Earthseed

didn’t care. Ship was a mind core. She had thought of it as human, but it wasn’t. Ship had as many feelings as the library computer catalogue. Ship had held the children and sung to them and told them stories and comforted them because that was what it had been programmed to do. Ship was going to take them and dump them on a strange planet and orbit that world while they lived and struggled and died on the planet’s surface. Someday, their descendants would be able to journey to Ship again; they might even build ships of their own. It all seemed wasteful and pointless. They had been thrown into the sea of space as if they were the spawn of fish, to live, breed, and die.
    A few members of the team were singing softly, marching in time to the song. They marched as if they were devices set in motion by a hidden hand.

    It was dark when they came to the lake; a rippling black surface lay before them. Annie and Gervais began to gather wood for a fire, taking care not to get too far away from the rest of the group. The sandy shore was strewn with rocks; the air blowing in from the lake was damp and cool.
    When the fire was finally ablaze, they all huddled around the flames, warming their hands and eating their meager meal. The trees bordering the shore were silent sentries. Zoheret devoured her dried meat and fruit and finished her food still hungry.
    Manuel studied his map by the firelight for a few moments, then put it away. “We have to get moving at first light, or earlier. We still have to circle the lake and get up to where we can cross the river—we can crawl across that old tree that fell there. After that, we should make good time and get to the goal before dark. I think we have a good chance of winning.”
    Zoheret ached all over and was certain her muscles would be stiff by first light. Jennifer had twisted her ankle, but seemed to be all right now; they’d had no other injuries.
    Annie moved closer to Zoheret. “I was mad at him,” she said softly, “but he did get us this far. I was sure we wouldn’t make it to the lake by now.”
    “We’ll take turns on watch,” Manuel said. Someone groaned. “We have to be careful. I’ll take the first turn with Jorge. Who wants the second?” A few voices volunteered. Manuel handed out the assignments, giving Zoheret and Gervais the last watch. “Yours is the most important,” he said to her. “As soon as it’s even a little lighter, we have to get up and start. We can eat while we walk—we shouldn’t run into any obstacles along the shore.”
    A few people were already bedding down, making beds of their ponchos and pillows of their knapsacks. Others were relieving themselves in the darkness just beyond the fire’s light. Zoheret got up and found a spot near a tree.
    She looked around, then squatted, grateful for the dark. She finished quickly and crept back toward the lake. Robert was banking the fire; the glow made his red hair gold.
    A dark shape suddenly loomed in front of her; she backed away. “Zoheret.” It was Manuel’s voice. “Sit with me for a while.”
    “You’re supposed to be on watch.”
    “Jorge can take care of things. Besides, you can watch with me.”
    “I have the last watch.”
    “You have all night to sleep. You won’t have to get up and then try to sleep again. I did you a favor.”
    “I’m tired.” She sat down anyway. A breeze whistled through the trees above them, then died. They were several paces from the group, hidden in the shadows on the edge of the shore.
    “Admit it,” Manuel said. “We’re doing well. If we’d listened to you, we wouldn’t have come this far.”
    “All right. I admit it.”
    “We were lucky with our team. We didn’t get stuck with any real losers except for Jennifer. Poor Ho. He got stuck with Willem and Anoki. That’ll slow him down.”
    “Willem’s strong.”
    “But he’s dumb. And Anoki—”
    “Anoki’s stronger than you think.”
    “He’s a cripple. Oh, I forgot—you’re his friend. Maybe you’re more than his friend.”
    “I’m not,” she said fiercely, and was suddenly ashamed of denying it so vehemently. “He’s just my friend, like Lillka. Sometimes he tutors me, that’s all.”
    “I believe you.” Manuel moved closer and put his arm around her.
    She froze, unable to move, and felt his breath on her face. He began to stroke her shoulder. “Take your hands off me.”
    “If you don’t want my arm there, then take it away.”
    She shoved his arm. He