Solar Umbrella (Book 1)

Chapter 6: The Competition

AS PART OF the worldwide change to move on from The Expulsion and centralize food production and distribution, two leaders in the business world proposed a competition for high school students. There were two areas to compete in and the prize was an all expense paid trip to the moon. One company was offering to pay for the flight for two teams of four from anywhere in the world, and the other was offering to pay the fee to have them stay at the only hotel on the moon, LunaOne. The first area of the competition revolved around the modification of food plants. The competition simply asked students to find ways to produce more food from the same plant. This was not Parker's area of expertise, but he could imagine some solutions like modifying the plant to flower more often or to take less time to go from flower to fruit. Genetic modification seemed the most obvious route, but perhaps mixing fruit types naturally with other plants or a different combination of feed, sun and water could also work.

The second competition was more interesting to him. It asked for students to find a way to harvest food faster and with less waste. For Parker, the answer hid in some combination of software and hardware. Robots with programming to harvest at the perfect time and work 24 hours a day seemed like the way. There were some robots harvesting food already, but they didn't do a great job differentiating between ripeness levels and they had a hard time adjusting to anything that wasn't just right. They also created a lot of waste by ruining some food as it was harvested. Still, humans had their own drawbacks. They needed time off, they needed payment, they needed to eat, to use the bathroom and a million other little things. Parker saw opportunities here for sure.

He sent messages to Kate and DJ to see if they wanted to join up. He also talked with the school administration and they agreed competing in the challenge, win or lose, would count towards credits and graduation. Parker was doubly excited as the credits would put him and his friends over the threshold to graduation. Between the competition and a final Phys Ed credit, he would be ready to move on.

The group met in the cafeteria and looked over the competition details. DJ said he was in as soon as he saw the prize, but Kate was a little more reluctant. "Come on Kate, think of it! We could get to travel in space—to the moon!" Parker exclaimed.

"Not to mention the credits," DJ added right after him.

"I don't know though," Kate paused. "Think of the competition we're going to face. There's going to be hundreds of teams that enter this competition. I bet there's going to be a bunch from our school alone. Plus, I was pretty happy with my courses this year. I'm not sure I want to give them up."

"You could just take extra classes. There's no punishment for having extra and you could just not include your worst grades in your transcript," Parker replied, pleading with her.

"Colleges will love this competition on your records Kate, especially if we win," DJ chimed in again.

"...and think of the interviews with recruiters. Would you rather hear some kid prattle on about getting a 97 in chem, or going to the fucking moon?" Parker smiled and raised his hands above her head. "The moon, Kate!"

Kate sat and looked over the documents again, more carefully this time. DJ opened his mouth to say something, but Parker gave him the wide eyes that said don't you dare without saying a thing. DJ breathed heavily, but didn't open his mouth again. Parker knew exactly what Kate was doing. She was convincing herself to do it. He could see it in her shoulders, in her eyes. There was a special little glint in there that told him she was excited and just needed time. So they gave it to her.

"I could use some more, uh, food," Parker said to DJ, tilting his head toward the vending machines.

"I'm not hungry," DJ replied, completely missing the cue.

"Goddamn man, come anyways!" Parker snapped, laughing at his friend's obliviousness. The two headed away to give Kate some space.

Parker and DJ sat at a couch facing the wall and talked about possible plans. DJ seemed interested in Parker's idea to use robots to harvest the food, and started talking about designs right away. They were discussing what physical style of bot would work best when Kate hopped the back of the couch and slid right between them.

"Okay dorks. I'm in," Kate smiled, that glint still in her eyes, "with one condition."

"Yes! Anything Kate!" Parker replied immediately.

"Ibrahim is our fourth."