“Does that really happen? Do people die? How did they get them down? Are we going to be all right? I know I’ll be all right,” stumbled out of Debbie’s mouth as fast as she could talk. She almost sounded like a chipmunk to Ryder, but a glance from Cynthia stopped him from saying so.
“It’s actually very rare,” Miss Li said. “In the last twenty years, we’ve only had four people actually have to be medically treated and returned to Earth. There was a death from a fall when a friend of mine first got here, but that was over thirty years ago.” She quickly changed the subject. “Let’s have lunch. Then we’ll get ready for the first test.”
“A test? Already? We just got here!” Joel complained.
“The test is in two hours, nonetheless,” Miss Li interjected. “The test will be in pool seven.” She pointed below to the swimming pools.
Several people grinned delightedly, but Ryder commented, “I didn’t bring swimming trunks.”
Mr. Small had returned to the group and stated, “We have new swimwear for everyone. It’s in your suite.”
Ryder frowned. “Sounds like PE,” he muttered under his breath.
Room 317 had a narrow but large common room. A step up led to a kitchen/bar area. Off the kitchen was a hallway leading straight back into the bluff. It was cut right into the stone, as the finish was polished rock, which seemed to have some sort of gemstone or other about every twenty square feet.
Mr. Small had claimed the first room to the left down the hallway, and now Randy and Joel were wrestling over who got the first room on the right. Ryder stepped around them and took the second private quarters to the left. He figured it would be quieter in there anyway. The chamber was large, but not palatial. It had a king-sized bed butted against the back wall and centered. In addition, the accommodations included a closet, dresser, and mirror on the far side near the door. In front of the bed was a desk of that same quartz material that was present at the front counter in the lobby. A private bath was off the near side of the apartment. He observed that the bathroom facilities worked on sensors, anticipating his needs. Rather than towels, there was a hand dryer with enough pressure that his hands were actually pushed away when he first went to use it. Once he got over the surprise, he loved it. In less than five seconds his hands were totally dry. He looked at the body-sized unit next to the shower and was tempted to try it out, but then heard his name being called and realized he was supposed to be on his way to lunch.
Three eating facilities graced the second floor. At the far end was a private restaurant with linen tablecloths. Ryder could see wait staff serving a few patrons. The center section reminded him of a mall food court, but the area was totally self-serve. He spotted someone with what looked like a burger and fries, and a table of people sharing a pizza.
Miss Li organized the group at the third eating facility opposite the private restaurant. This area reminded Ryder of a school cafeteria. He wasn’t very excited. He remembered the time he had tried the canned spinach at school lunch; his stomach spasmed remembering the embarrassing experience. He hadn’t eaten school lunch since. He relaxed a little when he saw a menu screen come up that looked very much like the screen on the Pegasus. He was a bit disappointed that the options excluded some of his favorite foods, such as pizza, burgers, and fries. He ordered the fettuccini, hard roll, and salad, which he was certain would please Miss Li.
“Why can’t we eat in the food court?” Joel complained behind him.
Mr. Small responded quietly at the back of the line, but loud enough that Ryder could hear him. “Miss Li wants to make sure you get two nutritional meals each day. Don’t worry, the food court is open twenty-six hours a day. You can have lunch there in the future, and we’ll be sure to make a midnight raid after Yara retires for the evening.”
“Mr. Small!”
Mr. Small looked innocently at Miss Li and shrugged a nonverbal “What?” Ryder didn’t think Mr. Small looked very innocent at all.
“I may not have heard you, but I’ve worked with you long enough to know exactly what you told Joel. No midnight runs this year.” Then Miss Li smiled. “Just make sure you and your wards are back in their room by 2330. I expect to see you no later than 2335.” She wiggled her ring finger at Mr. Small and finished, “Roger.”
All four of the girls with Miss Li giggled.
The table was quiet for several minutes as everyone focused on eating. Halfway through his salad that looked like an odd assembly of weeds, Ryder turned to Mr. Small. “I’m a bit confused.”
“Why is that?” Mr. Small turned his head, as he had been staring toward the food court longingly.
“We’re halfway across the galaxy…”
“Actually we’re only a little over a hundred light years from Earth, hardly halfway across the galaxy,” Mr. Small interrupted.
“Okay, we’re a long way from Earth. Why is it that the food looks so familiar? I would think it would be a lot more,” Ryder paused, “exotic.”
Mr. Small laughed. “If you want exotic I’ll take you to a Cryellian café in Europe. We would consider them vegetarians. They think our food is barbaric. They eat this stuff that reminds me of tofu, but it has no flavor. They would argue about that, but I’ve never been able to distinguish much flavor in any foods they eat. It certainly does have color though...purple, blue-gray, and a very bright pink. Anyway, remember that Demeter has no natural habitat. There are no native plants or animals. Every living organism from microbes to bovine, grass to dewsnips, is imported from somewhere. So we have imported a lot of things from Earth.” He leaned in and whispered, “We could have left these wild lettuces back on Earth as far as I’m concerned.” Then returning to a normal voice, he said, “Let’s see, there are cattle, sheep, and chickens here. No turkeys. They couldn’t seem to adapt to the lower gravity for some reason. There were challenges importing fish.”
“What fish don’t handle the lower gravity?” Ryder drew in closer.
“It’s the minerals. The Sea of Demeter is not a saltwater ocean, but it has a lot of minerals in it. It took a long time to develop species that could live in this sea. We do have a freshwater crab that can certainly compete with any burger.” He looked at his salad with a hint of disgust, then refocused. “There are a few fish varieties we’ve been able to adapt to the sea. Some are pretty ugly. We have orchards in the highlands with apples, peaches, nashis, plums, and more. Along the coastlines we have all sorts of citrus fruits. Some of the dwarf Cryellian varieties are better than oranges or mikans. The only thing I know of that is imported from the Sagittarius Arm is dewsnips. I’m surprised we don’t have any here today. Now that, as my older sister would say, is to die for. Great stuff.” He picked up his fork with resolve and poked at his salad again.
"Dewsnips?" Ryder perked up.
"What is it?" Cynthia leaned into him and asked.
"Something odd. I've heard of dewsnips before," Ryder whispered back.
“It is interesting that whenever mankind has moved out to new territories the first thing they want to do is bring their own food with them. There is a certain comfort to familiar flavors and textures in eating. So, if you want a hamburger, or a taco, or great French fries, we have them here.” Then in a lower voice, Mr. Small finished. “And of course we have this stuff too.”
Although Ryder was not a great swimmer, he did enjoy the afternoon they spent in the pool. Miss Li had everyone swim laps. Ryder was surprised to discover that he could swim three times as many laps as he could at school back on Earth, and he still didn’t feel tired, although his arms and legs did start to ache.
After working everyone out for almost an hour, Miss Li informed them that they would stay poolside until evening. “It’s time to unwind and enjoy not being cooped up in the Pegasus for a while.” She and Mr. Small wandered off to a cabana at the far side of pool seven. Randy, Joel, and Athena soon got into a water fight. Ryder considered joining them, but instead offered to get a drink for Cynthia.
“I’ll have a Cherry
7UP.” Cynthia smiled. She looked great in a white, one-piece swimsuit that set off her dark hair and complexion.
“I’ll have one too,” Debbie volunteered, then added, “Becky will have a juice.”
Ryder enjoyed the afternoon as much as any he could remember. He found out that Cynthia and her family had immigrated to the U.S. when she was a baby. Her father had earned his citizenship just two years earlier. Her father was a trained engineer, but had received a teaching certificate and taught mathematics at Burnham High School. Her mother didn’t work. “If you can call staying at home and raising six children not working,” Cynthia said with a laugh.
Rebecca had an older brother and a younger sister. Her brother had left home at sixteen, and Ryder noticed pain in her eyes when she said it. She stayed in contact with her brother but hadn’t seen him in over a year. Her family had moved twice in the last five years. She loved Jane Austin, and was a big fan of Anne of Green Gables. Ryder recognized the title although he had not read the books..
Randy, Joel, and Athena joined the group about half an hour later, and they chatted and played foosball at the nearby table. They all wandered outside barefoot and looked at the islands and the gardens. The meadows were extensive, and they included a number of hedgerows formed into mazes. The students wandered into one. Once inside, it took a while to find their way out. As Debbie and Rebecca raced ahead, Ryder and Cynthia meandered along slowly, and Ryder realized that he didn’t care if they ever found their way out. At one point Cynthia stopped and looked up into Ryder’s eyes for several seconds, then she laughed and said, “You’re almost too nice, Ryder.” The moment passed. Ryder was confused by her comment, and they eventually started talking about Debbie and some of her more legendary antics.
Looking at the sky, Ryder noticed there were no clouds. He could not get a fix on the sky, or ceiling, or whatever it was that was the top of Demeter. He made a note to check on that next time they had class. He wondered if there were clouds, if it rained, if it snowed. How could there be this much water if there was no rain? he puzzled.
Back in the pool area, the water fights had started again. Athena was in the pool. Becky and Debbie had caught Randy, and with a helping hand from Athena, they threw him in, jumping in after him. Ryder and Cynthia both started to laugh. Then Ryder said, “Too nice, eh?” He grabbed Cynthia and dragged her toward the water. As Ryder pushed her into the pool, she snagged his arm, and they toppled in together.
The next morning things started a little slow. Ryder was surprised how well he slept. Demeter was on a twenty-six hour clock, so sleeping ten hours was actually part of the schedule. The group met as a class in suite 319. The common room looked like its counterpart in suite 317, but was large enough to accommodate everyone. Multiple lounge chairs were formed into a semicircle, with Mr. Small and Miss Li trading off the lead of the discussion. The main topic for the day was some of the differences between Demeter and Earth. Mr. Small opened by discussing the ten-day week. “It’s actually a pretty cool system. Like on Earth, most people work a five-day week, but then they have a four-day weekend, then Titheday. Titheday varies by which schedule you’re on. It’s a spiritual day that you dedicate to your respective religious views. There are numerous churches and denominations. Some elect to spend a good part of the day in formal services, some select the day as a day to ponder. We’ll actually use tomorrow as our Titheday. We can help you find a service that relates to your beliefs once we get to Europe. Here on Arion, there is a nondenominational service at ten hundred hours in the morning. Yara and I prefer reflection, and so we will be leaving earlier to spend some time in the mountains.”
“That sounds cool. Do you have ATVs?” Joel inquired.
“No. Boating, fishing, and recreational vehicles are around, but those are for our four-day weekend. We use Titheday as a time of reflection. We’ll be climbing Sunday Silence tomorrow,” Mr. Small paused, “by walking.”
“Oh, in that case, we’re Methodists. What time did you say the service begins?” Randy asked.
“The nondenominational service begins at ten hundred tomorrow morning. Once we get to Europe, there are meeting rooms for Methodists, Catholics, Mormons, Buddhists, and most other faiths,” Miss Li responded. “If you’d like to join Roger and me, we will be leaving earlier, at five hundred hours. We like to watch the rising.”
“Rising?” Ryder perked up. “What’s that?”
“It’s when the clouds begin to clear and the lights of daytime appear. It’s spectacular!” Miss Li looked very enthusiastic. “It’s one of the things I miss most when we return to Earth, but then on Earth we have spectacular sunrises and sunsets.”
“I want to see that!” Debbie jumped in.
Ryder debated. Five hundred hours was like five o’clock in the morning. Even on the Demeter time system that was awfully early. But he’d promised to keep an eye on Dweeb. He exhaled slowly and added, “I think I’ll join you as well.”
After a geography lesson on Arion, where Ryder learned that the island was named after a horse god or something like that because the silhouette of the island looked like the shape of a horse’s head. The island had had various names depending on who occupied Demeter. As the interior was manned and governed by Terrans, Earth vernacular was the current naming protocol, although Miss Li indicated that some place names were of Cryellian origin. The Sagittarians had no interest in naming protocols.
The island was the largest in this particular archipelago at twenty-four miles long at the extremes, and about eighteen miles wide. It was the primary landing area for civilian interstellar craft, and fairly popular as a kickoff point for long weekends by the locals. At any given time there were between three and four thousand visitors, although most stayed at the resorts on the far side of the island, where there were numerous recreational boats and a three-mile-long strand of beach. There were only about a thousand permanent residents on Arion.
On break, Ryder and his peers wandered down past the pool and out into the meadows. They were immediately greeted with, “Hey, it’s the grubs!”
Minding his manners, Ryder called back, “And I see the hacky sack players are still here.”
“We’ve been waiting for you,” the leader of the group leered, pulling a gun on them.
Becky and Cynthia gasped in unision.
Ryder stepped forward in front of Cynthia and Debbie. “Hey, come on guys, it was a joke.” He noticed that Randy, Joel, and Athena stepped forward as well.
“We like jokes too!” another member standing behind the leader said as he pulled the trigger of another pistol. Ryder felt something whiz past his ear and heard a splat. He turned to see a green blister of paint on the wall behind him.
“Paint guns,” the leader stated. “My name is Aster Freeport from Cryella.” We’re the guys that keep you guys safe,” he added derisively. “We’re here for a weekend before we go back on duty, but we thought it would be a good time to help you understand that we’re here to serve and protect. Ensign Steerman suggested we provide you our own orientation.” He nodded toward the one who shot the gun.
“What do you have in mind?” Ryder was trying to think quickly.
“Have your teachers introduced you to Defense of the Realm?” Ensign Steerman inquired with a sneer.
“Never heard of it,” Randy piped up.
“It involves two teams. The idea is to see who can get the most players through the maze with the fewest hits,” Aster announced. “You start on one side, the other side defends with, in this case, paint guns. They sting and bruise, but no permanent damage. You guys want to play?”
Ryder was all for leaving. “We have class again in thirty minutes.”
“That’s what we expected,” Steerman oozed with sarcasm.
“We’re in!” Debbie volunteered. “We’ll kick your butts.”
Ryder turned. “Debbie, this is not a good idea.”
Cynthia chimed in at this point. “I’m not going to let somebody from—what was it? Crybaby?
Cinderella?—make fun of Earth, and that’s final.”
Randy and Joel were actually holding Athena back physically.
Resigned, Ryder turned back to Aster. “How long does it take to play a game?”
“We can get through an offensive and defensive round in half an hour, easy. We’ll use ten minute timers. Will that do?”
“Okay, we’re in. What do we do?” Ryder asked.
Steerman came forward and offered them each a paint ball gun. “You each have fifty rounds in the magazine.” He demonstrated how the pistols worked. You can pick defensive positions anywhere in the maze. We’ll do offense first, so you can get off the first shots. Your guns use red balls; ours use green. If you’re clearly hit five times, you’re disqualified. Four or fewer hits, and you count toward the score. That’s all there is to it.”
Ryder took five minutes to discuss strategy with his team. They decided to pair up, covering the middle three corners, with Ryder taking the fourth corner backing into the hedge to get anyone who cleared as they passed by. They seemed to have pretty good odds with seven players to the other teams five, but the Cryellians had obviously played this several times before.
The round lasted less than ten minutes. Team Cryella used a wedge formation to drive through. They finished with two members of their team getting through unscathed. “Not bad, grub,” Aster said with a half-smile. We really expected to get three through, but your ambush paid off.” Ryder smiled, as he had actually drilled Aster in the back as his team had passed by. “Your turn,” Aster grinned malevolently.
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