guests hushed as they waited for the surprise dessert to be revealed. Silently waiters pushed
floatcarts to each table. An ethereal melody began to play over the loudspeakers. The lights
then began to shift from white, to blue to green, giving the room a fairy mound atmosphere. The
lights dimmed to near darkness and then with a flourish each of the waiters lifted the covers from
the floatcarts. Each floatcart was topped by a mound of what looked like rich loam. The
mounds were crowned by gently glowing mushrooms. The mushrooms were every color of the
rainbow, filling the room with a soft rainbow glow.
Jacinda became very excited when she saw what was for dessert, “I have heard of these.
They are called fairy mushrooms. The only place they grow is one of the moons of Jupiter.”
The waiters served each person a mushroom then replaced the covers on the floatcarts. The
more adventurous eaters, Jacinda among them, began eating the mushrooms immediately. Soon,
almost everyone had sampled them.
Jacinda savored the rich sweet taste. The only thing she could compare the taste to was a
cinnamon muffin, but the texture was totally different. It melted in her mouth, leaving behind a
nutty, almond taste.
Seeing Jacinda’s look of pleasure, Flim and Devon dug into their own mushrooms. They
both smiled as the taste hit their tongues.
“Wow, I never knew mushrooms could taste so good,” Jacinda said. “I’d love for my
father to taste one of these. He loves mushrooms.” She turned to the waiter, “Sir, where do you
get these, are they expensive?”
The waiter looked down his nose at her, “they are very expensive, miss. Your dessert
cost more than your ticket,” he answered.
Jacinda froze. She could not believe that someone would pay that much for something to
eat. It seemed so wasteful to her. Now she felt guilty for enjoying it so much.
Devon noticed her discomfort and realized how much the waiter’s comment had stung
her. “Don’t worry, Jacinda. The foundation paid for everything. They also made a donation to a
worthy cause for the same amount that the dinner cost. We always do that. It helps us live with
ourselves.”
Jacinda felt a little better, but just barely. “I guess that is ok, but it makes me feel guilty
to be eating something that cost more than my dad makes in a year.”
“If it makes you feel better, I can arrange another donation. How about a fund that will
help other kids from your colony to make trips like this?”
Jacinda nearly burst into tears, “thank you, Devon.” That was all she could get out. She
could not imagine having so much money that she could change peoples’ lives on a whim. She
thanked the stars that Devon seemed to be the kind of person who did not take it lightly and tried
to do good things with it.
“Hey, cheer up,” Flim broke the tension. “We get to start getting ready for the expedition
tomorrow morning. That is when the fun really starts.”
Chapter 4
Devon and the others gathered at 8 am, ship’s time. A hushed excitement could be felt
running through the crowd of children. This would be the first chance they got to meet the guide
who would lead them when they reached the planet’s surface. The vid-blog about the trip had
contained a short bio of their guide for this trip, Deke Jacobs.
Deke had become a hero ten years ago when he single-handedly rescued a group of
marooned VIPs on one of the moons of Zenos Prime. The public vids only showed faint images
of him as he was hustled into custody for debriefing after he returned the Ambassador’s party to
a backwoods outpost far from the civilized side of the moon. The glimpses the vids had captured
were shadowy, but seemed to show a wiry, dark man with amber eyes. His face was sharp, just
like his eyes. The look he had given the camera was fierce, causing many of the children, in the
group gathered to meet him, no end of worry. Devon strained to see over the milling children,
watching the door near the back of the room for any sign that Deke was coming.
Suddenly, a thump sounded at the door. The children immediately hushed. Slowly,
almost frighteningly slow, the knob turned. Devon held his breath, waiting for the door to open.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the door began to open. The room on the other side of the door was
dark, so dark that no one could see if Deke was in the room watching them.
“What are you folks staring at,” a gravely voice said behind the students. They all nearly
jumped as one, whirling around to see who was speaking. They laid eyes on a small, friendly
looking man who was not much taller than most of the children.
“Well, he said, is there a show starting, or something?” He asked.
“Oh, get lost, mister, we are waiting for someone, someone important,” Terry Jameson
replied with a sneer. Terry’s cronies laughed, pointing at the man.
“My guess would be,” the man said with a grin, “that I’d be the one you’re waiting
for….but that’s just a guess.”
At those words all of the children turned to gawk at the stranger, wondering aloud if this
could be the famous Deke Jacobs.
Terry sputtered in surprise as he wondered if he had made a mistake. “What, who? You
can’t be Jacobs. My aunt looks tougher than you.”
The man laughed again, “tough is on the inside. It doesn’t always show, and anyway I
bet your aunt is plenty tough to put up with you.”
All of the children, with the notable exception of Terry and his cronies, laughed heartily.
Devon could not help but grin, but still feeling bad that Terry had been embarrassed. As mean as
Terry seemed, Devon never enjoyed seeing people embarrassed. Devon looked over at Jacinda,
who smiled guiltily when she saw that Devon did not approve.
Deke motioned for everyone to be quiet, “That’s enough, I’m sure the lad did not mean
any offense.” The laughing dies, for the most part, but Terry still fumed. He eyed the Gustav
brothers, but they simply shrugged as a group, unsure of what to do.
“Now, it’s time to get down to business. Each of your datapads has been updated with
the latest information on Forrestal. It is primitive, but harmless for the most part.” Each of the
students pulled out their datapads and began to follow along as Deke spoke.
“It’s a bit hotter than sol standard during the day, but it can get cold at night. Each of you
will be issued a standard survival pack with a modular shelter and sleep roll. I will issue the
insta-meals when we reach the landing zone.” Deke began to pace back and forth in front of the
students, glancing at each to make sure they were paying attention.
“Now, this trip is serious business. While Forrestal has been completely surveyed, there
are some ruins that have not been completely explored. We are not sure of their origin, but they
are extensive…and fascinating. Our job during this trip is to study the ruins for 21 days and
report what we find. In addition to our work at the ruins I will be teaching you some basic
frontier skills.” Deke pressed a button on his WristVid. A pop-up appeared on the screen of
each student’s datapads. The pop-up showed a map of the camp the group would be using.
“Our compound has already been dropped by an advance team. It is fully stocked and
ready for us. We will be dropped about a day’s hike from the camp and we will use the hike to
get acquainted. Before we make the drop to Forrestal each of you must choose a safety partner.
If you can’t work that out yourselves by 3 pm, I’ll assign them. Everyone understand?”
A murmur of assent passed through the crowd of children. “Well then, then I will leave
you alone until 4 pm. We will be having our first meal together in the forward mess at 6 pm.
That is the cafeteria, for all you planet-huggers. Be there and I will finalize the assignments.”
Without another word, Deke motioned for the children to move out of his way. He strode
through the crowd and exited through the door that had opened before he had appeared.
Chapter 5
Devon and Flim had logged their partnership right after the meeting that morning.
Jacinda resigned herself to simply accepting whoever was assigned to her. After that the three
friends set out to explore the ship. They started with the botanical decks, where the ship’s fresh
air was produced. The decks were full of heavily forested tracks, fed by artificial light and a
constant mist from the cavernous roof.
“I wonder if Forrestal is anything like this,” Devon asked. Flim shrugged.
“I think it is hotter than this,” Jacinda answered confidently. “Be sure that you have
some tropical clothes when we get to the surface, or you will regret it.”
“Oh I packed plenty. We will need it,” Devon agreed.
Flim shrugged again.” I’ll be okay just wearing this.”
Jacinda and Devon were confused by his lack of concern. “Are you sure,” Devon asked.
“Trust me,” Flim answered, wearing a strange grin. Devon and Jacinda laughed at Flim,
content to let him have his little secret.
The three friends played in the forest for a while longer, slaying imaginary dragons and
discovering make-believe lost civilizations. After a while they began to get hungry. Flim was
the first to mention it.
“It’s almost 1 o’clock. What should we do about lunch?”
“I can whistle something up,” Devon suggested. “I don’t feel like going all the way back
to the dining deck.”
Jacinda clapped in excitement. “We could have a real picnic.” She had never had a
chance to have one before, growing up in the mining colony. Even the botanical deck seemed
huge to her.
“That sounds good. I’ll take care of it.” Devon tapped a code into his WristVid.
“Lunchtime, Sammy,” he said into it. “Traditional twentieth century American picnic for three.
Track this signal for delivery.” The WristVid beeped in assent. “It shouldn’t be too long now.
How about a dip in that pond over there while we wait?”
“Zonk! What a great idea!” Flim exclaimed.
Jacinda shook her head. “Not me,” she hesitated. “I don’t have anything to change into.
But you go ahead. I’ll just wait here.”
Devon felt bad that he had not thought of that. His own outfit could easily convert into a
swim suit. Obviously, Jacinda could not afford anything that fancy.
“Oh, never mind. It was a dumb idea.” Devon waved the thought away. “Anyway, lunch
will be here before we know it.”
“No, you go swimming,” Jacinda said. “I’ll be fine. I don’t like swimming anyway.”
She hoped that the boys did not figure out that not having a swim suit was not the real reason she
did not want to go. She did not know how to swim and it embarrassed her. She just had never
had a chance to learn.
Devon hesitated, reluctant to leave Jacinda out of the fun. He peered over at Flim, who
had somehow already changed into a snug swim suit. He looked back at Jacinda, who nodded
and waved, letting him know that she did not mind.
“Last one in is a Jovian Puffball,” Flim shouted as he raced toward the pond. Casting one
last glance at Jacinda, Devon followed with a whoop.
The boys ran full speed toward the pond. Devon, being a very strong runner, made up the
distance between he and Flim. They reached the edge of the pond at the same time and leapt
forward toward the water. They both landed with surprised grunts as they discovered that the
pond was only a foot deep. Deep enough to keep them from hurting themselves, but not deep
enough to hide their embarrassment.
Jacinda laughed out loud, her voice carrying all the way to the boys. “I give it a ten out
of ten,” she called to Devon and Flim. All three began to laugh. Devon flopped on his back and
pretended to do the backstroke. He merely succeeded in splashing water all over Flim. This
only caused them all to laugh even harder.
Devon and Flim played in the shallow pool, chasing each other around and pushing each
other over when they were caught. They were startled when they were suddenly splashed from
behind. Jacinda had taken off her jumpsuit and wore only a short-sleeved unitard. She was
splashing them furiously, emitting a high-pitched giggle.
“Take that, boys,” she shouted as she splashed them. Flim took cover but Devon strode
imperiously toward the girl, causing her to scream in delight. “No, stop!”
“It’s a bit late for that,” Devon barked in mock anger. “You mess with us and you get
wet too. Get ready for the big bath, Missy.”
Jacinda tried to dodge away from Devon but he leapt at her, catching her by the ankle.
With a laugh she splashed down into the water, sending all three friends into another fit of
