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and die if I
wasn't there. But I was there so it would remain green and healthy
and the colonists would live. I knew that as surely as I knew my
own name.
    As the elevator hit the ground with a slight
bump, Wilkes Zander added, "A few normal trees would be nice, but
these bushes are almost as good."
    What looked like normal trees from the
elevator were actually bushes or dwarf trees. As a botanist I knew
they required less food and water and produced just as much fruit
or nuts as a normal sized tree and as much oxygen. As I looked
around, I realized that every bush or dwarf tree in sight bore
something that could be harvested and eaten, as did the very grass
that grew along the path that stretched before us. The Destiny was
one huge farm. I was sure that there was a blueprint somewhere with
every bush and tree on it, along with exactly how much oxygen it
should create and how much fruit or nuts it should produce.
    I'd make sure that those carefully selected
plants would do what they were supposed to do. I'd make sure the
harvest was on time and bountiful. I'd keep the food alive that
kept the colonists alive even in the dead of outer space. But first
I had to find a place to hide.
    "You coming?" Wilkes Zander was waiting.
Everyone else had gone on ahead. "We should get going. Check in and
do whatever else there is to do." He held out a hand.
    I froze. I couldn't check in. But neither
could I take a chance and alienate this man. I put my hands on my
stomach. "In a little while."
    "Still feeling sick?" I nodded. "It takes a
while with some people."
    I leaned against an apple tree, carefully
fitting myself between two low-growing branches. The tree nicely
made room for me and I thanked it silently. "I'll be along in a
bit. I just need to sit a moment."
    "Sure. I understand." He started away. "I, on
the other hand, want to get all that paperwork over with, but I'll
come back when I'm done to make sure you're okay. You might need to
take something for a while. A week or so. My grandson took pills
for two weeks before his stomach settled down."
    "I'm sure I'll be fine in a few minutes."
    "I'll check back anyway. Wouldn't want anyone
to be sick when the Destiny gets going. That'll be something. Don't
want to miss it."
    "Soon?" I pretended interest.
    "Don't know when, exactly. It's not as if we
are on a schedule. We'll leave when everything is ready. When the
countdown is done. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. Or maybe
tonight. We're all staying up late just in case. Even the kids,
we're taking them over to the viewing room. What about you?"
    "Sounds like fun."
    He looked me over. "You don't look good. Are
you sure you're okay?"
    "I look worse then I feel. Don't worry about
me." I made a shooing motion. "Go fill out those papers and find
your grandkids."
    With a guilty look, he took me at my word.
"Join us tonight if you feel up to it. Lots of people, good food
and drinks." He scampered after the handful of colonists heading
towards a nearby cluster of buildings. The village. There was even
a sign. New Rochelle. Whoever designed the Destiny went to great
lengths to make it resemble a series of rural communities. He waved
as he followed the path into the thicket of cherry bushes between
New Rochelle and the elevator that was cleverly hidden in an
orchard so as to add to the rural feel of the place. "See you."
    I took a deep breath and leaned against that
dwarf apple tree and wondered what to do next. Then I moved because
I was on what was probably a well-traveled path and the last thing
I needed was someone else coming along and asking questions. So I
stepped off the path and into the orchard and started walking.
    As soon as I left the path I was surrounded
by trees that had to have been planted as soon as that section of
the Destiny was closed in from space in order to have grown to
their present size. Apples hung ripe and ready for the picking. I
plucked one and knew I'd not starve as long as I could wander
around the huge farm that