We have shade trees everywhere on our farm. All the trees are grown from seeds so no pests are introduced to our planet. Our trees are 23 years old. Mom thinks little groves with benches are charming.
“Mom isn’t going to be happy about you using that eucalyptus tree as a landing pad.” I tell Cedric.
“It’s an accident, Athena. Can you get Edjra for me?”
“What about Dad? He’ll want to know about this.”
“Dad said he wouldn’t let me fly for the rest of the summer if anything happened.”
“Oh, so you’re making me get in trouble too?”
“No Athena, just go back to the barley. I’ll get Edjra myself.”
“Mom already knows something’s up. She tried to talk to you. Where’s your set?”
“I think it flew over there when I landed in the tree.” He points under the other trees. “What about your com-set?” I ask.
“That’s why I need Edjra.”
“What a mess, Ced. You know one of the water droids is down?”
“Look Athena, Ari’s coming. Can you help me out? You fix the droid. I’ll get Edjra and everything will be o.k., please?”
“O.k. Ced. I hope Dad doesn’t find out and I hope your plan works. Aren’t you putting Edjra on the spot?” That makes me think.
“We aren’t involving Edjra. Here, get down.
That’s a nice shiner you have, Cedric. How are you going to hide that? Are you feeling alright? Not dizzy are you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Let me see your eyes.” Cedric is half a foot taller than me at six feet, four inches. He has his long black hair tied back. I do a quick scan. He looks o.k.
“Help me slide this Cheetah down,” I say. “Look, you landed 8 perfectly in the Y of the tree,” I giggle.
Ari’s Cheetah comes into sight.
“Ari, help us get this Cheetah unstuck,” I say.
Ari has long, straight brown hair. She’s tall and thin and my friend, Albert’s, younger sister. Albert and Ari’s father, Ian Creek, is a lifelong friend of our dad and a Comanche brother. He’s a geologist like Dad.
Ari is giggling. “How fast did you go Ced?”
“1200 KH.” Ced puts his head down.
I take a deep breath and just look at my brother.
We get the Cheetah down to the ground. Luckily they aren’t heavy. When I look inside the com-set is loose. I push it back in.
“Hey Ced,” I talk to his com-set, “what you doing?”
“It works!” Cedric look relieved.
“Try to start it,” Ari adds.
Cedric gets in. It comes right on. Cheetahs scan and recognize their pilots. They automatically start on the pilot’s scan.
“No more shenanigans, Ced,” I frown a little, pulling some leaves out of the seat. “I’m going back to the barley. Your micro-set is over there.” I use the locater on my set. It displays a holographic arrow pointing to the other set.
“Thanks, Athena. I’ll get right on the water droid.”
“Bye, Ari. You guys should „fluff up‟ that tree a little. See you later.”
My little brother takes that Comanche Spirit my dad talks about seriously. He has grown his hair down to his waist. He loves to ride horses, and going fast.
The barley crop is fine so I head back home.
In the fall my three friends and I are going to the Intergalactic Education Center. After twenty-one years of not deciding, the four of us have finally picked what we want to do. The IEC is in the 37 Geminorum System on the third planet, called Azure. It is a very old system, about a billion years older 9 than Sun and a billion and a half years older than Chara. The IEC on Azure has been operating for almost a million years.
There are people attending from many planets and galaxies. Our planet is sending sixteen students all together. Dad is taking us in the Cargo Sphere so he can also trade some of our planet’s products for credits to put into our school account. All sixteen of us can use the account. We can access it with our micro-sets.
Fifteen crew members will go as well. They are parents who want to help the students get settled at school.
Our Sphere is docked above our farm. If you look up to the north you can see it.
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