expect to see it at all in your whole five days of testing."

  "Three days," Ruby said promptly. "You said three days."

  The others winced in anticipation, but Brewster only frowned and said mildly, "Three days. Yes. That is what I meant. Three days of testing before we return to the compound."

  The little light was flashing yellow. The kit had finished its work with the umbrella plant leaf. And the dark scar of the Avernus Fissure was coming into view on the far horizon.

  Josh had given up on the idea of the search for ruperts. Topaz hadn't.

  After the flier had landed, and while they were watching again the miracle of the self-erecting buildings, she edged over to Josh. "Tonight. Outside, by the fissure. Wait until you're sure everyone else is asleep."

  The message seemed clear as could be, but after everyone else was in bed, and Josh was wishing that he was, he found himself alone in the darkness. It was a crescent moon, on a chilly, cloudless night. The camp was on his left. The Avernus Fissure, smoking and ominous, was a red glow and sulfurous smell off to the right. The stars were bright overhead. But of Topaz, there was no sign at all.

  It was more than chilly. It was cold. Josh shivered, crossed his arms over his chest, and cursed. He was ready to give up and head off to bed when he glimpsed a dark shadow moving away from the camp.

  He almost called out, until he realized that the almost-invisible figure was not heading toward him, but angling away to the left. He peered into the darkness, suspecting that maybe he was making up the whole thing from half-seen patterns of light and dark.

  Before he could convince himself of that, a second spectral figure appeared from the camp. It flitted across his line of sight, heading the same way as the first one.

  Josh had suffered all that he could stand. He stole toward the camp, determined to follow what he had seen and find out for sure what was going on. Halfway there he saw yet another dark shape, creeping along uncertainly toward the edge of the fissure.

  By now his eyes were as adjusted to the darkness as they would ever be. He reached out and took Topaz by the arm. It was her turn to jump and utter a near-inaudible squeak.

  "Is that you, Josh?" Her hand groped for and took his.

  "Yes. Topaz, something really strange is going on here. You're the third person who's come out of the camp. Do you think that Sapphire knows what you're planning to do?"

  "I'm sure she doesn't." Topaz was still holding hard to his hand. "When I left her she was asleep with her arms around Ruby. Snap withdrawal is hitting her really hard. If she didn't feel she has to look after the rest of us, I think she'd fall apart."

  He could see her eyes now, wide open and glinting reddish-brown in light from the Avernus Fissure's smoking deeps. She was glancing from side to side, imagining people where there were only shadows.

  Had he done the same? Or had he really seen people leaving the camp?

  "What's going on, Topaz? Why did you want to see me outside here?"

  "To tell you that I'm going ahead. If we stop every time Brewster makes us do something we didn't expect, Dawn and I will never get started."

  "You're going to do it here?"

  "Where else can I do it? Here is where we are. And from the point of view of finding ruperts, one place is as good as another."

  "But what about supplies?"

  "I'm going to steal them. Why shouldn't I? I won't be in any worse trouble with Brewster, just because I helped myself to a bit of food. What's wrong?" She was still holding his hand. "You're all tensed up."

  "I sure am. Maybe it's that." He turned his head toward the dim red glow. "I don't care what Brewster says, or Bothwell Gage says, or anyone says, the Avernus Fissure is a dangerous place. What would happen if you fell into it?"

  "You'd burn to a crisp. But don't worry, Josh, we won't be going that way. Dawn and I will head in the opposite direction."

  "There could be other fissures out there."

  "Sure there could. There could be boojums, too."

  "What?"

  "Ask Amethyst, she'll tell you more than you want to know. Look, Josh, I didn't get you out here to ask for your approval. I came to ask for your help."

  "How?"

  "Dawn and I are going to sneak away before anyone gets up."

  "Do you think she understands that?"

  "She does. Trust me. The trouble isn't Dawn, it's my sisters, 'specially Saph. Now she's off triple-snap she doesn't sleep normally. We're in the same expanded dorm room, and Saph wakes up a few times in the night and checks that everything's all right with the rest of us. Provided it is, she goes back to bed."

  "I can't do anything about that." Josh had an awful feeling that he knew what was coming.

  "Sure you can. Saph won't wake me up, she'll just check that I'm there. I want you to go back right now, get into my bed, and sleep the rest of the night there."

  "Topaz!"

  "Of course, it won't be nearly as much fun as if I was in there with you. Sometime, maybe, but not tonight. This isn't about fun. Will you do it, Josh? Will you go right now and pre
tend you're me, in my bed? Say you will."

  "Topaz!"

  "Say it, Josh. Promise you will and I'll owe you forever."

  "I won't—I mean, Topaz, I just can't." Her face was only a few inches from his. He could feel her breath, warm on his cheek. "Oh, all right. I will. I'll do it."

  "Great! Let's get back. I don't want Sapphire even suspecting that I might not be there."

  As they headed toward the camp, Josh had only one thing on his mind. It wasn't the warm touch of lips on his cheek when he said yes, though that was unexpectedly pleasant. It wasn't the hint of possible things to come, which sounded ever better. It wasn't the mystery of who else had left the camp, and what they were all doing, which at the moment felt abstract and remote.