Homecoming

LOCATION: Jupiter Sagan City 1, Markets’ family unit

DATE: Year 308-B, Sol 524

The surgery had been efficient but brutal.

Himalaya sat on the edge of a cot in his parents' housing unit. The heavy bandage on the back of his neck itched. The static that had filled his head for weeks was gone.

He still missed it.

He looked around the room.

The Market family unit was small, a standard-issue Saganite module.

Except for the plants.

Every available surface, the shelves, the desk, the floor near the UV panels, was covered in greenery. Ferns with translucent leaves. Moss that glowed faintly in the dark. Vines that crawled up the bulkheads.

The door slid open. Victoria entered. She wore the tunic of a Senior Botanist. She carried a tray of nutrient paste.

-Eat, she said, setting the tray on the desk next to a pot of orchids.

-I’m not hungry, Himalaya said.

-Your muscle density is down twelve percent, Victoria noted, tapping a datapad. You need the protein.

She stood by the UV panel, inspecting the leaves of a fern. She touched them gently.

-Did you extract the data? Himalaya asked.

-The Council is processing it, she said. Poteau says the signal integrity was preserved.

She turned to look at him. Her eyes were sharp, analytical.

-Why did you do it, Himalaya?

-Come back?

-Leave, she said. Run away. Flip. Start little revolutions.

Himalaya flinched at the word. Revolutions. The dream of returning to Earth preceded him. He’d help give the EZM and the hopeful people it attracted legitimacy with his little revolutions.

-People out there, they don't have luxuries like this. Every breathe is a struggle.

-And look what it got you, Victoria said. Struggling for breath. You had a promising path, here.

-I didn't want to be a Lead, Himalaya said quietly. -I wanted to see the solar system, I wanted to learn from people. And Earth.

Victoria sighed. It was a sound of genuine disappointment.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, sealed vial. Inside, suspended in gel, were three seeds. They were jagged, dark red, pulsating slowly.

-Do you know what these are? she asked.

Himalaya leaned forward. The botanist his mother put in him couldn't help it.

-Jupiter tomatoes, he whispered. -How?

-I cracked the radiation shielding problem, Victoria said, with a hint of pride. These seeds can grow in high-rad soil. They can grow on Io. They can grow on the exterior hull of a ship.

She held the vial up to the light.

-This is the work, Himalaya. Survival. Creating life where nothing should exist. That is what we do.

She placed the vial in his hand.

-The scavengers just consume, she said. We create. That is why we are leaving. And that is why you are staying with us.

Himalaya looked at the seeds. They were a miracle of science.

-Leaving? he asked.

-The next phase of our mission. The architects say we’re ready. A Syzygy window opens in two years, Victoria said. The preparations begin now. The Cities are going to go into Hard Lock. No one in, no one out.

She walked to the door.

-Eat your protein, Himalaya. Poteau is arranging a meeting with the Leads. They want to thank you for the delivery before we, dispose of the transport vehicle.

-Dispose? Himalaya asked. You mean the Sparrow?

-It’s a bio-hazard, Victoria said, the door sliding open. It will be jettisoned into the atmosphere once the pilot is debriefed.

The door shut.

Himalaya sat alone in the room. He looked at the miraculous seeds in his hand.

Then he looked at the bandage on his arm, where the IV from the Sparrow had been.

-He’s not a vehicle, he whispered to the plants.