Earth Legend

by Florence Witkop

  I grew cold and wrapped my arms around my middle but it didn't help. I found myself shivering and couldn't stop.

  The next thing I knew Cullen's arms were around me and I was once again wrapped in his warmth and he didn't let me pull away. Not that I tried, I needed him but it didn't help. I couldn't stop shivering, couldn't get the pictures of those relatives out of my mind. Couldn't stop thinking of how close I'd come to suffering the same fate.

  Cullen made a sound deep in his throat and left. I stood without moving, without knowing where I was or what I was doing, just that it was cold without him and scary. I looked to see where he was, to find him and safety once again. I saw him reaching into a pocket and bringing something out. The pan pipes.

  Did he have them with him always? Did he play them whenever he was alone and had time on his hands? I'd thought the serenades in the orchard were special but perhaps making beautiful music was a part of his day whenever he thought he'd not be overheard.

  Now he pulled me down on the couch and sat alongside me without our bodies touching. I wanted him to touch me, to warm me, to make me feel safe. Instead, he started to play.

  His first song was Greensleeves. The music took me back to that night in the village square where I'd worn a billowy, green dress and we'd danced, though awkwardly, to music by the townspeople of New Rochelle. Was that why he chose Greensleeves? Our eyes met briefly and something flared. Then we each looked away.

  He didn't stop with Greensleeves. He played for what seemed like a long time and was long enough for my shivering to slow and eventually stop. The music, some happy some simply beautiful, sent all those bad memories to the place of their origin, in the back of my mind where they belonged, along with other nightmares of childhood.

  I reached out and lay my hand on his arm. When he finished the song he was playing, he put down the pipes and simply touched me. I smiled weakly. "Thanks. I'm okay now."

  "I lied when I said I couldn't play the pipes."

  "I knew you lied."

  "And I knew that you knew."

  We could have laughed at our little joke. Instead, we just sat some more and I marveled that I'd got through the past few hours intact and with a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach instead of the terror and hatred that could have been there. Cullen had done that for me. To me.

  Then he sat up straight and stiffened. Looked about, then settled back down so I wouldn't ask what he was doing. But it was too late, I'd seen his expression. "What's wrong?"

  He rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought I heard something. It's probably nothing. A kid, maybe, playing ball, and I over reacted."

  But it wasn't a kid. Cullen was experienced, he knew the sound a kid would make and this wasn't it. I watched him intently. Watched his eyes shift from one window to another, watched his attention hone to a tight pitch. "What's wrong, Cullen, and don't lie to me."

  He rose softly, stealthily. "Maybe nothing. Hopefully nothing. But I'll check just to be sure." He moved like a panther to the windows and peered outside. Seeing nothing unusual he padded to the door where he stood listening for any sound on the other side. For a while he just stood like a statue, then he came towards me with one finger on his lips for me to keep quiet. He pulled me up and to the nearest window, still making sure we both made no sound.

  Then he ever so slowly opened the window and gestured for me to climb out. There were no screens, none are needed where there are no insects and I was on the first floor so it was easy enough to slip through. Cullen folded himself after me and quietly closed the window. Then he pulled me towards a corner of the building, where he stopped and whispered, "I'm going to look. You stay here." And, like a shadow, he eased his large body close enough to the corner that he could see the entrance to the apartment building. A mini-second, no more, and he was back and squeezing my hand, still whispering. "Trouble."

  "They couldn't have survived the fire." But there had only been a half dozen men in the greenhouse. There had been a couple dozen people at the restaurant outside of Saul's apartment. "Many people hate me."

  Cullen looked about. The field beyond my window was large and open and there were no other buildings close enough for us to slip behind unnoticed. We moved along the wall but no cover presented itself.

  Then we heard voices, Wilkes Zander's in particular, asking with false conviviality what someone was doing in New Rochelle. He played the part of a nosy mayor to perfection, loud voice and all. To make sure we heard and knew danger was near. "To what do we owe this visit? New Rochelle is a lovely town but we don't get many visitors."

  Evidently no one had expected to be stopped. There was a pause before someone answered. "We're looking for someone. She lives somewhere around here."

  "And who would that be?" His voice louder still, he was warning us as best he could. "I'm the mayor and I know everyone."

  Cullen peered carefully around the corner again, watching for a moment before coming back to me. His voice was barely discernable. "Wilkes is pretending to rub his arm but he's actually using his comunit." His voce was puzzled. He couldn't figure out what Wilkes was doing.

  Suddenly, so fast that I jumped, a face appeared around the corner Cullen had just vacated. "I found her!" He grinned as his words filled the air.

  In seconds they were there but Wilkes was there too, screaming into his comunit. "Emergency! Emergency! The baseball field!" Over and over until one of the men in the small mob struck him on the side of his head. He toppled over and didn't move.

  "Elle, run!" Cullen grabbed me but this time it wasn't necessary. I was all primed to move so before the words were out I was skimming over the field, heading straight to the place I knew best, the place where I'd lived when I first boarded the Destiny, the one place where I might be safe if there was any safety on this space ship. The orchard.

  Cullen was right behind me, pushing me when I slowed, turning and firing his taser as he ran. From a corner of my eye I saw two of our pursuers stumble and fall but the rest came on and there were way too many for him to taze them all. "The bikes," he yelled in my ear as we ran. "Make for the bikes. We can get away."

  I shook my head, hair flying in a wind of our own making. "The orchard. I'll be safe there."

  "Trees can't save you. I can."

  But still I ran and there was nothing he could do except follow. As I ran I thought that he might be right, there's little that apple trees and cherry bushes can do. Maybe nothing. But I needed to be in that orchard, surrounded by things I loved. Needed to be there. Had to be there, no matter the consequences. Needed to at least feel safe.

  Before we reached the trees, we heard another sound. People yelling, feet running. A lot of people. I took a chance and glanced over my shoulder. It seemed that every adult left in New Rochelle was congregating on the baseball field. They were confused at first, not knowing why they'd been summoned. Then someone pointed to Wilkes Zander lying motionless on the ground surrounded by strangers. A howl went up. And they acted.

  We didn't stop running. We reached the orchard and kept going, slowing down only slightly until we were surrounded by greenery. We could hear the sounds of a melee in the baseball field but Cullen wouldn't let me stop to see what was happening. "Keep gong, Elle. You must be safe. You are more important than anyone back there. You alone can save the Destiny. You."

  "They could be hurt." My friends, people I hadn't known until boarding the Destiny but who were now part of my life were back there. "They don't know what's going on."

  "They'll figure it out." He steered me deeper into the orchard. "We need to find a place where the bushes are thick. We'll hide until that mob is taken care of by the good people of New Rochelle."

  I was already headed for such a place. The place where I'd lived when I first boarded the Destiny. Where Alicia gave me Braveheart. Where the bushes and trees deliberately grew into a wall thick enough to hide anyone. I kept running and the trees and bushes parted as we went until we were sitting on faux dirt and leaning against a coup
le of dwarf apple trees.

  I breathed, wondering if I'd breathed lately or not. I thought not. Cullen inspected our hideout. "It's thick here. It might do."

  Of course it was thick. I waved an arm. As we watched, the greenery grew thicker and still thicker until it became an impenetrable wall. Cullen whistled softly. "You did that, didn't you?"

  "Not me. The plants did it."

  "But you told them to."

  "I asked and they agreed." He whistled again and I shushed him. "Now we should be quiet."

  He scooted to where I was. In a gesture that seemed unconscious and probably was, he wrapped one arm around me and pulled me close. Then he whispered, "That's a handy gift you have. It's going to save us."

  I peered into those stormy eyes. "It was my so-called 'gift' that almost killed us."

  "I'd choose having the gift over not having it." One hand moved over my hair, getting tangled in all those curls until he had to pull it free. "You're one very special woman, Elle, and I'm glad I know you."

  I had to press my face in his shirt in order not to laugh out loud. I wasn't sure it would have been hysterical laughter or not. It didn't matter, I could laugh again. "That's not what you said a while back."

  "I know but that was then. This is now." With a small, satisfied sound deep in his throat, he slid down to a more comfortable place and leaned back. "So we wait."

  "What do you suppose is happening back there?"

  A lopsided grin lit up his face. "Knowing the good people of New Rochelle as I do, I suspect those thugs are wishing they'd never listened to all that ridiculous talk of superior and inferior genes." The grin grew and he twirled a finger in the air. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that they wished they'd never applied for a spot on the Destiny." The finger made a slicing motion. "And when this is all done and they face the consequences of their actions, I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. Because I happen to know that Captain Smithers doesn't suffer fools gladly. In fact, he doesn't suffer them at all."

  I sucked in my breath. "The airlock?" Even after all they'd done, all they'd tried to do to me, I couldn't wish that on anyone. The specter of being shoved out the airlock myself was all too deeply ingrained in my mind. "I hope not."

  "We'll see," was all Cullen would say as he pulled my head onto his shoulder and closed his eyes for much needed rest. "We'll see." And then, miracle of miracles considering the circumstances we were in, we slept. Cullen because he was used to situations like this and could sleep anywhere, any time. Me because his arm around me and his solid body against mine spoke of safety and a future that I'd not believed possible when I walked across that room so long ago and joined the colonists on their way to the space station.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The captain declares martial law.

  We stayed in the orchard until we heard Wilkes Zander calling our names. Then I told the trees and bushes that we were safe and they could let him through and they did. Wilkes' gaze went furtively from one side of the opening that appeared suddenly to the other, but seeing us he stepped through and soon stood before us, a blood-soaked rag around his forehead. "It's safe now. We took care of those guys. But you two need to come out so you can file charges." Curiosity was clear in his eyes but he asked no questions and we said nothing.

  When we emerged from the orchard a small cheer went up from the group of New Rochelle residents armed with pitchforks, baseball bats and several tasers that had been taken from the mob of sullen men that they now surrounded.

  Gerald came over and said what they were all thinking. "No one touches a hair on the head of any New Rochelle resident." An answering growl went up from the guards. "And you two are valued members of our community." I liked that they included Cullen as a resident of New Rochelle even though he'd only lived there for a short time. I gave Gerald a hug and gave everyone else high fives as he spoke to Cullen. "Security is on the way. They should be here in a few minutes."

  By the time Security arrived, almost the entire community of New Rochelle was on the baseball field, watching the thugs and talking quietly among themselves as they tried to figure out what was going on but only Alicia spoke directly to me. "Braveheart is okay, Elle. I checked and no one hurt him." She turned her face up to mine. "If anyone tried, I'd have stopped them. I'd have been real mean."

  I thanked Alicia for making sure my kitten was safe, having no doubt she'd have done exactly what she threatened if Braveheart was in any danger at all. She'd make a fine mayor when her grandfather retired. I pitied anyone who tried to put anything over on her.

  Then Security arrived, sirens wailing and lights flashing, and soon every single thug was gone as if they'd never existed. The faux dirt on the Destiny had the admirable quality of repairing itself. Every blade of grass was back in place and no scuff marks marred the perfection of the green landscape.

  Cullen informed me that he'd been in contact with Captain Smithers and that we were to rest for the remainder of that day and report to him in the morning. He wanted to know who all had attacked me and what they'd done. In a grim voice, Cullen added, "They won't get off easy."

  Cullen's bed was still in my apartment in the bedroom next to mine. When he'd moved out, for some unknown reason, I'd left the room intact. So after a meal of canned soup because neither of us had the energy to cook or go to the café, he simply walked into his room and fell onto the bed fully clothed. I did the same in my own room but, unlike Cullen, I didn't sleep. Instead I thought.

  Of everything that had happened since that day at the spaceport where my red hair had gotten me a place on the Destiny. Of the plants that had died and the other plants that were now thriving. Of the people those plants were keeping alive. Of the far-off planet that the Destiny would reach some day that would become a new home for everyone on the space ship I now called home. Of the fact that most of us wouldn't live to see that day. Of the Destiny itself, my home for the remainder of my life.

  Good thing I liked the space ship those experts had spent so much time designing. Good thing they'd wisely considered that people who'd eventually become farmers on a far distant planet would make the transition more easily if they lived a rural life en route. And it truly was a rural environment. It was so much like Earth that if I stopped to think about my surroundings a lump would rise in my throat. Not from homesickness, rather because the Destiny was my home and I now loved every inch of the big, black behemoth.

  The next morning, the captain was polite but definite. "Those men who came after you in the greenhouses didn't survive the fire, which is a good thing because it saves me the bother of punishing them." I didn't ask what their punishment would have been. I didn't want to know. "As for the rest of that group, they seem to be hangers-on. They're the kind of people who'll follow any idiot on a soapbox who convinces them that they are superior to everyone else."

  "They aren't," Cullen said quietly.

  "You're right about that and I'm making sure they get the message. I've declared martial law and it won't be lifted until everyone knows what happens to people who put the Destiny at risk." I gulped. "Their punishment will be severe." The captain gazed into the distance at the still smoldering wreckage of the greenhouse complex. There wasn't a single useable building left. "They will rebuild the whole place, one stick at a time until it's back in business. And in their spare time, they'll work their asses off doing whatever chores Constance Reiwer can find for them so seeds of the kinds of plants they destroyed can be planted and grown. Then and only then will they be allowed to return to their lives and will martial law be lifted. No one will ever forget what happened."

  "Seeds?" At sight of the smoldering greenhouses, my heart had sunk. No seeds from plants that had been burned to a crisp could possibly be viable.

  A satisfied smile crossed the captain's face. "We have seeds. Billions of seeds, all kept in a safe. Fireproof. Explosion proof. Everything proof. Because seeds are our future." He leaned back and let his eyes rove over the ceiling and beyond, across that part of the D
estiny visible from his command center on the bridge. Miles of greenery gently curving as it followed the inner side of the outer wall of the Destiny. "We did a good job when we designed this ship. The only thing we didn't take into account was the need for a goddess. Because we didn't know that we needed one." He pulled his eyes back and regarded me closely. "I know that now and am grateful that you stowed away."

  A shiver crept along my spine. "About that goddess part…"

  "Yes?"

  "If it's all right with you, I'd just as soon no one knows that about me."

  His brows knitted. "Why not? I'm in charge and I'll make sure no one harms you in any way at all. Not even verbally."

  I took a deep breath. "I believe you. But this is a long term thing. Future generations might look at things differently." I thought back to the stories I'd heard growing up. "People don't take kindly to anyone who can talk to plants."

  His lips pursed. "They might see your descendants as witches?"

  "It's happened before. It could happen again. So if it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to remain anonymous."

  He thought for a long time. "I'm not sure you're right about this. I think that in a new world, a new life, things could be different. But if it's what you want, then I'll agree. No word of your abilities will leak out." Humor gleamed in his face. "I'll even talk to my wife and make sure she, too, says nothing more of your… um… abilities. And that she comes up with a story for those abilities of yours that she's told her friends about."

  He rose and indicated that Cullen and I follow. "Speaking of Darlene, she asked me to bring you two home for lunch. So if you have nothing pressing, I believe she's waiting for all of us." He touched my shoulder lightly. "Who knows, the two of you could become good friends. I know she'd like that and frankly, so would I."