The Plant Pt. 03 - Colony
The following is the third entry in my series, "The Plant," and is set about three months after "
The Plant Pt. 02 - Spores
."
It may help to read the first two stories in the series to understand the full context of what is happening here.
I realize it has been about a year and a half since I last touched this series, but after finishing "Merl and Heide," I decided to take a detour from the tragic and sometimes sad world of cheating spouses for a bit.
In other words, this is quite different from my usual offerings...
Many thanks to those who offered comments and constructive criticism on my previous stories.
For those who want to say this or that would never happen, remember this is my universe, a place where nearly anything can, and often does, happen.
At least on paper...
Please refer to my profile for more on my personal policy regarding comments, feedback, follows, etc.
(Yes, I DO moderate comments)
And please remember, this is a work of fiction, not a docu-drama...
...
Ending of The Plant Pt. 02 -- Spores:
Donning the communicator's headpiece, she printed the map the council had placed in her head, wondering why they had chosen to give her this piece of information.
She studied the map, which included air currents for her location and realized it came from a local meteorological website. She also saw a fairly complex equation on the map and realized the council had provided this to her so she could determine the approximate location of the spores emitted by the female plant in her last minutes of life.
She plugged the equation into her computer and instantly realized what the council had given her. She made notes on the map and decided to check out the areas she had marked.
She walked around the neighborhood, taking notes as she went. A few weeks later, she noticed something odd. Strange plants were beginning to sprout in the areas marked on her map. Some of them, unfortunately, had taken root in areas that were constantly being mowed, but there quite a few that had started to germinate in areas that weren't regularly maintained.
Quite a few had even managed to land in the local park, in the shade of some very large trees. She made a note of these areas and decided she would find a way to feed these plants. A few of them were female, but, she noticed, the vast majority were male. Growing in the wild like this, she knew the plants would take longer than normal to mature.
But, she wondered, was this the beginning of a new Gingravik colony? Could the male plants entice other human females or would they choose to gravitate to the female Gingravik? What would be the result of human sperm mixed with Gingravik female DNA? Would she be able to communicate with these hybrids? Would these plants be as monogamous as native Gingravik? Would they follow the High Council and participate in the final remedy? Each question brought about even more questions.
Perhaps, she thought with a wicked grin, she could get the local conservationists to lobby on behalf of the new species of plant. She began to laugh at the irony. Imagine, she thought, humans lobbying to protect the very species that would eventually replace them all. Maybe she could even get the plants listed as an endangered species, forcing the humans to relocate out of the area.
"Praise Marsook," she said to no one in particular. Laughing and singing, she walked home, a spring in her step. Yes, she thought, that would be the ultimate irony.
...
And now, The Plant Pt. 03 -- Colony:
April Jennings, May Carlson and June Benning sat in the park on their blanket, enjoying the warm air and the food they had brought with them. It was a wonderful day for a picnic, and the fresh air was just what they needed to help get their minds off their work.
Known in their dorm as the "Calendar Girls" for obvious reasons, the three graduate students were good friends who spent a lot of their free time together talking about this or that. Sometimes, they got together to study, or just share gossip in the student common area, but other times, they would go out for happy hour or simply get together for a nice lunch in the park, weather permitting.
They often bragged about their boyfriends or talked about whatever they might have seen on the news or heard in class. Today, they simply wanted to get out into the fresh air before the weather turned bad. It was, after all, mid-September, and they knew that the nice temperatures wouldn't last for too much longer.
"This was a good idea you had," June said as she took a bite from the shrimp salad sandwich April had made for them.
"Yes, it was," May added as she finished her sandwich. "It's so nice out today. It would be a shame to let it go to waste."
"Well, if you guys don't mind, I think I'll go see if there's any fresh berries to pick," April said. "The last time I was here, there were several bushes full of wild berries just past the tree line."
"Go for it," June said. "I think I'll just lay here and soak up some sun."
"Yeah, me too," May said. "Besides, that sandwich filled me up. I may just take a nap."
"Okay," April said, standing up. "I'll be right back." She grabbed a small basket and headed into the trees. About a half hour later, they heard April calling out to them.
"Hey you guys, come check this out," she yelled. May and June ran into the trees, wondering what their friend had found. They saw her, bending over, looking at a plant that was a bit more than a foot high.
"What's up?" June asked as they came to April's side.
"Take a look at this," April said. "Have you ever seen anything like it before?" May bent over and took a close look at the plant. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the strange pustules at the end of stalks coming up from the middle of the plant. She counted twelve in all.