Generations

by Francis Rosenfeld

  ***

  "I understand how one might take leave of one's senses in light of what we've just experienced," sister Joseph graced the interlink with a warm conciliatory tone, "but it's almost seven."

  Seth and Sarah got up and walked briskly through the night towards the Prayer Hall. The imposing building looked like a giant light fixture all glazed as it was and lit from inside. What beautiful nights Terra Two had, Sarah thought. Warm and fragrant, with a million different sounds carried by the humid air, dazzling metallic stars above their heads and the eerie radiance of the giant lime green moon that always circled the horizon but never rose above their heads.

  "We're late, she's gonna gives us the third degree!" sister Jove said, panting; the sister was running to catch up with them and her footsteps dragged through the powdery dust startling Solomon who was following Sarah like a shadow.

  "She won't. Not tonight." Seth thought softly. They ran up the stairs and passed through several sets of glass doors as they advanced into the entrails of the Prayer Hall. At the last set of doors Solomon stopped, curled up on a plush mat that was laid down especially for him and waited.

  Their late arrival disturbed the contemplative mindset sisters aspired to achieve during service; sister Joseph didn't say anything but frowned, displeased. Vespers had reached the daily reading and sister Therese's narration flowed soft and soothing like a river of thought approaching an estuary.

  "...Through faith we understand that the worlds came into being, and still exist, at the command of God, so that what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible..."(*Hebrews 11:3)

  Vespers unfolded as they did every night and as she recited the final prayers Seth noticed that she was still holding the rock in her palm and that the mineral had turned rosy and translucent like pink quartz. She placed it gently on the ground in front of her, the rock that didn't exist, and watched it glow dimly in the diffuse light of the room as worry and care dissipated and she contemplated a vision of the world the way it was and always shall be, perfect and at peace.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Of Here and There

  Months passed over the community, common and run of the mill as much as anything could be run of the mill on Terra Two. The sisters focused on the fields, Sarah immersed herself in her apothecary work, Seth kept working on the language, the kids grew and the cats ruled the land, moving quietly through the lush landscape, their presence only given away by the fragrant cloud emanating from their fur.

  The sisters' peaceful routine was often interrupted by groups of visitors from Earth, research teams and vacationers alike who unfailingly found their way into the Prayer Hall to the dismay of sister Joseph and the confusion of the fragrant felines frazzled by the focused interest and constantly in search of hidden nooks and crannies where they could observe the scene undisturbed.

  Solomon strolled the glazed hallways every morning, quiet as a shadow but with the confidence of an old hand; the tip of his tail curled slightly at the end like a question mark and his impeccably groomed coffee colored fur seemed to be inspired by Terra Two's sunsets. He passed through the kitchen where a saucer of fresh milk and a gourmet breakfast were waiting for him and then found his way out to chase and stalk little birds and mice.

  That morning he jumped on the wide kitchen sill and squeezed through a window left ajar to sun himself at the base of the decorative sundial in the center of the herb garden. The sundial was one of sister Roberta's little fun projects, quite challenging in fact, given the intricate sun paths and the varying yearly cycles. The result of her research and ingenuity was a little gem with no moving parts that not only told the time, but also the month, the day and the year of the 25 year cycle, and the little shallow bird bath around its base monitored the water evaporation rate, oscillating between fifty two and eighty seven percent atmospheric water saturation with the precision of a Swiss clock. Around the base of the sundial the frustrated sister had disposed of the colorful results of her most recent research, a generous pile of rocks which were hitting just the right note in the kitchen garden landscape. Sarah arranged them neatly every morning to provide a border for the rhubarb and cabbage patches even though rainwater kept washing away the dirt and pushing them out into the pathway.

  Solomon was not impressed by such fine details but enjoyed the slightly elevated position of the warm soap stone which provided a perfect location to stake out prey and catch small critters unaware. To Sarah's chagrin he often brought offerings to the kitchen door after a hunt, to share with her and show appreciation.

  The cat's sparkling blue eyes were focused on the movement of the foliage and its dark chocolate ears scanned the surroundings for the faintest sound. He saw something slide slowly under a wide rhubarb leaf and pounced on it, all fangs and claws. His teeth clattered in the air, holding on to nothing but the rhubarb greenery. As he stared under the broad leaf one of the rocks shifted a foot, ending up behind him somehow and changing color again.

  Solomon had not been briefed on the fundamental nature of the rocks and he didn't care about their dematerializing and rematerializing means of travel, he was just annoyed by the fact that he couldn't catch the swift moving targets, quite embarrassing for a cat of his standing. After about twenty minutes of what looked like chasing his tail he attracted the attention of a large group of curious onlookers who by means unknown had made their way into the cloistered garden and were staring aghast at dancing rocks melting into thin air and reemerging a few feet away, changing their color and shape while the poor cat was using all its hunting skills to try and catch them.

  Because sister Roberta, Sys and Sarah were still trying to figure out how the rocks came to be in the first place and the obvious source of information, Purple, had no idea about this phenomenon, Seth didn't think to share the unusual occurrences with the visitors who were now staring at the show, stunned and pinching themselves to make sure they weren't dreaming.

  "Mercy me, Seth! Did you know the rocks could move by themselves?" Sarah spoke quickly through the interlink while making her way out the kitchen into the garden to provide the startled audience with an explanation.

  "No, I did not," the leader conceded. "Define movement," she continued.

  "Changing position in space," Sarah clarified.

  "Without any help?" Seth asked.

  "I don't know, maybe it's the sunlight," Sarah theorized.

  "Maybe. Can you attend to the visitors? The lady in the polka dotted hat looks like she's going to have a conniption." The plump lady in question was fussing about to express astonishment and disapproval of the moving minerals with way too many words and an accusatory tone, swearing off the idea of this uncontrollable planet where nothing was normal.

  Sarah smiled encouragingly as she approached the trespassers; she attempted to minimize the unease generated by the jumping rock show by picking up Solomon and petting his fur. The cat shuffled in her arms, trying to free himself and continue his very frustrating hunting of the wind.

  "You must be lost, this is the cloistered garden, reserved for the members of our order," Sarah bent the truth simultaneously remembering the unruly hoards of children that traipsed along the paths and through the flower beds at all times of day. "Let me show you to our exhibits," she smiled and gestured towards the hallway that lead back into the public area.

  "What is that?" the plump lady articulated with a light lisp and pointed incriminatingly to the moving rocks.

  "We don't know for sure, we're still studying them," Sarah answered pleasantly.

  "What do you mean, you don't know? Does it seem normal to you that the rocks are moving on their own?"

  "Actually we are in the process of figuring this out, we just need more time for research," Sarah tried to explain.

  "I won't even try to conjecture what kind of practices end up with objects moving around by themselves! I knew it was a terrible idea to come here but nobody listens to me. I want to speak to the person in charge, this is complete
ly unacceptable, we traveled a long way to this accursed planet which I was told was the cradle of miraculous discoveries, and now I see heathen work," she continued in one breath, louder and louder, and Sarah could find no break in her tirade to interject an answer.

  "You know who would be the best person to appease our visitor's concern?" Seth commented mischievously through the interlink.

  "I have an idea," Sarah answered, suppressing a grin to avoid inflaming the lady's outrage.

  "Don't you dare bring the shrew to me!" sister Joseph jumped immediately. "Take her to Roberta, that would teach her!"

  "Teach who, Roberta or the visitor?" Seth inquired.

  "Both," sister Joseph decreed.

  "Am I being ignored?" the visitor exploded, very red in the face and with a vicious look in her eyes.

  "On the contrary, I was just thinking who would be the best person to provide you with information on this subject and I'm sure our sister Joseph can answer all your questions," Sarah smiled. "This way, please!"

  "I'll get you for this!" sister Joseph roared through the interlink.

  "Don't forget to mention the cat is two hundred years old," Seth added, seriously.

  The little group advanced towards the common areas with the polka dotted hat lady leading the pack very self-assured and bellicose while the rest of the visitors followed rather unconvinced, wishing they could spend a little more time watching a cat hunt disappearing rocks.

  ***

  "So, they do not have strong forces but they respond to gravity. What about electro-magnetic charges?"

  "I can't tell, but there seem to be almost no emissions," sister Roberta posited.

  "And the system is stable, not decaying," Seth checked again.

  "Yes," sister Roberta answered.

  "I assume it would be an absurd question to ask about the chemical make-up of this material," the leader continued.

  "It is not a material, so yes," sister Roberta agreed.

  "What is it then?" Seth insisted on her original question. "If we can see it and touch it it's got to be real, rules or no. And why was it moving around in the garden but not here?"

  "It's got to be photonic excitation, the particles aren't held by anything, they must be really easy to knock around."

  "How did it materialize, did you figure it out?" the leader asked, hopefully.

  Roberta shuffled around the machine, trying to organize the information in explainable form.

  "It's somewhat similar to electroplating. You know how pearls build around minute specs of sand?" she started.

  "You mean we could mold them to any shape we want? Make cups and flower pots for instance?" Seth laughed.

  "No. You'd be chasing them around the kitchen and garden and the containers would move and change shape depending on what they build themselves around and the content would be left behind to spill on the ground," sister Roberta analyzed the utility in all seriousness.

  "Can we modify them with tools? Drill holes, for instance, or slice them?" Seth asked.

  Sister Roberta took the laser saw through the middle of a large rock. The light sliced clean through the rock, making it glow for a while, but didn't leave a dent. At the end of the procedure the rock dissolved and reappeared on the top shelf of the unit behind them. The two had to spend a few minutes to locate it.

  "I give up," Seth said.

  "Have you tried to dissolve them?" asked Jimmy, who had been there the whole time.

  "Dissolve them in what?" sister Roberta asked.

  "Water," Jimmy said.

  Sister Roberta took a beaker, filled it with water and dropped a small rock in it. Nothing happened, so she put it away, planned to clean it up later and in the excitement of the other experiments she was running forgot all about it.

  ***

  "Didn't you only put one rock in the beaker?" Jimmy asked, staring at the transparent jug three days later.

  "I did," sister Roberta said, focused on her data stream.

  "I think you should look at the jug, the rocks are going to overflow," Jimmy said seriously.

  "Sometimes, Jimmy..." sister Roberta started to protest at the interruption when a couple of rocks fell from the top shelf making a racket. There was no water left in the beaker but it was filled to the brim with colorful rocks that maintained a very precarious balance hanging on for dear life around the glass rim.

  "I think you'd better come here," the sister called tentatively through the interlink.

  "Are you talking to me?" Seth asked.

  "Yes. Can you please bring Sarah and Sys too? They've got to see this!" Roberta followed dispassionately.

  "I knew you were up to something. What is it now? Are we losing the atmosphere? Is the planet breaking away from orbit? Did Sarah get to a communal activity on time?" sister Joseph inquired.

  "No. The rocks self-replicated. Just add water," sister Roberta informed her.

  ***

  "Remind me not to do this anywhere near the ocean," sister Roberta spoke softly.

  "You don't think it's possible! Jimmy, did any of the children throw rocks into the ocean?" Seth asked.

  "No, sister," Jimmy answered convincingly.

  "Jimmy, this is very important, in one year we won't have any water left!" sister Joseph prophesied apocalyptically.

  "Don't worry, sister, we can scan the ocean floor and pick them out before they hatch, besides Purple would have said something," Sarah attempted to chase away the end-times visual.

  "Purple doesn't know everything! What is it about you, sister," Joseph turned to Roberta, really irate, "that pushes you right to the edge of total annihilation! Every morning I wake up in a cold sweat terrified of what you might come up with next!"

  "I scanned the ocean floor and found four rocks. I'll send a team to collect them right now," sister deAngelis announced through the interlink.

  "Always fixing things, I've had it with you!" sister Joseph jumped to her feet and ran out the door furious.

  "Have you tried putting them back in the machine?" Seth asked as if nothing had happened.

  "Yes, they combine with whatever I'm making at the time, however at the end of the experiment I get another rock or not," sister Roberta answered, frustrated.

  "Well, I'll leave you to it," Seth yawned. "How is the yield?" she asked sister Therese. The meeting switched gears suddenly to a brief presentation of the present month's farming activities. Sister Joseph sent the veterinary and zootechnical report through the interlink, still fuming and complaining that she broke her bones in vain on this God forsaken planet for centuries only to see it evaporated by one of sister Roberta's diabolical discoveries. Sister Roberta acknowledged the complaint. The report was great, their feathered and four legged companions were flourishing in splendid health grace to sister Joseph's magical touch, she really had the animal whisperer's gift.

  "Did you arrange the details for next month's transport?" Seth asked.

  "Yes, we have six hundred thirty ton containers vacuum sealed and ready to go. Mostly grains, some nuts, and of course vanilla."

  "How many containers of vanilla?" the leader inquired.

  "Thirty four."

  "Impressive. Any livestock?" she continued.

  "Not at this time. Sister Joseph is working on three chicken breeds, but they are not ready yet."

  "Weather?" the leader pressed on.

  "82F, 52-87% humidity, wind speed 4mph, daily precipitation 0.125in/day."

  "StreamPath?" she turned to Roberta.

  "Up and running, we're coordinating with the other islands. We had several cargo transports, all clear."

  "Glad we talked. See you!" the leader said abruptly, got up and left.

  "Bye!" the sisters managed to reply in the wake of her departure, like an echo following a speeding train.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Of Useless Yuck

  "So", sister Roberta went over the findings again, "they form around microscopic aberrations in the atmospheric molecular structure, th
ey are impacted by photons, they multiply in water (I guess they are not responding to the water itself, but the same aberrations, only in liquid form), and they have no strong forces."

  "Why is the water consumed in the process when air is not?" Sarah asked.

  "Maybe it evaporates because of the generated heat?" sister Roberta attempted an answer.

  Seth and Sarah gave her a disbelieving look.

  "Yeah, I guess you are right, I really don't know," the sister replied.

  "And are you sure they're not radioactive?" Seth pressed.

  "They emit nothing. Sarah puts out more gamma radiation than those rocks," Roberta assured her.

  "No kidding! I'm not convinced cat-brains is even human anymore with all them undead lobsters running through her veins," sister Joseph remarked. The observation made Sarah very uncomfortable, so Seth constructed a well thought out commentary and threw it back at sister Joseph in silence.

  "Why aren't Sys's palms creating side effects?" the redhead continued.