Always Spring

Earth’s first and only generation ship set course for a distant star system to save humanity from a dying planet.

Several millennia later, they landed on a habitable exoplanet ...

“Captain, sir,” said a surveyor. “It’s beautiful and lush here, and our instruments show that it’s always spring. A true paradise.”

“An Eden in space!” replied the captain.

The colonists established a thriving city within weeks through the help of AI and robots.

“Sir, sir! Look at my hands and face!” said a farmer to a medic.

It turned out the person had developed red blisters that began oozing pus.

“And I’ve got an excruciating itch all over my skin. What’s happening to me?”

“Allergies,” answered the medic.

Eventually—all the colonists developed an allergic reaction.

“Is there a cure?” asked the captain to the chief medical officer.

“None that I’m aware of ... We’re doomed to live forever in this supposed paradise, which is now a living hell.”

An alien ship landed, and out came a robot …

“Greetings, new arrivals! I’m an ambassador for my masters who terraformed this planet for agriculture.”

“Robot, can you help us? We’re suffering from miserable allergies. We’d rather all die than go on further,” said the captain.

“Of course, that’s why I’m here. I can synthesize an antihistamine, but ...”

“Yes?” asked the captain.

“You must cultivate all the flora here to gather enough ingredients. However, the medicine requires formulation on my masters’ home planet.”

“And if we refuse?”

The robot pointed to a hill.

“A hill with trees?” the captain raised an eyebrow.

“Negative,” replied the robot. “That enormous mound is a mass grave of other species who denied our assistance.”