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It barbed the grass-eater by the neck and dragged it out of the fenced enclosure. Exertion caused heat to build up in its body. Without the cooling rain it would have had to run for the river.
The rain quenched the i
The aroma of roast turkey mingled with fresh green vegetables, homegrown onions and spices that had traveled ten lightyears to give up their pungency.
The walls of the communal dining hall were alight with color: newsreels, technical briefs and documentary, personal messages and listings of the material to be found in condensed form, whenever the colonists had the time or interest to decode their messages from Earth. Despite the riot of shape and shade, almost no one was watching: di
For the first time in years (or decades!) the majority of the food was not freeze-dried or powdered or syruped. Mary A
The milk, the salad dressing, the cheese cubes and the bacon bits had been reconstituted. But soon...
Beside Mary A
Out of the corner of her eye she caught his expression, an absent, crooked smile. The tastes and scents and fellowship had driven his concerns into a corner for the time being.
There was a ringing thump in the front of the room, and Zack stood, his cheeks stuffed with mashed potatoes.
"My fellow citi-" He got that far before the words were muffled on his food, and his wife Rachel whacked him heartily on his back. He pinched her cheek firmly. "Take two! We have almost everybody here at the same place and the same time, and although the rain rules out a lot of the work-"
Mary A
Cadma
"-it doesn't rule out all of it. So the group will be splitting up as soon as the meal is over. This is a good time for a general progress report."
Rachel handed him up a clipboard, and Zack flipped through it, hawing to himself. "All right. As most of you know, the Cliftons' baby, April, came out of intensive care, and is doing fine in the nursery-"
"Wrong again, Zack!" Gregory Clifton nudged his wife, Alicia, and she stood, Avalon's first baby asleep in her arms. The colonists applauded roundly. April woke, looked puzzled.
Mary A
Without conscious design, she found herself leaning closer to Cadma
Zack continued. "We're expecting three more babies next month, so let's everyone pitch in and give those ladies a hand. We haven't had a single miscarriage or accident, and we want to keep that record clean.
"Agriculture... Mary A
She wiped her mouth hurriedly and stood. "We've having no more trouble with the, um, alfalfa. The soybeans and the rice are both doing fine. The bees are happy. We'll wait for a young queen before we try them on any of the native plants. And let's have a hand for the hydroponics team-it's their tomatoes we're eating tonight, not mine!" There was more applause, and Mary A
Zack gri
He did a quick scan of the forest of hands that sprouted. "That ain't no majority. I think you're just giving Agriculture a picnic day, but I guess they deserve it. Now-before we get on with the newest broadcasts, is there any more business?"
There was. There were complaints about living space, work duty for postnatal mothers and completion schedules for the fusion plant. Then Cadma
He waited it out. Mary A
"Listen-I know that I keep getting outvoted about security, so I'd like to try something different. I know that everyone is up to their ears in work, but a few volunteers, working in shifts, could really beef up security."
Terry Faulkner stood, and Mary A
"Listen, Cadma
Mary A
"I don't want blood, toil and tears," Cadma
"But wouldn't you really like to? Isn't that what you want? An opportunity to play hero?"
Mary A
"I think the chickens are going to be fine-"
Carolyn McAndrews shouted, too loudly, "Oh, shut up, Terry!"
Zack raised his hand. "That's enough, both of you. I think that Cadma
Cadma
He muttered something that she couldn't hear, but it sounded like "Idiots."
The lights dimmed, and as they did there was a general movement in the room-some leaving, off to bed or indoor jobs, and as they left, the rain was a drumming rhythm that washed in through the door.
Mary A
The wall went blank for a moment. Then the MGM lion roared, and a video copy of the two-hundred-year-old ‘Wizard of Oz' began to play, to the cheers of the colonists.