Sown by Hand

By David Naismith

Science fiction. Short story. Deep in space, there are gardens. The humanity of tomorrow have found a use for the tumbling asteroids of the Kuiper Belt - deep space farms. On the surface of these asteroids are cultivated a crop essential to the survival of the species. Much of the operation is done by robotics and automated machinery, all controlled by a supercomputer on the moon Titan. Though a marvel of technological efficiency, a human caretaker is still a necessity. On one regular inspection shift, this caretaker encounters a situation which defies logic, tests courage, and reveals the power of the human spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Naismith
• Release date: Nov 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370704507

David Naismith

David Naismith is a writer and artist who works in a multiple of media. He lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. Connect on Facebook!

Book preview

Sown by Hand

By David J Naismith, copyright 2017

Smashwords edition

ASTEROID LAMBDA SEVEN

E01S7-4435R

CROP STATUS: 14

INTEGRATORS: OFFLINE

HARVESTERS: UNRESPONSIVE

COMM: OFFLINE

Deep among the stars there are gardens. What grows there needs no sun, air, water nor warmth. What grows there fuels our dying world. Like all gardens, what grows there is not of our doing. We are gardeners, but what we grow, is of the stars alone.

I am a Tender. A human element in a vast, deep-space mechanical cultivation apparatus. I spend most of my time in a short-range ship, tending the crop, or waiting at nearby Base Station 246 for orders. We call them ‘lighthouses’ in my profession, these bases. Cramped, automated life-support structures, there’s not much to them but living quarters, equipment storage, and a hangar for the ship. I am Base Station 246’s sole inhabitant.

My assignment here was the longest one I could apply for. Nineteen months of zero g, artificial nutrition, and numbing isolation, but I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. This place is like home