The Seasoning
Page 9
“Yeah?” Scott asked, watching for her reaction.
Mia had never heard anything like it. It was noisy and rhythmic, rather than melodic, but it had a certain … urgency that spoke to her on some deep level.
“Yeah,” she repeated. “Jacked. Totally.”
Scott grinned. “I knew you’d like it. Now come meet my sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Sure do. She’s in the tent.” He lifted the flap and beckoned. Mia saw two white cases that contrasted with the sea-green fabric of the tent, like icebergs floating in an ocean. Two bedrooms lay beyond the living area, behind zip-up doors, each containing a cot and mattress.
A girl with the same dark hair as Scott was sitting on a chair next to the cases, her pale face drawn, dark circles under her eyes. She looked … tired, perhaps unwell. At the sight of Mia, though, she brightened and stood up.
“Hi, I’m Suki.” She looked a little younger than Scott, Mia thought, and perhaps a year younger than her.
“Mia,” she said, holding out her hand. Suki looked at her hand for a moment, as if wondering why she was offering it, then smiled and shook it.
“Scott said you hung out together,” Suki said.
“Yes, hanging in the wild lands,” Mia said.
“Wild lands? That’s what you call the forest?”
“Yes,” Mia said, shrugging. “That’s what they are.”
“Of course they are,” Scott said.
“Are they really wild?” Suki asked.
“Uh huh,” Mia said. These people are nice but they sure seem a bit slow. “There are wild animals there. Rabbits, birds, all sorts. Do you want to see?”
Suki looked at Scott, who shrugged.
“OK,” she said, nodding her head. “That’d be cool. What should I wear?”
Mia looked down at her own clothes. Like all the Haven girls, she wore a sleeveless crop top and shorts. They all wore a riot of colors, but never much, due to the warm climate. They rarely wore shoes – only when they were needed for protection.
“Have you got something like this?”
Suki shook her head. She and Scott both wore pants made of some kind of woven blue fabric; T-shirts, and shoes.
“We didn’t have much space for clothes.”
Mia’s eyes brightened. “I know! We’ll make some for you!”
“You make your own clothes?”
Mia shook her head. “No, we have a machine for that. Come on, I’ll show you!”
Grabbing Suki’s hand, she led her out of the tent. “This way!” she said to Scott, who, despite not wanting to appear too interested, obeyed.
Haven had no shops, but it did have buildings used for storage, workshops, and anything else that involved what a Terran might call “work”. Mia led Scott and Suki to one of those buildings and into a room containing a clothing fabricator.
“Stand here,” Mia instructed Suki. She positioned her where the machine could scan her, and turned to the control screen. “What would you like?”
Suki seemed at a loss, as if she felt a little in awe of Mia, despite her relative lack of urban cool.
Like all the Haven children – or in her case, young adults – Mia was well above average in intelligence, good looks, and general all-around genetic fitness. She’d inherited her mother’s dark hair and elegant bone structure, and on Earth would have turned heads wherever she went. The effects of the Tau Ceti sun, combined with the darker skin tone she owed to her father, had turned her into a bronzed goddess. Her white crop top contrasted with her skin and red shorts to make a simple but stunning fashion statement.
“Er, what you’ve got, please,” Suki said.
Mia grinned. “Good choice. Color?”
“White top, like yours. And green shorts?”
“Green it is. Now stand still.” She pushed a button, and the fabricator took images and burst into life.
“Now you,” Mia said, shooing Suki away from the cameras and positioning Scott.
Scott shuffled his feet and looked down.
“Why don’t I just make you what my brother wears?” Mia said.
“Cool. Make mine red.”
The fabricator spat out Suki’s clothes, even as it took images for Scott’s. Mia gathered them up and handed them to Suki. “Here, put these on.”
Suki looked around. “Is there a changing room?”
Mia scratched her cheek. “No, what do you mean?”
“You know, somewhere private where I can change.”
“Just do it here,” Mia said, frowning. “There’s lots of room.”
She saw Suki exchange a look with Scott.
Scott broke the awkward silence. “Er, is that my gear?” he asked, pointing to the clothes just emerging from the fab.
Mia passed them to Scott. “Yes, here.”
“You know what?” he said. “I’m just going to scoot next door and try these on. Why don’t you help Suki?”
Mia looked surprised, but nodded. “OK.” She turned to Suki. “Let’s get your clothes off.”
Suki’s parting look at Scott pleaded for help, but he just grinned and winked.
A minute later, Mia cast a critical eye over the results. “No, this doesn’t look good.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Suki asked, her hands flying to her face.
“It’s you. You’re so … white. Why are you Earth people so white?”
Mia had never before seen untanned Caucasian skin. There were no prohibitions on nudity in Haven; everyone swam without bathing suits and dried themselves in the sun. No one born with pale skin had the opportunity to stay that way.
“We lived in Greenland in the winter,” said Suki. “We didn’t see much sun there, and there’s no sunlight on a starship.”
“Winter?” Mia asked. Suki couldn’t suppress a giggle. “The cold time of the year on Earth, when the days are short and there’s snow on the ground.”
“Oh yes.” Mia’s brow wrinkled. “Snow? You mean like ice? Outside?”
“I’ll tell you all about it,” Suki said, “when we get to the wild lands.”
“OK. But first we need to fix this, you can’t wear a top that’s the same color as your skin. It looks weird.”
Mia turned back to the fabricator and ordered another top. “Purple, I think.”
Suki relaxed and smiled.
Soon the machine delivered the replacement top and Mia handed it over. “Here, try this.”
No longer quite so self-conscious, Suki slipped off the white top and reached for the purple one, just as Scott arrived back from changing.
“Oh my God, sorry!” he said, looking away.
Suki squealed and covered her chest. “Get out! Get out!”
Scott covered his eyes and backed out, muttering apologies.
Mia scratched her cheek. “What’s the problem?”
“He saw me!” Suki said, her face turning bright pink.
“So? I see you too.”
“You don’t understand. He’s my brother.”
Mia shook her head in confusion.
“So, has our opinion changed?” David asked, as they sat around nursing cold drinks at the end of day three.
John and Heidi shared a glance and grinned.
“Maybe they aren’t so bad.”
“Amen to that,” Josh said. David could tell he was dreaming of Thai food.
“Those seeds and cells the van Zyls brought will be most helpful,” Nigel said. “As well as hops and lemon grass, they gave us a fantastic range of insects already bio-engineered to survive a high-CO2 atmosphere. They’ve probably pushed our terraforming efforts forward at least ten years.”
“The bugs are great, but the hops!” John said. He exchanged a smile with Heidi. “We owe that man, big time.”
“I’m impressed with Kevin,” David said. “I’d like to ask him to take on a leadership role. He could help integrate the passengers.”
“Ernie and the other engineers are great, too,” John said. “Right, H
eidi?”
Heidi nodded. “Most of them. They’ve helped us finish the first row of houses and make a start on the second row. People can move into the first row tomorrow, and we only need a few more days to finish the rest.”
“And we’ve got the first lander back,” John added. They’d taken the crawlers originally used to move the Hope’s landers, up to Lander Five, the closest to Haven. It had taken the lander over a day to grind its way down and park outside the front windows, next to the shuttle bay.
“The only problem is keeping Ernie and his boys focused on building houses. They keep skiving off to play with the lander.”
David raised his eyebrows. “They do?”
Heidi smiled. “They’re more like me than John – they’re almost all technical engineers – aerospace, electronics. Stasis chambers are more interesting to them than getting their hands dirty on civil jobs.”
John scowled in mock displeasure. “We need houses more than stasis chambers.” But he didn’t seem too displeased.
“So perhaps Ernie could fill a role leading the professionals?” David said.
“I’m sure of it,” John said. “I’ll ask him about it tomorrow if you like.”
David nodded. “Yes, do that. I’ll talk to Kevin.” He turned back to Heidi. “What did you mean by ‘most’?”
Heidi shared a look with John. “Some of them are … difficult.”
“Meaning?”
John replied this time. “They seem to fall into two groups. The first one, Ernie and his mates, are keen as mustard to get stuck into helping us. The second group – well, they do nothing without Harper’s say-so, and so far he ain’t said much.”
David frowned. “We haven’t seen much of him. He keeps to himself.”
“On the other hand, we’ve seen more than enough of Carla,” Grace said.
“Been making herself known, has she,” John said with a grin. “I had an entertaining chat with her myself.”
Nathalie pressed her lips together. “What do you mean, entertaining?”
John assumed the “uh oh” look now familiar to the others, who struggled to suppress smiles. “Uh, just that she, uh, has an interesting way of expressing herself.”
Nathalie’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”
“That, uh, she, uh …”
John looked around the table, a plea for help in his eyes.
David came to his rescue. “What John means is she does her best to either ingratiate or irritate. Most of us have experienced it at least once.”
Nathalie, Grace, Veronika, and Heidi all shared a look.
“Nuh uh.”
“Not us.”
Silence fell, during which the men exchanged looks of their own.
“Well, some of us,” David amended. “Does anyone have any other news about interactions with the newcomers?” he said, seeking to change the subject.
Nathalie opened her mouth before closing it again, words unsaid but eyes narrowed.
“The kids are making friends,” Veronika said, breaking the awkward moment. “Mia has made friends with the two without parents.”
“Suki and Scott,” Josh said.
“Yes, them. Did you hear their story?”
David shook his head.
“Their parents couldn’t afford to pay for everyone, so they only sent their children.”
Grace broke the silence that fell. “You know, I think Scott could share with Vasily until we get another room added on. And Suki could share with Joyce, they’re about the same age.” She looked at David, who didn’t even try to object. Considering Grace was the one who complained about their house being overcrowded, he didn’t have a leg to stand on – besides, he wasn’t sure he was in her good books right now.
“That’s a great idea,” Veronika said. “But Suki must come and stay with Mia. They are already firm friends.”
Josh shared a look with David. He, too, knew better than to argue.
“Great, that’s settled,” Grace said, looking satisfied by a charitable work done well. “We’ll tell them tomorrow.”
CHAPTER TEN
Early morning sun cast long shadows over the park, revealing tents like lines of beached whales on the northern shore of Crater Lake. Beyond them the new row of townhouses stood to attention, awaiting human occupants to bring them to life.
The clattering of pots and pans echoed across the lake as Haven’s early risers pulled together the beginnings of breakfast in the pavilion. David waited by the water’s edge for the rest of the colonists to catch up.
Today they would assign the houses and open the first row for occupation. The second row, separated from the first by a three-meter gap, proceeded at a frantic pace with the help of the new engineers. They’d connected up the first stasis chamber yesterday, and David had to restrain them from fetching another, much to their disappointment.
One of them, Chuck Swanson, turned out to be a stasis engineer. He and Heidi had hatched a plan to create a new purpose-built facility that would give them chambers for a variety of different sizes and purposes. Nigel and Josh elbowed to the front of the queue – they’d kept their embryos chilled for fifteen years in liquid nitrogen and couldn’t wait for something better.
“Daddy!”
David turned just in time to catch Emma as she came flying up the path and launched herself into his arms.
“Are we going to breakfast now?”
David smiled. “We sure are, now you’re here.”
“I wanna ride, Daddy.”
David lifted her onto his shoulders, and tried not to flinch as she grabbed his head, just missing his eyes. Grace caught up and slipped her hand into his, laughing, and together they walked to the park.
To the children’s delight they arrived in time for the first of the pancakes and waffles. They made a beeline for the counter, loading their plates and heading to the seats.
“Funny how we worried the new children might not fit in,” Grace said.
“There are still divisions, though,” David said.
Sure enough, the children had separated into distinct groups, but not colonists and newcomers. They’d divided along the same lines that had existed before the influx of new people: teenagers, pre-teens, littlies, and Elizabeth. Poor Elizabeth didn’t seem to fit with either the teenagers or the adults. She often ended up minding the little ones, a domain where she still ruled without protest.
Soon the pavilion filled to overflowing. People spilled out onto the lawn of the park and down to the lake, talking to their neighbors, wherever they may have come from.
But not everyone was contributing to the rising tide of goodwill. Edward and Carla were nowhere to be seen, and others kept to the fringes.
The Kendell family, with its two large and ungrateful children, was perched at a table, the wreckage of a substantial breakfast scattered about them. Despite the pleasant environment and full bellies, the complaining went on.
“I hate this place!” Jody Kendell said, her voice carrying. “I don’t like the food and I don’t like living in a tent! And I hate having to crap into a hole in the ground!”
“Shhh, dear,” said her mother, Molly, trying to soothe her. “It’s not a hole in the ground, it’s a composting toilet.”
“I don’t care! I want a proper house with a proper toilet! I want bacon and I want hamburgers and I don’t want to live in a cave!”
Her brother, Tyler, interjected with a loud belch.
“Don’t worry, muffin. We’ll work something out,” her father said to console her.
Jody didn’t seem willing to be consoled, and launched into another tirade, listing Haven’s shortcomings.
David’s expression as he watched them said it all.
Grace laughed. “It seems like we have our work cut out to win some of them over.”
Jake Cooper contemplated the crowd milling about the pavilion. All this happiness made him feel ill. He thrived on human misery, and if he filled his pockets because of it, all the better.
Worst of all, this place had no bars and no hookers. The types of girls that Jake Cooper went looking for after a hard day’s work couldn’t be found here. Jake liked them young, and he liked them Asian. He didn’t mind prostitutes, but Haven didn’t offer that kind of service, and Jake Cooper would not be satisfied jacking off to porn on his data pad.
No, sir.
Which led him to notice that pretty daughter of the colony leader. Notice her and follow her with his eyes wherever she went.
Sabine Pope felt like a fish out of water.
She’d never fitted in at home. She’d grown up in a rich household, an only child who enjoyed the trappings of the wealthy. As a little girl, she lacked for nothing, and spent her holidays in Paris, Rome, the Bahamas, and other exotic locations. She went to the most exclusive private schools and hung out with the sons and daughters of other wealthy parents.
But it soon soured. No one could call Sabine stupid, but she didn’t seem smart enough to stay out of trouble. While her friends struggled through their classes at school, she goofed off, distracting them with chatter and fooling around. This would have been enough to earn her the ire of her teachers all by itself, but to compound her sin she still topped every class. Nothing annoys a teacher more than a difficult student who also has the audacity to succeed.
Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, and in the copious time Sabine had left, due to her lack of study, she found trouble everywhere. Rebellion against authority became her trademark, and calls to the Dean’s office and suspensions followed her like night follows day.
She became a kind of antihero, admired by her peers for her daring and challenge of authority. For the first time in her life, she found herself the center of attention for the things she did, rather than for where she came from, and she liked it.
She liked it a lot.
Sabine found she couldn’t turn back, couldn’t stop. The last straw came when she turned up at school one day in her senior year with her first tattoo and her hair a spectacular shade of neon green. The fallout had been severe. She chafed under her punishment until one day she’d had enough, so she transferred a large chunk of her savings to digital cash and left. At seventeen, she was on the streets of Montréal fending for herself. She never looked back.