As they rested with water, Pew asked a question. “Can we get chickens?”
“What’s a chicken?” asked Iokan.
“What do you mean, ‘what’s a chicken?’” demanded Olivia.
“They probably don’t exist on Iokan’s world,” I said.
“How can you have a world without chickens?” she asked, incredulous.
Iokan shrugged. “The Antecessors only left us with certain animals. This ‘chicken’ wasn’t one of them. What are they?”
“Flightless birds used for meat and eggs,” I told him.
“Yeah, but can we get some?” asked Pew.
“I think you know the answer to that.”
“Oh, so we can grow vegetables but we still have to eat machine meat?” said Olivia.
“I don’t understand,” said Iokan. “What’s the problem with chickens?”
“It’s a biodiversity precaution,” I said. “We’re all aliens here. We don’t want other species to get loose and take over the planet. That’s why all the plants are infertile. They’ll come up with seeds, but the seeds won’t grow. We’d do the same to animals, but it’s a lot more trouble and they tend to have minds of their own. Plus they bring a lot more microorganisms with them. So, no chickens. Sorry.”
“I see,” said Iokan. “Actually…” He looked around, and tilted his head to listen as well. “I haven’t seen any animals since I’ve been here, beyond a few insects…”
“No,” I said. “You wouldn’t.”
“It’s summer… there should be birds everywhere. And animals in the woods, and more insects as well…” He looked around again. “Something happened here, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Something that wiped out the birds.”
I nodded. “There was an asteroid strike about forty thousand years ago. Most of the plants survived, and a lot of insects, but the megafauna didn’t make it. It’s one of the reasons the IU picked Hub; it’s somewhere we can minimise our impact.”
“And humans?” he asked.
“They died out, too.”
He sighed. “We should get back to work.” He stood, but was immediately unsteady. “Ah…”
I went to help him. “Okay, I think you’ve probably had enough exercise for one day.”
“You may be right,” he said. I called for a nurse to take him inside, and asked Kwame if he wanted to help the group. He took a look at Olivia, who smiled contemptuously, and then decided not to bother. I took him back inside and let Olivia and Pew get back to the garden on their own, with only Katie watching them for reasons she kept to herself.
4. Asha
The gardening was a step in the right direction, but only a limited one. Olivia monopolised the task, and Pew was the only one willing to work with her the next day. Iokan was instructed to rest — he was recovering fast, but still needed to take it easy.
Despite the odd cautious friendship formed here and there, the group still failed to come together. They found it too easy to retreat into their rooms and hide in the company of nothing but their own troubles. We could have housed them all in dormitories, but the ability to spend time alone was vital for therapy in other ways. So we were stuck for the moment, and it looked like I would have to resort to more serious measures.
Back at home, I’d finally convinced Bell he wasn’t going to be able to interview any of the group, and, as he often did, he skipped onto another subject without bothering to resolve the last one, leaving me irritated while be bounded into a new enthusiasm without a note of apology. We went out into the city for drinks in one of the more traditional bars where staff from the Diplomatic Service go to complain of the burden of their work, and he proposed we spend a week away together. Maybe skiing, or a beach trip — he’d heard of the new resort on the Gulf coast that had opened up, in distant sight of the Lift. It was his way of saying sorry and making an effort, I suppose. He was crestfallen when I had to remind him there was no way I could take a week off. An evening out was as much holiday as I was likely to get for the next year, at least. I probably shouldn’t have told him that my plans for the group meant I would be going away with them for a week or so as well. He took that as something of a deliberate insult, and went very quiet for a while. The evening ended with neither of us saying much, and me feeling relieved to be going back to work in the morning.
PART FOUR — TEAM BUILDING
1. Orienteering
Somewhere in the tangled forest between mountain peaks lay the first waypoint; not impossible to find, but not easy either. The group would have to work together to get there. Dressed in practical hiking gear, they huddled around Kwame to look at the map, displayed on a large-format foldable pad and weighted down on a tree stump. This was no cartoon trail guide but a detailed professional map showing the paths, watercourses and bridges through the woods, and the occasional geographical feature like an impassable gorge slashed into the landscape.
Kwame tapped a symbol on the map with a wavering finger. “So our task is to reach this rock here.”
They looked up. Over the tops of the trees, an upthrust slab of granite poked out of the canopy. An easy enough landmark by itself, but one they would not be able to see once they left the clearing at the edge of the forest where the bus had dropped them.
Kwame indicated a list of co-ordinates on a window to one edge of the map. “And we should have to reach these checkpoints in order to do so.”
“But those are just numbers!” said Liss. Her choice of outfit for the excursion made some concessions to practicality, but still had far too many pink bobbles.
“Grid references,” said Iokan. “Seems quite simple.” He’d switched his monk-like robe for something much more functionaclass="underline" a black polo-neck sweater, heavy walking boots, hard-wearing trousers and a jacket whose many pockets he’d filled with dozens of tools and gadgets.
“Haven’t you ever read a map before, girl?” demanded Olivia.
“I don’t go in the country. I don’t know what this means!”
“The map has a grid. Do you see?” Iokan traced lines across the chart. “The gridlines are numbered and you work out your grid reference from them.”
“Uh. Okay.”
“So if we’re here,” he tapped on the clearing they were in, “what’s our grid reference?”
“Um…” she traced the lines across. “Sort of nearly three six across and a bit less than eight nine down?”
“Okay, but it’s a six figure grid reference. The last two figures aren’t marked on the map. If they were, there’d be so many lines you wouldn’t be able to see the map itself. See?” He tapped a control and brought up the full grid, hatching over the map and making it difficult to read. He wiped it away. “So it’s best to just imagine them.”
“That’s stupid,” pouted Liss.
“I hope you never get lost for real…” muttered Olivia.
“Perhaps you should lead us,” said Kwame to Iokan. “I take it you have some experience?”
Iokan shrugged. “I was a military man. Once upon a time.”
Kwame brightened. “Really? What kind of service did you do?”
Iokan smiled. “The kind you don’t talk about.”