Colony One by E. M. Peters Read Free Book Online Page B

for food is not ‘great.’” He sat with several others at their community table for the evening meal.
    “I hear they have better food over in the Purple section.” Demetri put in, using a syringe to stick himself with a liquid supplement. Without the supplement, malnourishment was a guarantee due to the limitations of the freeze-dried food.
    Everyone was feeling the effects from months of the freeze-dried diet. Passengers had been allowed to bring foodstuffs with them; however, those supplies were gone almost immediately. No one had thought to ration, since the orientation had explained food would be plentiful. It was a shocking disappointment that there were no other food options provided by World Corp for the journey outside of the freeze-dried meals, liquid supplements and seeds intended for growing food when they arrived. There wasn’t even a cafeteria – just a storage area on each deck that had to be self-regulated.  
    “That’s not true,” Javier responded to Demetri’s claim. “It’s just that Ndale character smuggled on more food than anyone else and is selling it for anything that takes his fancy.”
    “I bet he’s sharing with them,” Demetri insisted.
    “He’s got to be. They look too plump.” Lucinda added.
    “Stop it you two,” Javier warned. Demetri and Lucy had become close friends, to the point of being inseparable at times. While this was a good thing for the most part, they had a tendency to work each other up. “Weren’t you listening? We’re halfway to paradise. Don’t be such conspiracy theorists.”
    “I can’t wait to build my house. Right on the river, where I can fish.”
    “How do you know there will be a river?” Lucy teased as she often did. “Or even that there will be fish in it?”
    “You’ll see,” Demetri grinned at her and Javier silently wagered that they would be the first couple to conceive a child on Colony Alpha.
    “And what will you use to build your house?” She wanted to know.
    “The ship, of course,” Demetri responded easily – the ship was designed to come apart to build structures on their new home.
    “This ugly grey color?” Lucy blanched.
    “I leave the decorating to you, woman.” Demetri laughed but the look on Lucy’s face made the jubilant noise soften, and then stop entirely. “I mean…” he stammered with flushed cheeks.
    “Nope,” she held up a hand, “No take backs. You build, I decorate.”
     
    ɸ ɸ ɸ
     
    “I don’t know how you stay so perky,” Patrick said and rubbed his face with both hands. He had dark circles under his eyes and his normally pale skin was becoming translucent. “It’s so difficult to adjust to constant darkness. No morning, no sunset…” He said, staring out into the star-filled sky from the cockpit he and Skylar shared.
    In stark contrast, Skylar’s skin was often flushed with excitement, making her look healthy and unaffected by low gravity or time disorientation. “Are you kidding?” She asked. “This is the best vacation ever!”
    Patrick laughed, “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.” Having two pilots meant that they could only alternate shifts so much. And at times that needed course corrections or a check of the systems, both pilots were needed. Patrick was having a hard time adjusting to a sleep schedule and if he missed some shut-eye, it was difficult to make up. He found himself wondering more and more about the choices World Corp had made in their staffing and planning. He tried not to dwell on the thoughts – telling himself that he was simply unaccustomed to difficult work and stayed silent as to not be labeled an entitled trust fund kid.
    “Maybe it would help if you spent more time with the rest of the colony,” Skylar suggested. “I was in the red section just the other day – they hosted a dance and even managed to pull off a live band!”
    “Yea, I recall hearing strange noises throughout the ship.”
    “It’s called music.”
    “If