Alex finds herself utterly surrounded by the massive pile of velvet and fur bodies. Half the women are snuggling against her, and the other half are snuggling against each other. Most of her major joints are blocked by arms and torsos, but the personal organizers left them plenty of room to breathe and still move. Alex slips one free of the pile and opens a link to the EC. "We have a lot of company."
"You're in charge," the captain says.
"Yeah, yeah. After I stop laughing."
Alex grabs hold of the pile with another organizer and begins to spread it, adding a little spin to help control momentum. A mass squeal erupts as the women are suddenly spread out across the grass.
"Stop that!" one of the women cries.
"No."
But she does stop it after a few seconds.
"Do you know what you're doing?" the captain asks.
"Yes," Alex says.
"Good."
Alex takes a few minutes to walk around and check the land, which is beautiful. The grass is soft underfoot, and the air has just enough humidity to feel fresh.
"What's that noise?" a few of the women ask as Alex closes into a stream of slow moving water.
"Let me see the landform," Alex says, changing the view from the stream to an overhead view.
The captain's voice follows the view. "Yeah, that's a lake."
"Good. I was getting a little thirsty."
"Is that a joke, Alex?"
"No. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Alex hops the stream and strolls out into the valley beyond, brushing through the tall grass and small plants. "This is pretty," she says as she looks back toward the river. "I bet it's one of the big ones. A couple of klicks, easy."
"Alex?" the captain asks.
"Hmm?"
"Is that a joke?"
"No." She closes the link. "Okay, we've been camping here for over three weeks, right?"
"Yeah."
"We're tired."
"Good point."
"The women are tired. We don't have anything to drink, and I have no idea how to find and restore water. We have no animals, they're not coming up here, and we don't have any clothes. We could die out here."
"You're certainly having a bad week. I knew it was a bad idea to make you the boss."
"You made me the boss to avoid making me the boss so I could avoid making you the boss." Alex brushes into a dense clump of ferns and circles around back. "Guess what?"
"I don't have a clue."
"We have some rabbits. Or rather, they have us."
"What? How?"
"I know you programmers. You're a bunch of slackers. Put down a small spike of software and lure them here. It's really the only way to keep us alive." Alex starts giggling. "I actually haven't had a bad day in a while. You should feel proud."
The captain laughs from the EC, but the women gathered around the stream are not in good spirits.
"Make this landform a bit bigger," Alex says, "and…" A river starts forming at the base of her feet. "Go ahead and make it permanent."
"Done. I'll get right on it. I think I know what's wrong." The stream begins to grow to match.
"I think you've got time," Alex says. "A lot of time."
"What are you doing?" a few of the women ask.
"Hey guys," Alex says. "Look. We're all stuck, so it's not really about who rules and who doesn't, right? We're a team, so let's find a way to stay alive. I'm going to have to go back and help the captain with my work, but I want to get out of this water. I don't want to drown, so how about we make a couple of boats and swim to the top?"
"Alive?" one asks. "How do you…?"
"It's not the water anymore. It's just something that passes…"
Alex grabs a hold of the fast growing river and pulls it to a stop. She runs through her options while the river continues to grow. Another few weeks of expansion, and the lake will cover the region. She's going to have to stop it soon.
"Alex? Alex, are you there?"
"Yeah."
"What's going on?"
"Not sure."
"What aren't you telling me?"
Alex locks her feet into the sand, creating some stability, then grabs hold of the small river in the valley floor. "I'm getting hungry. Too hungry to keep this under control."
The captain's voice takes on a soothing tone. "We didn't know how long you would last. You are the best sailor that I know. I'll tell you what I'm certain of. I'm pretty sure that these women don't want to die. They're prepping for a decent existence here, and I'm pretty sure they have the potential to live. We go back to your ship first. I don't know what it will allow you to do, but raise the lake a bit."
Alex cuts the link just as the contents of the stick shift into the river. Wind starts moaning as the lake begins to surge up through the ground.
"This is definitely not a good idea," the captain says.
"Esper, I've always told you, this ship is perfectly capable of creating rivers, earthquakes, and tsunamis. All I need to do is make a couple of adjustments to the sensor array."
The captain chuckles. "I was wondering how much you knew."
"I know how much I need to know."
Alex starts cutting more channels into the lake. The captain begins to cheer as the images supplied by the sensor array begin to overwhelm her. Immediately, she begins to make more adjustments to the sensor array. All of the woman's eyes are open, all of them looking at the captain as she tries to work.
"Do you have everything you need?" Alex asks.
"I think so."
Alex's fingers dance over the buttons of the stick shift. The earth rumbles and roars. The surrounding flora and fauna fall under the weight of the expanding river. Soon, the women's eyes are wide and their mouths are open. The amount of water increasing is so astonishing that they cannot process it.
"God help me," the captain says. "I'm so glad I'm facing the other direction. I think I just entered a full assembly program." The volume of water starts to drop. "Alex, I'm sending you pictures of a boat. Please tell me what you need. Now that the lake is covering the whole region, I don't know what you can do. I don't want to waste anyone because I don't think these women are ready to die. It's okay if they die, of course. If I were you, it'd be my first choice, but you've got this. I trust you."
Alex closes her eyes and slips into a solid daydream for the first time since she started working on the jump drive project. The virtual images of stars and galaxies present themselves to her as she takes a wild tour through the ocean of nothingness.
"Alex?"
"Hmm?"
"Alex, what's happening?"
"I was…just imagining…" Alex almost laughs. "I don't know."
"Alex…"
"Hush, Dad. I'm trying to make a boat."
"A boat?"
"I don't see what the problem is, but I'm sure you'll tell me."
"What the hell is going on out there?"
Alex stops the dreams. "I'm making a boat for my crew. The lake…it's still expanding, but I didn't want anyone to die. I don't know why the lake is expanding. It's not something the ship needs. It's not something I need."
"Okay, I give up. What's going on?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to find a way to put this water back in the lake. I think we're good out here. I'm not completely comfortable with it, but it's nice out here. It's not the water anymore."
The captain's voice is flat. "We need to get out of here, but you need to do something. I don't see anything wrong, but you need to find a way to put it in the lake."
Alex smiles. "I'm okay, Dad."
"Alex, I know people die, but what are you doing?"
"I'm making a boat. It will float. It will be pretty."
The captain pauses for a moment. "Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"I have you on a live feed. There are other people following me. You don't understand. They can't be saved. I've grown them from scratch. They're completely safe. Just put this thing back in the lake."
"Let me talk to them. I won't let them die."
"Alex, this is not a game. This is the future. You hold on to what you have now because if you don't, you'll get nothing. If you're afraid to make a little shift, then we should probably retreat to the ship. I'll help you. You don't owe the people you've built anything. They're just people."
Alex's expression changes. The moment of contact is over, the connection severed.
"Hey, what just happened?" the captain asks.
"I think we can arrange for a boat to be made. I'm unsure if the lake will contract, but I don't think that we can put it back in. We'll have to find a way back to the ship."
Alex looks around. "I told them that I'd help them find freedom. I think they're starting to realize that I'm not kidding."
