CELLI
The worldtrees inside Fireheart’s greenhouse dome drank in sunlight and flourished, growing so quickly that they pressed against the curved crystal ceiling. Trapped.
Working in the contained gardens, Celli could sense the strain of the trees, of the dome itself. The worldtrees had grown far too large for this terrarium, but there was no moving them now, no place for them to go. The sense of hopeless, impending disaster thrummed in the air, and there was nothing she could do about it.
In the worldforest on Theroc, Celli had reveled in the trees, the potential of open skies and the sprawling canopy of lush fronds. Here, though, the dominant feeling she experienced was claustrophobia and inevitability as the hunched trees tried to restrain themselves. Her heart ached.
When she and Solimar first planted the small treelings among the Roamer greenhouse gardens, the nebula environment had been exhilarating. The trees were drenched in the glow from the keystone stars, a feast that made them grow at an abnormally rapid rate. The two green priests had been foolish not to look ahead. Now there was no way the gigantic trees could be moved, and they would either die first or destroy the greenhouse dome.
By communing through telink, Celli and Solimar tried to hold the growing trees steady. They felt guilty, wishing they could do something to help, and the trees responded by reassuring them.
Working the gardens that fed the Roamer workers in Fireheart Station, she and Solimar took comfort in growing plants, harvesting fruits and vegetables. They had created a lush environment here, far from Theroc, although with telink they could always visit the worldforest planet whenever they wished.
As a young girl, Celli had loved running through the forest barefoot, clad in only scraps of clothes. She and Solimar had climbed the trees together, leaped from branch to branch as they practiced treedancing. Now, though, they lived in the middle of a blazing nebula, surrounded by enclosed habitats, floating stations, and industrial outposts. It had been their calling to come here, and Celli didn’t regret it. Many green priests went far from Theroc to spread the worldforest by planting treelings, while expanding the instantaneous telink communication network.
Since the heavy nebula radiation interfered with traditional outside communications, green priests and telink were vital here. Through the treelings, Celli and Solimar sent instantaneous messages anywhere across the Spiral Arm, and when they weren’t needed for communications, they tended the crops.
Now Celli was on her knees, picking strawberries and occasionally popping one into her mouth. “The spoils of my profession,” she said, wiping her red-stained lips.
The worldtree fronds above rustled and scraped against the curved panes, as if whispering gossip about them. Solimar bent over to inspect tomato plants, parting the leaves until he found a bright red prize, perfectly ripe. Working together, they filled their baskets and carried them out to the delivery platform for distribution among the habitats.
While Solimar did an inventory and decided which Roamer facility was due to receive that day’s harvest, a shuttle docked at the greenhouse dome. Celli remembered that Kotto Okiah had asked to visit so they could meet his two new lab assistants. The scientist emerged with a young man and woman dressed in Roamer jumpsuits, as well as his two compies. Since Kotto wasn’t prone to making introductions, the pair of newcomers introduced themselves.
Celli and Solimar took them on the tour of the various crops. As they walked through the main, humid dome, Howard Rohandas and Shareen Fitzkellum both stared at the straining trees; apparently neither had seen a worldtree up close before. Shareen immediately sensed the problem and turned to the two green priests. “Those trees can’t stay here—they’ll wreck the whole dome. No expansion possible?”
Celli felt the ever-present ache of dread. “None that we can think of.”
Kotto patted his two new assistants on the shoulders. “You’re welcome to suggest a solution.”
Shareen lifted her chin. “We just might do that.”
Celli felt a twinge of hope. She offered them strawberries, and from the expression on Howard’s face, Celli doubted he had ever tasted a strawberry before. “This is fresh, and sweet, and juicy, and—”
Kotto paced about, looking out-of-place and impatient. “Well then.” He scratched his curly hair. “I have a list of other places to show you two, so we’ll want to move on. I need to get back to the lab complex before the end of the day.”
“We’re currently running calculations, Kotto Okiah,” said the compy KR. “Even as we accompany you.”
“I know that, but I can’t oversee them without my notes.”
“We’ll double-check the work, sir.” Shareen sounded eager and helpful. “Maybe find ways to improve on the designs, if you don’t mind.”
Kotto regarded them for a long moment, then said, “Feel free to make suggestions.”
Later, after Kotto and his guests flew off to their next stop, Celli and Solimar were alone again in the greenhouse dome. They felt a tangible uneasiness surrounding them like a sour humidity in the air—but it wasn’t just the plight of these two enormous trees.
When they pressed their free hands against the gold-barked trunk, she and Solimar could sense the bright heart of the primary worldforest on Theroc. Celli sought the support of other trees, knowing that the verdani mind would endure, even if these two trapped trees were doomed.
What Celli found when she probed deeper into the extended network, however, was troubling. An uneasiness spread through the interconnected trees, and many of the verdani thoughts were fuzzy and distracted, without the instant clarity she usually experienced when tapping into the worldforest mind. She found only dissolute thoughts and confusion.
Maybe it was just echoes of the trembling claustrophobia from these stunted trees, but she feared that something worse, something incomprehensible, was happening to the worldforest itself, far away.…