3171W3

CHAPTER 7

The days pass, and our entire team is on high alert. Soldiers spend their days training and cultivating the land to uplifting music playing throughout the spaceship. Newton has been recharged and has resumed his duties, while Ariane is in charge of the radar station, replacing Lara, who ended up in the kitchen with Dr. Marcus Williams.

Meanwhile, the other two professors are in the spaceship's medical laboratory, searching for a solution to their unsolvable puzzle. In any case, everyone is working hard to keep the spaceship in good condition and preparing for any unexpected encounters.

The spaceship's garden is a small oasis of greenery amidst interstellar technology. It occupies a specific section of the ship, designed to allow the growth of plants and vegetables essential for the crew's survival in space. It is arranged in neat rows of raised beds filled with fertile soil. The beds are positioned along the walls of the designated area, maximizing the use of available space. Special artificial lights suspended above the beds provide bright, intense white light to stimulate plant growth. They are programmed to simulate a day-night cycle to maintain optimal conditions for photosynthesis, and automatic irrigation systems are integrated into the beds' soil, ensuring the plants receive an adequate amount of water. Sensors constantly monitor humidity levels and adjust irrigation accordingly. Temperature sensors also maintain an optimal climate for plant growth.

The garden houses a variety of plants and vegetables, ranging from potatoes to onions, carrots, beans, and tomatoes. Each plant is carefully labeled to avoid confusion. Upbeat music plays throughout the garden area to keep morale high and provide a positive atmosphere for gardening tasks. This music helps create a pleasant atmosphere, despite the constant effort required to maintain the crops.

Corporal Titus Johnson, frustrated, hands in the soil, muttered,

- Damn, I didn't sign up for this. Warriors tilling the soil in space...Who could have predicted that?

- Yeah, no kidding. I never thought my military career would include intensive interstellar gardening lessons.

Replied Chief Corporal Garcia before Private First Class Wissam Faris chimed in.

Al Sanchez was busy picking potatoes.

- And yes, they were even sourced from France, he said.

- Please, France, mocked Chief Corporal Maria Garcia.

- Imagine if it was soil from the barracks. Our harvests would taste awful, joked Private First Class Wissam Faris.

Corporal Titus Johnson, laughing, chimed in.

- And our vegetables would have names worthy of hardened soldiers: 'Resistance Beans' and 'Commando Carrots.

Sergeant, as active in gardening as in training, joined the conversation.

- Calm down, everyone. We're all in the same boat... or should I say, in the same spaceship. The important thing is that we manage to grow these crops so that we can at least say we fought hunger in space.

Spider, swiftly gathering onions, faced Private Second Class Ramirez, who was sitting, munching on what should have been harvested.

- If I may, onions are for harvesting, not eating, Spider said.

Ramirez shot him a cold look while crunching his onion.

- No worries, pretend I said nothing.

- Yes, little four-armed man, don't mind him, that guy is a real psychopath, whispered Private First Class Wissam Faris.

- Do you have a problem with me, Blue Dick? Ramirez retorted.

- Yes, I have a problem. Will you tell me why you have a picture of my family on you?