Baby Book - Phase Three

Chapter Twenty-nine - A Visit to a Planet

Mid March, 2274

The kindergarten class marched down the corridors, two by two, holding hands. Outside the day care center, they were joined by the day care children as well. The older children had already passed this way. On they went, headed for the main transporter bay. Something absolutely wonderful was happening today. They were all going down to the planet that the Enterprise circled, down to walk on the dirt! Down to walk through trees and on grass! They were so excited they would hardly stand it.

In the transporter bay, each child was paired with an ensign, whose sole responsibility that day was to stay with the child to whom they were assigned, to see that no harm befell that child. And to explain what was being seen, to name the objects the child was not familiar with, to allow touching of what was safe, and warn off of what was not. Already on the planet were the officers who would supervise, and the teachers went down as well. The kitchens would send down lunch, after all the children were busy walking around and seeing everything.

On the bridge, everyone was alert, watching all the tell-tales with strict eyes. It would not do for them to be surprised, while all the children were below. Not at all. Sensors were extended to maximum range, and the bridge was silent, except for the dings and whirs generated by the instruments. There were people watching all the power circuits, ready to repair any mishap at a moment's notice. The engine room was fully staffed, and every board was scrutinized constantly.

Sick bay had sent down a fully-staffed field hospital, and deployed it before any child set foot on the planet. It was over-kill, but no one complained.

The children saw none of these preparations. They had eyes only for the brown dirt, the green grass, the great trees, the flowers scattered here and there. And the birds flying overhead, and singing from the trees. The small animals that darted here and there, more startled of them than they were of seeing them. They were all so highly excited that it was hard to get them to calm down enough to eat their lunch. They talked constantly, the ensigns assigned to them barely able to get a word in. Finally the adults gave up, and let the children babble.

A group of boys found something that greatly resembled the hill of ants that Grayson had seen in Africa. They gathered around, hopeful for a battle, but these insects were peaceful. They watched in astonishment as the tiny insects carried great crumbs that the children had dropped, taking them down inside their hill. The crumbs were larger than the insects!

Some birds found the children's dropping, and flew down, feasting not only on the crumbs, but on the insects trying to scavenge them. There were shrieks and children ran about, waving their hands, trying to scare the birds off, to rescue the insects. It was the first time that most of them had encountered true life in the wilds.

A few tears were wiped away, a few unhappy children comforted, and then the ensigns drew the children away from the area where they had eaten, back to the woods. Of course, there was no way to make this many children walk quietly, but each discovery drew a crowd of children, looking to see what had been found, whether it was a colorful fungus growing from a fallen tree, a flitting butterfly-like insect, a nest high in the branches of a tree, or a tiny flower, almost hidden in the detritus of the forest floor.

By the time dusk started to fall, the children were beginning to tire, and did not fuss when the ensigns turned them back toward the beam up point. The youngest children went first, in small groups, followed by the older children. The teachers went next, leaving only the ensigns, who quickly cleaned up the area, carting out all the remains of their activities. They left behind a patch of scuffed grass, some crumbs, and animals who wondered briefly what had so disturbed their normal lives.

The mess halls rang with the voices of children that night. Children who, for the most part, had been born and raised on spaceships, only seeing planetside at great intervals. This had been a day none of them would forget for a long, long time.