So, right then and right there I made a decision and I told the truth, knowing it wouldn't be believed because it never is but needing to say it anyway. "I stowed away in order to save the crops that keep everyone alive."
Some of the fire left his eyes. He knew I was a botanist and that the crops were in trouble. He couldn't possibly know how bad it was going to get but that scant knowledge gave him momentary pause. He leaned back so he could see me from a safe distance though he didn't let go for fear I'd drift off. He bit his lips in thought.
I was emboldened. "I'm saving the crops because I can. Because I'm different. Because I'm not like you. I'm not like most people. I'm special. I'm very, very special."
He said the same thing that everyone would say if we told them about us. "I don't believe you."
"It's true. The crops are failing. Soon people won't have enough to eat. We knew it would happen … I knew it would happen … so I stowed away in order to be where I could fix things when everything went wrong."
He shook his head. "You're lying. You could have worked at the greenhouses but you refused. The experimental greenhouses. The place where changes would be made to save the crops. If they are, indeed, dying. If what you're saying is true, you'd have jumped at the chance to work there."
I despaired of him believing but I had to try. "You saw how I was treated. No one there would pay any attention to me or to anything I'd say. They'd never have done what was needed if for no other reason than that I suggested it."
"Or you preferred to work alone because it's hard to build a bomb with other people around but no one would notice in the middle of an apple orchard. You lived there for a while."
"I live in an apartment. I have friends. They visit. They'd see anything unusual."
"What about before? You could have done your dirty work before you got an apartment. Alicia said you lived in the orchard for a long time."
"I lived there because I'm a stowaway and didn't have any other place."
"Stowing away on a space ship is a felony."
"But that's all I'm guilty of and even that was because none of us were selected as crew or colonists. We tried but no one made the cut."
He blinked as what I was saying penetrated. "None of you? Are you saying you're not the only one?" Involuntarily he looked around as if to find more of my kind.
"I'm the only one on the Destiny."
"So you say."
"You don't have to search the ship. I'm the only one who made it on board though several of us tried." His eyes blazed and I knew that soon the ship would be searched inch by inch for both bombs and stowaways.
I tried again. "It's a long story." If he'd listen but I knew that even if he listened he wouldn't believe it. No one would. I closed my eyes in despair.
Through my eyelids I saw movement and I heard a harrumph, followed by, "Where you're going there'll be a lot of time to tell any story you can come up with. If I were you I'd make it a good one because the penalty for stowing away is severe."
I said nothing for the rest of the journey and neither did Cullen. When we reached the central tube and the elevator slowed and stopped he pulled me behind him as he floated towards a block of rooms beyond a door with a guard before it. As far as I could see along the tube, this was the only door that was guarded. Then I noticed the sign on the front. Law Enforcement. Cullen Vail's domain.
I was photographed, fingerprinted, swabbed for DNA, tied to a different, longer tether and read my rights, what few I had. As I floated about, careful not to get tangled in my prisoner restraints, I looked for the door to the prison but never found it. There were doors but they led to more and still more offices. When all was done, Cullen pointed me towards the entrance. Right back where we'd come from.
One of the officers asked, "Who do you want to escort her to jail?" So jail was somewhere else.
"I'll take care of it myself."
Work stopped. Mouths dropped open, but no one said a word. So quickly that I knew they were covering up their sudden work stoppage, they closed their mouths again and turned back to whatever they'd been doing while, without seeming to do so, they watched us. From behind paperwork, around screens, while swabbing spilled coffee from the air. Which meant Cullen Vail never escorted prisoners. Lesser officers handled such menial tasks. Until now.
Ignoring the silence and the electricity in the room, he shoved me towards the entrance. His aim was excellent, I would have sailed right through it if not for the tether connecting us. It was long enough that I wouldn't strangle myself and was made of a plastic-like substance that probably reacted in some way to the small device he held in one hand. I decided not to find out what it was or what would happen if I made a break for it.
He drew up to me and side by side we floated to the nearest elevator where I was shoved inside and tied like an animal to a pole. Again. The doors closed and we started down. I was glad we were alone so there was no one to stare at me.
As gravity took hold, I slid down the pole until my feet were on the elevator floor and I found myself beside a window through which I could see the ground rushing up and the city that was the central hub of the Destiny. I recognized the greenhouses we'd visited earlier and the animal buildings. But from this height, I saw other buildings too. The courthouse. Beside it, connected by a tunnel, I saw the jail.
"Not large but it does the job."
"My new home."
"You should have thought of that when you stowed away."
"It had to be done. I told you why."
"You told a wildly imaginative tale that's not even close to credible. A child could have done better."
"It's the truth. You'll see. When the crops fail, when the plants die, when there isn't enough food."
His lips pressed together. "I don't think so." He looked away but before he was completely turned I saw pain. Or uncertainty, I wasn't sure which.
When the elevator reached the ground, we exited and I was taken to jail. Paraded was more like it, for the area was crowded and everyone wanted to know what had happened and who I was and what I'd done. But Cullen ignored all questions and pushed me through the crowd and into the relative quiet of the courthouse rotunda. Then we went through one of the many doors, all guarded by officers in uniforms similar to Cullen's, and we were in the jail.
It was small but sufficient. Two of the half dozen cells were occupied and a bored deputy was at a desk. He looked up when we entered. "So this is the new prisoner. I was told she was coming. I've been waiting." Cullen disconnected my tether, the deputy led me to one of the cells and shoved me inside. The door slid shut.
Cullen inspected the two other prisoners. "Jake again?"
"Drunk and disorderly. He'll be out in time for dinner."
"Who's the new guy?"
"Name's Byron. Got in a fight and broke someone's nose. He claimed self-defense but that'll be up to the court to decide."
"He's going to trial for a broken nose?"
"He insisted. Says it's his right. Wants a judge, jury, the works." The deputy looked over my information. "What about the woman? Will she go to trial?"
"That'll be up to the Captain. It's his jurisdiction. She's a stowaway so what happens is his call but I'm guessing he won't bother with a trial."
The deputy came close and gave me a once-over. "She's pretty, if there's a trial an all-male jury would set her free." He glanced at the instructions Cullen had put into the system. "This doesn't mention visitors. What do I do? We've never had a felon before."
"Of course she can have visitors. She has rights." He started away and then turned back, talking to the deputy, studiously avoiding me. "But if someone wants to see her, call me." He was thinking of my comment that there were others like me. If there were any of them on the Destiny, would they contact me?
"Should I make them wait until you get here?"
He thought, then shook his head. "Don't do that. But do make sure the security cameras are rolling. And call me." Then he was gone and the deputy, af
ter asking if I'd had lunch, disappeared to find me a meal and I was left alone at last to look around the small room that was now my home.
The jail ran on a schedule and I soon learned to judge time by what was happening instead of by checking my comunit. Lunch meant it was noon. Lights out was at ten. No one wanted to disturb Jake when he was sleeping it off so mornings were somewhat erratic. When he wasn't in jail, breakfast came early and began a gossipy time of day. When he was in the cell next to mine, which someone jokingly said was reserved for him, breakfast was hot cereal that I ate as quietly as possible so as not to wake him and the deputies tip-toed around while doing their chores. No one wanted to deal with Jake if he was still suffering from a hangover. Let him sleep long enough and he became reasonably decent.
So the days passed. The prisoners who were there when I came were released and more were added. In time they, too, left and still more days passed, turning into weeks. The cells on either side could have had revolving doors for all the times prisoners came and went. But I remained.
The hours were long and boring both for inmates and guards so everyone ended up being my friend. I'm easy to be with and a good conversationalist and for the most part the other prisoners were regulars who I got to know quite well, though they came and went while I stayed.
I became pretty good friends with the guards too. They were nice guys who felt sorry for me. They didn't see how stowing away compared to the crimes of the other prisoners. They tried to make me comfortable. I got a new bed and bedding, better than the other prisoners had and they said Cullen Vail had approved the extra expense though privately I thought they said so to make me feel better. There was a belief in the entire Security contingent that there had been something between Cullen and me up to the time he arrested me and nothing I said could change their minds.
They also thought Cullen should have managed not to find me when he learned I was a stowaway. Or that he could have let me go. I head them muttering among themselves and, finally, they said it out loud where I could hear and after that we got really chummy.
I never told them the story I'd told Cullen, the truth, though I was pretty sure they'd heard it because once the night deputy did suggest that I might have been left alone if I'd been able to think of a more normal reason for being on the Destiny. After all I had papers and a comunit and that would have been proof enough for most people and perhaps Cullen would have let it go if I'd been less creative.
They said many times that they wished Cullen hadn't dug into the manifest for my name. But whenever they said that, they rolled their eyes and we all laughed because of course Cullen would do whatever was necessary to do his job perfectly.
Most of the time they approved of that quality in their boss because it made their jobs easier. He was very efficient, they said. They just didn't see why he had to be quite so efficient in my case but once I was arrested there was nothing anyone in Security could do because the Captain had authority over stowaways and they were only holding me until he got around to hearing my case.
Which would be a long time, they said, because more pressing problems had his attention. Like dying plants. Failing crops. A shortage of food in the near future, followed by starvation and the inevitable anger and riots that would follow. I was in cold storage so I was put on a back burner and languished in jail, gossiped with the deputies and generally was bored silly.
Chapter Eight
Cullen Vail helps me escape.
One morning I was dozing between Jake who was sleeping it off in the cell to my left and someone new on my right, a teenager who decided to go jogging without bothering to dress first. She almost caused a riot and at the moment was too busy sulking to talk but the thought of another female nearby was nice. The deputies were busy so with no social event happening I was napping. Until the door opened and someone entered the jail and looked around. Two someones.
I opened one eye a crack and sat up fast. Alicia and her grandfather, Wilkes Zander, mayor of New Rochelle, stood in the middle of the main room. Alicia tenderly held a wilted plant. Braveheart was cradled in Wilkes' arms. He cleared his throat loudly until someone noticed and then he said, "We're here to visit Elle Olmstead."
"Ellle?" The deputy sat up, almost in shock. "No one visits Elle. At least no one ever has."
Wilkes looked over his shoulder towards me. "Sorry we didn't come sooner, Elle. Things have been going on."
"I know. Word gets around, even here. Especially here. A food shortage?"
His sigh was answer enough. "But we're here now."
"Did Alicia have anything to do with your coming?" Her insistent tugs on his arm told me who was behind the visit.
"Yep." No one could hold out against the pint sized politician-in-training for long. Wilkes pointed to the cherry tree in her hands. "It's almost dead, like most of the trees. She thinks you can bring it back to life."
"Maybe." Alicia loved that tree so she'd done everything she could. It wouldn't be as far gone as many of the plants on the Destiny.
"And I brought Braveheart for a visit. He misses you."
I came to the door of my cell and reached for my kitten. "I was worried about him."
Wilkes knew what I was saying without using words because we didn't want to talk about my possible demise in front of Alicia. "Don't worry about Braveheart. We're keeping him for now, but if you can't care for him later, Gerald will take him."
"Gerald?" The guy who tallied produce at the harvest center. I always took Braveheart and Gerald always petted him.
A frown appeared on Wilkes' brow. "Funny thing, that. When I asked Gerald to take Braveheart, somehow the conversation got around to you. He said the harvest from that particular orchard dropped precipitously as soon as someone else took over." He watched me closely but I didn't give away what I was thinking so he went back to the reason for the visit, turning imperiously to the deputy. "Well? Can we see Elle or not?"
The deputy quickly unlocked the cell door and Alicia entered but Wilkes remained outside, coming just close enough to hand Braveheart to me. My kitten mewed and jumped into my arms and snuggled against me, making me realized how much I'd missed his tiny body next to mine. "I have a meeting, Elle. That's why we came to the government center. An important meeting, so I have to go but I'll be back as soon as it's done. You know what it's about."
"Dying crops."
"Yep." His shoulders were slumped. It would be a difficult meeting.
The cell door shut on Alicia, Braveheart and myself. Wilkes left, leaving the deputy undecided about his next move. Cullen wanted to be informed of any visitors but he'd have to go into another room to make contact and he wasn't sure if he should leave me alone with Alicia. Until Alicia set her miniature cherry tree on my cot and hugged me, blubbering loudly. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." We hugged for a long time.
"My mom doesn't give me cookies."
"That's too bad. I wish I had some but I can't bake in here."
"My tree is sick. You have to make it well." Her head lifted as the deputy decided I wasn't likely to slit anyone's throat. He went into the inner office to contact Cullen and popped out moments later to say he'd go look for some cookies. Alicia took time from insisting I fix her tree to tell him what kind. She's big on chocolate chips.
As soon as he disappeared, I gently pried her from my waist and picked up the cherry tree. "It doesn't look too bad."
"Oh that's good. I was worried." I took the tiny tree and turned it around a few times and then closed my eyes and did my thing. It was easy, I'd been doing it ever since one time when I was a kid and had an argument with a prickly pear cactus. My whole family had erupted into laughter when the cactus won. Then they'd showed me how to win arguments with plants and ever since I've been pretty good at it, even the ones with thorns.
So I was fairly confident and it turned out I was right. When I opened my eyes the tree was already changing. The branches lifted, the leaves brightened, the whole thing took on new life. Alic
ia clapped her hands in delight. "I knew you'd do it. Grandpa Wilkes said you couldn't but I knew better because I watched you fix trees in the orchard."
I handed it to her. "It's okay now but you can bring it back if it gets sick again."
She examined the tree one way and another. "All the trees are sick. All of them. Everywhere. They are ugly. You should make them well too."
"I can't now. I have to stay here for a while."
"Don't wait too long because they are really, really sick."
The deputy returned with a bag of cookies that he shared with all of us prisoners and Alicia. He leaned back in his chair and ate about half the bag himself but it was a large bag, we were all satisfied, and Alicia said it was a nice party and Jake and the teenaged streaker agreed though she did comment that if she ate too many she might not have the same effect the next time she went for a stroll sans clothes.
When the cookies were finished and Alicia had brushed the crumbs from her shirt, we talked quietly while I played with Braveheart. Then Wilkes returned. He collected his granddaughter, the cat and the tree and they prepared to leave.
Before that happened, Cullen burst into the room and looked wildly about. "She had visitors? Who? Where? Did you get their names?" He dashed to the deputy's desk and checked the visitor's roster. "Wilkes Zander and Alicia?" The deputy nodded and pointed. Then he stepped in front of them so they couldn't leave until Cullen stood face to face with Wilkes. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting a friend. Elle is our friend."
Cullen's demeanor changed. Confronted by Wilkes' social grace, he remembered his manners. He shook Wilkes' hand and bent down to say something to Alicia but, seeing what was in her hands, he asked instead, "What's that?"
She held up the miniature cherry tree. "It's my tree. It was sick. Elle made it well."
Cullen's face thinned. "And how did she do that? Did she give it water?"
Alicia was indignant. "I water it every day so it has enough water. She just fixed it. She made it well."
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