fire, signaling, water, and food.”
“Not a bad list,” Sakura said, dusting off a nearby chunk of coral-rock to sit on, “but some of that won’t work. Signaling isn’t going to be something we do any time soon, if we can do it at all.” She didn’t like thinking about that, but it was true, and avoiding it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
“Still, let’s go through that list and talk about it,” said her father. “Positive mental attitude—that’s an excellent point for us as castaways. If we focus on what we’ve lost and on what terrible things could happen, we’ll be undermining ourselves every minute. We talked a little about that on our way here, but that little list reminds us about how important keeping that attitude is, even when things set us back—like now.”
Mom nodded. “It’s not always going to be easy, I know that, and I want any of you who start feeling it’s too much to come to me right away about it. Depression will rob any of us of our strength and our courage, and . . .” she looked back at the stretch of empty water where LS-5 had once been, “. . . it would be perfectly understandable for any of us to get depressed after this.”
“Okay, Mom. I think we all get that, right?” Caroline looked around to the others, who all nodded. Even Whips gave a bob up-and-down that he used for a nod.
“Okay, so next is first aid. All of us are okay right now, so we finished that part of the list.” She smiled and patted the broad circular silvery pad she and several of the others sat on. “We’ve got the emergency shelter right here and it responds right to signals, so we can get it set up in a little bit. So that’s covered, right?”
“For now,” her mother agreed. “We’ll have to find something more permanent eventually, but those shelters were meant for use while people built themselves real houses at the colony, so it’s actually exactly the purpose for which it was designed.
“For the other points on that list . . . I think we need to look at what we already have.”
“We’ve all got omnis, Mommy!” Hitomi said brightly. I don’t think she’s quite understood that this isn’t like an extended camping trip, Sakura thought. “That’s good, right?” Her expression shifted to a slight pout. “But mine’s not connecting to the Jewelbug app.”
“That’s because there’s no server in range, Hitomi,” Melody said; Sakura noticed that Melody did try to minimize her “sarcastic know-it-all” tone, which was good.
“But her point’s very good,” Whips said. “We do all have omnis, which means at least some computation and data storage and, for some of them like Dr. . . . I mean, Laura’s and Akira’s, sensor capability.”
“Something even better,” Sakura said, finding that as they talked it out she was feeling more and more her old self. “Communications. Okay, there’s no satellites or relays here, but still, our omnis will have some comm range, right?”
“I would think so,” Akira said, “but I admit I’m not sure. Melody, is that a piece of trivia you know?”
Sakura grinned as she saw Melody straighten up even as Melody tried to hide how proud she was that her father was asking her for that kind of information. “Um, yes, Dad. Most omnis have about a kilometer or two range, depending on what gets in the way. Yours and Mom’s are probably pushing the two-kilometer range—mine too because you got me the top model just before we left, I think I might get three kilometers—while Hitomi’s is probably below a kilometer. If there were satellites we could link to them even from much farther away, but there aren’t any.”
“Very good. What else do we have?”
Sakura dug into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a handle attached to a small cube of metal with clear crystals on either side. “I have my Shapetool!”
“I was hoping you did,” her mother smiled at her. “I have mine, too.”
Melody looked crestfallen. “Oh,
“Not a bad list,” Sakura said, dusting off a nearby chunk of coral-rock to sit on, “but some of that won’t work. Signaling isn’t going to be something we do any time soon, if we can do it at all.” She didn’t like thinking about that, but it was true, and avoiding it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
“Still, let’s go through that list and talk about it,” said her father. “Positive mental attitude—that’s an excellent point for us as castaways. If we focus on what we’ve lost and on what terrible things could happen, we’ll be undermining ourselves every minute. We talked a little about that on our way here, but that little list reminds us about how important keeping that attitude is, even when things set us back—like now.”
Mom nodded. “It’s not always going to be easy, I know that, and I want any of you who start feeling it’s too much to come to me right away about it. Depression will rob any of us of our strength and our courage, and . . .” she looked back at the stretch of empty water where LS-5 had once been, “. . . it would be perfectly understandable for any of us to get depressed after this.”
“Okay, Mom. I think we all get that, right?” Caroline looked around to the others, who all nodded. Even Whips gave a bob up-and-down that he used for a nod.
“Okay, so next is first aid. All of us are okay right now, so we finished that part of the list.” She smiled and patted the broad circular silvery pad she and several of the others sat on. “We’ve got the emergency shelter right here and it responds right to signals, so we can get it set up in a little bit. So that’s covered, right?”
“For now,” her mother agreed. “We’ll have to find something more permanent eventually, but those shelters were meant for use while people built themselves real houses at the colony, so it’s actually exactly the purpose for which it was designed.
“For the other points on that list . . . I think we need to look at what we already have.”
“We’ve all got omnis, Mommy!” Hitomi said brightly. I don’t think she’s quite understood that this isn’t like an extended camping trip, Sakura thought. “That’s good, right?” Her expression shifted to a slight pout. “But mine’s not connecting to the Jewelbug app.”
“That’s because there’s no server in range, Hitomi,” Melody said; Sakura noticed that Melody did try to minimize her “sarcastic know-it-all” tone, which was good.
“But her point’s very good,” Whips said. “We do all have omnis, which means at least some computation and data storage and, for some of them like Dr. . . . I mean, Laura’s and Akira’s, sensor capability.”
“Something even better,” Sakura said, finding that as they talked it out she was feeling more and more her old self. “Communications. Okay, there’s no satellites or relays here, but still, our omnis will have some comm range, right?”
“I would think so,” Akira said, “but I admit I’m not sure. Melody, is that a piece of trivia you know?”
Sakura grinned as she saw Melody straighten up even as Melody tried to hide how proud she was that her father was asking her for that kind of information. “Um, yes, Dad. Most omnis have about a kilometer or two range, depending on what gets in the way. Yours and Mom’s are probably pushing the two-kilometer range—mine too because you got me the top model just before we left, I think I might get three kilometers—while Hitomi’s is probably below a kilometer. If there were satellites we could link to them even from much farther away, but there aren’t any.”
“Very good. What else do we have?”
Sakura dug into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a handle attached to a small cube of metal with clear crystals on either side. “I have my Shapetool!”
“I was hoping you did,” her mother smiled at her. “I have mine, too.”
Melody looked crestfallen. “Oh,
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