“I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't get your antenna in a twist,” Mira laughed, following behind the cluster of bees that had summoned her. She stretched, rousing from a warm sleep, and eager for the special treat they told her was finally ready.
As she climbed down from her bunk space and made her way across the belly of the ship, Mira paused to pluck a few strawberries here and there that were lying ripe and ready. While some days she might have gotten sick of the flavor of the plain fruit, now that the bees were able to produce good quantities of honey she found that drizzling it over the fruit and possibly a thin crushed-nut cracker made for a quite enjoyable treat.
The subject of nuts was what had her so excited for today. They were ready to add a new flavor into the limited but still enjoyable offerings the garden had for their pantry. Reaching past the boughs of the cashew tree, Mira plucked one of the cashew apples loose, giving it a shake to dislodge an errant worker who had gotten lost between the clusters of flowering plants nearby.
Impatient to try a new food for the first time in years, she was about to take a grab the nut and shell dangling at the bottom when there was a rattling buzz of alarm from Queen and Kin.
“Caretaker! What are you doing?”
“Eating the literal and figurative fruits of my labor?” Mira said slowly with a confused smile.
A bee separated from the group and landed on her hands with the cashew apple, still in attached to the nut in its unopened shell. It was the queen, and Mira felt the barely-perceptible tickle of the queen's proboscis as she tasted the sweat on her hand. Then she looked up to Mira and spoke with the swarm.
“The nut from these trees must be cooked before it is safe for humans to consume or even touch. To do otherwise would invite severe illness, or worse. Take care to remove it before you feast.”
Mira looked at the cashew with suspicion but shrugged, carefully knocking the nut and shell off with a thin metal shim and using the shim to slide it to one side before rinsing the spot it had been attached at. They had a makeshift stove available down in the engine room, an area where insulated padding had been carefully removed under the guidance of Queen and Kin so as to expose one of the water piping shafts used to circulate and cool the reactor core. It remained piping hot at all times, was relatively-flat enough to place a small bowl or pan on to boil or fry whatever was needed.
Taking a bite of the now-safe fruit, Mira groaned in appreciation, careful to catch the bits of fruit juice so as not to waste anything from the delicious snack. While she used one hand to tuck her overgrown bangs behind her ears to keep them out of the way of the meal, Mira had soon eaten the fruit entirely.
Wiping off her hands. Mira sighed with satisfaction as she stepped into the midsection of the ship and into the garden proper. Nearly every surface that could catch a beam of light was covered in leafy greens: countless leafy bunches of peanuts where the planter container was deep enough to support them, and round plump strawberries where the soil had to be shallower. The other primary triumph of that initial flurry of planting had been the sunflower seeds, She hadn't been sure if they would succeed, but they had quickly sprouted and had been some of the earliest flowers alongside the strawberries for the bees to begin collecting pollen and nectar from. The stalks now grew taller than Mira was, even after the last vestiges of growth her body had planned for her pushed her height up an additional inch and a half during the journey, causing her to have to relearn which doorways she could stride through and which required ducking to avoid cracking her head against.
The garden was literally humming, the hundreds of flowers being criss-crossed by similarly satisfied bees, steadily and diligently collecting and pollinating as they worked. A worker buzzed at her ear to get her attention, and Mira turned as Queen and Kin addressed her.
“We have another comb ready for you. Please follow us.”
Reaching over to grab a small makeshift heated-wire knife, Mira followed the cluster of waiting bees, winding in and around through halls and entryways until she reached a doorway she had not been to in years, almost since the journey began.
It was her parents’ study, one they had gone through and emptied out anything she thought her parents could spare, and carefully moved everything else to one side to make room for some of the honeycombs of the hive to be established. The combs were nearly as large as she was, dangling heavy and glistening with golden treasure as they hung from the ceiling.
However, as she worked to cut the comb free, her gaze was drawn to the boxes of effects, books, and of course dozens of artifacts both cataloged and yet to be scrutinized. She almost wondered if her parents would recognize her now: her short bob of curly hair now more than shoulder length, held out of her eyes by clips originally intended to seal piping connections; clothes she had outgrown midway through the journey and repaired or adapted to better fit her taller and older stature, with haphazard extensions and patches she had sewn on herself, occasionally aided in the more cramped spots by the bees helping glue together small seams.
She passed by the pantry section of the mess hall as she carefully set the comb down in an open basin alongside a trio of other similar mature honeycomb wedges. While most of the drawers and shelves had been pulled out or moved to serve as planters, a handful were still in place, filled with roasted peanuts, roasted sunflower seeds, and dried sliced strawberries. In the fridge were more of the strawberries, these ones fresh but with a few sealed canisters containing strawberries smothered in honey.
As she reached in to deposit the small handful of strawberries from her pocket that she had picked but not eaten on her walk, the door of the small refrigerator bumped against the table, and a rattle of a lid reminded her that she needed to put away the container of nut flour. It was basically just finely-ground peanuts and sunflower seeds, but when combined with some honey as a binder and caramelized on a frying pan, it was capable of giving her a sort of sweet and aromatic cracker, some additional much-needed variety in an otherwise fairly-uniform diet.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After wolfing down a few of these honey nut-crackers and washing them down with a glass of recycled water, Mira brushed the crumbs off and scooped up the empty plate she had left at the table from breakfast. Already the bees had a handful of workers starting to clean up and eat the crumbs on her new plate, an efficient system that meant dishwashing was much easier and without anything needing to be scrubbed.
As she paused to tie the laces on her shoe that she had since converted into an open-toed sandal, Mira felt and heard the hum of the queen landing on her shoulder, along with a clump of other workers and drones attending her. A steady stream of workers was landing to take freshly-laid eggs and deposit them in waiting wax cells, but the queen preferred Mira's company, something she was personally quite glad of and happy to provide. The previous queen had been polite and affectionate in her interactions, but also somewhat distant, like a parent figure that was absent unless called for. In contrast, the new queen felt much more like an older sister, or at least what Mira had imagined having an older sister would feel like. She tended to tag along with the human, especially when Mira was heading towards her current destination of the bridge.
“Today's the day!” she told the bees on her shoulder excitedly. Through the view screen one of the stars was notably larger and brighter than the rest, slightly off center from dead ahead and shining a welcome, warm yellow light through the window.
The ship had spun nearly a year ago to begin decelerating, but even so they would only be reaching normal cruising and maneuvering speed within the system an hour ago. The shape of their destination, a technology-focused trade hub the Queen and Kin had insisted was the best place for them in the short term, was not yet visible to the naked eye, although the telescopic lenses on the hull were able to pick out a pale red dot that was marked as being the planet in question.
For the first time in months, Mira felt self-conscious at her current haphazard clothing and attire, and she frowned as she pulled at some of the messier stitching she had done.
“There's not a bunch of humans or stuffy folks on this world, are there?”
“We have been to Matepa only once before, but it was a strong mix of species and groups. Clothing is the norm, but there is no formality or neatness necessarily expected. Your garments may draw the gaze of the occasional human, but almost everyone else will likely pay you no attention.”
Although she didn't speak it, Mira was also anxious about the idea of seeing other people after so many years alone. While part of her was worried that she might do or say something on accident that would be seen as improper or uncultured, the rest of her mind was pivoting to focus on asking and finding what had happened to her parents. While this world was still light years distant from their dig site, it was far closer and more connected to the region they told her they would be working in, and she hoped someone, anyone, might hold the clues to their whereabouts.
“You are concerned for your parents, caretaker?”
Mira started, knocking some bees off who quickly recovered in midair and landed back on her. “How did you know?” she asked, and she could see the queen's head turn to scrutinize her.
“Whenever you speak of them, you twirl your finger in your hair. You are doing it now, although you've not spoken of them yet.”
Mira nodded, pulling your finger free but taking a deep breath as she said “I'm just worried about what I'll find when I start asking about them.”
“Are you worried that there will be no news? That is a possibility, but given the regions you've described and the size of their excavation crew and ship, this zone of space has several spaceports, including this one, that would be ideal to refuel and resupply at. If they have not been here, it is possible that they have been seen at a nearby hub by a spacer who is traveling through this one.”
Mira sighed again as she spoke more hesitantly.
“I understand that, but I'm actually more worried about what if I do find them? What would they think of me? Will they be upset with me? With the ship? Will they get along with you, I hope?” she asked, giving the queen a gentle poke with her finger as she smiled faintly.
“We have found that while our presence is unusual to humans, once they are familiar with our existence they soon become accustomed and friendly in almost all cases. But what reasons do you think they would be upset with you? You have modified the ship, true, but it was to establish and preserve your own existence, and from your tales and recollections of them your parents do not appear to value a lifeless vessel above the life of their child.”
Although she knew that made sense, Mira still felt at times like her parents cared more about an unfeeling carved piece of stone statuary or petroglyph inscription than they did for their own daughter. After all, they had left her to fend for herself while going out to the dig they've been hired for, never once asking if she would like to attend. She didn't have the knowledge or experience her parents had with the details of the xenoarcheology they specialized in, but she'd seen enough to have an interest, and even occasionally point out some details they'd overlooked when they shared the current piece they were studying.
Seeing that she was still distracted, the Queen and Kin spoke again, this time with a much more reassuring tone that Mira felt was coming directly from the queen herself.
“Caretaker, it may also be that they were aware of a danger they did not wish to worry you with. It is unfortunate they did not prepare instructions for you in the event of their prolonged or permanent absence, but they also did not seem from your recollections to be prone to rush off without careful consideration.”
Clearing her throat, Mira did her best to steady her voice as she said “That makes sense, and you're probably right. I just hate not knowing what happened, one way or another.”
A chime sounded on the bridge as the automated voice spoke again. ”[System Target within range. Applying final deceleration. Automated port codes accepted. Docking zone designated. Please prepare for landing.]”
Carefully brushing a few errant workers off of the chair, Mira sat and clipped the harness into place, her heart pounding in her chest as the ship rumbled and slowed, and the red-and-green-swirled world below her loomed in the window.
“If it helps, focus not on apologies you would make, or things in the past you would have done differently. Instead think of their love for you, and the stories you will be able to share of all you have accomplished since you last met.”
Mira clenched her watering eyes shut, grimacing and nodding fiercely as the ship shuddered and creaked as it passed through the atmosphere.
Then there was a loud thud as they made final contact.
”[You have arrived at your destination.]”