Sam tailed along after their Angmari guide as they toured the facilities of what could be considered either their home or their jail, depending on your mood. The fifth floor, the top one they had access to, held their sleeping berths, bathroom, dining room, and common area. The common area was an open space with cushions arranged in a circle on the concrete floor and a row of stools facing touchscreens inset in the wall. The dining room consisted of low tables surrounded by floor cushions and a taller serving table abutting a wall with shelves and cabinets built into it. Their guide informed them that the kitchen was stocked daily and that they were responsible for preparing their own meals before taking them to their sleeping berths.
Hatches lined both sides of a long, narrow hall, stacked two high with the second row offset so that the ladder didn't obstruct the hatches of the bottom row. When Sam approached one of the hatches, a small screen lit up in recognition of her presence. Samantha Wilcox flashed across the screen, then a prompt came up. Would you like to claim this berth? Yes or no. She tapped the yes option and the hatch clicked open.
Sam poked her head inside as dim interior lights came on. Plastic walls, foam cushion, thin blanket, ventilation hoses, and nothing else aside from control buttons on the hatch's inside. It looked cozy. Sam grabbed the handle above the hatch to swing her feet inside but was stopped by the Angmari woman's hand on her arm. "Not before showering. And never with shoes. A sleeping berth is your only private space, so take special care to keep it clean."
She closed the hatch and followed the rest of the group to the bathroom at the far end of the hall holding their sleeping berths. Overhead shower nozzles occupied one of the back corners, black-painted toilets another, yellow toilets resided beside the doorway, and the final corner held sinks. The guide affixed them all with a firm look. "Yellow for liquids. Black for solids. The people from environmental recycling will become very upset if you mix it up. And you do not want them angry with you."
They retraced their steps through the U-shaped fifth floor, going from the bathroom, through the sleeping berth hall, through the dining room, and finally passing through the common area to the stairs. On the fourth floor, their guide walked them through an open plan filled with racks of plants in close proximity to blue and red grow lights. "This is a cabbagino bay. Every day three of these racks are harvested and replanted. The other racks will need to be monitored for health. At the first sign of disease, corrective action must be taken. You will learn more about the signs over time."
Beside her, Jess raised her hand. "What is a cabbagino?"
"Genetic modification taken to a glorious extreme. Every vitamin necessary for human life is produced by one plant in a highly available form. It is also a robust and proliferate crop."
The tour continued to the third floor, which held what looked like numerous above ground swimming pools, each one full of fish. Between the pools were smaller versions of the racks on the previous floor. "The fishery," the guide said. "Fish are the main protein source on the Angelship, so don't take this duty lightly."
The second floor held something altogether different. Thin plates of glass stacked horizontally held thin layers of green fluid sucking up light while pumps slowly moved the liquid through various pieces of machinery whose functions Sam could not comprehend. The guide cleared her throat. "You are looking at algae engineered to excrete sugars, fatty acids, and even antioxidants. The output is known as greenjuice and is passable once you acquire a taste for it. This is a continuous flow setup. This room will occupy the majority of your efforts. It produces twice as many calories as floors three and four combined."
They returned to the first floor, where the door to the outside remained resolutely closed, and moved into a back room. Half of the space was taken up by a more traditional garden full of foods Sam could recognize. Blueberries, tomatoes, zucchinis, melons, string beans, and eggplants. The other half looked like a cross between a commercial kitchen and a warehouse, stainless steel everywhere. A conspicuously large rollup door stood to one side.
"This is where you will prepare your crops for disbursement," their guide said. "You will need to wash and prep the cabbagino and fish before turning it over to the distribution folks. The greenjuice is transported in sealed vessels. The garden exists for both your pleasure and as an opportunity for you to trade your surplus. Garden or not, I don't care, but you will faithfully execute your other duties. If you do what is expected of you, the Angelship is a pleasant enough environment. Step out of line and it becomes a living hell."
The guide turned to where several previously unnoticed women sat among the garden. "Darla, Kistlen, and Ayla. They will live with you, instruct you, and oversee you. I will drop in as my schedule permits, but at this time I'm turning you over to your supervisors. Good day."
As the woman left, the three supervisors stood and moved forward. The one known as Darla stood tall and broad and wore a grim expression. Kistlen smirked at them like the popular girl deciding if she wanted to mess with the nerdy new girls. Ayla hopped forward with her hands clasped before her, beaming smiles around the room. "Hi, I'm Ayla! I'm your new supervisor and best friend!" She stopped directly before Sam and squinted at her. "I think you are the girl with bad eyes? The healer is going to fix them today, so you should stay on this floor and help me wash vegetables." Sam stared at the woman. Ayla. Pronounced eye la. "Hi, Ayla, I'm Sam."
"Come with me!" And Sam found herself being pulled forward by one of her arms towards a washing station. She elected not to complain as the other Earthers seemed primed to receive some sort of hazing from Darla and Kistlen.
