Page 90 of Mercury Rising

Mercury had been guilty of doing that over the years. Finding himself on the receiving end made him cringe with shame. This shit hurt.

Suddenly a cockerel crowed. Mercury nearly leapt out of his skin.

“Sorry. He takes his job very seriously.”

Mercury turned to find a beautiful young woman smiling at him.

“Terri?”

“That’s me and I already know who you are.”

Mercury shook her hand.

“Please don’t judge me on that,” Mercury said.

“Are you a changed man?”

There was a glint in her eye that made everything she said seem like a dare. Mercury found himself warming to her immediately.

“You know what?” he replied. “I think I might be. How mad is that?”

Terri grinned. “Then let’s finish the job by making a gardener out of you.”

She clapped him on the shoulder and guided him to a large polytunnel over to the right.

“Is that seedling HQ?”

“That is the mothership.”

They walked in and Mercury gasped. From the outside it had seemed like a normal small tunnel. Inside it revealed itself to be the first of many curling around the boundary.

“How did I miss all these?” Mercury asked

“It’s easily done. They’re a bit grubby outside,” Terri said. “Come, I’ll show you round.”

The next hour was spent looking at all the plants in various stages of development. In the centre was a staff area with armchairs and a coffee table. It was cosy but fun.

Outside, the operation was just as impressive. Crops of rhubarb, lettuce, peas, blackcurrants and goodness knew what else. Terri picked a strawberry and handed it to him.

“Fresher than even your fancy restaurants can get it,” she said. “Go on.”

He bit into the succulent red berry. The flavour danced over his tongue. It grew in intensity as he chewed.

“God, that is amazing,” he said, his mouth full.

The kids would love it here.

He caught himself. A tear pricked in his eye as he lowered the rest of the strawberry.

“You okay?”

After swallowing the fruit, he forced a smile onto his face.

“Yeah. Bit raw, you know?”

“I heard that your last placement broke down. That’s it. You don’t have to tell me anything else.”

Mercury nodded. “Thank you.”