In all the years that have come and gone since then, that hologram has remained my most treasured gift.
—————
I turned off the hologram and carefully put it back on the shelf.
There was nothing I wanted to do about the class project. There was nothing I could do about the special project. So I read for a while and then went to bed.
And spent a restless night full of terrible dreams about destruction.
Chapter 2
I checked my personal computer pad the moment I woke up. I checked it before I left for class. I checked it the moment I got to the classroom.
Nothing. No confirmation or denial for my special project.
The locusts had been busy since class ended yesterday, and everyone could see this was leading to disaster. Requests zipped back and forth, mostly requests to the Instructor who was our advisor to be allowed to terminate the locusts down to a workable population. The same message came back every single time: termination was unacceptable. Balance had to be restored by natural means—which meant transferring into that area or producing enough birds, reptiles, and mammals to consume the locusts.
Requests for predators poured to Stev’s and Whit’s consoles since they were the team members who were training to become a Right Hand—a Restorer’s primary technical assistant—and had some pull with the generation tank techs. They forwarded the requests, which were acknowledged but put in the queue with the rest of the student requests. That meant all we had to work with was what we already had.
The lack of response caused a lot of muttering and grumbling.
The locusts weren’t the only problem. The deer had eaten my young woodland right down to the ground. All I really had left to work with were the mature trees and the acorns and saplings I still hadn’t planted. And I had no intention of sacrificing them.
Then Benj thought to check the team rating and discovered that it had dropped so low none of us would qualify for any kind of starting position on a Restorer’s team.
That’s when the yelling really started.
Of course, Zerx, Dermi, and Fallah were the ones who yelled the loudest.
The rest of the morning was filled with scrambled panic. Dermi started transferring the deer any old place within our designated area. Fallah finally released some of her carnivores and plunked them down in the middle of the deer. Benj dumped mice, squirrels, and rabbits into the meadowlands already covered with locust, not giving any thought to whether or not any of those animals would help with the locust problem. Thanie transferred her songbirds to that area, and Dayl poured in a load of reptiles.
It was a mess.
I did very little throughout the morning. I politely answered requests for more trees and made no promises. When the requests became more forceful, I said my order for saplings was already in the student queue and I would begin establishing the woodland as soon as trees were available.
It was almost time for the midday break when I keyed in the coordinates for the other island.
I stared at the screen for a long minute, my heart, and my hopes, sinking.
The island now had a Restorer code.
The midday meal was . . . unpleasant. Stev, Thanie, Whit, and I sat at a table by ourselves. None of us wanted to talk. Thanie was the only one who tried—once.
“It’s early in the project,” she said, looking hopefully at each of us. “We’ll be able to restore Balance soon and get our rating back.”
“The only good thing about all of this is that the force field won’t allow our stupidity to spill into anyone else’s area,” Stev replied with enough bitterness that none of us dared say anything else.
Judging from the angry looks that were flashing between other tables around the food court, our team wasn’t the only one having problems. Which didn’t make me feel any better.
It was toward the end of the class day when I finally checked my personal computer pad again. My parents sometimes left messages to let me know if they would be working late or if there was a particular chore I should take care of.
There was a message for me. I read it three times before I finally understood what it said.
My request for the island had been granted. The code I had seen was the one that had been assigned to me for the duration of the project.
Feeling dizzy, I hugged the computer pad and tried to draw in enough air to breathe properly.
A warm hand settled on my shoulder.
“Willow?” Stev said, sounding concerned. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying not to gasp out the words.
Stev studied me carefully. “You don’t look fine.”
“No, I’m fine. Really.” But my hands shook as I tried to remember how to close up my console.
Stev brushed my hand aside and closed the console in the proper sequence.
“Come on,” he said. “I’ll walk you home.”
“I’m fine,” I said again. At that moment, I wasn’t sure if I was going to dance down the corridors or burst into tears. I did know that I really needed to be alone for a while to think this through.
Stev walked me to my family’s living quarters. He didn’t ask any of the questions I could see in his eyes, and I was grateful.
I spent an hour in my room staring at that message.
The island was mine. Mine.
I couldn’t possibly build a viable ecosystem for a land mass that size and maintain Balance all by myself. In fact, it would be totally foolish to even try to establish an ecosystem over the whole island all at once.
I wasn’t sure how much time I would have. Sooner or later, someone would realize that a student had been given an island that should have been handled by a primary Restorer. But if I could establish a full ecosystem in a few thousand acres to prove I could do it, maybe I would be allowed to continue—or at least be part of the team that finished restoring the island.
I couldn’t do it alone. Life-forms, from the smallest to the largest, had to be established. Each link in the chain of survival had to be formed carefully and in the right order. I needed someone who would act as an RRH—a Restorer’s Right Hand. I needed someone who would support my work without trying to change it to suit his own vision, who could work independently, someone who could be counted on to value Balance.
I needed Stev.
Since I had an hour before my parents got home, I keyed in the island’s coordinates and requested lists of all the species that were viable for this world and for that particular island.
The computer immediately requested the password.
Huh? I hadn’t set a password yet.
I went back to the message that had given me the Restorer code. At the bottom of the message was the password: unicorn.
An odd word, I thought as I sounded it out. And it seemed equally odd that the password had been chosen for me. But this was no time to quibble. I made my request for species lists, added the password, and waited.
The lists were daunting. I’d had no idea that so many of the species that were stored in those vast honeycomb chambers were suitable for this world. No wonder the Restorers were looking a little dazed.
The computer chimed the warning that the hour was up. I saved the lists under my password, closed down the computer, and went to make dinner since it was my turn.
When I pressed the pad next to the food slot to indicate I was about to place my order, I was still muttering, “Earthworms, grubs, tadpoles, flies.” Fortunately, the computer suggested that I place another order from the available menu. I could just imagine Father’s reaction if I set a platter of tadpoles and bugs over earthworm pasta in front of him. No, this wouldn’t be a good time for a lecture on keeping my mind focused on the task at hand. Not a good time at all.
I chose meatloaf, which w
ould please Father, and a variety of vegetables to go with it, which would please Mother.
I had the table set when Father came home. Mother arrived a few minutes later, looking distracted.
She filled her plate without any comments, then sat there, pushing her peas around with her fork.
After a few minutes, Father said, “Has Britt made a decision?”
“She’s stepping down as a primary Restorer,” Mother replied.
“Britt?” I said, snapping to attention. “Why is Britt stepping down? Is she sick again?” Britt was the oldest Restorer on our ship. Forty score and seventy were the years allotted to us for Atonement. Britt had celebrated her 800th birthday several months ago, shortly before she became very ill. She had recovered and seemed fine whenever I saw her, although I remember Zashi, her RRH and life partner, had been very concerned for a while.
“Zashi is also stepping down,” Mother said, still rearranging her peas. “He says he wants to concentrate on his tale telling.”
Zashi was a wonderful tale teller. Whenever one of his story hours was listed in the activities, I was there. But if Britt and Zashi were no longer going to lead a team . . .
“What’s going to happen to Britt’s team?” I asked.
“Oh, they’ll help out wherever they’re needed for a while,” Mother said, sounding vague—which wasn’t like Mother at all.
“Then Britt didn’t name a successor?” Father asked, frowning at his meatloaf.
“Not yet.”
And even if she had, a new Restorer would form a new team, so there would be the inevitable shuffling as people settled into new assignments.
Father sighed. “Looks like some of us will have to shoulder the extra work in order to take care of the area that Britt had intended to restore.”
“No,” Mother said, a funny catch in her voice. “Someone has taken responsibility for restoring Balance to the island.”
I choked.
Mother gave me a light thump on the back. “Better?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
I’d been given Britt’s island. Britt’s. Blessed All, she was the most talented Restorer to come along in several generations. Everyone said so.
“Are you all right, Willow?” Mother asked, brushing her hand over my forehead. “You look pale.”
That got Father’s full attention.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Really.”
Mother smiled, but it wasn’t her usual, easy smile. I could tell she was straining not to say a lot of things. Which made me wonder if she knew who had taken responsibility for restoring Balance to Britt’s island.
I spent the evening in my room. Father had gone to a rehearsal for a play that his theater group was doing. Mother was listening to music.
My feelings kept going round and round. First feeling overwhelmed by the task I’d been given, then excited, then scared.
Finally I sat in meditation to become attuned to the Blessed All. In that silence, I found the quiet stillness within me. And then all I felt was joy.
I could do this. I would do this. I would bring life back to the island—not only for my sake and the land’s sake, but now for Britt as well.
Chapter 3
The next morning, just before the computer chimed the start of class, I sidled over to Stev’s console.
“Stev, I’ve received permission for a special project. Would you help me?”
His eyes lit up with pleasure. “Sure, Willow.” Then he added reluctantly, “Will you credit me for my work?”
I hesitated a moment too long. And remembered a moment too late that other people had asked for Stev’s help on a project and hadn’t given him credit for his work. I’m sure the Instructors were aware of his part of it, and there was probably a private note in his file acknowledging the work, but it wasn’t formally listed on his credits—and that could make a difference in earning the qualifications necessary to work on a Restorer’s team.
His eyes dimmed. His face hardened. “Just tell me what you need,” he said—and turned his back on me.
He didn’t sit with Thanie, Whit, and me during the midday break. He didn’t say a thing to me during the whole day.
When the computer chimed the end of the class day, I gathered my courage and approached him.
“Could you stay a few minutes?” I asked quietly, noticing the sullen looks Dermi was giving me and the way she was lingering so that she would leave at the same time Stev did.
She left in a huff when Stev finally noticed her and gave her a cold stare.
Dermi was one of the people who hadn’t given him credit for his work on one of her projects. Why she kept expecting him to ask her for a date after pulling that stunt was something the rest of us couldn’t figure out.
“What is it?” Stev asked, not sounding the least bit friendly.
I took a deep breath. “If this project succeeds, I’ll be very happy to give you credit for your work. But if it doesn’t—”
“Succeed or fail, I either get credit or I don’t,” he snapped.
“I think you should see the project before you say that.”
Going to my console, I keyed in the coordinates and asked for a red line to show the boundaries of the project.
When the red line appeared, all I could do was stare. The message granting my request for the special project had contained the dimensions of the area that was now my responsibility, but I’d been so stunned and excited about getting the island, I hadn’t paid attention to the numbers. It hadn’t occurred to me that my designated area would be larger than I’d requested.
Not only was I responsible for the island, I was also responsible for a band of salt water that surrounded the island. Which meant I was responsible for a small part of another entirely different ecosystem.
Stev studied my screen for a minute. “You’ve got that little island off the main one a Restorer is working on?”
“Not exactly,” I said weakly. Stev was looking at a tiny island off the east coast. It probably had been connected to my island at one time.
“So what is your project, Willow?” Stev said a bit impatiently.
“Well . . .” I gestured vaguely at the screen. “Everything inside the red line.”
Stev’s mouth fell open. “Willow!” He braced himself against the back of my chair. “Do you know how big that is?”
I certainly did.
Stev took a couple of deep breaths. “So who do you have for your team?”
“Well . . . Actually . . . You.”
It was more luck than intention that he ended up sitting in my chair and not on the floor.
“Are you crazy?” he shouted.
I knelt in front of him, grabbed his hands, and held on tight. “We can do it, Stev. I know we can! And we don’t have to do all of it all at once. Look.” I jumped up, keyed in the boundary lines of the area I’d decided to work on first. “We can start here, with just this much. That’s enough land to create Balance. We can work out from there.”
I wasn’t sure if Stev couldn’t think of anything to say or didn’t dare say what he was thinking.
“We can do it,” I said again.
“That’s a Restorer code,” he said slowly as he studied the image on the screen.
“That’s the code I was given for this project.”
He took another deep breath. “With a Restorer code, we wouldn’t be stuck in the student queue. We could use any generation tank that was available.”
“We’ll have to start from the ground up,” I said as my brain began its stubborn chant of earthworms, grubs, tadpoles, flies.
“This really is crazy.” Then he smiled. “Count me in. Have you made any lists for what’s suitable for that land?”
“I’ll transfer copie
s to your personal computer pad,” I said happily.
Stev looked at the lists. Then he finally looked at me. “You’re the Restorer on this project. Where do you want to start?”
I’d already thought of that. Balance. Always Balance. Every living thing needed a food source. “The simpler life-forms, especially the ones that aerate the soil. Seeds for grasses and wildflowers.”
Stev nodded. “I’ll do some checking. The generation tanks may already be producing some of these for other teams. With life-forms like this, the techs usually use enough genetic material to create in batches, then portion it out. That way no team is dependent on the genetic variables that might be in a single batch. We decide on a total number that we want in the designated area, then ask that a percentage of the total come from each batch until we reach our allotment. The grass seed won’t be a problem. I’ll go down to the tank rooms now and get that started. There should be some to distribute by tomorrow afternoon.”
I smiled. He was talking to himself more than to me, which is what he usually did when he was focused and interested in the task.
He finally stopped, looked at me, let out a shout of laughter, gave me a fast hug, and headed for the door. When I didn’t follow, he stopped. “Aren’t you coming?”
Still smiling, I shook my head. “I have to close down. Then I’ll work at home. You can reach me on my personal pad.”
When he was gone, I keyed in the coordinates I had searched for last night. My screen filled with a planet-side picture of a stream dancing over rocks.
Each link in the chain of survival had to be formed carefully and at the right time. But the simpler life-forms and the grasses would not be the first bit of life I gave back to this land.
There, by the stream, I planted the young willow tree that I had saved from my student allotment.
Chapter 4
I got to class early the next morning. Stev was already there.
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