Julia held onto the plastic bag holding Drex’s overalls, refusing to let go of them, even under the heavy sedation that Betty administered. Phillip had tried to comfort her, but she had pushed him violently away. Indeed, Philip could hardly bear the terrible guilt he felt at having used his Son to spy on Yanada’s boys. He hadn’t realized how dangerous the organism had become.

Their evacuation from New Sahara was forced by the forward advance of the tree line towards the base. It had started as a fine green carpet, almost a lawn after rain in its gentleness, then the lawn grew taller, thickened, and began to sprout limbs upwards, with thorns like some jellified cactus. At first they tried to keep it at bay, but it was like holding back a verdant tide.

They took essential equipment and samples to the shuttle and left the rest. It seemed that there was no point in delaying, especially as some of the closer thorn trees began to show hostility, at one point coming close to trapping Akron as he carried his Memgel capsules to the truck for inclusion in the evacuation cargo. Large spikes began to shoot up from the ground without warning, and on several occasions, Philip, Peter, and Akron missed being impaled by inches.

Liftoff was surprisingly calm - an anti-climax, as the powerful shuttle burnt away the underlying vegetation and climbed sedately out to orbital rendezvous with ‘Arcadia’.

George Masters, as chief pilot, took command of the expedition. He arranged separate rooms for Philip and Julie, who were now on the most bitter terms.

George spoke briefly to Philip. They sat in George’s ready room as Philip tried to explain the loss of the base, and the tragic loss of Drex.

"It took us two weeks to find his body," Philip said "Or at least - his remains, for there was no body. The tree absorbs all biological remnants, apparently. I’ve taken samples from the area - If we can re-grow them …"

"They have to be kept under deep stasis, I’m afraid," George said. "Those specimens are the most dangerous life form in the Galaxy. We aren’t about to make any mistakes with them."

There was a sudden disturbance as the ship moved slightly.

"What was that?" Philip asked, slightly alarmed.

"Further precautions. I’ve had secret orders from Gannon, and from the Imperial Council. Yanada is to be sterilised."

"NO!"

"I’m sorry, Philip. We expected this sort of reaction from you, which is why, as of now, I’m in charge of the expedition. You’ve been - there’s no easy way to say this, I’m afraid - I’ve been ordered to replace you during the return phase. You no longer have any power to give orders, or make commands."

"This is mutiny …"

"No, Philip. This is an Imperial Order. Should you try to disobey it … That would be Mutiny.

On the view screens located about the ship, the glowing red mass of Sahara shone like a ruby light.

"Neutron Radiation. Every living thing on Sahara is being reduced to radio-active ash," Peter said. "Even the seas are drying up."

"You will miss it?" Akron asked.

"Yes. It had very real possibilities. Trees that could make - almost anything - If only we could have taught Yanada a bit of anger management. Why the Atomics? That solution seems so old fashioned."

"Neutron bombs - no serious fallout. The nuclear winter will cool Sahara down. Twenty years to cool off, and Gannon will have its resort. You know, George had the missiles launched as soon as you docked. He didn’t want any debate," Aster said.

"So it will all be sand and water. The climate will be unstable."

"It will settle. There will be larger seas, and smaller continents." Aster said. "We will be able to do the terraforming that should have been done in the first place. Using robots."

"What sort of plants do you think they’ll have?"

"Whatever they are, I don’t think they’ll be growing overalls," Akron muttered.

---0---

The boys in orange jump suits and leg irons sat in lines while the men on the dais briefed them about conditions in space.

"Most of the time, you’ll be asleep in capsules. While you’re asleep, you won’t grow old, you won’t dream, and you won’t know time has passed. You will wake up a week before planetfall. This is so you can exercise and get ready for your great adventure. Your bones will be weak, and so will your muscles. Exercise will make them strong again. Once you are on New Sahara, you’ll be able to move about. You’ll have houses to live in, and work to do. You will be taught how to use machines. You’ll be treated like real men."

On the day before their departure, they were not fed, and had nothing to drink. Preparing for encapsulation required that they strip, bathe in disinfectant, and line up, one behind the other, each one watching as the boy before was laid out on the preparation table, anaesthetized, intubated in all orifices, and wheeled over to the individual capsules, where they were totally immersed in a milky fluid and locked down.

In many ways, it was like watching a line of felons being executed one after the other. With your turn next. On the other hand, the process looked peaceful, perhaps not as scary as if one could not see what was happening.

"Your name?"

"Daniel Rex Masson. Everyone calls me Drex."

"That’s right," the attendant said, looking at the computer screen. "We wouldn’t want to freeze the wrong boy, would we. Do you know what we’re about to do?"

"Put me to sleep, and put all those tubes into me. Will it hurt?"

"No. You’ll be asleep. Hop off the gurney onto the table. Don’t touch the floor. That’s right. Lie down and put your arms out. It’s like a big flat crucifix, but - no Easter jokes. You won’t feel anything except the prick of this needle in your arm - that’s the most uncomfortable thing that , , , "

---0---

Blackness. Timeless blackness, and the strange feeling of floating in a glass and metal jellybean, blankets warming, and straps holding one down. The noises of boys voices, and the warm touch of a nurse’s hand.

"Back in the world of the living, Drex. Welcome to Sahara Alpha. This is the space station in orbit around Sahara, and it will be your recovery station for the next seven days. For the first twelve hours, you’ll have to lie here while your lungs are inflated properly. Then we’ll take the tubes out of your mouth. Don’t try to do it yourself. The other tubes have been removed, and you’ll be a bit sore in the nether ends for a few days. You don’t have anything in your gut, so you won’t feel like passing any motions.

"You may feel like passing urine. That’s OK because your Willy is sheathed in a tube that will evacuate all fluid, so don’t be embarrassed - just relax and go.

Drex wanted to ask all sorts of questions, but he had to lie there. Every hour or so, his mouth was moistened with a sponge. At last, the tubes were withdrawn. It seemed to take forever, and he felt like screaming as he suffocated for lack of air. At last the tubes came away, and he sucked in air. For a few moments, he breathed deeply.

"Now some good news. You’re breathing on your own," the doctor said. "That means we don’t have to stuff it all back in."

"Oh, that’s terrible," Drex gasped out.

"The worst part of recovery, Drex," the nurse said "So you can be glad it’s all over, Just lie still - you’re attached to the monitors, so don’t disturb the wires." before they moved over to the next capsule.

A small head poked up over the side of the capsule. "Hi, remember me?" a crew cut skeletal face asked.

"Should I," Drex asked.

"I’m James." Another face appeared. "This is Kedro."

"You look familiar," Drex said, "But I don’t know where I’ve seen you before."

"That’s funny, Kedro and I had the same feeling," James said. They floated up higher. Both were wearing white jump suits that seemed to float around them in the zero gravity of space."

"No handcuffs or fetters?" Drex asked.

"Course not. Why would they bother - we’re not going anywhere. Besides, they want us to be happy. You should try the food. It’s excellent - really excellent," Kedron said.

"The bad news is you don’t get it until day three." James continued. "And you get safety lectures - lots of safety lectures."

"Why?"

"Space is dangerous - that’s why." Kedro answered. "You can break your neck in zero g, just by kicking yourself off a wall and slamming into the opposite one head first, or explode by opening the wrong door into zero atmosphere. Lots of places in the ship are zero pressure. They show us around, but lots of time, we are locked in. For our own safety."

"A jail is a jail, is a jail," Drex said, and promptly fell into a real sleep. Hibernation can be a very tiring process. Waking up is exhausting.

---0---

The boys in orange jump suits sat on the sand listening to the uniformed man in front of them. The boys sat at attention, hands on knees, fettered feet in front of them, looking with undivided attention.

"You will be given a work detail which you will perform to the best of your ability. You will not be lazy. Those of you who work will be given food and water. Those who do not work well enough will be given some food and water. Those of you who do not work at all will not get food or water." He said, striding up and down as he spoke.

The guards around them carried long silver electric prods which swung from their belts on small metal hooks. They wore steel capped boots for kicking, and canes for hitting. Yet the men did not expect any trouble from the boys sitting on the sand like robots, for they were only boys - small penal slaves to be used - and used up.

The heat was suffocating, and the humidity caused painful chaffing in unpleasant places, but they worked, digging, shoveling, hoeing. Bare skin reddened in the blazing sun, then blistered, then burnt olive brown over time. Backs hardened to the cane until it fell like a caress across hardened muscles. Nervous systems tightened to the 50,000V shocks, until they tickled without stunning. The days went on and on and on in monotonous sameness - wake at dawn, eat, line up for muster, march to work, break for water or a short meal, work, break, march back into the setting sun for a final count and meal before collapsing on a hard shelving bed covered with conveyor belt rubber that served as a rock hard mattress.

The Seventh Day was always a day of rest.

Around them, the camp rose from the sand, growing larger as more work was done. More boys arrived to stand in lines and join them in their night time cages which grew more and more crowded. Food became short as many of the seeds they planted failed to germinate under the ultra-violet sun. The same sun powered the generators and provided fresh water. A boy could always get a drink.

A smart boy could always get extra food from the guards.

Drex became friendly with the "Shit" man. He was old, but not that old. He was not given a name, but had to collect all the excrement from the latrines, mix it with water, and put it onto the garden beds. Some said it was punishment for a terrible crime that he had committed. Not many men were sent to New Sahara, for it was designated as a "Medium Security" prison - mainly for boys and men too old and harmless to hurt galactic society any more.

Drex had been sick. He did not know why he was sick, for there were no known pathogens on New Sahara. Because he could not keep up with the work, he fell behind. Even the whips and canes of the guards could not move him. He lay still under the cruel punishment, waiting to die. Zak ran to his rescue, covering the helpless boy in outright defiance of the overseers. The shit man protested at their treatment, and got plenty of the same. Fortunately for all of them, the Governor arrived at the scene just as one of the guards pulled his blaster from its holster.

It was obvious that Drex was unconscious, Zak was semi-conscious, and the old man had some sort of relationship with the governor who ordered that all three should be locked in a cage exposed under the sun - without food or water - for three days as a form of punishment.

Zak came to as a fresh sponge of moisture was brushed across his face. He looked up, to find himself being cared for by the Shit Man."

"You’ve come to. I was worried for a moment," the old man said. Zak wriggled to a sitting position, testing his hands, which were handcuffed behind him. "This is the one I’m really worried about," he said, nursing Drex gently as the boy groaned fitfully. He managed to manipulate Drex’s cuffed hands across his buttocks, under his knees, and past the fetters on each ankle so that the boy’s hands were now in front of him. Then he reached into his long baggy cloak and produced a green leafy pod.

"If I can get him to drink this, he might do better," he said. He squeezed the juice into Drex’s mouth. Drex lay there for a long time, close to death, then gradually seemed to relax. It was getting dark when his eyes opened. "The plant has nourishing juices, the man said."

"What’s your name?" Zak asked.

"Duro. Leon Duro at your service."

"Doctor Duro," Drex muttered. "Creator of the Duro Plague."

"You know all about me!" Duro said. "I am impressed. How did you know my name?"

"I don’t know," Drex replied. "I just know it."

The next day, nobody came to see them. They had no food, or water. The boys were distressed, but Duro lay back against the bars and rested. For something to do, Drex kicked away at the sand underneath the cage. He exposed a thick root. "The trees must send their roots out all through the sand," he said, "To get water. We’re a long way from the trees."

"They put us here so we can see the shade," Duro said. "It’s one way of increasing our torment. It increases our torture."

"Have you got any of that leaf left?" Drex asked.

"Just a little that I’m saving for later in the day."

"Squeeze it onto the root," Drex said.

"Now the sun has really got you," Duro said.

It took Drex a lot of persuading to get Duro to do what he wanted. Finally, the doctor passed the leaf across to the boy, who put his manacled hands down into the hole he had dug, and squeezed the moisture from the leaf onto the root.

They sat back in the afternoon light, mouths as dry as toast, and waited for the darkness of night to bring some relief from the heat. They did not perspire. Foamy slime clogged their lips. Drex drifted off into a foggy sleep.

He felt water refreshing his mouth as he woke. The sun was shining ferociously into the cage, but there was a hint of shade over them. At some time in the night, the root had shoved up a feeler, then a branch, and a trunk - right through the cage. The top of the cage had been ripped off by the pressure of the branches, and fleshy leaves hung everywhere. Duro was squeezing the moisture from the leaves into Drex’s mouth. He drank greedily, and was soon refreshed.

"I have the feeling that we shouldn’t stay here," Duro said, pushing himself up, and helping the boys to their feet. They slid out over the top of the cage.

"Where should we go," Drex asked.

"I think the forest would be a good place," Duro said. They shuffled off towards the tree line, with Duro at the rear, using his hemp cloak to wipe away their footprints. It did not do a very thorough job, but they counted on the desert wind to do the rest for them.

"You realise there’s no escape from New Sahara," Zak said. "We can’t really go anywhere."

"Why should we want to go anywhere?" Duro asked. "For me, the forest is a fine refuge. I am a biologist, as you know. By the way, Drex, How did you know that a bit of water might stimulate the plant to grow?"

"Uh. I didn’t know." Drex said, puzzled. "It was just a feeling I had. I can’t explain it. I do know that you can drink the juice and even eat the young leaves. They’re quite nutritious. In camp, they think the trees are poisonous."

"Anyone who eats the flesh of the trees gets violently ill, but that is only an initial reaction," Duro said. "The human body acclimatizes to the tree very quickly. How do I know? Trial and error."

They walked deeper and deeper into the trees. Soon, they were completely hidden in the greenery of the forest.

---0---

It wasn’t to last. The guards hunted them down the next day. Running was pointless, so they stood where they were until the guards arrested them.

As punishment for escaping, the boys were shackled to Duro’s cart so they could pull several drums of his fertilizer to the fields at a time. A loop of chain was pulled around in front of them and looped over their necks. Duro was philosophical about it. "Look on the bright side," he said, "At least they’re keeping us together."

"It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t snore so loudly in your sleep," Drex said. "You try sleeping while standing up."

"At least I get to sleep. Now we have to use our brains to improve our position. We can’t spend the rest of our lives chained to this contraption."