Contagion

I found myself captivated by the documents and walked towards them. They called to me almost as if they knew we were of the same era. There was a certain sense of comfort and familiarity about that, though the pages had long since yellowed with age while I stayed as young as the day I had last seen a copy of them. I reached out to touch them before I heard a startled gasp behind me.

"You mustn't touch them!" Nera hissed, her eyes wide with shock. I turned to Thana for an explanation but even she looked appalled that I would try such a thing.

"What is wrong?" I asked in confusion. From the quick glance I got at the paperwork it wasn't anything particularly special. Just an old manual about the deep freezer each ark was equipped with, but they acted as if it was some precious scripture.

Thana stepped between me and the documents to prevent me from getting any closer. "Only the Archivist can touch them," she said.

"Archivist?" I asked. "It is just a manual. What is the big deal?"

Thana and Nera looked to each other in shock. Both were clearly offended by what I said, and I quickly tried to make amends. "I am sorry if I offended you, I just don't understand their importance," I tried to explain.

Nera's face softened a little, but Thana's did not. "Our people have protected that 'manual' for thousands of years," Thana said proudly. "From one generation to the next we were told to protect it so that when the time was right, when we finally found a planet to call our home, we could rebuild what was promised," she said with fervor. Nera nodded in agreement, her eyes misted over.

I stood for a moment while I put the pieces of the puzzle together. Protect it until the time was right, when they found a planet to call home? It suddenly clicked! "This is the manual for the deep freezer that stored the Earth soil?" I asked in surprise. Thana nodded and I was genuinely shocked. "You still have it after all this time?"

"Of course we do!" Thana said, clearly taking offense. "It is sacred and important to our future! This document will help lead us there. We protect and take care of it, not touch it whenever we feel like!" she scolded.

It took a step back and could feel my stomach tighten with shame. "I am sorry," I said sincerely. "To me it feels like I saw these documents just last week. I forgot how long ago it has been and the importance they must hold for you."

Thana stared at me hard, but eventually I could see her shoulders ease. "And I am sorry," she said at last. "I forget that you are not from this time and are unfamiliar with our ways. You must really be an Ancient if you think these documents are nothing important," she said with a small smile.

"Maybe she knows why it has happened," Nera said to Thana. Thana gave her a look as if to tell her to be quiet. A whole dialogue occurred between the two as they communicated with looks alone, leaving me confused.

"Why what has happened?" I finally asked, unable to decipher their conversation.

Nera raised her eyebrow at Thana. Thana sighed heavily and turned to me, "why the plants are dying. We...rushed," Thana admitted bitterly.

My mind swirled with confusion and raced with possibilities. If something happens to these plants there is no other alternative within the pod. Maybe they could trade for food, but it would be costly and many would likely die of starvation. But before I started falling down that hole of despair, I knew I needed to get all of the facts first. "What do you mean you rushed? What is happening to the plants?" I asked.

"It isn't all the plants, but some species are getting hit hard and yields are lower," Nera said quickly. "If this continues I don't know how we will feed this pod."

"And when did this start happening? How did you make it thousands of years without issue but now are experiencing disease?" I asked incredulously.

Thana looked away angrily, and I could tell her anger was not at me but at herself. "We moved too quickly. A few years ago the filtration system used to create the plant food died. We didn't have the parts to fix it and it was going to take Geo months to build what we needed. We would have lost so much growing time and we would have had food shortages," she sighed as she tried to convince herself. "We decided that since we had already found Ilterra, even though it was not ready to terraform yet, we would thaw some of the Earth soil and begin introducing it for growing."

"We tried to keep it contained to one lab," Nera added, "but we didn't know the soil could carry diseases. We didn't decontaminate between rooms and must have carried it with us from sporo to sporo." Nera's head hung down as she quietly said, "I don't know if it is bad luck, ignorance, or perhaps even curse from the Ancients for some wrong doing."

Thana opened her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. Even she looked to the ground in defeat. I looked at the two strong councilwomen, and my heart ached for them. "Bad luck, yes. Ignorance, yes," I said. They both looked at me a little offended, but I smiled up at them. "To no fault of your own. The last time anyone has worked with the Earth soil was thousands of years ago. But you and your pod are not cursed. We will find a way to treat these diseases and move this pod forward," I said with confidence.

Nera smiled and I could see the relief in her eyes. Thana searched my eyes trying to see if I spoke the truth. She must have seen how sure I felt because she soon smiled and nodded.

"Let us tackle one problem at a time, the first being sorting these seeds," I said as I pulled the pouch from my suit. Their eyes grew and they looked at my hand as if I had pulled out rare jewels. Well, I suppose these seeds are rare, and they are better than jewels because they are ones you can eat. Any sadness quickly disappeared as we got ready to sort the varieties I brought.

It was decided that half of each variety would go to storage while the other half would be tested for growing, and I cannot wait to see the results. Once each seed was stored or planted, Thana and I made our way back to Central. Seeing that I was a little shaky from the motion sickness Thana insisted on driving me to my apartment despite my attempts to convince her I was fine.

The car ride was silent, but when Thana stopped in front of my apartment she turned to me. "Thank you for today," she said sincerely.

"There is no need to thank me, Councilwoman," I said quickly.

"Yes, there is," she insisted. "These last few years have been stressful not knowing where to turn with the weight of the pod looming over every decision. You have brought us hope," she smiled.

I returned her smile happy to know I have brought her some relief, but deep down inside I could feel a pang of worry. What if I can't deliver? It felt like I had lifted some of the weight off of Thana's shoulders and placed it on my own.

"You cannot tell anyone about this other than the council members and myself, understood?" she commanded. "We cannot let the pod begin to panic about food shortages. The less the know the better, at least until we have a solution."

I nodded, but suddenly recalled my conversation with Geo earlier that morning. I told him what the baking soda was for and looked at Thana nervously. "What about Geo?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "What about him?"

I took a deep breath. "I need an ingredient for one of the treatments. I asked him to try and make it and told him what it was for. He knows the plants are diseased."

Thana's expression eased. "Ah, yes Geo already knows. Although he is not a council member he is an important part of this pod and is trustworthy when it comes to these matters." I sighed in relief. "I must be off. I have some more work to do," Thana said, and I took that as my cue to leave.

Just as I opened my door she said, "and Flora, remember what I said about Geo. I will not allow someone to destroy what I have built." Her eyes bore into mine as she waited for my response. I nodded yes, and she broke out into smile. "Get some rest, and behave yourself at your appointment with Geo tomorrow. Remember, I have eyes and ears all over this pod."

And with that she drove away leaving me conflicted. I have seen genuine, kind actions from Thana, but I have also seen her calculating side. I don't want to cross her, I can't afford to. For the first time I feel like my rescuer could be the quickest way to my downfall. We shall see what tomorrow brings when I see him again.