I held my breath. "Elle, I understand that you want to live on your own. But you shouldn't have run away to the forest. You could have asked me for an apartment. I'd have made sure you got something decent and I'd have done so without anyone else being involved." He paused and then, so there'd be no mistaking his meaning, he added, "We can take care of it now if you wish. If you want an apartment like everyone else on the Destiny. Just you and me, we don't need any help."
It was almost a minute before I could speak well enough to reply. "Thank you." He tipped his head and stared at me hard. The friendly eyes were still friendly but they were also granite. He was giving me a gift and I'd better not make him regret it. "Thank you, Wilkes. You won't be sorry."
He looked again at my little domicile. "Bring this stuff to town later. Tonight." When no one would notice and ask questions. "We can get the paperwork done now, though, and find you a nice place." He smiled at Alicia and the granite disappeared. He loved his granddaughter dearly. "The kitten can come too, of course."
Alicia hugged her grandfather and I stuffed the kitten back into my pocket as we all headed to town. As we emerged from the apple orchard, he made the laconic comment that there were some perks to being the mayor of New Rochelle.
By evening, I had a furnished apartment. Wilkes Zander's eyes had widened when he tried to give me a comunit and I said I didn't need one. "I've got one already. Doesn't everyone on the Destiny have one?"
"Yes, of course." His expression said that some day he'd ask how I'd gotten something no one on earth had access to. I wondered if I'd ever feel comfortable enough to give him an answer. "Of course you have a comunit. Of course you do. You're a colonist." He checked the database and found that I'd been using it regularly and that puzzled him even more. "I'd get that mattress out of the apple orchard as soon as possible if I were you without making it look like you've been living there." Then he took Alicia and left. I collapsed on the couch of my new home, Braveheart climbed onto my lap and I looked around, daring to breathe at last.
There was a screen on the wall. It was now possible to communicate with friends and relatives on earth until the space ship got so far out in space that the time delay between questions and answers would make even time-delayed conversations impractible. Then electronic letters would be the only option. I'd had no way to access the communication system with earth before getting the apartment so I'd had no way to tell my family how I was doing.
I decided against contacting them face to face the first time we communicated. Their expressions might give me away. Instead I sent a text message to my cousins and even then I was careful about the wording in case messages were vetted by someone on the Destiny. I told them that I was now a resident of New Rochelle and everything was as going as planned. I knew they'd get the general idea and would fill in the blanks. Then I sat back and waited for them to contact me. They did so by Skype less than half an hour later and they were just as careful about what they said as I'd been though it was clear that there were a million questions they'd ask if they could.
My next message was carefully thought out. "The mayor got me an apartment. He's very understanding." When they got that message, their reply was nods to indicate that they knew what I was really saying.
After another delay and another response on their part, I added, "I like New Rochelle. My comunit works everywhere on the Destiny so he didn't have to get me a new one." Betts' imperceptible nod much later said she understood that I'd found the comunit she'd stuck in my pocket and that I'd made good use of it. "So things are going along. The only negative is that I miss you guys. I wish you were here."
When it was their turn again, they said fervently that they wished the same thing and then it was time to end the conversation though we could have talked forever if we could have spoken freely. We promised to talk again and all said goodbye and I was left staring at blank walls.
I went to a window and pulled the curtain aside and was glad that it overlooked a field beside the apple orchard instead of the town square. I could almost pick out the patch of cherry bushes that I'd thought would be my home forever. I was glad I wasn't there. The apartment was way more comfortable then a mattress on fake dirt and the bathroom was much appreciated, especially the shower. No more Laundromat showers for me. And Braveheart loved his new home.
Chapter Five
Cullen Vail makes his rounds.
The apartment was wonderful in that it made it relatively easy to avoid people who might ask embarrassing questions though I did miss sleeping surrounded by beautiful, friendly apple trees that made me feel safe and loved and cherry bushes that hovered over me protectively. I would have been happy there, but I was glad to be a part of the community. Now, emboldened by this step towards a legitimate existence, I wandered the New Rochelle town square daily, ate occasionally in the café, and made sure to visit for a while with the other farmers when I brought in my weekly harvest of cherries and apples. And I was very careful not to come more than once a week. That seemed appropriate, judging from how often the other farmers brought their own produce in.
Some day, I told myself, I'd be able to do more than live on the fringes of this small town society. Some day I'd be able to have friends. When enough time had passed that earth was merely a place we all had lived at one time, I'd be able to join in the conversations in the town square without worrying about whether the subject of how we came to be on the Destiny came up.
Some day, perhaps, conversations would have moved on to other things. Just in case that never happened, however, I was thinking up a plausible story of my origins that would be accepted. So, even as I worked out a logical story, I merely skimmed the surface of daily life in New Rochelle and stayed home a lot.
I missed the pan pipes. As I lay in my comfortable bed in my lovely bedroom in my decent apartment, I wondered about the man who played such beautiful music. Who was he? Did he miss Earth? Most of all, why did he sneak out to play in the middle of an apple orchard instead of playing where people could enjoy his music?
Though I became a part of the community, I went to great lengths to avoid detection. One thing that helped was the informal dress code everyone had adopted. Most colonists and crew wore shorts and tee shirts and whatever shoes they liked or none at all. So when a uniform appeared it stood out. Since it obviously belonged to someone on official business, I simply disappeared whenever I saw someone in long, dark blue pants and a shirt or jacket with precise creases. I scooted around the nearest corner and then made my way back to my apartment where I remained until the uniform was gone. It worked and as weeks passed I became more and more confident of success.
I tried to keep track of the time I'd been on the Destiny, the amount of time that I'd escaped detection, but it became difficult because the more time passed the more it became oddly meaningless. We were there for the duration of the trip and that would be close to a hundred years. Most of us would die of old age on the Destiny. I only remembered time passing and the ever widening distance from earth when I spoke with my family. I was glad my parents were no longer alive because there was no despair for leaving them. That had already happened. And I had no siblings, just cousins.
My extended family didn't want to lose me or I them because we all knew that what I was doing was important and they didn't want to diminish that fact or belittle what I was doing. But our lives were now so different that we found less and less to talk about during our disjointed, time-delayed conversations. I now lived at the slow pace of village life while they, some of the best botanists on earth, were in high demand. They were busy people.
Our conversations dwindled to occasional duty calls to make sure I was okay and I always was. Then one day they missed their usual time and I didn't mind because I didn't know what I'd say to them any more than they knew what to say to me. After that, our conversations dried up and stopped.
I was almost glad because I was becoming involved in my new life in spite of my intention to remain aloof. I didn't even fe
el like a felon any longer. I felt like I belonged.
One day I woke up to discover that to my surprise I liked living on the Destiny even though the dirt wasn't real and it never rained because rain doesn't fall correctly where gravity is weird. And I came to believe, along with my neighbors, that New Rochelle was the best and most wonderful of all the villages on the Destiny.
One morning, after finishing a book from the electronic library, I found myself debating whether to chance lunch in the café or stay in my apartment. It had been two weeks since Cullen Vail's last visit and he was a man of routine so he'd likely return today but I was getting tired of worrying about being discovered. It hadn't happened yet and I wanted out of my apartment. It wasn't exactly small but that day I was restless and it felt tiny.
A solution occurred to me. I didn't have to eat in the café. I could eat elsewhere. I didn't have to be a creature of habit. And I like eating outside. So thinking, I packed a picnic lunch and headed to the empty field that was between my apartment building and the apple orchard. It was just beyond my window and a fair number of kids and adults played impromptu baseball games there.
There was no game at the moment so it was peaceful and quiet. Almost like a summer's day on earth. The only thing missing was the sound of insects, but the warmth pouring from the fake sky was the same, never mind that it was precisely programmed for maximum benefit to crops and people. It was perfect and relaxing. I leaned back and closed my eyes and didn't want to be anywhere else in the universe. I wondered if I'd have the energy to open my lunch.
"Hello."
My eyes flew open. It was Cullen Vail himself. My worst nightmare. Two weeks since his last visit. Damn. I should have stayed indoors. I gulped. "Hello."
"I've been looking for you."
Don't arrest me, not here, not now. Not in this lovely place. But all I said was, "Oh?"
He squatted beside me. Folded himself down in a well-practiced manner, then dropped to the ground and stuck long legs in front of him and somehow kept his dignity the whole time. He was both agile and in shape. "I'm here to apologize to you on behalf of the Destiny."
"Huh?" It was all I could manage and, though I wanted to be unfazed by his unexpected appearance, I couldn't stop that single, surprised word from coming out.
"I'm sorry that you didn't have an apartment when you first boarded. That was inexcusable."
I gulped. How'd he learned about the apartment? Then I knew. Wilkes Zander, of course. "There's no need to apologize."
He smiled, a small smile but it was genuine. A first. "Wilkes Zander told me everything. I understand why you took things into your own hands when you decided to move out of your parents' home. He said that you would have moved into an apple orchard if he hadn't intervened. I'm glad it didn't happen, no thanks to the Destiny. We are grateful to Wilkes for taking care of things."
So Wilkes hadn't told him everything. Just enough to cover my sudden appearance. "It's a nice apartment."
"One of the smaller ones." He shifted. His leg brushed mine. I had the wild thought that it might just be the first time the head of Security had touched another human being since childhood. Then I discarded the thought as unworthy of me as he continued. "There are larger apartments. You should have something nice. To make up for our inattention." He shifted to better see what I thought of his suggestion.
"No new apartment. The one I have is fine. I like it. In fact I love it."
His eyes narrowed and our looks met. Clashed. His was smoke and wildfire now that I looked deep into his eyes. How'd I ever thought of him as distant and cold? He wasn't, what I'd seen as lack of emotion was control. The fires were banked but they were there. I didn't know what he saw in my eyes, didn't want to know. "Are you sure it's sufficient? I've never been in the smaller units but from what I've been told, they are hardly more than one-room efficiencies." He shuddered. "No one should have to live in cramped quarters, not on a life-time trip such as we're on." His shoulders convulsed a second time. It was clear that Cullen Vail had lived in a small space at one time. How small? When? Why?
He recovered his composure quickly and his voice softened, becoming a musical baritone. It was the first time I'd heard him speak without consciously playing the part of a friendly Security guard. "I'll get you a new place immediately."
"I don't want a new place."
"As far as I'm concerned, the small units should be eliminated or combined into larger ones. I've talked with Wilkes Zander about it but he doesn't agree."
"Because he knows they are large enough."
We stared at each other again. Smoke and fire. Inwardly, I shuddered. I didn't want that fire directed at me in anger. "You said you've never seen the small units?"
"Not yet but I know what small living quarters are like."
"Come." I rose and held out my hand to help haul him up but he ignored me and flowed upward in one smooth, incredibly well-coordinated movement. "I'll show you."
He didn't know how to refuse. I saw in his eyes that he wanted to but there was that rule about being friendly and he wasn't sure how it applied in this situation so he indicated that I go ahead and he'd follow. The apartment wasn't far, nothing was far from anything else in New Rochelle, and since my window overlooked the field we were in, we stepped through my door mere moments after finishing the little talk that thankfully hadn't led to my arrest after all.
He moved from one foot to the other as he gazed about my home. Then he realized what he was doing and stopped. Stood a bit straighter if that was possible. Realized what he was seeing and frowned his puzzlement. "Two rooms. Two. I expected one. Maybe it is adequate after all." He looked around again, at the plants all over the place. "Why all the flowers?"
"They aren't flowers, they are cuttings from the apple orchard and a few other places nearby."
"Aren't there enough plants outside?" The frown deepened and he shuddered slightly. "The whole ship is filled with green things and you want more?"
"I'm a botanist." I was glad for the time spent inserting my credentials into the Destiny's database. It was all there, the schools, the degrees, and the experience. Of course the experience was in family-owned businesses but that fact was glossed over so anyone looking would only know that I'd done numerous internships for prestigious companies. No one had to know that I'd been involved in the business of growing things ever since I was old enough to walk. "I like plants. I like to grow them. I like experimenting with them." Cullen Vail clearly did not have a green thumb, which was good because most of the plants in the apartment were experimental in nature. Just in case I'd need them later when things went bad.
"Why don't you do your experiments in the greenhouses with the other botanists?"
It was my turn to step from one foot to the other. My turn to stop doing so before he figured it meant I was uncomfortable with his question. "I didn't sign on as a botanist, rather as a farmer." At his expression, I quickly added, "And I love it. I love being a farmer. But I like to mess around a bit on my own time." I waved to the pots of green things on every available surface. "As you can see."
His body language was exquisite. Eyebrows raised, body hunched for protection from killer plants, nostrils flared because what he truly wanted was out of there and he planned on going as soon as he could figure out a way. "Okay." He licked his lips. "If you're sure the apartment is okay …"
"Do you want to see the bedroom?"
"No, no, that won't be necessary." He backed a step towards the still-open door. "I can see that I had the wrong idea about the smaller apartments. They are quite adequate after all. Much larger than … " But he never said what was smaller than my apartment. He just kept backing until he was in the hallway, where he turned smartly, closed the door, and disappeared.
I sagged onto the couch and didn't move for the better part of an hour. Then I paced back and forth. I couldn't stop. I knew it was nerves and that there was no place to go to for comfort, no one to talk to. Unless …
There was someone
after all. Wilkes Zander, the town Mayor and everyone's grandfather. I couldn't tell him why I was upset but I wouldn't have to. He knew already. We'd talk around it because we had an unwritten pact never to admit to each other that I was a stowaway, but he would understand and I needed someone to understand. So I went in search of a faux grandfather, thinking that life on the Destiny was one gigantic lie after another. Fake dirt, fake sky, fake credentials and fake grandfather. But I was the biggest lie of all.
I found Wilkes seated on a bench in the town square. Right beside Cullen Vail. The two were deep in conversation so I turned to leave until Wilkes Zander called out to me. "Hey, Elle. Come join us. We were just talking about you."
I'd have to get used to my throat closing up every time someone said something that could remotely be interpreted as knowing what and who I was. Maybe relaxation techniques would help. Maybe. In the meantime, though, I must join them or raise suspicion. "I'm kind of busy. Later?"
Wilkes waved my protests aside and patted the seat beside him. I didn't dare object and he'd be between Cullen Vail and myself so I sat. "Cullen says you're a botanist." I nodded mutely. "You are wasted as a farmer. You should be working in the greenhouses." I opened my mouth to say something but he shushed me with a look. "I know you're a great farmer, a wonderful farmer." At my surprised look, he smiled. "You think I don't know what goes on around here but I do. I know that you bring in more produce than anyone else in the area. Possibly more than anyone else on the Destiny."
"I try." I licked my lips. Had I forgotten the cardinal rule in my family and outshone someone else? I should know better. I did know better. I knew to never call attention to myself. But I'd tried so hard to fit in that I'd done the opposite. I'd called attention to myself big time. "The apple trees deserve all of the credit."
Earth Legend Page 5