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The gardens on the Craton were a poor comparison to Earth, Apollonia thought.
It was hardly fair to compare. The Craton couldn’t house towering redwoods, at least not without taking out a lot of floors.
They were still designed skillfully, with plants her system told her were all modified to live in space, in situations just like this. Some were not even descended from plants on Earth. They had been designed from scratch by geneticists and AIs to live in space, on ships, in systems like these.
The vine in front of her had beautiful, dark green leaves with pale purple V-shapes on them, and from parts of its stem grew apples. They looked like apples; they tasted like apples; her system told her they were called Neo-Apples, or even ‘napples’ by some. It was only in appearance, taste, and texture that they could even be said to be apples . . . an emulation.
Would she ever see the redwoods again?
Reaching up, she plucked the apple. She was not going to call it a goddamn napple.
Her system had told her it was okay, and she felt almost annoyed at being given permission.
Taking a bite, it crunched pleasantly, the sweet juices tasting better than any of the stunted, bruised apple she’d had in the past.
Maybe she shouldn’t be wondering if she would see the Redwoods. Maybe Brooks would decide he didn’t want her trouble much longer.
She’d heard the news; the whole thing had been called off. It just made her feel stupider, because she’d sat there like a jackass, breaking into tears, and it had all
Been
For
Nothing.
She didn’t think she really wanted the rest of this apple now, but she didn’t want to waste it.
Somehow, her system seemed to have read her mind, and on the screen she saw a nearby recycling receptacle highlighted.
Making her way over irritably, she heard a jangling sound, and a woman talking. The sound was odd, like someone was running with metal rings bouncing around.
She peered around a large-leafed plant with long dark leaves.
And saw a woman leading a pack of dogs.
Real, actual dogs.
Her jaw dropped.
“Holy shit!” she said loudly.
A few eyes looked to her, some annoyed, and she put a hand over her mouth.
“Sorry,” she said. “Excited. But holy shit, are those actual dogs?!” She moved to intercept the woman leading them.
Zeema Cam? she thought, trying to remember her name.
The woman was giving her a slightly stern look.
“This is their orientation,” she said. “And please, in public we ask that you refrain from yelling things like that-“
“Ohmygodohmygod,” Apollonia said, ignoring her and dropping to her knees.
The nearest spacehound, a mostly white one with tall ears, was regarding her very seriously.
“Working,” she heard a mechanical voice say.
“What?” Apollonia asked, looking around. It seemed to come from the dog.
“Working,” the voice said again. It was from the dog.
“He’s telling you that he is working,” Zeela Cann said, a little testily. “He’s not supposed to socialize while he’s working.”
“Oh,” Apollonia said, trying to move back from her kneel. Her move was awkward and she fell backwards, catching herself.
Oh, good, she thought. Just make a further fool of yourself.
Something small, dark, and furry shot between the legs of the others towards her.
It had a leash on it, and it tangled in the legs of the other dogs, who got very confused, trying to step over it.
“No, Angel – no, Angel!” Zeela said, scolding the black furball.
But it came to Apollonia anyway, and she let out a sound that could only be described as a SQUEE.
“Ohmygod it’s so cute!” she cried.
“And that is Angel,” Zeela said with a sigh. “She is not a working dog, just . . . I guess a companion dog.”
Apollonia looked up at her. “Can I hold her, then?” The little dog was jumping around her excitedly, panting. Its short tail was waggling wildly again.
Zeela let go of the leash. “Take it. In fact . . . she should be walked separately anyway. Why don’t you take her?”
“Yes! Absolutely!” Apollonia said. “Oh, you’re just a cute little bean, aren’t you?” she cooed to the dog, not even caring at this point if people thought she was weird.
The little dog, for her part, seemed to quite enjoy the attention. She was actually hopping on her back legs, holding her front two up.
“She’s dancing!” Apollonia said.
She heard someone else exclaim ‘awww’. Looking around, she realized that a crowd had formed.
She scooped the little wiggly dog up and got up.
“Okay, let’s be orderly about this,” she said. “We don’t want to scare her.”
She had no idea if the little dog would be scared of this many people, but she would have been, so this seemed prudent.
“That is wise,” one official-looking woman said. She must be one of Zeema’s assistants, Apollonia thought. Glancing at her system pad, hanging on her belt, it seemed to be saying that.
Still getting to hold the dog, so small she assumed it had to be a puppy, others came up and petted her.
She beamed like a proud parent, and the dog seemed to adore the attention, licking each person’s hand excessively in the process.
Other Terrestrial 