ABANDON

Chapter 30 -- Food, Fear, and Hope

"Five! Barely enough food for one week." Oosa snapped the short thread from her sewing between her teeth. "It takes five days just to get them out and back. Kill better send another party, or we won't be eating twice a day any more. If we wait much longer, it will be once a day." One small bowl of soup twice a day was already too little, no one liked the sound of less. "We will be too weak to fight. Seehoiah might as well find us now."

Everyone was shocked. "Don't curse us." Tanna breathed. "Kill is waiting for Maymio's return."

"Go talk to him grandmother. Go talk to Kill." Miriam said, looking up at the matron.

Oosa stood, but before she left, she glanced at Jane.

Miriam anticipated her and said, "Don't worry grandmother. Jane will look after me." Once Oosa was gone, Miriam lifted the child off her lap and moved next to Jane. Miriam always kept her hair back in a neat braid that today rested over her shoulder. Little flecks of gray hair were beginning to show at her temples. Miriam's scars and hair made her look old, yet her speech and manners made her young. She continued with her sewing and the child stood still, staring at the smooth round rock in his hand before toddling over and putting the hand, still clutching the stone, on Miriam's shoulder. Miriam smiled brightly at the boy, causing him to smile back. Then she pulled him onto her lap and hugged him.

Jane went back to her work of slicing the bags open and dumping the contents into the jar, clutching them tighter than before, feeling jealousy, then sadness for the relationship she never had. Out and in, full and empty, like breathing. Gentle and gently.

"You are good at that Jane." Miriam said.

Jane wondered if Miriam said that to everyone, and Miriam read Jane effortlessly. "I have seen many do this job and it is more tricky than it seems. The first time Michael did it, the bag exploded. I don't think any of it got into the jar."

Jane didn't know Michael had done this job.

Miriam read Jane again, "Michael procrastinated this job for months, always trading it away. Personally it is one of my favourites, but I am a bad example. I will do anything to be out here with people." Miriam looked around while she took a deep breath. "Michael will do anything to get away from the food." Miriam leaned over touching Jane's shoulder with hers, looking Jane in the eye. "He has many fears about you." she whispered.

The idea that Michael had fears surprised Jane. He had always seemed so strong. So he didn't like the food. Jane peeled back the cloth from the next kidney-shaped bag, the contents inside massed into oblong shapes, all nested together.

"You are quiet Jane. Tell me what you are thinking?"

Jane used the knife to gently slit the bag. "This polymer is sheer thickening."

"I've never heard those words before. What do they mean?"

"It means the more force you apply to break this," Jane pulled at the thin plastic, "the harder it will be to break." Jane leaned the bag over the jar and the organ slipped out.

"I've seen them reseal themselves. Once I had a bag that had been ruptured three times, and each time the cells healed themselves. What did you say it was made of?"

"Polymer. Plastic."

"Is plass-tek made on Earth?"

"Yes, but not like this. This is unlike any plastic I have ever seen. But the cells inside, I have seen cells like this before, many times. The blue colour is striking—Anthocyanins."

Miriam stopped sewing and looked at Jane, the little boy looked too. Jane had their full attention and although she was nervous, it was surprising how good the attention felt. Jane continued. "It is a biochemical metabolite. It produces polyketides. Anthocyanins look blue."