laughter.
A shrill chirp interrupted their play. When they looked up, Sammy, Devon’s automatic
luggage, was standing next to the pond. Devon jumped to his feet.
“Okay, Sammy, we’ll eat over there by that tree,” Devon instructed, pointing out a large,
majestic Oak.
Jacinda stared, “That is Sammy? I thought you were calling your steward or something,
not a walking suitcase.”
“I’ve had Sammy as long as I can remember. My parents had him specially made for me.
The techs put in voice recognition and added some limited service routines to his programming.”
Devon scratched his head self consciously, suddenly uncomfortable. “He is more like a robot
than luggage. Sometimes he is the only one I have to talk to…so I probably talk to him too
much.” Devon rubbed his hands together, embarrassed by his attachment to Sammy.
“It’s okay,” Jacinda answered, seeing how much it bothered Devon to admit his
loneliness. “I just wish I had something so cool.”
The three friends watched Sammy trundle over to the tree and begin setting up the picnic.
A compartment opened in his side and a red blanket popped out at the end of a slender
mechanical arm. The arm unrolled the blanket and smoothed it out under the tree. Sammy then
trundled a few feet from the blanket and set himself down. Once settled, Sammy opened,
converting into a short table. The table was set with an assortment of delicious food. The smell
of fried chicken filled the air. The table also held slices of sweet looking watermelon. Next to
the melon were a plate of sandwiches and a bowl of macaroni salad.
The food seemed strange to Jacinda. On the small asteroid that her mining colony
occupied, fresh food was nearly impossible to obtain. It was quite expensive and usually
reserved for special occasions. Needless to say, Jacinda and her family usually settled for
prepackaged foods brought to the colony on the various ships that delivered supplies and then
picked up the ore processed by the colony. She had expected fancy food at the reception last
night but was surprised that it was so readily available. She guessed that people as wealthy as
Devon simply took this kind of luxury for granted. She did not fault Devon. It was simply what
he was used to having.
Devon and Flim piled food on to plastic plates that had popped out Sammy and then fell
upon their lunch like hungry dogs. Jacinda hesitated for a moment longer then filled a plate as
well. At that moment she made a promise to herself to simply enjoy the trip rather than worry
about what it would be like to return to the mining colony were luxuries would be almost
impossible to come by.
The food was delicious. They all sat eating, silent except for the occasional murmur of
delight at the food. Flim seemed to like the chicken the most. He ate four pieces before Jacinda
gave him one of those looks that girls give boys when they are acting badly. Flim took the hint
and raided the sandwich plate next.
They finished the meal by each taking a slice of watermelon over to the pond and spitting
the seeds as far into the water as they could. Jacinda found that she had a knack for it. She beat
the boys handily and giggled as they tried to beat her longest spit.
“What’s wrong, boys? Are going to let a girl beat you?” Jacinda was enjoying the good
natured ribbing. Flim and Devon redoubled their efforts. Unfortunately, the harder they tried,
the more futile it became. Finally, they ran out of ammunition when they finished the last of the
watermelon.
“Wow, that was fun,” Flim said, wiping juice from his chin.
“Thanks for lunch, Devon,” Jacinda said.
Devon nodded, “It was my pleasure.” He was happy to see that for the first time Jacinda
did not seem self conscious about accepting his hospitality. He could not imagine how he would
feel if their positions were reversed. Devon had always had everything he wanted, except for
time with his parents. Jacinda, on the other hand, had little more than her family. He could not
help feel that in many ways, she was much luckier than he was.
The meal acted like a sedative on the children. They lay back on the blanket near
Sammy, who was no longer a table. There was no sign of the dishes or food anywhere. During
the spitting contest, Sammy had cleared away everything and hidden it away somewhere,
probably nestled somewhere inside.
The blanket felt so soft under their backs. All three friends fell into a gentle slumber,
shaded from the artificial sunlight by the huge Oak. Sammy dutifully stood watch over the three
as they napped. It was silly to think that Sammy could be protective of Devon. After all, he was
only a piece of luggage, but anyone watching would have sworn that he was guarding the boy.
Chapter 6
“Beep, beep, beep,” Devon’s datapad chirped. It immediately woke Devon, Flim and
Jacinda. Devon wiped his eyes, yawning.
“What time is it?” He asked no one in particular. The datapad chirped again.
“Check your pad. Did you set the alarm?” Flim said
Devon picked up the pad and scanned the readout.
“It’s 3 o’clock. The preliminary partner list has been posted.” Devon accessed the list.
“It’s official Flim, we are partners.”
“Have they assigned me a partner yet?” Jacinda asked expectantly. Devon fiddled with
the datapad. He frowned in concern.
“Yes, they did.”
“Well, who is it?” Jacinda asked, her voice filled with concern.
“You’re not going to like it.” Devon shook his head. Flim jumped to his feet and peered
over Devon’s shoulder. He immediately began to snicker.
“Who is it?” Jacinda insisted, anger creeping into her voice.
Devon looked straight at Jacinda. “It could be worse.”
Jacinda finally had enough. She reached out and snatched the datapad out of Devon’s
hand. Right there in black and white it sealed her fate.
Merrell Gustav
, the datapad showed. She had been paired with one of Terry Jameson’s
toadies. He was the youngest, and the biggest.
“I guess it could be worse,” Jacinda said in a resigned voice. It could have been worse.
Merrell had been the only one of the brothers that had not been angry at being sprayed with
fizzup. Also, at least she had not been paired with Terry. That would have been the worst
outcome of all.
“Maybe you can ask Deke to switch you,” Flim suggested. He had stopped snickering
when he realized how much the news had upset Jacinda. Although he had not been there when it
happened, Flim had heard about Jacinda’s run-in with Terry and the Gustav Brothers. It had
sounded really funny at the time, but he was not so sure anymore.
“I won’t do that,” Jacinda replied. “If I complain it will just give them something else to
tease me about.” Putting on a determined face, she nodded, as if making a silent agreement with
herself and checked her unitard. It had dried during their nap so she began to put her coveralls
back on.
“You are nicer than I am,” Flim commented. “I would be screaming, if I were you.”
Devon and Jacinda both glanced over at the alien boy when he spoke. They did a double-take
when they saw that he had already dressed. They wondered how he could have gotten dressed so
quickly without them seeing him do it.
“What?” he asked when he saw their confusion.
Devon started to speak, “How in the world did….? Oh, never mind. We had better start
getting ready for dinner tonight. We all need to review the information Mr. Jacobs uploaded to
our datapads.”
Flim immediately retrieved his datapad from the bag he usually wore over his shoulder
and sat under the tree, reading the information on Forrestal. After dressing, Devon and Jacinda
joined him under the tree. They wore serious faces as they studied, intent on learning everything
they could about the alien planet they would soon be exploring.
Chapter 7
The ship’s bell chimed six times with a metallic “BONG.” All of the students waited at
the entrance to the forward mess. During the coming meal, Deke Jacobs would finalize the
planet-side partner assignments. Anyone who cared to check already knew their assignment, but
a few held their breath, enjoying the anticipation of a surprise. As the ship’s bell finished
chiming the doors slid open. They were all greeted with the smell of grilling meat. The mess
hall had been transformed into a wilderness fort. The ceiling panels had been programmed to
look like a cloudy night sky. The staff was dressed as mountain men or Native Americans from
Earth. What looked like a side of beef was roasting on a spit in the middle of the hall. Fiddle
and fife music accompanied the sounds of the excited children. Deke stood in front of the fire,
greeting everyone. He was dressed in buckskins and looked every inch the frontiersman.
“This is awesome,” Flim shouted as they entered. Devon and Jacinda hurried to keep up
with him. The staff was handing out large, wooden platters to all of the children. Everyone
began piling food onto their plates. Hunks of meat were sliced right off the roasting beef and
served to everyone who wanted some. Corn muffins, smoked turkey, roasted potatoes, and other
delectables accompanied the beef. In addition various pies and pastries were provided for
dessert and apple cider to wash it down.
The three friends found an empty table that looked like rough hewn wood and sat down
to enjoy their meal.
“Wow, these people sure go all out,” Jacinda said.
“This is definitely one of the best cruises I have been on,” Devon commented.
“Good food,” Flim mumbled emphatically around bites of food.
“Can I join you?” asked a voice from behind them. They turned as one to see who
belonged to the voice. Jacinda nearly choked when she realized who it was. Merrell Gustav
stood there, looking at the three sheepishly.
Flim was the first to recover his composure. “Sure, I’m sure that Jacinda won’t mind.
You two need to get to know each other better anyway.”
Merrell set down his plate and cup and sat down in an empty chair.
“Yes, now that we are partners.” Merrell looked straight at Jacinda. H blushed and then
continued. “I hope it was okay that I signed us up as partners.”
“You did that?” Jacinda asked in surprise. “Why?”
“Well, I felt really bad about how we…I mean, how
I
acted. It was so mean.” Merrell
nervously played with his food. “I wanted to make it up to you. I figured that if we were
partners, I could keep anyone else from bothering you.”
Jacinda was flabbergasted, “I did not…but you…won’t you?” She could not get out a
whole sentence because of her surprise. The boys sat there, watching her, especially Merrell. He
looked as if his mortal fate depended on what she was going to say. She stopped trying to speak
and took a moment to compose herself.
“Thank you, Merrell. It would be really cool to be your partner,” she finally answered.
“It was very sweet to do this for me. Maybe I was wrong about you.”
“You weren’t wrong, at least not then.” Merrell sighed with regret. “Terry and my
brothers always give people a hard time. But, something about you made me think about what I
was doing. You are one of the first people that every stood up to us.” He looked up into
Jacinda’s eyes, smiling when their eyes met. “It made Terry and the others plain mad, but it just
showed me how ridiculous we were acting.”
Jacinda reached out, putting her hand on top of Merrell’s. ”It’s okay, you are sure
making up for it now.” She paused for a moment, searching the room to see if she could see
Terry. “Won’t your brothers be angry about this?”
“So what? They’ll get over it.”
Flim laughed. “I have seven brothers and eight sisters and none of them would ever
forgive me for doing something like that.” Flim stood up and gave Merrell a mock salute. “I
salute you.” Everyone at the table laughed at the exaggerated gesture.
Devon picked up his mug, lifting it toward his friends. “To a great expedition.” Jacinda,
Flim, and even Merrell joined in the impromptu toast.
“And to lots of fun and mischief,” Flim added. This made everyone laugh again.
Their revelry was disturbed by the loud call of a horn. Everyone in the mess hall turned
toward the sound.
Deke Jacobs stood in the doorway, holding a stubby bugle.
“That’s good people. That is exactly what you should do if you hear the bugle. Stop,
look, and listen. Now that I have your attention, I’d like to make some announcements. First,
