This is a prompt that's actually a mix of 3 stories, the one of the super-soldiers, the one of the dream berries, and the one of the seed collector. Here are the prompts for reference.
@internutter/challenge-02677-g120-a-mind-of-their-own
@internutter/challenge-02509-f319-berry-small-problem
https://steemit.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02525-f335-useful-obsession
The person had collected more seeds than any human ever had before. It was their hobby, it was their obsession, and with it they had saved many lives from preventing mass-starvation due to crop losses. An elderly havenworlder who had been obscenely wealthy had no family left, but had always admired this human, so while most of their wealth went to charities, they granted the human a boon. They, in their will, left the human an uninhabited planet. It was a havenworld, though only level one or two at best. The plantings from Rushes-o Station could be expanded to this world.
Unfortunately, there were those that did not like this idea, especially when they found that dream-berries, along with other such plants, were going to be amongst the plantings. But another group had heard of the grumbling. Another group who knew what it was to have their backs against the wall. They had been created for war, and were learning to live in peace. The had no desire to be living aboard ships, but a chance to living on a beautiful world amongst growing crops? And yet still allow their skills to be needed to protect that world from those that would ravage it? It sounded like a near paradise to them.
This was a paradise world where people could buy seeds from the collector to save their worlds, or to start collections for their own. A place where medics could buy dream-berries and other medicinal crops to help those in need, and a place known to be well-guarded by soldiers who wanted to live in peace, but were designed at the very genetic level for war. It was a wonderful place to live. -- Anon Guest
The Arcas didn't do very well in indoor spaces. They therefore did not like space travel. Once settled in their appointed planet, they said, they intended to stay. Which was what lead, in a roundabout fashion, to The Deal.
Rushes-o Station was too big, and at the same time, too small to contain Human Liam's enormous collection of flora. Further, they were now wealthy enough to purchase and maintain their own planet. A nice safe nigh-Havenworld in a goldilocks zone with plenty of easy-access minerals. All Human Liam needed was someone to guard it.
Liam, chief supplier of the Dreamjuice that kept the Arcas at least calm for transit, had a great need of a protecting force to stop various polities from stealing or destroying any of the plants kept there. The existence of the plants necessitated biological maintenance in the form of insects and avians. There would be very little room for shelter that was not focussed on plant maintenance. Liam needed a special kind of force for that.
The Arcas were few, but they were effective. As far as being a deterrent force was concerned, they were fast, motivated, and brutally efficient. They had also spent twenty minutes at the landing site just staring at the sky and the creatures within it.
"They've got birds."
Two of the surviving Arcas were in the orbital defences. They swapped regularly with the rest, and the shift of time in space depended entirely on how long the Arca in question could stand being up there. Morale was much improved by some hardy indoor terrariums added to the interiors.
That, and they were all allowed to keep a marimo. As their therapy progressed, they were also allowed an axolotl if they wanted one. Most of the Arcas preferred the birds and the bugs. Anything that could fly, really. One of them doted on an orchid mantis, and called it Paul.
It was, if not a match made in Heaven, then a match made in serendipity meshed with symbiosis.
They did not have homes on the planet, and they preferred it that way. They camped out under the stars and, in inclement weather, any kind of convenient cavern. They had endless skies, full of clouds, butterflies and birds.
They had help of course. Therapy and medicine and all the things the CRC said they needed to be sure of their mental and physical health. That was almost an afterthought as far as the Arcas were concerned.
They had infinite skies, and all the freedom they could eat. They wanted nothing more.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / brucesly]
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