A Little Sip of Wine
The colorful lights of the Akikonian sunset were fading into the nascent night. The summer had been sunny and dry, the perfect kind of weather for a good harvest of red grapes. The continent was fertile for many new crops. It was a place with a lot of potential for anyone involved in farming. Yet, for her, the biggest gamble was only beginning. She was ready to make wine in a world where the bacteria in the soil and air were not identical with those from Earth.
Scratching absentmindedly her right cheek, Megumi took a seat on the wooden stool in front of the fermentation tanks platform, looking at the monitoring display. The temperature inside was about 23 Celsius degrees, optimal for the production of red wine. The right amount of cultured yeast had already been added and everything appeared to be within the norm. Now she had to wait for more than a week to see the first results when the primary fermentation ended.
Megumi trusted the traditional methods more than modern technology, although she tried to make the best of both. Her farm used a computerized system to supervise the fermentation process. Nonetheless, the tanks were not steel containers but large open vats made of the best oak wood she could find.
The woman climbed onto the processing platform and did a final visual check of the tanks. The interior of each vessel displayed the dark liquid covered by a thin crust of grape skins. It looked promising and had a pleasant fragrance.
A few more months and the investment might pay off, the woman thought. Or it might not. However, she quickly suppressed the unpleasant idea. Better stay positive. A small business on a rural planet could become something big by next year. Many people were going to spend handsome amounts of money on a beverage not chemically synthesized. A drink from natural ingredients will always have a superior taste. Of course, some farmers were already making beer and saké, but the wine would be something new, something refined. And she would have the advantage of being the first to put it on sale.
Megumi inhaled the sweet scent of the fermenting must, then she climbed down from the platform and returned to the middle of the hall. She pressed the tiny badge from her chest and called:
“Porto, come here!”
Five or six seconds later, a vaguely humanoid shape appeared from the yard, sliding noiselessly on three thin wheels.
“Yes, ma’am! What are your orders?”
“Supervise the fermentation process overnight. Check the indicators and look inside the tanks once an hour. Wake me up if anything out of the ordinary happens.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will check the tanks every hour until you come back here. If anything unusual happens, I will wake you up.”
The robots from Akikonia were rather primitive. You had to give them clear instructions, then listen patiently to your orders being repeated. It was the only way to make sure they’ll do exactly what you wanted. Still, these robots were the main work resource in such an underpopulated world. The whole labor force on Megumi’s farm was served by such ten intelligent machines. Self-plugging themselves every eleven hours into the outside outlets connected to large sets of solar panels, they were doing all the needed hard work under her remote supervision.
It will take many decades until the great migration started by Empress Akiko reached its purpose. Yet, someday, this planet was going to rival the most successful colonies in the Galaxy. It had a well-balanced environment, was rich in metals and minerals, and any big predators were missing. The plants and animals brought from Earth were thriving on it. The climate was mild, the atmosphere composition almost identical to Earth’s, the gravity only slighter lower. The local magnetic field had a higher intensity and gave excellent protection to its inhabitants from any harmful cosmic radiation. A satellite comparable in size to Earth’s moon kept the planet’s axis stable. The axis inclination itself was slightly over twenty-two degrees, maintaining in the temperate areas four seasons, like on the homeworld.
“There is glory in our work here, the glory of the future generations and the pride of the Empire,” Megumi whispered, reciting the beginning of the official colonization pledge. Her voice trailed off. Perhaps there was glory. Perhaps there wasn’t so much of it. However, she couldn’t change her mind and go back on Earth now. Better think of the future and make this gamble succeed. Then you can decide what to do next.
The valley outside was already under the night’s power, and she felt exhausted after a day of hard work. Her body was in desperate need of some rest. Ten minutes later, the woman was deeply asleep in her bedroom.
*
The Sun’s disc was emerging from the blue-green ocean. In front of the purple horizon, seagulls were gliding across the waves. Breathing in deeply the salty air, Megumi was leisurely walking along the shore. Suddenly, a green fish pulled its head out of the foamy water and called loudly:
“Please wake up, ma’am! There is a problem with the tanks!”
“WHAT?” replied the woman and opened her eyes.
Porto stood next to her bed, the lights on top of its head blinking nervously in the dark.
Oh no! No, no, no! Please, God, make everything all right! was all that came through her dizzy mind, but she already knew something was wrong. Megumi lowered her eyelids and remained in bed for a few more seconds. Her body ached with fatigue. Then she opened her eyes again and pulled herself with a grunt of pain into a sitting position.
“What time is it?”
“It’s three twenty-four in the morning.”
Three minutes later, with her working clothes back on, Megumi was peering inside the aromatic half-darkness of the first tank. The liquid glowed in a faint bluish light as if invaded by colonies of microscopic luminescent organisms. Fear poured in her brain:
This is bad! Really bad! Nobody would ever risk drinking it!
Soon, she found out that all the tanks had been affected. The whole grape harvest seemed wasted. Ironically, the temperature, the yeast concentration, and all the other parameters looked fine. The woman climbed down the platform and began to pace across the hall back and forth, talking to herself in a low voice:
“Think! Don’t let the panic take over! So, let’s begin: now, what am I going to do? I suppose I could take a sample and analyze it under the microscope. There’s still a slim chance to kill these things. I only need to know what they are. Yes. That’s it! Let’s take a sample and analyze it.”
With an empty glass in her left hand, Megumi climbed back onto the fermentation platform and bent over the edge of the first tank. The liquid surface was low, rather hard to reach. Suppressing a yawn, the woman bent down further, peering into the large vessel, trying to examine the glow from closer. A moment later, her feet slipped, and she plunged head-down into the must.
*
Something had grabbed her legs and was pulling her up. Coughing, with her face and hair covered by dark grape skins, Megumi waited to be dragged out. Soon, she found herself seated on the wooden stool from the hall. Thanks to Porto, only her head and shoulders had sunk into the fermenting liquid. The woman began to shiver from the cold. Tiny streams of must were pouring over her clothes.
Motionless, the robot was standing in front of her, holding the glass filled with must in its metallic fingers, waiting. The hall felt different. Everything around felt different, but Megumi couldn’t point out exactly what had changed. Something had happened during the brief moment when she was with her head inside the must. Yet, she was unable to remember what. A short blackout, but why?
Megumi gave a long look at the glass from Porto’s hand. The flickering light was gone from the liquid. Wiping her face and neck with a towel, the woman climbed back onto the tank platform. The light was still there. She took an empty glass and filled it with must, careful not to slip again inside the vessel. The liquid came out clean. It was a typical, dark-colored, fermenting grape juice.
The woman began talking to herself again, this time in a louder voice:
“Think! Try to understand what’s going on! The glow doesn’t seem to be part of the must. If so, how does it stay in place? A local species of luminescent bacteria appear to be there but aren’t there. Perhaps they’re hidden deeper below and beam their light towards the surface.”
Megumi lifted the glass in front of her eyes and inspected its contents for a while. Then she brought it close to her lips and inhaled the liquid’s bouquet. The fragrance was rich, full of subtle elements that defined a future top-quality wine. Megumi opened her mouth slightly but was reluctant to take a sip from the recipient. Instead, she emptied a small amount of juice into the analysis box. The tool’s display lit up immediately as the chemical and biological check began. A message box popped out:
PLEASE WAIT! ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS. ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME: 10 MINUTES.
“I might just take a quick shower and clean my hair until it finishes,” she mumbled and left the room.
*
Hair freshly washed and dried, now wearing clean clothes, Megumi read the analysis report carefully. A long list and a few pie-charts described in detail the contents of the glass. Everything was as expected. Everything was all right. The liquid was safe to drink.
Well, at least not all hope is lost.
“Cheers!” she said in a loud voice and took a sip from the recipient.
*
The room looked the same but felt different. Time and space seemed to curve into a soft sphere that enveloped her. The air had become warm and sticky. And then it was the continuous soothing, never-ending vibration, like the sound of a silver bell. All the fatigue was gone.
“What in the Universe is going on?”
Her words came out muffled, unrecognizable. Startled by the changed perception of her voice, Megumi tried to take a step towards the tanks. Her body felt weightless, and the motion made her soar in the air. One moment later, she was floating above the first tank. Inside, the blue glow had become brighter. Behind the hazy surface, she could see a few dark shapes moving.
The first thought took her by surprise. It carried a tentative message of friendship spiced with a flavor of curiosity. The thought had a regular geometrical shape, more like a pyramid, but was rather pale and blurry. More thought-shapes followed. Different shapes, clearer contours, brighter colors. Sending greetings, asking questions.
Words gathered in her brain. The words took shape. The words became phrases. The message went in.
“They only think through emotions, sharing direct feelings, direct experiences. These beings are so different and at the same time so easy to understand!” Megumi thought.
She tried to reply. The words couldn’t go through. The woman turned back to emotions and sent them a message of love and peace. Emotions-questions flew back and forth. Emotions-answers followed. They had been there, on the planet, all the time. Unnoticed by humans, living their lives in harmony on the extended surface of the hypersphere. Her new friends.
The must fermentation had gone differently on Akikonia. The local bacteria had activated a gate towards their realm. Now they were eager to invite her in and go out to explore her world.
Her brain translated the emotions back into words:
“Want to switch for one day? Perhaps for a few days?”
*
“Megumi, what are your plans for tonight?” Tadao asked. “I’m going to the city. Why don’t you come with me? We could have dinner together in a fancy restaurant. I’ve got a good harvest of rice and can afford to offer you a nice treat.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t come,” the woman replied. “I’m still busy supervising the fermentation process inside the tanks.”
“Still, it’s only a couple of hours,” the man insisted but was immediately cut short:
“It will be late when I finish the work. Then I’ll need some rest. Perhaps, before going to bed, I’ll take a little sip of wine.”
“All right,” Tadao said after a short pause, a bit surprised by her reaction. “I’ll keep the invitation open for another evening when you’re not so busy. By the way, how is the wine turning? Do you think it will sell well?”
A blue light flickered for a moment inside Megumi’s eyes. Then a faint smile spread over her lips:
“It’s still in the phase of primary fermentation, but the taste is promising. Why don’t you stop by and taste it when you come back from the city?”
“Sure,” the man replied, a bit confused by the unexpected invitation. “I’ll be happy to check it. Do you need anything from the city?”
“No, thank you!”
“See you soon!”
Tadao got inside the car and left. Inside Megumi’s eyes, the flicker of blue flashed again.
*
The colorful lights of the Akikonian sunset were fading into the nascent night. The electric car was running smoothly on the synthetic surface that linked the farms to the city. Seated comfortably next to Tadao, Megumi was gazing through the transparent roof at the first stars. She turned her head towards the man and said:
“I think the city dwellers are going to like the wine, despite it being still in the primary fermentation phase.”
“I bet they’ll love it,” Tadao responded. “The ten bottles from the trunk probably won’t be enough.”
“Ten bottles will have to do for this visit. I can’t wait to see people’s reaction after taking a sip from them,” she added.
A flicker of blue light filled Megumi’s eyes for a moment. Tadao, who was driving, didn’t answer and didn’t turn his head, his gaze focused on the road. But a similar blue flicker filled his eyes a fraction of a second later, an emotion-answer to her emotion-question.
The tall buildings from the city were already visible in the distance. They were getting close.
(c) Marian C. Ghilea, 2018-2021
Image source:https://pixabay.com/photos/girl-1064664/
