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The bullet train took only six hours to carry her to 40 degrees north. The train was lined in giant windows, letting her see everything with her actual eyes instead of just through a screen.
Along the way she saw coastlines gradually moving from tropical to desert to temperate before turning into coastal forests. Out the other side she saw ocean and more ocean.
It fascinated her, though. They moved too fast to study the nearby waves, but the ones out in the distance of the Pacific ocean still captured her attention almost as much as the changing scenery of the coastal side.
A lot of people were on the train, mostly Earthers, she guessed. They had a slightly different walk, she noticed.
Perhaps living in gravity your whole life made you walk a bit different, wore on the bones more and made them sag in some ways and hold themselves higher in others.
She felt suddenly and oddly glad that she had grown up in the colonies.
As they went North, more and more people got off. After New Angeles, most were gone. There were still people aboard, but only a fraction of the original number.
And when they arrived at her stop, she was the only one getting off.
Looking around, noticing her solitude, she stepped out and into a clean, but empty station.
Beauford – who had switched yet again, she thought, this time noticing the point at which another drone smoothly came in and took his place – guided her forward.
Everything was spotless, and the whole station was very small. No signs advertised local specialties or activities, only basic things like bathrooms and lodging. It was like they never expected to have many people passing through this particular stop.
There was an odd smell in the air, and she beckoned Beauford to follow her as she found her own way, following that scent.
It was fresh and pleasant, but tickled her nose in an odd way.
Finding steps – steps! No ramps, no escalators, but honest to goodness steps! – she went up them, to a set of double doors that opened smoothly and quietly for her.
She found herself in a dreamland.
The trees dwarfed her in a way she’d never believed possible. If there were a dozen others with her they could not have encircled the base of the tree.
They seemed to reach into the sky itself, so high that she had to crane her neck all the way back to even see the tops, silhouetted against a cloudy sky, only slightly visible through their boughs.
Like the Earth itself raising praise to the heavens.
She felt a stinging in her eyes as she beheld the forest, so much greater than even in her dreams, and felt her knees grow weak.
Apollonia let herself fall, first to her knees, then her elbows, digging her fingers into the dark soil.
It was a sensation she’d never felt before; to touch the Earth. It was damp and clung to her, and she laughed, tears now streaming down her face.
There was a smell to it, a dankness that nevertheless spoke of life and something that she’d never known; a balance.
It was probably all just her own projections, her own hopes and fears and thoughts that she’d had her whole life, but kept buried.
But right now, she didn’t care. This was magic, this was the best thing in her short and miserable life, and suddenly all of those terrible things seemed to pale in comparison to this single moment. This single touch with something so infinitely alive and true to herself.
Raising her head again, she beheld the trees, a lifeform that was larger than anything she’d ever seen.
Clambering to her feet, she moved closer and touched the bark. It was softer than she expected, and had give. Almost spongy, she thought. And thick! Some of the crevasses in the bark she could almost have crawled into.
The thought went briefly through her mind, when she heard someone clear their throat.
She turned, seeing a tall man with a broad grin on a broad face. It looked even broader still from the heavy black beard that covered his face. His skin was tanned, and his shoulders and belly were also wide, in a way she never really saw in spacer folk.
“Don’t let me stop you if you want to touch the tree,” he said. “Lord! Few enough come around anymore. I usually tell them not to touch the trees, but for you I will make an exception.”
“Why me?” she asked, instantly liking the man but still not fully willing to give up her suspicion.
“Not enough come for the touches to break down the bark. And you look like it means a lot more to you.” He tilted his head curiously. “What made you come here of all places? There are many carefully-cultivated garden forests rising. But here . . .” He grinned. “Not many amenities. And not many people.”
“I suppose I like that. And the fact that it’s not manicured.”
He nodded, accepting that. “When you’re done, come to the ranger station next to the stairs. I’ll put on tea.”
He turned to walk away, and she watched him go for a moment, before looking back to the tree.
She touched the bark lightly, trying to be gentle. Could a person’s touch really hurt it, if there were enough of them? It seemed hard to imagine. But if thousands or millions of people did it enough times . . .
“We’ve kind of made it hard enough on you, haven’t we?” she said to the tree. It wasn’t going to answer back, of course, but she still gazed at it longingly for a time, before turning.
She began to head towards the Ranger Station, but on a whim she stopped, and took off her shoes and socks. Twigs poked at her, and it felt squishy.
But now, happily barefoot, she continued on.
Other Terrestrial 