2.8.2

A Pleasant Surprise

Astrid relayed all she could. Then immediately went to Romo and Dell to share their new search parameters from where the two hunkered in Dell’s tech lab to compare research.

“Walker got as specific as he could without being directly involved. If he really isn’t,” Romo commented. “I’ve worked on less.”

“So, Captain thinks he can use the Underground to get some out of harm’s way?” Dell supposed.

“I don’t know,” Astrid sighed. “Maybe he’s just thinking the more the Channelers can help themselves, the better for the initiative, regardless.”

Dell flipped through their collective information. “Seems it would make the outcome of integration more unpredictable, having them freed through this method. We don’t know where they’d go or what they’ll become after.”

“We don’t get to know that anyway,” Astrid replied.

“Besides,” Romo said to the tech. “If ‘predictable’ means they get picked off in their own Sanctuaries, ‘unpredictable’ has got to be a step up.”

“Maybe Tenya’s made some headway with her list. If you can get a probable location from her, I’ll talk to Captain about potential stations we can investigate nearby that would fit Walker’s parameters,” Dell offered to Astrid.

The Channeler agreed and parted to find the chief. She proved harder to locate.

After hitting the cargo hold and War Room, Astrid finally stumbled upon the woman on her way to the bunk quarters.

Tenya stood just outside, in the small commons in which Astrid frequently read. Or at least, she used to, before her kids were taken. It was also the room in which Rue once ambushed her. But that memory, at least, slowly faded.

Tenya fussed over a squat box under a setup of UV lamps with a disapproving scowl on her face.

Astrid tilted her head and tried to get a better look.

Her appearance, however, made the chief jump and immediately turn to obscure the Channeler’s view. Her efforts to present herself as inconspicuous failed miserably for a cover opts agent.

“Hey!”

“Um, hi?” Astrid almost laughed, as she so rarely caught Tenya unawares. “What exactly are you doing?”

Tenya’s brows knit and her lips twisted in a conflicted pout. Until finally, she relented.

The dark woman moved aside, so Astrid could inspect her work.

On a table along the far wall, under the off-color light, stood a wilting plant of heavy, deep green and broad leaves. Vibrant lines of pink sprawled through each emerald leaf like the pattern of a nervous system.

Which, as the former student knew, is what gave the organism its colloquial name, “nerve plant”. This one, however, held a specific name. Fittonia Verschaffeltii. And Astrid knew it very well.

“Is that….” She approached, as though Tenya revealed a wondrous miracle. There in the light sat one of the very plants that speckled the courtyards of her first home. “Is this from the Sanctuary?”

Tenya, still somewhat glum, nodded and turned to watch how Astrid lovingly stroked the leaves.

“I tried to be sneaky about it. Your Guardian friend, Cole? He helped. I wanted to surprise you. But it doesn’t seem to be doing so well with the transition,” she grumped. The chief indicated a tablet on the table next to her, open to a horticultural resource. “I’d hoped to cheer it up a little before you saw it.”

“I…” Astrid blinked, humbled. “I can’t believe you did this. That’s so kind.”

“With what you’re going through right now I thought maybe bringing some of your old home in with the new might help blend the two. I know Endra still matters to you.”

“Tenya…”

Astrid turned and hugged the woman. The chief smiled to see her thoughtfulness still affected the Channeler and squeezed back.

“I’m sorry it seems to be struggling,” Tenya added. She lifted a wilting leaf to view. “It’s probably a bit of a shock to the system to go from the Sanctuary to the ship.”

“Well, it was for me.” Astrid, too, came to see. The small bushel did feel weak. She could only imagine it, too, felt the void of once being surrounded by Channelers, constantly energy-cycling nearby, only to suddenly feel alone and lost to static.

The specialist gestured to the lit datapad. “Are you done with this?”

“I think I’ve got all I can from it for now,” Tenya replied.

Astrid cradled a few of the Fittonia’s stems between her fingers, and in her other hand, clasped the lit tablet.

She extended her sensitivity. To the battery that powered the tablet’s screen, and to the thrumming of the plant’s dwindling life pulse. She drew a link between the two. From power, to life, and back.

The plant perked at the touch of a Channeler, to greet the familiar rush of energy. And under Astrid’s guidance, leaves awoke. Their wilting presence lifted, the stems straightened, and though still flimsy and fragile, the living organism returned Astrid’s efforts with a notion of relieved contentment.

Astrid returned a drained tablet to the table, its light gone. But at least that could be recharged.

“You heal.” Tenya blinked. “You can heal!?”

“I don’t know if you can call it that. It’s more like…rejuvenation?” Astrid corrected. “It’s not like it closes wounds or anything. Just gives an organism the energy to fight whatever ails it. I haven’t tried it with humans. Maybe if someone was sick? But then again, it wouldn’t cure the sickness, just give them a little extra strength to endure it.”

“Not to put too fine a point on it but the ability to heal would go a long way toward arguing for integration.”

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” Astrid countered. “But we drain vitality just as easily as restore it.”

“Unlike Static humans, who both kill and heal slowly, right?” Tenya put to her. Then, the woman brought her face closer to the plant and its measurable improvement. “That’s still freaking amazing.”

“It’s also cheating,” Astrid ribbed. “Don’t think I’ll bail you out for negligence. And you’ll want to name her. They like names.”

“Her?”

“You picked a female. And she has feminine energy,” Astrid explained. “Just because they don’t have speech doesn’t mean they don’t have preferences or are insensitive to energy. Good, or ill.”

“Great.” Tenya’s speech slowed, pensive. “So don’t scream around the child. Got it.”

Astrid grinned at how well the chief took her guidance. She herself endeavored to be so receptive.

“You know, there are gardens in almost every capital colony,” Tenya continued. “It’s kind of a tradition after what happened on Earth. It’s considered good luck to maintain a block of local flora in the capitals. Sometimes right across from the capital buildings. It’s like a symbolic honor to the environments we colonize. So we don’t forget what it was before we arrived. It’s actually kind of beautiful.”

Tenya then looked to Astrid. “Maybe we’ll take you sometime. Some people have a bucket list to see them all. Like some kind of galactic garden tour. And you’d get to see the colonies.”

Astrid smiled weakly. It sounded pleasant, to imagine she might one day get to be a tourist. To see different parts of civilization because she could, and wanted to, and not only when out of necessity. But it hardly felt the time to consider vacations.

“So, were you looking for me?” Tenya asked next. Still, they remained near the table, so the chief could continue to tend to their new pet.

“Yes, actually. I was just talking to the others. Seems we might have a side mission, if we can narrow down the targets. Did you get a look at the list of Sanctuaries yet?”

Tenya nodded heartily. “Yup! And you know what? Endra and Lorelei had the highest kid count, aside from the Sanctuary closest to Earth. So, I definitely think it’s about the children, and the location only so far as the unlikelihood anyone can mobilize in time to stop them.

“The next highest count is in Sanctuary Mercedes. We’re headed out that way, between Mercedes and Raphael. Sanctuary Raphael was a candidate by location too, but they have fewer children. Mercedes is the better bet, so I proposed to the captain we lurk out there.

“Better yet, there’s a gateway station on the way. Over the Morda Colony. Even if we have no business in Morda, we have a place to park and maybe get some information, if we can be quick about it. There’s a good chance anyone heading out that way would stop there, as well. Including whoever is perpetuating these attacks.”

“I thought gateway stations are just giant Customs facilities. For going planetside.” Astrid did her best to recall.

“They are, but they serve other purposes, too. Fueling up old transports. Sometimes they’re used to resupply long-range expeditions. They keep records of the comings and goings. I mean, no system is perfect, and things sometimes slip through.” That, Astrid hoped, might be what the Underground counted on. “But there’s only one way to get a closer look on any funny business out there.”

“Should I tell the captain?”

“He’s already got Ricks on it. We’ll be there in two days.”

Astrid felt a flood of relief. Finally, she thought, they could gain some forward momentum. And maybe get there in time to make a difference.