Alto came from a good family. His father was a water user as well. Alto learned his ability from him, rather reluctantly. He held out for a long time looking for something that had a cool effect before relenting to his heritage. While useful. water was boring. His mother died in the war but left sizable a sum behind. This enabled his father to stay on earth and tend to Alto's education.
They had to downsize, get a smaller home to make the money last long enough for him to enter the military academy. Soon after, his father moved to a level-4 planet. The money wasn't gone but he wanted Alto to have some left. As long as Walter Funnel was able to work, he was going to continue earning fair wages.
Alto felt fortunate to be working with Lana and Dobin. His ability seemed to work well with the team. While his father had been bullied at work, Alto was appreciated. He hoped his father had better conditions where he ended up. Meanwhile, he was going to keep studying the books Lana purchased for him and get as strong as he could.
Lana hoped that maybe, somehow, her dream of happy could extend to those who chose to trust her with their friendship. Could a dream of being happy really spread to others? At some point, her desires succumbed to will of sleep.
In Agriculture class, Lana asked about having her own stall. Since it was mandatory, she wanted hers first.
Sergeant Elder chuckled, "See me after class. The rest are not ready for that yet."
She nodded, took her seat and stayed through the boring parts. The practicals were to plant and grow a cactus. Each student was given a seed. Two students would each have the same plant, 5 different plants in total. At the end of the month, they would all write a paper on what they learned about cacti.
Since Lana needed to spend the second hour in the infirmary, she did her practical while the lesson was going on. Lana thought this might be interesting. She planted her seed in accordance with the teacher's instructions. She watered it, then placed her hand over the pot and whispered to it, asking it to wake up and grow. Grow it did. Her plant was 3 feet tall.
Her cactus was the one commonly called a prickly pear. They were edible and had medicinal purpose. She didn't know much about cacti. She stood there staring at this plant tat was complaining its roots were too tight in the pot. Lana kept staring. Suddenly a paddle-shaped limb swung at her and she jumped back. She looked round, thankful no one saw that.
"Um, I think I need a bigger pot. Can I just take my cactus out and plat it near my tree?"
Her teacher looked at her rather sharply then chuckled. "I guess you do! Please do."
She quickly grabbed the pot and ran outside. She needed to be at the infirmary but needed to put this plant some place safe. She quickly planted it using her hori hori then double-time marched off to the infirmary. When she got there, it wasn't as busy as she expected. She sent a quick message out to her friends.
[Use caution when approaching my tree. I accidentally created a sentient cactus today]
Her watch dinged multiple times, but she already jumped into work. She would check the messages later. She took care of broken arms, many cuts and several bruises. Soon her shift was over. The messages she got were exclamatory. She'd explain when they met up. But first thing was first!
Once Lana was released from her time in the infirmary, she returned to talk to Sergeant Elder.
"Okay, the first thing to check is stall availability," he brought out his tablet which showed a map of the stalls as well as what was available.
Lana pointed at one that looked perfect from the picture. "This has produce boxes on three sides which is perfect. It has an open side where I can put my portable kitchen. This one is perfect."
"Have you put much thought into what you want to sell?"
She nodded, "Fresh produce, baked goods like pies, tarts and jams. I'm also considering fresh sandwiches on still-warm bread. My overhead will be low because I'm growing everything."
"Have you priced how much you can sell it for?"
Lana replied, "I was planning to sell it for the going rate. The customer doesn't need to know how fast I grow food."
He smirked, "shrewd. I like it. Will your friends help?"
She laughed, "of course! I've been cooking for them all term though we are spreading out duties now. The proceeds help us all."
Her teacher smiled brightly. "There is a 5 credit per day fee for the stall. To do so, you just tap it, enter your information and what you're selling, hours and such. Fill in as many of the blanks as you can. At the end, it will ask you how long you want it for. You then pay. There is a 10% fee on your earnings which you will be responsible for paying. There is also an advertising aspect to let people know you will be there. You click here for that."
He showed her how to pay fees and the 10%. She reserved the stall for every Saturday and Sunday through February. There was a note that students could yield back the days if they were unable to keep the schedule due to other engagements. Now she just needed to grow the food and transport it to the stall on the days it was open.
Kattie helped her create catchy advertising materials which were posted for free. By the end of Thursday, their campaign was launched. When she brought Paul his dinner, he had already seen it.
Lana went to the library and purchased 50 credits worth of supplies she would need for selling food such as disposable wrappers, baskets for produce, jars for jam, and mini pie plates. She spent the day making food to sell as well as growing fresh food.
Sunday came quickly. Lana, Blaine and her team manned the stall. Under normal circumstances, having six people working the booth would be overkill. The day got a slow start. It was still early in the year for the student market. However, word of mouth traveled fast. By lunch time, the enticing aroma was like a magnet for any nose in the vicinity. They couldn't move from their spots. Lana and Kattie cooked fresh sandwiches and gyros.
Paul even made an appearance for the event. He purchased an entire apple pie and a gyro. He paid 1,000 credits for his purchase, ensuring everyone got a big tip for their hard work. With a broad smile, he hurried off to his room to be alone with his food.
In the end, the team sold out of everything. They all went back to Lana's room where Blaine decided to surprise them with dinner from a place they had not experienced before. The food originated from an area of a country called France that was no longer there. The coasts of that country were wiped out long before the Walkers arrived and devastated the planet by rising sea levels. Specifically, an earthquake had occurred where none would have predicted which caused a tsunami. The large wave washed miles inland leaving nothing but cleared land in its wake. The villages in the area were completely eliminated. All that remained were books that had been published about their way of life, vanishing into the annuls of history.
Some entrepreneurial people, decided to purchase historical cookbooks and bring back a portion of such cultures 150 years later and market such rare dishes to those who could afford it. This included small satellite restaurants near military bases to cater to the leadership and their visitors. They also knew that students from original families would tire quickly of military food. Their delivery service was a booming success.
Blaine ordered many sampler platters which enabled the friends to try many kinds of foods from the region without worrying about disliking a plate and being forced to finish it. Dobin was in heaven.
"I have a question," Dobin looked to Lana, "if Paul is rich, why doesn't he do this rather than have you bring him food?"
Lana chuckled, "I think it is an option for him but he's helping me with my study. It means he has to eat my food. While he hasn't said as much, I think it also gives him a bit of human interaction where he'd have none otherwise."
They finished eating, almost stuffing themselves. All the leftovers of the meal went to Dobin's room. Lana kept the leftover dessert. She decided she needed to further experience French cuisine.
Sunday's market stall was now added to her schedule, making Lana a very busy person. She decided she wanted to have a bit of time to just enjoy her friends so she worked even harder to get ahead so she could take a day off and just have fun. It took her three weeks. She had sold all the excess crystals. and both teams were finally able to pick up their things from their forger.