by Ed Hurst
producer initially. The colony was built on a coastal shelf with lots of native grassland supporting something resembling earth cows and fish which had been found edible, if requiring a bit of processing. Meanwhile, testing for the possibilities of raising more favored animal species brought in from elsewhere was almost complete.
However, the social life of the colony was pretty much the same, though there were more people, both locally born and immigrating from elsewhere. One family was starting from scratch out on the edge of the currently occupied area, having more or less escaped another colony where things had fallen apart. They had escaped a situation where some conflicts which had devolved into a bloody feud. The family seemed quite happy being isolated for their first few months, and everybody understood that well enough. Rez added a supporting voice to the administration’s decision to leave them alone while keeping an eye out for their safety. Besides, there was too much work at hand without poking around in other people’s lives.
Still, it was time for this new household to report progress toward something profitable. Rez volunteered to go, for which everyone else was grateful.
He quite enjoyed the long hike across the rolling grasslands. The native animals didn’t herd together at all. They seemed to prefer isolation from each other, yet at the same time appeared to totally ignore humans. As he walked closely past a few here and there, he could have been a mere gust of wind for all the reaction he got. At the edge of the rising hills, he could see a covering of some sort of scrub vegetation. The family in question had been exploring these hills and cataloging the flora and fauna for future testing as food sources. Rez had been told the man was a PhD in one of the life sciences.
Taking a look around the place as he approached, Rez spotted an exposed framework with thin lines strung throughout. Hung from the lines were the carcasses of several different kinds of animals, as far as he could tell. Some distance away was a similar structure with various types of vegetation drying in the wind. As he drew closer to the dome which most families used as living quarters, he saw other types of testing equipment standing on the other side: an incinerator, a greenhouse, several cages and pens, and a couple of enclosed small buildings.
He stopped some distance away in the open, waiting to see if anyone would spot him and signal or greet him in any way. A message had been sent to their communication device, but there had been no response.
Some movement off to one side caught his eye. Coming down off the slope, threading the brush, were a half-dozen figures. They were carrying tall slender objects, which turned out to be baskets, apparently woven from the local grasses. They must have spotted him, as the largest of the figures handed off a basket and came toward Rez, while the others disappeared behind the dome.
Rez had never seen a man who appeared more rustic. Even the videos and images of ancient history back on earth could not prepare him for a man who looked weathered and brown, wearing overalls of blue fabric and a button front shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Rez had learned by now to suppress any visual reaction, and simply offered his right hand, hoping it would be grasped in the standard form of greeting.
Sure enough, the man stopped a full stride away, smiled and leaned forward with his own hand. They shook and Rez introduced himself as a wandering son returned for a visit home. The man answered with a dialect which matched his appearance. “Nice to meecha, Rez. I’m Henry Checkers.”
The man seemed to sense Rez’s unasked questions and began explaining they had discovered edible berries in season just over the other side of the nearest ridge line. He tried, but decided he could not explain the taste to someone who lacked a common background in fruits of other worlds. So he invited Rez to follow him and taste for himself.
Rez was amused to see they had added a covered porch on the back side of the dome. It was made of local materials -- scrub wood lashed together with woven grasses in a fairly random pattern rather like an ornate blind on each side, and open on the side facing out from the dome. The roof seemed made of grass matting. The baskets stood in a row, each nearly full. Rez sampled a few and agreed it was impossible to describe, familiar and alien at the same time. Nonetheless, they were utterly captivating in taste, and he had to restrain himself to keep from eating any more.
Henry laughed when he saw Rez’s reaction. He drawled, “That right there could make a lot of money!”
14
For all his primitive act, Henry was a formidable exobiologist. From a small desk near the back door, he picked up a computer display device roughly twice the size of those most people carried. A couple of strokes and he presented Rez a data dump showing an unusual nutritional profile for the berries. A human could survive on them alone for a while without suffering any harm. When Rez looked up with a nod, Henry stroked the screen again and a new note of pride came over his face. The display showed the berries also possessed some surprising rare medicinal qualities, too.
He grinned at Rez and spoke softly, “Think what an extract of them berries would offer to someone trying to colonize a marginal planet.” Rez saw it immediately. Those berries would easily pay a year’s keep for the entire Randell Colony with just a couple of metric tons.
Rez couldn’t suppress the smile. “Henry, what would it take to collect a ton of them?”
The old man slapped himself on side of his thigh. “We done got a quarter ton by ourselves in the past two weeks! That shed nearest the house is full of `em. They don’t hardly go bad and we’ve had time to dry a whole bunch, make preserves, juice, everything. They grow so thick we ain’t had to move out of that first draw yet, but we can see `em running plumb up the next ridge.”
As gently as he could, Rez suggested, “You should have told someone, Henry. We’d have been glad to help and get some samples sent out for confirmation of your findings.”
Henry looked just a bit abashed. “That’s probably the one thing I never learned too well. I always kinda kept to myself. If Ma hadn’t latched onto me herself, I’d probably never got hitched. I jest get so wrapped up in what I’m doing, I almost forget why I’m doing it.” He paused a moment, then added, “You don’t seem to have no trouble communicating, though.”
Rez tried to be reassuring. “No harm done, Henry, and thanks. Frankly, everyone else in the colony is busy, too. Had I not volunteered to come out, you might not see anyone face to face for another few months or so. Let me take some of the berries and a copy of your data. We’ll organize the exploitation of this stuff pronto!”
With that, Henry called for his girls to come help him get “a right good sample” ready for Rez to haul back to the administration building. Rez noticed there was one young boy watching, and three older daughters doing the work. None of them were especially pretty at first glance. Rez busied himself making sure his personal device had a copy of the data, then looked up to discover the eldest girl was holding a small knapsack out for him. In the background, Henry announced, “This here’s Delia.”
He reached out for it with a smile, but almost froze. Delia might have been a rather plain girl, but her eyes were extraordinary. Best of all, Rez was utterly certain she had a very deep soul flourishing behind those eyes. He held her gaze until she blushed and turned her face downward with a smile. Yet she did not move until he thanked her verbally.
On his hike back, the aroma of fresh baked pastries made from the berries pestered him all the way home. For Rez, the most valuable prize was not the berries, nor any of the baked goods made from them. Something stirred which he had feared might have died long ago.
15
Routine traffic from corporate headquarters:
Administrative recommendation to hire Restas E. Ziskel as new manager of Randell Colony is approved by the Board of Controllers, based on unanimous vote of colonists. Please note the contract attached to this message. Convey our congratulations to Mr. Ziskel, and also on his recent marriage to Cordelia Checkers. Finally, we congratulate the entire colony for being the most profitable in the division two years running.
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