Earthseed

abdomen ached.
    She heard footsteps at the door. Someone crossed to her side and removed the cloth. Kagami looked down at her. “Are you feeling better?”
    “I think so. I stopped retching.”
    “Do you need another cold cloth?”
    “No.”
    Kagami handed Zoheret a small bottle. “Here, drink some of this. You ought to be able to keep it down by now.” Zoheret lifted her head and swallowed; the liquid was thick and sweet.
    “That feels better.” She handed the bottle back to Kagami. “Did you figure out what I have?”
    “It wasn’t hard. It’s an intestinal virus.” Kagami had a small medicanalyser in her room, on which she could run simple tests. “I think it got into some of our food. Bonnie’s really sick. Anoki’s over it already. Dmitri had a bellyache and then it went away.”
    “You mean everyone’s got it?”
    “No, only about thirty people. I’ve been asking them what they ate yesterday, and then I’ll talk to a few who aren’t sick, and maybe I can track it down.” Kagami sat down on Lillka’s cot. “I’ll bring you some soup tonight. By tomorrow, you should be well.” Kagami sighed. “I think we’re going to have to be more careful with how we store our food.” She rose.
    “Don’t go yet.”
    “I have to make my rounds. I’m leaving this medicine with you. There’s a bottle of water under your bed—try not to drink too much of it, though.” Kagami left the room.
    Zoheret was now sure she was getting better, if only because her worries no longer seemed distant. She thought about the sullen faces she had seen during the past few days and the whispers that were muted when she drew too near the whisperers. Tonio’s revenge had made quite an impression; to her surprise, a lot of people had approved of it. There were those who were saying that Tonio should be the leader because he could act. She had overheard enough to know that, and wondered if Lillka knew.
    Someone was limping through the front room toward her door. “Who’s there?”
    “You’re awake.” It was Anoki’s voice. He entered the room. “Feeling better?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. Kagami said you were really sick.”
    “I was.”
    “I got over it fast.” He leaned over her for a moment, then retreated. Lillka’s cot creaked. “I have the robots clearing another area between the field and the plain for planting.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. They break down sometimes. They’re just hanging together. I wish I had more components. I have to do a lot of tinkering.”
    “Well.”
    An awkward silence fell. She tried to think of something to say. She had missed his company; she could never be as easy with Dmitri as she had once been with Anoki, and the thought brought her pain. “How’s Willem?” she said at last.
    “He’s fine. If I tell him what to do, he’s all right. He know’s he’s needed here, that there are jobs he can do. You should see how happy he looks when he gets something right, and here it doesn’t matter if he can’t read or doesn’t know certain things. But it’s hard for him when he sees other boys with girls.”
    “It is?”
    “He’s getting older. He has feelings, too, even if he isn’t sure what they are. But there’s not much of a chance for him.” Anoki paused, as though he knew he had wandered too close to dangerous ground. “I’d better go.”
    “Thanks for coming to see me.”
    He walked toward the door. “You visited me when I was sick. I don’t forget.” He was telling her that he was repaying a debt, nothing more.

    Dmitri came to see her that evening. Zoheret had finished her soup and was still hungry, but Kagami had told her not to eat more until morning.
    Anxious to leave her room, she walked down to the riverbank with Dmitri. A few people splashed about in the water near the shore, their nude bodies gleaming in the reddish light. Helena’s breasts seemed larger without clothes; Gervais was sprouting body hair. Lillka and Brendan sat near a large, flat rock, speaking with Tonio. Dmitri waved a hand in their direction and said, “Lillka got smart.”
    “She always was.”
    “Not about some things.” They sat down on the soft grass. “I talked to Tonio, and then I talked to her, and now she’ll ask him about things—consult with him, she called it. All Tonio really wants is to feel somebody’s listening to him, and now maybe some people will stop talking about how he should be leader.” He smiled, obviously proud of himself.
    “I hope