The Kicking Tree

by Trevor Stubbs

  “How big is this spaceship?” asked Jack.

  “We don’t call it a ship. Ships are much smaller and designed to connect places much faster. We call this a ‘Mobile Emigration Village’ or MEV. All the MEVs are named after villages. Ours is Great Marton. It’s named after James Cook’s village – you know the great explorer and sailor on Planet Earth One in the eighteenth century. It is almost 2500 metres long and 2000 metres wide. There are twelve floors, that makes it over fifty metres high – not counting the expandable dock on the top and the mooring bar on the bottom. There are eight main engines but we have another four smaller backups that sit on swivel platforms on the stabilising wings, fore and aft.”

  They made contact with the girls again and Matt and Sass turned aside to speak to each other.

  “I like what I see!” smiled Jalli as her eyes spied her Jack now dressed in a long flowing robe. “Pity there isn’t a camera in the bag!”

  “You look fantastic! I love that dress.”

  “It does feel nice,” said Jalli swishing the skirts. “These people are really kind. I think we are in some kind of hotel-type building.”

  “Actually Jalli we’re on a spaceship – a space village. We’re not on a planet at all. We’re travelling through outer space. I’m not sure where they’re going – emigrating somewhere.”

  “That will explain what Sass meant by talking of arriving in twenty-five years.”

  Matt and Sass turned to them. “You two OK?”

  “Yeah,” said Jack, “as newcomers that just walked into your program – your MIVRE – how much can you tell us about where we are – where we really are?”

  “It must be awfully confusing,” observed Sass, “come to our suite and we’ll tell you all about it.”

  “It must be nearly time for tea,” said Matt with enthusiasm. “Are you hungry?”

  “Now you mention it, I could eat something,” reflected Jack. “Do you two live together? I mean, do you share the same suite?”

  “No, not yet. We will next year when we’re married. Come on!” Matt led them to a bank of lifts, ascended two floors and emerged on a very long corridor the sort Jalli had seen in the big hotel in Wanulka when she had gone inside on a sporting occasion. The doors were numbered and Sass opened the door of number fourteen. The suite consisted of a central lounge with a kitchen on the right and a bathroom with three bedrooms on the left – all on the same level.

  “Mum! We’ve got visitors,” yelled Matt. “This is Jack and this is Jalli. They stepped into the MIVRE. We’ve been praying for someone, and they have been sent. Jack comes from Earth One and – you won’t believe this – Jalli here is from Raika in the Andromeda galaxy! The teacher said we hadn’t had contact there in four thousand years.”

  “You are welcome. Raika! It looks as if the colony has evolved beautifully.” Matt’s mum quickly took stock of the situation. “This is good news. Have you let the commander know?”

  “Not yet Mum.”

  “OK that’s fine, we’ll communicate straight away. Can’t have people thinking we’ve been boarded by space pirates!” Matt’s mum took them by the hand. “Welcome, my name’s Yvonne, and this is Will,” she said as Matt’s dad appeared. Jalli performed her Wanulkan curtsy.

  “Charming!” Will declared, too astonished to say anything else. Mum repeated Matt’s story. Will walked across to the intercom and left a message on the commander’s private number. “She will call round in person, you see. It is not often we get visitors. Only once in a very long while.”

  Jack and Jalli were ushered to a seat and sat side by side. Will talked about the mission to a new planet. They had left a secondary human colony (Planet Earth Two) almost seventeen years ago when the children were still small. Eighty families had been chosen but not all the children were theirs. Each family had been allocated at least one orphan to look after. They felt they had been sent by God who looked after them and their mission.

  They were familiar with the white gates, or their equivalent, because they had kept in touch through very privileged people like Jalli and Jack with the rest of humanity around the universe. “You know, you are very privileged don’t you? This only happens once or twice in a decade!” the man emphasised. Jack and Jalli said they knew they were extremely fortunate people but had not thought of themselves as particularly special.

  “Oh, you are special alright. But we’ve been blessed with more than our share of visitors like you. That’s why Matt and Sass recognised you. Cut off as we are, we think God knows that we need visitors more often.” It quickly became clear that with less than two hundred and fifty people on board, meeting new people was very important. No matter how advanced the MIVRE became, the people in it still lacked the ability to hold much of a conversation as Jack and Jalli had discovered.

  Sass explained that the purpose of bringing orphans like her was not just to give them a home – although that was a desirable thing – but to broaden the gene pool for the next generations. Matt was his parent’s natural son but Sass had been adopted. Strict rules applied to ensure the best possible success of the new colony, and each of the children had been allotted a future marriage partner from the outset. Matt and Sass had been thus paired, and had grown up with each other knowing that when they got to eighteen they would be married, and then moved into a suite of their own as soon as Sass fell pregnant.

  The late afternoon meal consisted of meat and fresh vegetables and fruit. Jalli wondered how they managed this on their craft.

  “Our MEV is very big,” explained Sass. “We have a farm – well barns – in which animals are raised. They are very noisy.”

  “There is also a hydroponics house for vegetables,” added Matt.

  “But I like the tropical orchard house best,” interjected Sass, “it’s got real soil in it and trees. There are many species of butterflies and bees for pollination. The bees also give us honey. I’m sure you will be allowed to look round. We aren’t allowed in there too often ourselves to preserve the environment, but of course you are our special guests.”

  Jack asked Matt what it was like growing up with the girl he knew he was to marry. Matt looked at Sass who giggled. “No problem,” he smiled, “because I’ve got a good one! How does it work where you come from?” Jack explained that in most places on Earth they had moved (or were moving) to a system in which young people were left to make their own choices. Those people who were told who to marry were beginning to complain when they learned about the customs in other parts of the world. Jalli said that in Wanulka it was left entirely to the young people themselves – even when their parents thought they didn’t like the choices they were making.

  “So you can approach someone you haven’t grown up with and ask them?” inquired Matt. “That must be very difficult.”

  “It is,” replied Jack. “These days you’re supposed to date first, ask them out to do something. Then you’re expected to get to know each other very well – then even live together (although that is not universally approved of). But it does mean you don’t have to have anyone you don’t like. In fact, I never thought I would find a girlfriend because I never met anybody I liked enough.”

  “Until you met Jalli!” put in Sass.

  “Right,” agreed Jack, “but Jalli just kind of, well, that was different because we were sort of both given white gates.”

  “So you were meant for each other. God chose you to be together?”

  “Yes,” said Jalli, “but we don’t feel we have to accept that. I wouldn’t be with anyone I didn’t want to be with. It always has to be my free choice.”

  “And that matters,” added Jack giving Jalli a little hug, “because that makes me feel really good. It means she wants me for me – not because of any other reason.”

  “I can see that. But what if you meet somebody you like but they don’t like you?” asked Matt.

  “Oh. That happens all the time. You thank them for their approach and then politely tell them you’re not interested,” ans
wered Jalli.

  “That must be very difficult… for everyone,” stated Matt.

  “It is. Especially if people are really keen on someone.”

  Sass took up the conversation, “It seems a very complicated way of doing things. But I do like the idea of being able to say no if you have been allocated someone who smells and you can’t stand them!”

  “Sass!” said Will, “You must not talk about people like that.”

  “But sometimes boys do smell! Anna says her intended stinks. She can’t stand him!”

  “Well she hasn’t grown up yet. She’ll think otherwise in a couple of years.”

  “She’ll be eighteen next year. He not only stinks, he’s rude to her. And, anyway, he can’t stand her,” continued Sass. “If people were allowed to choose their own partners it would be much better.”

  “So. Who would you choose?” asked Yvonne.

  “Matt, of course!”

  “How many people think like you about their intended, and how many people think like Anna?” quizzed Yvonne.

  “There’s a few like Anna… there’s Jo, of course.” Jo and Pete were a special case. They hadn’t been allocated to each other but had “taken a shine” to each other since they were small. They had become special friends and had lodged an official request to be reallocated to each other. The case was being heard the very next day.

  “They are the exception,” insisted Will. But it was important to deal with the issue properly now to avoid chaos or even conflict in the future.

  “Are they ‘in love’?” asked Jack.

  “In love?” queried Matt.

  “Jo and Pete. Are they ‘in love’ with each other?”

  “Well, they love one another. Most of us do that. They are special friends. What do you mean by ‘in’ love?”

  Jack looked at Jalli. How did one explain it?

  Jalli tried, “Well,” she smiled and took Jack’s hand, “it’s like when you meet someone that’s really special, really different and you know they… well, when they excite you… they sweep you off your feet, figuratively speaking that is – only in our case Jack actually did it!”

  “Did what?”

  “Swept me off my feet! He carried me to the bench because of a bruise on my hip… look, it’s when your heart beats faster when you are with someone and… you want to kiss them… and be with them all the time. When you’re ‘in love’ you can’t concentrate on much else, and your school work goes to pot, and you can’t sleep at night, and you can’t wait till you see them again and…”

  “… you can’t stop talking about it!” interrupted Jack laughing.

  “… and it is when you forgive them for being cruel and teasing!” Jalli pushed Jack playfully. “It happens when you meet someone that you probably hadn’t known about – but is just really different and made for you…”

  “So, it’s an emotional response to discovering the person you have been allocated to all along,” put in Will.

  “Well, yes. I suppose so. That is if you believe in Someone who sorts it all out like that.”

  “So there you are, Matt. Being in love is about finding the person who is right for you,” stated Will.

  “But is it the same as loving someone?” wondered Yvonne.

  “No it isn’t,” broke in Jack. “You can be in love and have all those feelings, but loving is really about how you treat a person and care for them – not just how you feel about them. I am in love with Jalli, but I am learning to love her not just because she’s great but because I want to look after her. My mum keeps reminding me of that. My dad said he never stopped feeling love for my mum, but he didn’t love her enough to stop drinking or doing things only for himself.”

  “Things didn’t work out for Jack’s parents,” explained Jalli.

  “But they chose each other?” asked Matt.

  “Yes. But my mum wasn’t any good at choosing,” responded Jack.

  “Being able to choose doesn’t mean many mistakes aren’t made,” added Jalli. “I believe young people should listen to the ones that love them, as well as their hearts. I have chosen Jack as my boyfriend, but I do think God has decided Jack and I should be together too. I wouldn’t travel around the universe with him if I didn’t!”

  “And what about your parents?”

  “They are both happy,” answered Jack. “My mum really likes Jalli. At the moment she’s staying with Jalli’s grandma. She thinks Jalli’s the best person I’ve ever met.”

  “You are both much blessed. And very welcome,” added Yvonne. “Being in love is wonderful. But giving and receiving true love is forever…”

  “I think Jo should be allowed to choose Pete,” stated Sass bringing the conversation back home. “Her intended says he doesn’t want to marry her if her heart is elsewhere. And I think love is more important than populating a colony! We, our generation, didn’t choose to be part of this mission.”

  “Sass! We have guests. Now is not the time to debate your politics,” urged Will.

  “OK. But…” Sass was saved from her rebellious fervour because the door buzzer sounded. Will went to answer it.

  “Commander Juliet! We were expecting you. Come on in and meet our two guests who arrived this afternoon in the MIVRE through a ‘white gate’!” A smart middle aged lady, with the air of someone who knew what she was about, came sweeping into the room. “So, She has sent us some visitors to brighten our MEV. Pleased to meet you both.”

  “I’m Jalli and this is Jack,” Jalli curtsied.

  “Jalli’s from Raika!” emphasised Will. “Jack is from Earth One.”

  “So now. Sit down. Tell us your story!” So Jack and Jalli recounted everything. Nothing seemed strange to these people, they all accepted it as quite normal.

  “Excellent!” exclaimed Commander Juliet. “You are very welcome indeed. Sass and Matt here have been especially blessed. They are model young people that are most respected on Great Marton and thoroughly deserve to be the people to have been chosen to host you.”

  “We are very honoured to be here,” said Jack sincerely. “Whenever we have gone through a white gate before we have been asked to do a special task. Do you know if there is anything we should be doing here?”

  “Doing. No. Just being. Being is far more important than doing. You are here to bring a blast of fresh air into our MEV and delight the young people especially. You will not have been sent if you are not excellent examples of human life. And we crave for news, of course, so we will expect you to tell us the latest from your planets. And since we haven’t heard from Raika in several thousand years you have a lot to recount,” she gave a beaming smile at Jalli. “Sass, Matt, I charge you with writing everything down! You will be welcome tomorrow afternoon on the main deck when we shall all assemble, and I will ask you both to address the whole company. Five minutes about yourselves, and five minutes about your planets. Sadly we have a bit of business to deal with, a representation from two of our young people, but I hope that won’t deflect from your visit.”

  “May we take them round the tropical house in the morning?” asked Sass.

  “Of course you may. Just tell the guardian I sent you. Indeed I expect you to conduct them round the whole village.” And with that Commander Juliet scooped up her skirts and swept back out of the room.

  19

  Early the next morning Sass and Matt delighted in showing their guests around the MEV. They were welcomed with great enthusiasm everywhere. Jalli had not been training properly of late and appreciated the exercise as they traversed ten decks hundreds of metres long. The three central corridors were serviced with a moving walkway part of the way. They visited the recycling department that dealt with everything from broken electronics to organic waste, including human. This was on the same floor as the nuclear power plant, a restricted area.

  Much of the lower three decks were taken up with hydroponics. Jack was amazed at the density of the production. “We need to have the capacity to feed over four hundred people
before we arrive,” explained Matt. “This is my department; I have been especially trained for this work. We have tons of fertiliser stored if we need it, but all of our chemicals come from recycling at the moment,” he explained. The wheat and barley had been genetically modified to produce a very high yield of grain. The grain to stalk and root ratio was very high. “We’ve improved it since we started,” continued Matt. There was every type of vegetable imaginable. Between them Jack and Jalli recognised most of them, but there were others from planets that had not exported them as far as Earth One and Raika. Some of them needed very extreme conditions – high amounts of ultraviolet light, or a six hour day routine, or very high temperatures and water close to boiling point, or their roots immersed in high amounts of potassium – things that would kill most other things. But these conditions could be reproduced to perfection on board an MEV. The vast hydroponic chambers were sealed behind glass screens to enable these specific environments to be maintained.

  Matt took them to the lab where he worked where they met a number of other people their age. They passed offices, a hospital and a school. Sass explained that they had all gone through school together and the same institution had moved from being a nursery to a university. They attended here for the arts and humanities. A history lecture was under way. Sass was training to be a nurse and hoped to do midwifery as soon as the babies started coming along. She showed Jalli the perinatal suite that was presently in moth balls. “Many of us will be turning eighteen soon and then we hope to have some babies,” she said. Jalli couldn’t resist asking Sass how they managed to maintain such a high degree of discipline. In Wanulka a sizeable number of the students had been engaging in sex long before they were eighteen. It was a national issue. Sass replied that officially it never happened but, and here she bade Jalli not to repeat this, in fact it did happen. “Because it is so easy,” she explained, “but it is stupid because if you fall pregnant you are isolated from everybody, have to leave study and lose all honour. There are currently two babies – but they were born secretly in the residential section and they and their mothers are kept incommunicado.