Away from the table, Pew struggled to get a pack on his back. “Do we have to carry so much?”
“The mass is negligible,” stated Katie.
“For you it’s negligible,” he said, grunting as he lifted the pack. “I’m only Pu.”
“That is unfortunate.”
He looked up at her, shocked and angry. “What do you mean by that?”
“The Pu species possesses only average human strength. This is unfortunate for the Pu species.”
He realised there wasn’t a trace of malice on her face, or any other emotion. He swallowed back his own feelings. “Uh, right. Any chance you can help?”
She lifted his pack with one hand and held it up so he could slip his arms in the straps. “Uh, thanks,” he said.
“You are welcome,” she said, releasing the pack. He slumped under the weight.
Iokan turned to the group. “All right everyone. Packs on backs, let’s get going before the sun goes down!”
Some grumbled at the weight, though not Liss, who proclaimed it easy peasy to lift. Olivia told her if it was so easy she could take hers as well. Liss stuck out her tongue and went on without helping. Iokan was less vindictive. “You’ve got the straps too long…” he said. “Here, let me.” Olivia looked suspiciously at him as he adjusted the pack to let it sit more easily. “There, is that better?”
“Yeh. Better. Thanks,” she said, reluctant to be indebted.
“My pleasure. Let’s go,” he smiled, and struck out towards the trees, folding the map and trailing the others behind him.
“I don’t get this…” said Liss, looking at her magnetic compass, a needle suspended in a clear plastic shell.
Kwame sighed. “It is a compass. It works by aligning the needle to Hub’s magnetic field—”
“I’m not stupid. I know what a compass is. I mean why are we using one of these things when we’ve got proper computer ones and satellite tracking and everything?”
“Bloody good question,” muttered Olivia as she passed into the shade of the forest.
2. Group
A few days earlier, I’d gathered the group in the common room to tell them about the excursion.
“As some of you know, the Refugee Service doesn’t just look after people while they’re waiting to go to a colony world. We also look after people who were injured too badly to be able to go straight away. So we have a lot of permanent facilities for them, including a few where we give people a holiday if they need it. And that’s where I’d like to take you all in a few days.”
“What kind of holiday do you mean?” asked Kwame.
“It’s an outdoor activity centre. So camping, hiking, woodland activities. That kind of thing”
“We’re going camping!” squeaked Liss. “Can we have marshmallows on sticks?”
“I’m sure we can,” I said.
“We’ll be in the wilderness?” asked Kwame, concerned.
“Not exactly. We’ll sleep indoors most nights but we’ll go camping as well. We’ll be out there for a week, and I promise you: no therapy while we’re there.”
“What kind of things are we supposed to be doing?” asked Olivia, suspicious.
“Walking, hiking, games, team-building… all kinds of things,” I said. Olivia rolled her eyes at the mention of ‘team-building’.
“We’re not doing the thing with the stick, are we?” she asked.
“What’s the thing with the stick?” asked Pew.
“The helium stick. Or the anti-grav stick. Or whatever they’re calling it. They made me do this team-building rubbish before, they give a load of you a stick and you all have to balance it on your fingers and lower it to the ground. It’s childish,” said Olivia.
“It’s about building trust and helping you work together,” I said.
“It’s ridiculous. I’m not doing it.”
I made a note to keep the anti-grav stick off the list of activities. “I’m sure we’ll find something for you to do,” I said.
3. Trust-Building
Pew cocked his head, troubled by a sound in the forest. He strained to listen, unable to see because of the blindfold across his eyes. “What was that?” he asked.
“Branch fell off a tree,” said Olivia.
“Right. Right,” he said, still nervous. She sighed.
“I know it’s stupid, but you’ve only got to put one foot in front of the other.”
“Okay…” he said, and tried it.
“That’s it,” said Olivia. “And another.”
He took another step. The ground remained firm. He waited.
“Do I need to hold your hand?” she demanded.
“Wasn’t that what we were supposed to do?”
“All right, then…” she sighed and took his hand. He walked on with greater confidence. “Mind yourself,” she said. “Bloody great root there, you’re going to have to lift your feet.”
He stepped up and onto the root. “Stop there,” said Olivia.
“What is it?” he asked.
“See what you’ve done? I’m talking to you and I’m not paying attention to the ground,” she said, and scrambled over to get ahead of him. There was a hollow in the earth after the tree root. “Right. You’re going to have to jump down a bit. It’s about half a metre.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! Now come on, get on with it!”
Pew crouched, still nervous. But the jump was simple and he was soon safe again.
“There. Easy enough,” she said.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Are there any more of those?”
“No. Level ground from here. All right?”
“Right.”
“Let’s get on with it then,” she said, taking his hand once more.
Katie and Iokan, meanwhile, tackled the blindfolding task rather differently. Iokan wore the blindfold, and Katie had her own way of helping.
“Nine paces forward,” she instructed.
Iokan took nine paces as Katie watched, stopping just before a low hanging branch. “Crouch forty centimetres,” she said. He crouched, just far enough to get underneath. “Advance one metre.”
“One metre it is,” he said, cheerfully, and shuffled forward under the branch.
“You are ten centimetres short of the required distance,” she said.
He took another small step forward. “Are you always this precise?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think we’re here to be precise.”
“We are here to accomplish a task.”
“But you know the task isn’t really about walking in the woods with blindfolds?”
“That is the task we have been given.”
“We’re actually meant to learn to trust each other.”
“I do not require your trust. I only require you to follow my commands.”
He nodded. “Hm. Well, can I stand up now?”
“You may stand up now,” she said. He did so, just clear of the last leaf on the branch.
“Is this how you did things in your universe?”
“No. We were more efficient,” she replied. “Turn fifteen degrees left and advance sixteen paces.”
“If you say so,” he said. She was right, of course; the path ahead was completely safe for exactly sixteen of his paces.
Elsewhere, Liss was supposed to be leading a blindfolded Kwame along the route. He could hear water rushing along a gully. “Were we supposed to be near a river?” he asked.
“Um. Maybe,” she said.
“Maybe?”
“Well, we probably are…”
“Liss, please tell me you know where we are.”
“Oh, I think, um, I’m pretty sure we should be heading that way,” she said, pointing.
“Which way?” he asked.
“Whoops. Sorry,” she said.