Project - Prometheus Ch. 06

"Commander, is there any chance of restoring me to the main interface at the center of Hydroponics? I will need to plug into the data feeds, if the crew are to harvest any of the vegetation within this area," the AI said somewhat acidly, trying to get the human women's attention.

"Why would you need to do that?" the chief engineer asked.

"Six hundred years of evolution may have changed the very molecular structure of the plant life in Hydroponics. The chance is miniscule, I know, but still, much of what was in there has changed in ways I cannot know, unless I have hard data," Jaesa replied.

"All right, we're on our way there now. Standby," Kasumi spoke to the image that sat on her bracer. Gesturing for Nats to follow and stay close, the women went even further into the wild forest ahead. As they moved along, the place grew even more wild, more flowers and plants in bloom, but also, far more rot underfoot. Eventually, Kas led the duo to a large set of metal stairs, that led upwards.

Both of them traversed it gingerly, as the stairs, like all the paths and every available surface, was covered in various forms of greenery. Some fruit bushes and trees had poked their way through some steps, making it a bit of a chore to navigate. They kept ascending though and found their way to some sort of large pod, situated in the center of Hydroponics.

The door lay open, which Kasumi found odd, until she walked in and saw what lay before her. On the floor, lay various kinds of detritus, much of which was of a personal variety. Some of which, seemed like it was left behind as though the owners had intended to come back to it. They likely had meant to do so, but hadn't anticipated the events that would lead to them not coming back.

Kas took a beat, bowing her head in respect for the fallen, before she walked over to the data panel. Nats also moved in to have a look at things, quickly deducing the problem.

"Looks to me that this growth had eventually wandered in here, shifting the various cables and such, until they disconnected," she gestured to the displaced flooring, many of the metal tiles shifted aside to make room for the invading plants.

"Jaesa, can you scan these and tell us if it's safe to pull up?" Kasumi asked, as she brought her arm down to the creeping branches and leaves.

"I should be able to perform a rudimentary scan. Just a moment."

Jaesa then closed her eyes, almost as though she was in thought. She opened them moments later, her scan having gone through the room, in a small pulse like effect, which came from the commander's bracer.

"The plant life should be safe to handle, as I am detecting nothing that would be considered toxic to humans. If it needs to be done, then please do it. I am as eager to sift through the data, as you two are to be digging into all that fresh produce down there," Jaesa stated with an excited giggle.

Considering the weird way that the AI was acting, Kas shrugged and thought nothing of it, as she went to work. Gesturing for Natalya to give her a hand, they yanked out the ingrained network of roots, while still minding the cables below the floor. It was gritty work, but in nearly thirty minutes, they had removed much of the biological matter that was down there.

Once the area was clear, the engineer got to work, slowly moving what cables she could, while finding the pathways she needed. For a moment, Nats thought she'd have to leave and grab her tool kit to make the repairs needed. Until she saw that one of the main power cables, was just uncoupled from its connector. She plugged it back in; the connection sending up sparks as she did it.

Natalya knew that she had done the correct thing when she saw the immediate effect of what happened next. A low thrumming sounded, that built in pitch, as various holoprojectors flared to life, each one displaying copious amounts of data. Several of the projectors were covered with moss, vines and other plants, until the two women cleared them off.

"Hydroponics, online. Thank you for restoring the sensor network. I should be capable of scanning this sector of the ship," Jaesa stated as she took a moment, as she absorbed the last six hundred years of data. "Well, this is going to take me a fair bit longer than anticipated. I have Zottabytes of data to comb through!"

"What have you learned so far?" Nats asked, waiting for Jaesa to say something.

"Well, that the various kinds of fruit and vegetables have evolved minutely over the centuries. They are perfectly safe for eating so if you ladies want to, go and dig in!"

With that, Natalya took off down the stairs, outside the central control pod. Kasumi called out behind her, telling her to wait up, but Nats' excitement overrode any concerns. As she flew down the steps, her mind was churning and trying to take in all the sights.

Once she hit the bottom floor, she stopped and looked around, unsure of what she wanted to try out first. The security chief caught up the young woman moments later, out of breath at descending so many stairs so fast.

"You know, you don't know where everything is, so you really should wait, as Jaesa is kind of busy right now," Kas puffed, while clapping the chief engineer on the shoulder. Nats started at the hand touching her, but quickly waved away any fright, as she continued gaping like an idiot.

"So, what kind of fruit is there?" Natalya asked, her voice still hushed in awe.

"Everything that ever grew on Earth will grow here. What you've seen so far, is only one sector of Hydroponics. Much of what came from Earth, grows in differing climates, so we had to simulate each one in order to accommodate the various kinds of plants and trees," the soldier replied.

Blinking, Nats couldn't believe what she was hearing! They had EVERYTHING??? She had to know if what she wanted was there, so she asked aloud, "You have pomegranate?"

"Yeah, which would be over that way, where the climate control is warmer, to accommodate such vegetation. Follow me," Kas gestured as she led the way. Heading in a northeastern direction, it was maybe a couple hundred meters, before they came to a large glass wall. On the other side, was what seemed to be a drier area, as there a lack of condensation on the glass.

Kas stopped by what seemed to be nothing but another part of the wall. She placed her palm on it, which then lit up in a bright green light and the outline of a door was made visible. Moments later, the door crumbled away, like it was made of digitized sand, a path through it now available to both women.

"Well, are you going to keep staring like an idiot, or do I have to hold your hand?" Kas wondered, half amused, half exasperated. Shaking herself back to reality, Nats fell in behind the commander, as they walked through into the drier zone.

This area seemed to have fared better that the others. The mess of trees, shrubs and plants wasn't as plentiful as the areas previous and due to a lack of moisture, the rot was limited. Kas seemed to know where she was going though, and Nats was grateful for that. It wasn't long, maybe five minutes, before they stood amongst a small scattering of bushes and trees. Each one was laden with pomegranates, some easily as big as one Alex's fists.

Natalya couldn't believe her eyes! Back home, a cocktail containing the juice of a pomegranate, ran easily upwards of one hundred credits! And that was one of a watered down quality, never mind any that were pure! Tentatively, she reached out, unsure if she should pull one down from its perch.

Chuckling quietly, Kasumi walked up to the tree and grabbed two of the ruby-colored fruits. Using each hand, she gently twisted the poms, and they came off without any fuss. With her right hand, she lobbed one to Nats, who caught it somewhat shakily. Drawing her knife, the soldier cut into the skin, neatly bisecting it, before she tore the fruit in half.

Inside, the pom was just ripe, the seed casings gleaming wetly, almost like they were living rubies. Bringing the fruit to her lips, Kas peeled them out of the heavy pod with gusto, relishing the sweet tang that played across her lips and tongue. Seeing that Nats was still just staring at her fruit, Kasumi moved both halves to her left hand. She then extended her knife to the chocolate-skinned woman, handle first.

Starting out of her daze, Nats gratefully accepted the knife and cut into hers in a similar fashion. After opening her fruit pod, the young engineer dug into her fruit with all the voracity of a starving woman, surprising Kas. It wasn't long before she polished off the first half of her fruit before she started into the second half.

"Take it easy. We have plenty of fruit to go around. Take the time to enjoy it!" Kasumi laughed, as she looked at Nats' face, which was dripping with pom juice. Natalya stopped for a moment, taking a few deep breaths before speaking.

"You don't understand Commander. Pomegranate is literally, a delicacy out in space! So many people would love to get their hands on one of these beauties, especially ones that are of such a pure strain!" Natalya explained.

"Oh, it's become a delicacy now has it?" Kas joked as she continued on her first half.

"Kasumi, a lot has changed since you went to sleep all those centuries ago. If you'll have a seat, I'll explain everything," Nats gestured to the ground by the tree, which was decorated with some arid scrub grass. Kas decided to humor the woman and sat by the tree as she ate.

"It wasn't long after humanity was granted several planets to settle, that anyone who had access to the various vegetation of Earth, formed their own little group. Farmers and fruit growers were no longer looked down upon as mere plebeians, but as those who would keep humanity alive. So much was lost when we fled Earth and these people, who knew the intricacies of growing food, did what they could to preserve what we had," Natalya started.

"Since our escape, Humanity had been keen on trying to find ways to adapt and survive, but the foods we needed to live, was scarce. There are races whose foods we can eat, but many of them took advantage of us and our planetless and poor state. They charged enormous prices for simple staples we needed to live. The Galactic Council had to actually step in and pass several laws, to prevent us from losing everything."

Kasumi was at first skeptical, then shocked and appalled at the blatant greed of these alien races. Though she had wanted to say something, she let Natalya continue.

"Thankfully, it didn't take long before the first crops sprouted up and we could feed ourselves. Because of those who knew how to grow what we needed and their ability to make the various crops adapt to differing climates, we climbed back up to where we should have been, as a race. Once we were producing enough to feed everyone, Humanity expanded its market, to other races."

"Honestly, it didn't take long before there was a demand for Earthborn fruits and vegetables. Apparently, many races find what once grew on Earth, to be quite exquisite. Much of what we could grow, went to these markets, hoping to strengthen Humanity's economy, which was slow and staggering at the time."

"Today, because of their ingenuity and forward thinking, we have a very strong position within the Galactic community. Much of what we have, is due to everyone who pulled their weight in building us up. Though after a while, the farmers created their own consortium, as a way of preventing themselves from being driven down, like their ancestors were, centuries before. Thus, they treated their way of life, more like a business," Nats went on, explaining this tidbit of history to the soldier.

"Though we are unified as a species, we are, at the same time, divided. Since the formation of the Farmer's Consortium, they have decided much of our politics and influence. Though I will say, some things they have done have been in Humanities best interest, but it was also in their own personal interest."

"Many times, they have prevented wars and ongoing battles amongst ourselves, because war doesn't profit them nearly as much as peace does. Sure, they could inflate the prices of food and such, but much of what they would sell, would likely be pirated and left to rot. Because of their power and influence, they've been able to hire their own private armies, to maintain the level of control on food production."

"Though the flow out from the planets of the Consortium is constant, many of the rarer and more exotic foods, are out of reach for the common man or woman. One of these Poms, would likely go for at least ten thousand credits, per fruit! It would likely go up much higher because of the purity of the strain!" the chocolate-skinned woman finished.

"That's unbelievable!" Kas stated. "To think that farmers and growers now control the flow of politics! It's unreal!"

"Well, that is how it is now. Those who were wealthy by the way of business and trade are still about and they have some influence. All the real power though, resides in the hands of the farmers and needless to say, they aren't shy about slowing or stopping the flow of food to whoever pushes them too far."

"So, just out of curiosity, how much would the entirety of hydroponics go for, in today's day and age?" Kasumi asked, almost giddy to hear the answer.

"Everything here, would easily be in the net worth of billions, upon billions of credits, and that's just the regular, common foods! If we get into the rarer and nonexistent kinds of food, such as pears, figs, plums, poms and the like, multiply that figure I stated, by hundreds!" Nats iterated.

Dumbfounded by the sheer value of everything that resided in Hydroponics, Kasumi glanced around. She now had a newfound appreciation for the food that lay about them, growing on the trees, vines, bushes and plants. Everything here, was worth billions?!?!? It staggered the soldier's imagination! No way in her entire life, did she dream of ever having the capacity or ability to possess that kind of money, nevermind having it within reach!

Eating in silence, as the full weight of what Natalya had told her sunk in, Kasumi contemplated what exactly she would do with this new information. Once finished, both women took the husks of the fruit and placed them at the base of the tree. An air of awkwardness hung between the two as both looked on in silence. Natalya broke the ice first, starting up with a question.

"So, you were telling me, that you had a story to tell, about why you snapped off at me, the way that you did," Nats queried, curious about the Commander's reasons.

"I suppose I let the cat out of the bag one that one, didn't I?" Kas sighed resignedly. "Well, I wasn't always a cold, leather and nails, ironclad bitch, you know. I was actually a nice girl who had no problem going out of her way to help those who needed it. I'm sure you've guessed by my red hair and surname that I'm of Scottish descent. That side of me comes from my father, William McKenzie."

"My mother, was Akane Tanaka, a Japanese woman, whom my father met during the Unification War. He was one of the first marines, who landed on the shores of Tokyo. As part of the first wave of soldiers who were there to liberate the people from Chinese occupation, his job was simple. Do everything he could to secure a proper landing site for the second wave, so the liberation of Japan could happen."

"Wait a minute, back up! Are you saying you are the daughter of THE William McKenzie? The famed Scottish Berserker?"

"Dad always hated that name," Kasumi sighed, remembering her father fondly. "Mom told him that there were many worse things that he could have been called." Nats nodded stupidly as she waited for the mixed woman to continue.

"He was wounded while trying to hold his position and nearly killed as a result. He woke up in a makeshift hospital and was being tended to by local nurses and doctors. The nurse that was looking after him, was my mother," she said, feeling both embarrassed and chagrined that her parents met in one of the most clichéd ways possible.

"After the war was over, my dad went back to Scotland and my mother went with him. Being a celebrated war hero, gave him a level of status he and my mom enjoyed, which made their lives the ideal they both wanted. It wasn't long after they moved there that they had me."

"Living in Edinburgh, it was a good life, despite being a half-breed, as opposed to many of the pure blood Scots I grew up with. Growing up there was easy enough as few people were willing to harass or cross the daughter of William McKenzie. As I got older, some people got the idea that they could get away with some things, which proved to be a bad idea," she said with a light laugh.

"I'll bet!"

"Several times, pranks were attempted, but no one stepped away from them unscathed. I showed them why it wasn't a good idea to cross someone who had my father's temper and my mothers' stubborn resilience. Suffice to say, no one dared push me too far, lest I blow up at them. Anyone who was a genuine friend to me though, was always welcome to hang with me and at my parents' dinner table."

"Once I started developing into my body and my looks, the girls hated me, because I had every attribute that the boys wanted in a woman. Problem was, I was very picky and none of the local boys piqued my interest. After I was done with high school, I tried out a few jobs here and there, but nothing held my interest for long. I decided to try life in the military, as my father had, but as a soldier like him, not a nurse, like my mom," the redheaded woman went on.

"I excelled in basic training and came out on top of my class in everything. Some guys in the platoon I was a part of dared to suggest that I had been sleeping with our instructors to maintain my position. So, I challenged their leader, one Chuck Farnham, to a one-on-one match, to prove that I had earned my place. He thought he'd, 'go easy' on me, show me up to everyone there. That was his biggest mistake," Kas said with a smirk. Nats stifled a giggle, imagining some pompous ass trying to take down this fierce woman, who was in the leagues with the amazon warrior women of legend.

"Needless to say, I laid his ass out, more than once. Even when he decided that 'playtime' was over, he still couldn't beat me. Had to break the idiot's arm to get him to give up. I got in deep shit for that, but it was so worth it. When I graduated, I was slated for officers' training, because of my tactical insight and leadership capabilities, had caught the eye of local brass. Being William McKenzie's daughter had its perks."

"I was soon sent to the main academy, in Bern, Switzerland. It was there that I was being forged into the soldier that I am today. The thing was, I almost didn't graduate at all, due to some level of naiveté I still held onto. I still entertained the foolish notion, that like my parents, I would meet a good man. The one who would one day be the love of my life and my reason for existing, outside of the military life."

"My parents had taught me well, and they emphasized that I should get my career in order before looking into the idea of finding a partner. My father was proud of my career choice and with the discovery Aegean starship wreckage, my future looked very bright indeed. My mom was a little apprehensive, but she was glad that this was my choice, so she gave her blessing," smiling at the memory of Akane McKenzie.

"While at the Academy, one of my fellow students, Carl Rugermann, had caught my attention, on more than one occasion. We saw each other outside of classes, which started out as friends, but then it blossomed to a full on relationship. I seriously had thought, that it was fate, that we would be together for the rest of our lives."

"Little did I know, that this whole relationship, was being orchestrated, by Chuck Farnham. He'd never forgiven me for putting him down the way that I had back in basic and, after much research and study of me, he concocted the perfect punishment. That I would be humiliated, in such a fashion, that I would never dare challenge anyone again. That I would fail and drop out."