Earthseed

caves and passageways just outside the corridors. Ship had watched them all their lives; even when it withdrew, not speaking, it watched. Its consciousness seemed to be everywhere. That had comforted her when she was small, knowing that she was guarded and watched—at least it had comforted her as long as she had done nothing wrong.
    She had personified Ship then. She still recalled the childish concept she had once held. She had imagined Ship as a person, as a nebulous and insubstantial body dwelling in the circuits, traveling along them as it watched over the children. When Ship had spoken in its alto, she had seen, in her mind, a pretty woman with a strong but gentle face and flowing silvery hair. When it used its tenor, she had imagined a kindly man with the same silvery hair and face. Even now the old images would return, unbidden, but she knew that Ship was not human. She remembered how, when she was little and still living in the nursery, Ship would hold her with its metal attachments and press her gently against its wall when she needed affection. It had seemed very human then. She wondered who had changed more—she or Ship.
    Lillka was staring at her reader. “I don’t care what Ship says. The more I try to find out, the more questions I have. Remember when we looked at the holos of my parents?”
    Zoheret nodded. Lillka’s parents had been broad-faced, stocky people with laughing faces and cold gray eyes. They had, according to Ship, made a pledge to each other called marriage, which meant that they had promised to live with each other for a certain period until it was time either to make a new pledge or to separate. “I remember. What about them?”
    “Ship told me they had both been trained as astronomers. It said they had worked in an observatory on Earth’s natural satellite. Then it said they had spent many years on Earth living in an agricultural commune until the Project.”
    “They lived outside an old city called Odessa,” Ship said, “near a large body of water called the Black Sea.”
    “I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to Zoheret. Will you keep quiet?”
    “Certainly. I was only trying to be specific.”
    “Why does that bother you?” Zoheret asked.
    “Think about it. They were on this satellite, the Moon. Ship told us that astronomers couldn’t work as well on Earth because its atmosphere interfered with observations—the telescopes couldn’t see the stars as well. But they went back to Earth, and then they became farmers. Don’t you wonder why?”
    “Maybe they just wanted to do something different.”
    “Maybe. But something about it bothers me. They worked on the Project. Ship says they were responsible for much of the work that decided its destination. But for a long time they didn’t do any astronomy at all.”
    “I still don’t see what’s so strange.”
    “I’ve looked at their faces,” Lillka replied. “I’ve watched them walk around. They look angry sometimes, even when they laugh. They look as though there’s something they hate.”
    “I think you’re imagining it.”
    “I thought I was. Now I’m not so sure.”
    Zoheret got up. “I think I’ll go to the Hollow. Want to come?”
    Lillka shook her head. “I want to read some more. Maybe I’ll be in the gym later.”

2
    Zoheret skated down the curved corridor until she came to its end, near Ship’s center. She took off her skates and slipped on the moccasins she had tied to her belt, then opened a panel in the wall, putting the skates inside. There were several other pairs on the shelf.
    The wide door slid open, showing her the Hollow. Ship said, “You should not go in there alone.”
    “I won’t go far. I’ll stay near the entrance.”
    “You should exercise some caution. I can watch, and issue warnings, but there’s little I can do here.”
    “I know.”
    “The natural realm has its beauty—it is the true home of humankind. But it also—”
    “—has its dangers,” Zoheret finished, having heard these words before. She walked through the entrance and stood under a slender tree. “Be careful,” Ship’s voice said from the tree. She leaned against the trunk, staring at the Hollow.
    She was standing on a small grassy hill. Below it, she saw the tall trees of a forest. The Hollow was greater in size than any other part of Ship; it would take at least two days to cross it on foot. The land stretched out before her, appearing to be flat, but the distant horizon was higher than