In her sleep, Ester Baum heard her younger sister's voice telling her to wake up. She sighed and turned over, her long hair covering her face and murmured, "It's your turn to feed the lambs." 

She felt a hand on her shoulder gently shake her and she finally opened her dark eyes, blinking in the artificial light. It took her a moment to remember where she was, this was not her small cottage at the Mountain, nor the bunk bed back at the farm house at home on the kibbutz. She was in space and it was her turn to wake up. Ester reached up and rubbed her eyes, looking over to who had shaken her awake. To her surprise, it was her younger sister, Naomi. She was smiling at Ester, her dark hair cut to a chin length bob and she had a blue handkerchief tied over it to keep her bangs out of her eyes. The horticultralist sat up slowly, feeling her head spin and her stomach match it's pace. Naomi held out a glass of water and some large pills which Ester dutifully took, choking them down with several gulps of water.

"[i]Ac'hot[/i], what year is it now?" she rubbed her eyes again, looking over at her younger sister. 

Both of them had the same large liquid dark brown eyes and full lips but Naomi's face was rounder and her hair was straighter than her older sister's. The younger sibling was a few inches shorter and had a more slender, lithe build than her statuesque sister but there was no mistaking their close relation. Naomi took the empty glass and gave her a slight smile. 

"It's 2034, you over slept." 

Ester blinked in confusion. She was supposed to wake up in 2033, with the rest of her family. Had they moved the schedule around? "Where is Ima and Aba?"

"Sleeping, as is David," Naomi put her hand on the bump over her stomach that was hidden under the loose blouse. "Chouko had a baby last year, that is why you were kept asleep. She continued her work in the Garden."

Her eyes drifted down to where her sister's hand was and widened, "Are you...you're pregnant? That's why you're awake still?" 

Ester leaned back, pondering the occurences quietly. The schedule had been thrown off by the unexpected arrivals but at least she had her sister with her. Silently she reached out her hand put it over hers, feeling the taught swell of her belly. A warm smile came to her lips and she sat back up, feeling not as nauseous. 

"How far along?" 

"Five months, we probably should have used protection but...I'm happy," Naomi shrugged and grinned. "I just wish David was here with me. He'll miss the birth of his daughter." 

Ester pulled herself off the bed and embraced her younger sister, "A little girl, congratulations. I'm sorry David will miss it, but at least you have me around." 

She nodded, reaching up to adjust the handkerchief, "I'm still doing my job, and I also volunteer at the nursery to help care for the little ones that can't go into cryosleep yet. But let's get you cleaned up and dressed. There's a briefing soon. I'll go since I'll be awake for this shift." 

They walked together down the long corridor to the auditorium, Naomi smiling and waving at people, glowing in her pregnancy. Her slender body seemed pulled forward by the obvious bump. Ester was a step behind her, dressed in loose thin slacks and a tank top with a matching pale green cardigan over it. Her long brown hair hid her features as she passed people without looking at them, focused on the floor. She just wanted to get to the Garden and check up on the projects that Chouko and Kenshin had been working on. To see how all the work they did on Earth was now fairing in space. 

Inside the large room, Ester stared at the holographic forest but Naomi hardly noticed it, she had grown used to the computer generated images that were supposed to make the austere ship feel more comfortable. The trees were North American deciduous, [i]Quercus[/i], likely white oak and sugar maples with the predictable white ash neighboring trees. These were typical of the north eastern United States and she wondered who had taken the pictures and if they had returned in different seasons to capture the moments in the same location. She was broken out of her thoughts by a tug on the sleeve of her cardigan, her sister guiding her to a seat. 

Ester preferred to sit up at the back, away from the crowds and Naomi kept away from the rather boisterous mining crews even though she looked at them wistfully, perhaps wishing David was among their number. In her seat at the back on the aisle, Ester could watch people coming and going, away from the main group. She saw a dark haired woman enter and could read the fear in her face, it was clear she was uncomfortable and the horticulturalist sympathized. She wanted to wave her over, to have her sit in the quiet area with them but she felt too shy to raise her hand. When she saw her go down to the front she sighed and turned back to watch the images of the trees. It was nice, like a giant screensaver, but she missed the smell and sounds of a forest. 

Naomi nudged her, "It shouldn't take long, our briefing went fairly quickly. It's just mandatory general information." 

Ester smiled slightly, amused at her sister's casual boredom with the whole thing. She had spent a year awake and working on the space craft, it was old hat to her but to Ester she was fascinated and a little nervous about the entire matter. More people entered, slowly filling the seats, most were dressed in civilian clothing but there were clusters of military uniforms. American soldiers, sailors and Marines but she was comfortable around them, she had spent her two years in the IDF like every other Israeli and guns and uniforms were just part of the scenery in her homeland.