Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (dark books to read txt) 📕

It became apparent that the androids weren’t going to sever our communications, so we passed the tablet around. Seeing their friends and family again boosted everyone’s spirits. The sure and certain knowledge that they were being fed and looked after took the weight from their shoulders. The tension of our captivity was wiped from their minds and for a few minutes, all was well again. The distraction was good for Eliza, too. She desperately needed to give up control and responsibility of these people for even a couple moments and in that time it was like she could breathe freely again.

The tablet beeped to let us know that the battery was running low and it was passed back to us. Jason appeared on screen to sign off.

“Listen, until we have a clearer picture of what’s going on, everyone will go about their day normally. I have assurances from our hosts that we will be connected with you on a continuous basis. Should you encounter any difficulties, any lapse in aid, if any android looks at you the wrong way, negotiations are over here. The health and safety of our people comes first.” Eliza addressed not just Jason, but the room. Just a couple of days’ appearance of her not having control had shaken the confidence of the people who volunteered to accompany us. It was imperative she win it back.

“You didn’t mention the trial.” Eliza visibly stiffened at the statement. She turned to me and ran a hand down her face.

“It wouldn’t have done any good. Jacob is beloved at home, and a lot of those people still look to him for guidance. I don’t even know what these androids are going to do in the next hour, never mind the next day. There’s absolutely no point in me scaring the crap out of people without a damn good reason to.” It was an apt observation. Eliza was an excellent partner and mother; I should have better anticipated her ability to take to leadership so easily. I hugged her, and gave her a gentle kiss.

“If we’re going to stay here more than a few days, I think I’ll get back to work on our food problem. The androids aren’t going to be keen on feeding us forever and if that aid cuts out we’ll need to move quickly.” As frustrated as I was with my father, I was scared. I felt conflicted. On the one hand, I obviously didn’t want Dad executed. On the other, I could understand why they felt entitled to put him on trial. I trusted that Dad had considered other options before getting himself in a fight to the death with Gabriel, but with his continued paranoia I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. Getting to work on the food problem would give me a fine distraction that meant we wouldn’t be caught with our metaphorical pants down if things really went badly.

The GTP2 solution didn’t matter anymore. The potato supply would be running thin within a fortnight. I would have to get an exact manifest of whatever aid the androids were sending to the colony; without that, there was no way for me to do the math. Assuming that they were sending adequate supplies...I knew I should have told Jason to ration things out. God love the guy but I doubt he would have listened to me anyway. The prospect of a full stomach for every meal would be too tantalizing. Better to let them have their cake and eat it too while they still could. God knows the whole colony needed the calories. I pulled up a botanical database and started scrolling. I needed a plant that was not only blight-resistant, but calorie rich.

An entry on tomatoes caught my eye. They were easy to grow, not requiring a specific soil type. The plants could be sprouted and kept year round, providing that they were kept in adequate temperatures. That much would be as simple as covering the crops with tarp. Most varieties of tomato plant were extremely blight resistant and could be prepared a number of different ways. Certainly enough to keep our diet varied and interesting until other measures could be taken. The only catch was the caloric content. Tomatoes were mostly water. More plants per person meant more resources meant more problems. To boot, we didn’t have any tomato seeds. If we did, they were long hidden deep in the shelter. Hoping for a lucky find wouldn’t work.

Most other vegetables didn’t meet one requirement or another. The ones that were calorie rich didn’t grow well in the kind of soil local to us. The ones that grew well in the soil were too vulnerable to blight. You get the idea. Just when my eyelids were starting to grow heavy I happened across the entry on arecaceae. Palms. Specifically, oil palms. Rich in calories, the species was extremely blight resistant and hardened against most extreme weather conditions. The seeds stored well and would sprout quickly with minimal water usage. I pulled up the information on what was stored in the shelter’s laboratories. Unfortunately, the botanical resources were limited. The Founders saw fit to outfit the shelter with enough animal and plant resources to meet minimum requirements. Neither flora nor fauna were meant to provide our basic sustenance; that task was left to the nutrients that could be produced by the 3D printers. The climate disasters pre-shelter would have forced my predecessors to run through the remainder of the seed vault located in former Northern Europe. There was the option to go foraging in hopes of locating a supply but palms were rare in the part of the continent we were located in.

My stomach growled. The stress of the day had ramped up my hunger. I thought of the unbelievable feast the androids had served us. The meat and vegetable had been so realistic, it was hard to process. What I wouldn’t give to take