Redwood: Servant of the State by Jaxon Reed Read Free Book Online

and headed toward the trees.
    I looked back and down, saw Kalinowski rapidly receding in the distance. I waved goodbye. He cupped his hands and yelled up to me, “Remember Ulysses S. Grant!”
    -+-
    The synthetic bird kept a steady rhythm, and as we gained altitude it caught a breeze which helped with its lift. Slowly the trees grew larger. Soon they dominated our field of vision. Below were giant red-brown trunks, hundreds of feet in diameter. They stretched out into a Brobdingnagian forest of unimaginable size, reaching hundreds of miles into the center of the continent.
    Above were leafy branches, stretching high into the sky, a dense green maze. Giant sail-size leaves gently swayed in the breeze.
    I had to yell above the wind and flapping of wings.
    “How high are the tops of the trees?”
    “About eight thousand feet at the highest point.”
    I’d only seen this vast forest from a spaceship flying over, and on vid screens. Seeing it from the edge in the air, as we grew closer, was completely different. I felt very small, and utterly in awe.
    As we neared the first of the giant trees, near the intersection of branches and trunks, I began to make out some patterns evident just inside the forest border. Straight lines are often the sign of humans, and as we flew into the forest’s periphery, a wooden city suspended from the branches materialized before us.
    Near the edge closest to us, a landing platform jutted out. The bird gently dropped its heavy load, whuffed its wings a final time, and landed neatly on the wooden deck. A sign nearby read, “Welcome to Ranger Station Alpha.”
    As we climbed down, I saw something else which immediately tore my attention away from the trees and the giant structure we were on: a woman.
    She ran up to Jenkins, hugged and kissed him. Then she turned to look at me.
    “Marcus Savitch, meet my wife, Eleanor.”
    “Pleased to meet you, Marcus. What are you doing here?”
    I shook her hand, too stunned to speak for a moment. Finally, I snapped out of it.
    “Uh, I guess I could ask you the same thing … ma’am.”
    I wasn’t sure what to call her, what the proper protocol was or anything. Mrs. Jenkins? Did she have an assignment with the State? What was a woman doing on Redwood? What was one doing way out here in the forest?
    Her laughter tinkled, reminding me of wind chimes.
    “Well, Rangers have a couple perks. One of them is they get to keep their families nearby while on assignment.”
    “I see.”
    I didn’t see. I’d never heard of such a perk, and I’d researched all the State assignments assiduously in a vain hope of changing mine from Servant to something (anything) else.
    “Ella, will you please take him to see the Professor? I’ve got to get Kalinowski’s shipment sorted.”
    “Of course. Follow me, Marcus.”
    -+-
    Think of a tree house. Now think of a giant forest. Now think of a tree house city built in that giant forest, and you’ll come close to having an idea of what the Ranger station is like.
    Buildings were suspended by beams placed between branches. Different levels were connected by rope ladders. Suspension bridges stretched between buildings. Wooden sidewalks connected platforms. It was all organized chaos, with new additions tacked on to the old, newer dwellings sometimes a branch above an older one. No people appeared yet, though.
    I did a double take as we passed a sunny spot where a garden was planted.
    “Oh, you like gardens? Yes, we don’t have to rely on everything from Professor Kalinowski. You know, Colt helped fly up the soil for our garden when we started it a few years ago.”
    She continued chatting as we walked, pointing out water collection points and discussing little details about living a few thousand feet off the ground in a giant tree house city. We passed a building she described as a mess hall, and what looked to be a small chapel near it.
    “Yes, that’s our chapel. The stained glass was smuggled in from New Texas some time