Hella

I was in the shower.

I like the shower.



I like the way the water floats down.



Mom says it comes down faster on Earth, but I like it this way.



I close my eyes and feel it running down my skin and for a while I can forget the noise in my head.



It's not noise, not really. But sometimes it is.



My phone chirped.



It was Mom, so I had to answer.



I went voice-only so she wouldn't see where I was. She probably knew anyway. She says I spend too much time in the shower. But she doesn't understand why I need to feel it.



"Come home," she said.



"Why?"



"Jamie broke his leg playing soccer."



I didn't know what to say, so I asked, "Did it hurt?"



Mom said, "It's only a green-stick fracture. They're setting it now."



"So why do I have to come home?" I wanted to finish my shower.



"Because Captain Skyler is here."



"But why should I come home?"



But she had already rung off.



It didn't make sense to me. But there's a lot that people say that doesn't make sense to me. So I dried off. I don't like the hot air blasts, but they get me dry. I pulled on a blue longshirt and shorts and headed across the quad. The gym isn't that far from the summer pods.



Captain Skyler was sitting in the main room with Mom. They both looked serious. I can recognize that expression, even without the noise. They stood up when I came in. I still felt damp. It was the air. Hella's air is wet.



"Where's Jamie?" I asked.



"He's still in med bay. His dad is with him. Stand up straight." She turned to Skyler. "I told you. He's too small."



"Half a size, maybe."



"He's three months too young." Five Earth-months and ten Earth-days. But I didn't say that out loud.



Captain Skyler ignored her. He studied me. "You passed your field-readiness tests?"



"Yes, sir." Didn't he know that? Captain Skyler always knows everything. Sometimes I think he has the noise too. But

David Gerrold has been writing professionally for half a century. He created the tribbles for Star Trek and the Sleestaks for Land Of The Lost. His most famous novel is The Man Who Folded Himself. His semi-autobiographical tale of his son's adoption, The Martian Child won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, and was the basis for the 2007 movie starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet.

Praise for Hella

"The effortlessly diverse cast, complex political machinations, and heartfelt coming-of-age themes combine to create a fleshed-out vision of the future that is intense, emotional, and immersive while still maintaining a sense of rollicking fun. Sci-fi readers should snap this up." Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Gerrold has created a vibrant world with a creative exploration of colonization and alien ecology that also smoothly touches on polyamory, gender confirmation, and queer relationships. Hella does what science fiction does best: it uses classic sf tropes to ask important questions about contemporary society." Booklist (starred)

"The thoughtful and enjoyable page-turner Hella [is] a book sure to entrance anyone with an active imagination for distant worlds and giant monsters." Chicago Review of Books

"Sci-fi has a strong tradition of deathworld planets. David Gerrold s Hella is one of them, on steroids.... Gerrold makes it plain that there s as much drama and danger in office politics as there is in dealing with wild beasts." Wall Street Journal