LJ Idol 7, Topic 8: "First World Problem"
It was a blessing to wake up each morning.
Shaleah stretched her arms above her head, breathing in the cool, moist air with its faint tang of cloves that always reminded her of her grandmother's famous spice cake. Her black khat, Odysseus, stirred and cracked open his emerald eyes as Shaleah rolled onto her left side and gazed out the tall, narrow window at the scenery beyond.
The inhospitable rocky landscape of Morado was covered by wide swathes of tangled, purplish growth. The air was toxic to her people, but the eco-domes provided a safe atmosphere as long as the colony's population expansion was kept to a bare minimum.
In order to prevent the small settlement from outgrowing the expensive eco-domes, the Protectorate had decreed that no babies were to be born until somebody else made room by conveniently dying. Shaleah was glad that the adult population of Alpha dome was extremely healthy, but she knew many of the mated couples and even some single women - such as herself - desperately wanted a child of their own. The vat-bred khats were a compromise that the Protectorate had reluctantly agreed to. The felines never grew larger than three kilos, were very soothing to pet and cuddle, and alleviated the rampant maternal urges.
Most of the time, at any rate.
"Wrrower?" Odysseus asked. He drew himself upright as Shaleah tossed back the light coverlet and ran long fingers through her sleep-rumpled red hair.
"Oh yes, it is definitely shower time," she replied, throwing her thin shift into the laundry chute for processing and striding stark naked into the small adjoining bathroom. Odysseus padded after her, his sleek tail held high. His delicate paws made no discernable noise against the flooring. The little khat loved nothing more than to play in the misty shower, occasionally thrusting an inquisitive paw or even his whole head underneath the warm spray, then slinking off to a corner to lick himself clean. He was an odd companion, Shaleah thought, as she quickly pulled on her work uniform, but she loved him with all her heart.
As she strode down the hallway to her assigned station, Shaleah found it hard to believe that she had already been here for six long years. Four more would complete her mandatory term of service, and she was eager to be rotated back home. She missed her parents and younger sister desperately. It was rare to receive any sort of personal communication out here on the Fringe. Despite all the recent technological advancements, Morado was so far off the beaten path that the few hundred inhabitants were lucky to receive quarterly packets from the Newsfeed drones.
Shaleah hadn't been given as choice as to her posting, of course. Like everyone else, she had been tested to see where her proficiencies lay, run through a gamut of training sessions, shoved into a Deep Sleep cryo-chamber, loaded into a cargo bay, and been revived here without so much as a by-your-leave. Shaleah wasn't even sure how long the actual journey had been.
It was certainly possible that the voyage had been so long that her parents and sister could easily be dead by now, which would explain the lack of personal communiqués. Why hadn't she thought about that possibility before?
Why was she thinking about it now?
"Nn-aoow?"
Shaleah stopped in her tracks and looked down. A set of intelligent green eyes stared up at her. "Wait - what?"
"Nn-aoow ssssssleep."
It was a blessing to wake up each morning.
Shaleah stretched her arms above her head, breathing in the cool, moist air with its faint tang of cloves that always reminded her of her grandmother's famous spice cake. Her black khat, Odysseus, stirred and cracked open his emerald eyes as Shaleah rolled onto her left side and gazed out the tall, narrow window at the scenery beyond.
The inhospitable rocky landscape of Morado was covered by wide swathes of tangled, purplish growth. The air was toxic to her people, but the eco-domes provided a safe atmosphere as long as the colony's population expansion was kept to a bare minimum.
In order to prevent the small settlement from outgrowing the expensive eco-domes, the Protectorate had decreed that no babies were to be born until somebody else made room by conveniently dying. Shaleah was glad that the adult population of Alpha dome was extremely healthy, but she knew many of the mated couples and even some single women - such as herself - desperately wanted a child of their own. The vat-bred khats were a compromise that the Protectorate had reluctantly agreed to. The felines never grew larger than three kilos, were very soothing to pet and cuddle, and alleviated the rampant maternal urges.
Most of the time, at any rate.
"Wrrower?" Odysseus asked. He drew himself upright as Shaleah tossed back the light coverlet and ran long fingers through her sleep-rumpled red hair.
"Oh yes, it is definitely shower time," she replied, throwing her thin shift into the laundry chute for processing and striding stark naked into the small adjoining bathroom. Odysseus padded after her, his sleek tail held high. His delicate paws made no discernable noise against the flooring. The little khat loved nothing more than to play in the misty shower, occasionally thrusting an inquisitive paw or even his whole head underneath the warm spray, then slinking off to a corner to lick himself clean. He was an odd companion, Shaleah thought, as she quickly pulled on her work uniform, but she loved him with all her heart.
As she strode down the hallway to her assigned station, Shaleah found it hard to believe that she had already been here for six long years. Four more would complete her mandatory term of service, and she was eager to be rotated back home. She missed her parents and younger sister desperately. It was rare to receive any sort of personal communication out here on the Fringe. Despite all the recent technological advancements, Morado was so far off the beaten path that the few hundred inhabitants were lucky to receive quarterly packets from the Newsfeed drones.
Shaleah hadn't been given as choice as to her posting, of course. Like everyone else, she had been tested to see where her proficiencies lay, run through a gamut of training sessions, shoved into a Deep Sleep cryo-chamber, loaded into a cargo bay, and been revived here without so much as a by-your-leave. Shaleah wasn't even sure how long the actual journey had been.
It was certainly possible that the voyage had been so long that her parents and sister could easily be dead by now, which would explain the lack of personal communiqués. Why hadn't she thought about that possibility before?
Why was she thinking about it now?
"Nn-aoow?"
Shaleah stopped in her tracks and looked down. A set of intelligent green eyes stared up at her. "Wait - what?"
"Nn-aoow ssssssleep."
It was a blessing to wake up each morning.