Havenworlders are planting dwarf fruit trees in pots so when the shipload of rescued humans - refugees from a Deregger polity currently in the middle of a civil war - arrives, can be given at least three plants per person. -- Anon Guest
They were hefty gifts for Havenworlders to carry, but even a weak Human could lift them with relative ease. The ship had said five hundred souls, so fifteen hundred pots now came with a very small tree. Free soil and healthy growing biota included[1]. All very safe to handle, because Havenworlders were doing the handling.
Welcome to Bryt'l Station. Here there be Havenworlders.
Of all the environments built in space, it is the Havenworlder vessels that are the most secure against outside forces. They're paranoid that way. And, through that paranoia, attract the kind of people who need security.
They came as a huddled mass. Tired, poor, homeless, and tempest-tossed. Gasping in the abundance of fresh air after a literal lifetime of the stale stuff at heavily-taxed rates. They kept asking how much they owed, and could not accept that everything was free. By right.
"We have the right to remain silent," said the unelected leader of the group. "That's what they used to say." She kept passing bundles of goods to others in the queue, making sure everyone got something.
"Here, you have the right to speak your mind." Carer Wout readied his next bundle. Passing things out to five hundred people took time. "We keep explaining this. You have the right to adequate shelter and the responsibility of maintaining the air supply. Which is what the plants are for. We will never leave you with nothing and expect everything."
"This is too much," said the leader, Lliro. She passed on another bundle. Jumpsuit, underwear, three trees in their pots, a ration pack, and a blanket.
"This is what we consider the bare minimum," said Wout. "There will be more."
"...more..." Lliro was trying to fit the concept into her head. "Just... given to us? No surcharges? No fees."
"We will begin the therapeutic infotainment as soon as all of your people are certified medically stable," soothed Wout. "There shall also be a crash course in Human-Havenworlder interactions. To make certain everyone knows what they need to know."
Tears were slowly flowing down Lliro's face. "We thought we were going to die. We thought it would be worse."
And yet they came anyway. Because when death is every option, the choice became how they died.
So very, very many chose, "Not in this hellhole."
[1] Microbiomes are just as important for plants to grow as any other environmental condition.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / heinteh]
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