It was nice in here. It took a long time to get established, but the hydroponicum was easily her favourite bit of the vineyard. 

She walked further in, breathing easy in the light, green air. The strawberries Tee had been tending looked incredible, so vibrant they made her mouth water. A little tray nearby contained runners snipped off the plants. Angie picked up a few . . .

Source–sink dynamics. Amputating the stolon to stop gibberellin-fuelled cloning and force the phloem to dump all its sucrose directly into the fruit. She opened a root panel and looked inside. Cellular respiration at a permanent peak: that was the hydroponic advantage. She looked at the pH readout: 5.9. Ideal. Also electrical conductivity, osmotic pressure . . . 

‘Reverse Osmosis Desalination and Membrane Fouling Kinetics in Brackish Groundwater’ – the first research paper Angie  ever had her name on. Her mothers both read it. Bee must’ve boned up, because she asked a couple of informed questions. Tee said it lost her after the first paragraph, but she was very proud. She’d sent a photo: ‘here’s a strawberry enjoying ideal osmotic pressure’.

Angie picked up her mother’s secateurs. It would be easy to just finish this job for her. So she did.

***

Karolina was in the kitchen, frowning at a tray of eggplants, when Tina found her.

‘Karolina?’

The woman raised her head. She was white, tiny, barely five foot, with a teal-blue crewcut. Heavy New Jersey accent and eyes like raisins, with almost no eyelashes.

‘Please don’t use my daughter as a messenger ever again.’

Karolina stared.

‘Okay?’ 

Again, the stare. Tina went to leave and then she heard: ‘You gonna start picking up my tickets?’

Tina smiled. Wild pleasure at Karolina joining this fight, long-delayed, fluttered in her chest. She turned round.

‘I don’t report to you.’

‘I need produce from the greenhouse. You run the greenhouse. Who should I expect to respond?’

‘It’s a hydroponicum.’

‘Who should I send my orders to?’

‘You can send requests to me.’

‘Yeah, but if I actually want the stuff?’

Tina advanced towards her. ‘I get to your tickets when I get to them. You—’

Karolina shook her head. ‘I don’t work like this.’ 

She started unbuttoning her chef’s tunic.