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into what passed
for a store on the Destiny.
    It was more of a supply depot than a store,
with racks and shelves of clothing sorted by color, type and size.
"Not much variety. I hope they do better when the real storekeepers
take over. Whoever chose this stuff didn't have much imagination."
The woman who spoke carried an armful of shirts and shorts. She
waved her chin towards the little girl with the cat. "I'm sorry
Alicia bothered you."
    "I just wish I could take one of the kittens.
But I'm not settled yet."
    "I know how it is. This is a busy time for us
all." She smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Maybe by the time the
kittens are ready to be adopted, you'll be settled in and will
change your mind." I mumbled something and pretended to look for a
couple of outfits for myself. What I really did was watch the woman
to see what she did next. She simply went to the touchscreen panel
near the door, held out the items so they could be swiped, then she
swiped her comunit to identify who got the items, and left.
    Perhaps I could get some clothes after all.
If the comunit was as good as I thought it might be. Imitating her,
I found a couple of outfits in my size. I could have carried my new
clothes right past that touchscreen and outside and no one would
have known any different. The store was empty, evidently the honor
system was being used. But I didn't because I wanted to know how
well my fake comunit worked. My family is financially well off so
perhaps their money had been put to good use.
    So, carrying my own supply of clothes from
the store, I imitated that woman and swiped my comunit. I waited
for alarms to go off but nothing happened. No blinking red lights
appeared. No uniformed policeman came to drag me away to prison. I
gave thanks to Betts and vowed to thank her somehow, some day. Then
I went outside.
    I meandered around the village square, for
that's what it was, a precisely laid out park surrounded by supply
depots disguised as stores. I entered several. No one was in any of
them. In the grocery store, I chose pre-packaged food that I ate in
the park sitting on a bench beneath a dwarf peach tree. Then I
dropped the empty containers in one of the recycling bins that were
everywhere and went in search of the launch party.
    My plan was to find a corner in the viewing
room and sit there all night with an expression that said I wasn't
up to conversation. I figured it would be understandable in the
circumstances. Leaving home never to return. But I'd have made an
appearance, I'd have begun the process of becoming a part of the
Destiny community.
    I headed towards the viewing room buoyed by a
decent meal and a shower in the washroom of the Laundromat where
I'd changed clothes. I'd hidden the beginnings of a stash of stolen
things behind a thick cherry bush in the middle of the apple/cherry
orchard that was to become my new home.
    I felt optimistic for the first time since
entering that elevator, maybe due to decent food in my belly. I
lifted my chin and walked towards the viewing room with purpose. I
could do this. I could survive on the Destiny. Of course, sleeping
might be a bit of a problem. The ground wasn't real earth but was,
instead, some kind of manufactured stuff that held roots firmly
while providing water and nutrients. Whatever it was, it was hard.
Really hard. I'd be lucky to get any sleep at all.
    On the other hand, if I could walk into a
store and take whatever clothes I needed, why couldn't I also take
a mattress, pillow and blanket? I'd seen them through the window of
a furniture store. So, as I joined a group of colonists headed
towards the viewing room and the party, I tucked a reminder into
the back of my mind to wander by the town square when the party
ended. When it was late and the town of New Rochelle was deserted.
And to steal some bedding.
    "I don't believe I know you," a middle-aged
man said pleasantly as we ended up walking beside each other. My
face went stiff.
    "She lives around here somewhere," a