Free Spin the Sky by Katy Stauber

“You know what happened. It was all over in the blink of an eye. Just at the end, when we thought the best we could hope for was to be shot out of the sky, Cesar the Scorcher obliterated Mexico. Then the Earthers were begging us to declare peace. Not only did they not want us back after that, they’d have pushed us out farther if they could. I heard tales of Earthers who wouldn’t even look at the sky for years after. They didn’t want to see the stars if we were up in them.”
    For the first time, Cesar wonders if he didn’t get the better part of the deal. Sure everyone hated him for dropping the nuclear starship on Mexico, but how much harder has it been on the Ithacans? To live every day knowing that the millions of Mexicans had died to save them? To have to feel guilt for an act they had no part in?
    Some of the cowgirls titter nervously as they file out of the room and head back to work. Trevor looks like he wants to argue about the ending of the story regardless of whether it was true or not.
    Penelope sees that look and holds up her hands with exasperation, “Well, who could blame them? Eighty million people gone in the blink of an eye and with all the radiation, it will be hundreds of years before that land in Mexico is livable again. You know how this story ends, Trevor. It ends with you here about to get your bottom smacked if you don’t go help Lupe with the dishes right now, young man.”
    The remaining cowgirls snicker and that alone is enough to send Trevor back to work. He is just old enough to be both fascinated and terrified by the cowgirls. Unable to decide which, whenever they notice him the boy usually flushes bright red and bolts like he does now.
    Cesar gulps hard. He has spent years perfecting a blank look whenever people talk about Cesar the Scorcher, but this is literally too close to home.
    “Feeling poorly,” he mumbles as he staggers out the door.
    He sits on the porch and stares out at the land. After a minute, Penelope comes out and sits next to him. “Need to go lay down again, Mister Ulixes?” she asks calmly.
    It takes him half a second to respond to his assumed name, but Cesar shakes his head.
    She gives him a charming grin. “Then maybe you can help me out in the vegetable garden this afternoon?”
    This time, Cesar nods with a smile.
    Penelope laughs. “You won’t be smiling for long. I got weeds like a water filter has algae. We got work to do.”
    •
    The therapeutic effects of hard work in the hot light of the reflected sun work their cure on Cesar. He labors alongside Penelope in an easy silence. She works just as hard as he does, pulling weeds, hoeing, and transplanting tomatoes from the hydroponics.
    “You got to love a controllable environment,” Cesar comments when they pause for a glass of iced tea. “I visited Earth a few times. Never could get used to rain falling whenever it felt like it. And the whole idea of seasons is bizarre. Sometimes it’s hot and sometimes it’s cold, but you never know what you’re gonna get? Not for me. They can keep it.”
    Penelope chuckles. “So I guess you grew up in the orbitals? I was born on Earth, but I haven’t been back in almost twenty years. Sometimes I miss the unpredictability of it all. But only sometimes.”
    “We got plenty of unpredictability up here,” Cesar replies companionably.
    Penelope smiles. “Plenty of work to do as well. We need to get some compost for the tomatoes now, if you’re up to it.”
    He was, so they grab a large cart and push it to the elevator. They talk about weather algorithms and soil chemistry and all the other things space farmers talk about.
    Finally, Cesar gets up the nerve to ask about Trevor.
    “So that boy of yours looks almost grown,” he says gruffly. Cesar knows perfectly well that Trevor is sixteen years, seven months and four days old. “He going to take over the ranch soon?”
    It’s a legitimate question. Earth might have rules about adulthood or child labor, but