Catesby Seven
carefully dug in the rich green loam with a slender reed, looking for signs of
life in the manufactured soil. He wrinkled his nose at the thoughts. Everything
on Hydro Station Four, or New Hope Colony as he privately called it, was
manufactured, including himself. No less
real, he smiled a little, thinking of Linneaus Five’s mantra. We are no less real.
Tapping his comm
patch, Seven told the station, “Connect with Linneaus Five on Hydro Station
Two.”
“Alignment in
four hours, twenty three minutes,” the station’s calm female voice replied. “Shall
I hold and initiate at that time?”
Seven sighed.
There was no such thing as spontaneity in space. “Sure.” He continued digging,
then saw a flash of movement that made him rock back on his heels, then lean so
close his nose was almost in the dirt. He swirled the metallic reed around,
creating a dirt funnel. There it was, exposed and wriggling. Gotcha!
“Are we in
alignment with any other station at this time?” he asked with excitement. He
wanted to share the good news with *somebody*. Anybody.
“Hydro Station
Six,” replied the station.
Dammit. Anyone except Muir
Four. That pompous ass would try to find some way to take credit for these,
even if he wasn’t even on the same station.
“How about HS
Three? Can we reach Ackerman Nine?” She was more poet than naturalist, like her
prime, but she was cool. Seven would rather share the news with her than Muir
any day.
“In 27 minutes,”
the station replied.
“Fine,” Seven
sighed again. “Tee it up and let me know when the connection is open.” He
reached into his pack for a collection jar and scooped up the wriggling
nematode. The first sign of original life, perhaps on any of the hydro
stations. This could be huge.
Seven thought as
he stood and headed back to the lab with his prize. Wonder if I’ll get to name it…
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Music:
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Tangled soundtrack
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Time
writing:
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~30 minutes
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June
word count:
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5,239
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