Michael Bunker - Pennsylvania

Explain it to me again, brother. How do you get from here to there?

Jed pushed his forehead into Zoes flank to make certain that she didnt kick. She didnt do it often, but shed nailed him before and he wasnt anxious for a repeat of that performance. He exhaled in mock annoyance at his little brothers questions, but the truth was that he loved talking about the journey. He just pretended to hate it. Talking about it made it seem more real, but somehow less imminent in a way that he wasnt sure he understood completely. Hed explained the whole pilgrimage and the colonization process to Amos a hundred times, at least, but Amos wasnt going to stop talking about it until his older brother was gone.

An airbus picks me up there, he pointed up the long, winding drive, and we fly to the Columbia checkpoint. From there, I board an English airbus that takes me to the Speedwell Galactic Transport station out in the desert in far West Texas. From there, all the pilgrims will board a ship bound for New Pennsylvania.

Youre really going, Jed?

I dont see any reason why I shouldnt. Ive already paid for my ticket, all except the monitoring. Nothing has happened that would change my mind, so Im going.

Jed finished stripping out the final teat, and the last squirts of milk buzzed into the bucket, which was now almost overflowing. Our people have been pioneering for a thousand years or more. When our ancestors came here to Pennsylvania, they came on fearsome and incredible ships, traveling in ways that were strange to them at the time.

I felt sure youd change your mind; just sure of it, Amos said.

Amos was fourteen, fully four years younger, spry and witty, and he was not old enough yet to go through the initiation and orientation process that was administered to anyone interested in pioneering in New Pennsylvania.

Jed finished wiping down Zoes udder with warm water mixed with a light and mild soap, and then he stood, hanging the milking stool on the post with practiced dexterity.

Once we get on our way He paused. This was the hard part to explain. You see, Amos, New Pennsylvania is very, very far awayoutside of our galaxyin a place with another sun altogether. Anyway, once we board the ship, the passengers go to sleep in these things called pods, and, according to the paperwork, well sleep for nine full years. Butand this is the tricky thingwhen we wake up, we wont have aged any at all.

Amos had heard this explanation from his older brother many times before, but he still whistled at the thought.

And it will be that nine years will have passed according to the ships time. But all in all, to the passenger, it will feel like a journey of just a few hours!

I dont understand it, Jed, Amos said, screwing up his mouth and shaking his head. I dont know why the elders have approved of it.

What else can we do, little brother? Where can we go? Were running out of land here, and no one can afford to buy any more. The government is pushing us out. Its always been this way. The elders approved of this migration for the same reasons that many centuries ago they approved of our migration from Europe to here. Without it, well be erased as a people. Its already happening, Amos. Almost everyone we know works in town in the factories. Our population is exploding, and our way of life is dying out. But this isnt the first time this has happened.

No?

No. Its happened many times way far back in history, but it happened during Grandfathers time too, when the wars came, and the population of the English dwindled, and after that, we had room to spread out more.

Amos shrugged and his shoulders dropped. Right. And this time, there is nowhere to go. But why must you go all the way to another planet? And why must Mother and Father never hear from you ever again?

When our people left Germany, Holland, and France to come to Pennsylvania, do you think they kept in touch with the old places after that? They didnt rush home for weddings or funerals, Amos. It was too far away, and the travel was too expensive and too dangerous. There were no phones, and letters were expensive. Our people were never much for those forms of communication anyway.

Jed looked at his brother and slapped him on the back. Once I leave for New Pennsylvania, Ill be in a place where its impossible to communicate back to here. The ships that take us there, they never come back. Its a one-way voyage because those machines travel millions and millions of miles while we just sleep away there in the pods. Jed looked at his brother and smiled. Dont be sad, little brother. It will only be a few years before you can come too. In fact, if the Lord wills it, when you start on your own journey, youll already be on your way by rocket ship before I even get there! Hopefully Ill have a place set up for us by the time you arrive, and well work the farm together.

Amos shuffled his feet, his eyes down and his voice lowered, almost in a mumble. Why cant Mother and Father join us? Why dont we alleveryone in the communitytravel together at the same time?

While they talked, Jed poured the milk into a stainless-steel vat, closed the lid, then unhooked Zoe from the tether that kept her in the milking stall. He backed her out and then walked with her out of the barn and into the southwest paddock. Amos followed with his hands thrust deeply into the pockets of his black broadfall pants.

You know the answers to those questions, Amos. They want young people. Eighteen to twenty-five only. They need people to work the land, and the pioneers who go will need every advantage they can get. Its going to be tough starting out. The new colony cannot yet afford to take care of the elderly and the infirm. Besides, Mother and Father dont want to go. This has always been their home, and though they support us going when its our time, they agree with the elders: only those who are needed should go.

Jed unhooked the lead from Zoes halter and she walked only a few steps away before she started grazing on the lush grass. He folded up her lead and stuck it in his front pocket, and as he continued trying to soothe and placate his troubled brother, the two walked across the paddock.

Eighteen to twenty-five is the perfect age, anyway. The younger children can work the farms here, and those who emigrate are the ones who would be just starting to look for their own land and new farms. Well, there arent many farms to find any more, so pioneering is the new thing. But its not new. Like I said before, our people have been doing it since the beginning. Theres nothing really new in this at all.

Amos looked up as he followed his brother to the pump near the paddock fence. Jed pumped the handle, and when the cool, clear water came bursting forth, Amos scrubbed the milk pail under it until it was spotless. The grass grew thick and lush around their feet, and the water that splashed over it formed into glassy droplets on the blades and made the grass glisten.

What if something bad happens to the ship along the way? What if it crashes or you die?

What if we were both struck by lightning right here in this field? Everyone dies, Amos. Zoe mightve kicked either one of us in the head just now, and it would be overjust like that. He snapped his fingers.

Well, I think taking a spaceship to another galaxy is a little more dangerous than milking Zoe, brother.

Maybe, but we wouldnt be here milking Zoe if our ancestors hadnt braved the voyage to a new world. They came to escape religious bigotry and persecution, and to find new lands to farm. Thats the same reason Im going to New Pennsylvania.