The Intergenerational Tree

By Kate Macleod

Humankind has reached the end of its adolescence. The time has come to leave our solar system nest and see what the rest of the galaxy has to offer.
Marie Marguerite has also reached the end of her adolescence, and she is ready for the great adventure of life on a generation ship heading to a neighboring star.
But a well-meaning relative she has never met destroys her plans, leaving her alone on a dying space station as all her friends take off without her. What can she do, left behind in humankind’s past?
The Intergenerational Tree is a science fiction novella with a generous side of gothic romance, all wrapped around a young heroine who must rely on her own brains and a dash of snark to put her life back on track.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ratatoskr Press
• Release date: Sep 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781946552303

Kate Macleod

Dr. Kate MacLeod is an innovative inclusive educator, researcher, and author. She began her career as a high school special education teacher in New York City and now works as faculty in the college of education at the University of Maine Farmington and as an education consultant with Inclusive Schooling. She has spent 15 years studying inclusive practices and supporting school leaders and educators to feel prepared and inspired to include all learners.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Marie Marguerite’s hands hovered over the control panel like a pianist just finishing what they know was a masterful performance, waiting for the last of the notes to fade away and the applause to begin. When the silence stretched on too long she tipped her head to glance up at the captain.

Adequate, he said, ticking something off on his notepad, but there was a gleam in his eye, something so close to a wink she almost thought she saw one. She looked back down at the control panel.

Can we reset and try again? I think I could run it faster, she said.

The only benefit of that would be you showing off, Bihéron, the captain said. We have a lot more to work on before the launch.

Yes, sir, she said. That 'adequate' had been high praise from the captain anyway. Usually he just looked at you, head bent as if he wished he had glasses to peer over the tops of, and let you squirm in the knowledge that you had not, in fact, been adequate.

Captain. Marie Marguerite recognized that voice, her friend Lise. Lise worked in agriculture but did a few rotations a week running messages for the dockside administration. The captain turned to give her his attention and Marie Marguerite swiped the screen of her tablet to open the next section of the procedure manual, her eyes scanning the flow chart of instructions while her ears focused on the low murmur of Lise's voice. She picked up Lorna Wu and uncle. So she was running messages for human resources, Marie Marguerite surmised from the first, but the latter meant nothing to her.

Ensign Bihéron, the captain said, making her jump by putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. He never touched her, not even in those first days after the shuttle accident when she had taken extra bathroom breaks to cry, like opening up her tear ducts to bring the buildup of pressure back down to tolerance levels.

Captain?

Your presence is requested dockside. Apparently it can't wait until end of shift. He sounded annoyed, as well he should be, but it didn't quite ring as true in Marie Marguerite's ears. Like he was forcing annoyance to cover some other emotion. He turned away before she could see his face and a small knot started twisting in her stomach.

She unbuckled from her seat. She tried to catch Kevin's eye, but his hands were flying over the piloting controls, running a drill she had mastered weeks ago. His bottom lip was firmly between his teeth as he concentrated and she doubted he was even aware that Lise had drawn the captain's attention away from the two of them. It would be completely inappropriate to call his name, and surely she'd be right back in a few minutes anyway. He'd likely not even notice she had gone; she could rib him about it at dinner.

Marie Marguerite pushed away from the back of her chair and followed Lise out of the bridge, finding a rhythm together as they propelled themselves from handhold to handhold down the long corridor that ran the length of the ship from the bridge in the nose to the main airlock in the rear. The ship proper rotated around them in gravity-simulating spin, a kaleidoscope of fields and orchards bathing in the light from the ship's solar reflectors. Marie Marguerite waited until they were out of earshot to hiss to her friend, what's going on?

I don't really know, Lise said, but the pink of her cheeks said she knew something.

Everything has already been settled, she said. All the forms completed. I'll have my own berth on board in a few days and won't even have to stay with your family anymore. What can this possibly be about?

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, M.M. Just a bureaucratic glitch, Lise said, which only made that knot in Marie Marguerite's stomach clench tighter. Something about an uncle? Her father had been an only child, but her mother had mentioned a brother. Not often, but once or twice. What would he be doing here, now after a lifetime of never meeting her?

Lise caught and squeezed her hand and Marie Marguerite gave it a hesitant squeeze back. Then she reached out, letting her fingers play over the plant beds that ran on both sides of the corridor, in this section all cooking herbs. Faint smells of mint, thyme and rosemary clung to her skin as she brought her fingertips up to smell. This was her favorite part of the corridor.

Not all of these have been filled yet, Lise tutted as they passed a series of empty plant beds, no green shoots pushing through the spiderweb-like mesh that kept the soil contained in free fall. Most of the plants grew in the spinning part of the ship, these were really just decorative, designed to catch the eye of anyone making a tour of the ship, so they would see green all around them the minute they entered through the airlock. But Lise took every detail seriously.

So much left to do, Marie Marguerite said. Can you believe how close it is to launch day?

Too close, Lise said. We'll never get it all done.

Of course we will, Marie Marguerite said. If you need extra hands, I can help out when I'm not on bridge duty.

Like you know anything about plants, Lise snorted.

You'll teach me, Marie Marguerite said, giving Lise's shoulder a little bump with her own.

I might just take you up on that, Lise said. They had reached the airlock and left the bright warmth of the generation ship behind for the more sterile lighting of the shipbuilding station. Come find me when you're done here? Lisa asked after they stepped out of the elevator, now in full gravity.

Will do, Marie Marguerite promised and Lise sketched a half-salute and continued on down the hall to the main reception area as Marie Marguerite opened the door to Lorna Wu's office.

The secretary directed Marie Marguerite to one of the row of chairs with their backs to the wall but the moment he stepped out of the room she was back on her feet. Sitting in a chair waiting outside an office door felt too much like being back in school again, waiting to be reprimanded. Not that she had much experience with that, just the one time and that had really been Kevin's doing. She reminded herself again that it was likely just a bureaucratic glitch, a box that needed to be check-marked, no big thing.

Marie Marguerite's eyes were drawn to the handsome model of the generation ship against the wall to her right and she bent over to give it a closer inspection, hands clasped behind her back, partly to let anyone who stumbled on her know she had no intention of touching it, and partly because she really, really did want to touch it. Her hands clutched each other, keeping themselves in check. She knew every aspect of this ship, had memorized all the specs and floor plans, had toured or trained on