Time to Orbit: Unknown

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next My parents frowned at me as I came in, but the strange man smiled. He was older than Mum and Dad, but younger than Grandma. Most of his very short beard was white, with just a little black in the middle; his eyes were surrounded by wrinkles; his hair … Continue reading 19: Apprenticeship

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next I didn’t, of course, tell anyone where I had been. But the day after seeing Grandma, I asked Dad about citrus trees and about the treegrave. I just told him that it was something that had been mentioned on my jaunt and he believed me. “The history about the … Continue reading 18: Hitan’s Birthday

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next “What are you on about now?” Saro asked. “I went on a tour and the tour guide said that the treegrave people are further in,” I said, “towards the middle of the treegrave. But you’ve taken me to one of the outer sectors. This is the opposite direction. Where … Continue reading 17: Aspen Trees

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next At the end of the corridor was a big, important-looking door. It was closed, but there was no sign on it. No lock, either. On the one hand, it was important-looking, so if I went through there there might be people in there who I couldn’t talk my way … Continue reading 16: Visitation Rights

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next When Laisor strode in, everyone made a big fuss, but most of us left after saying hi. I headed off to a quiet corner of the garden while Mum and Dad fussed over kem and the younger boys asked about the ship. Nobody had fussed over Plia this much … Continue reading 15: Infiltration

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next The tour didn’t seem like such a good idea on the way home. I’d been nervous enough to stay awake through the whole tour, but on the trolley, I nearly fell asleep lots of times. I almost missed my stop. But I managed to get off, and stumble home, … Continue reading 14: Keys

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next The elevator was smaller than I remembered. Last time I’d done this tour had been in one of my earliest sessions of Education, and the twelve of us had gone up in two groups of six plus the guide. This time there were only five of us plus the … Continue reading 13: The Treegrave

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next I started watching teenage girls. Watching how they walked, and what they wore, and how they did their hair. They liked wraps that were plainer than the wraps me and my friends wore, and hair braids that were more complicated, sometimes with ribbons (like grown ups), but not with … Continue reading 12: The Trolley

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next The month ended, and Grandma still hadn’t spoken up. On one of my free days I waited until I was home alone and went to the red button in the garden. “Treegrave?” “Hello, Taya. How can I help you?” I shrugged. “I’m just alone and bored and thinking about … Continue reading 11: Observation

First -- Prev-- Archive -- Next When I got up in the morning, the whole thing seemed a bit silly. It didn’t really make sense for the treegrave to not be real. It would be a really silly lie to tell, just to kill off people who weren’t useful to the ship. And a silly … Continue reading 10: The Ballad of Billie the Second Son