The Lost City of Faar by D.J. MacHale

then lift the doors and drop the fruit down below. The conveyor belt would take it all to a central area where another of the vators from our quadrant would be waiting to wash, sort, and pack them up. It was all so simple.
    Uncle Press and I went below several times to receive the harvested fruit from our quadrant and ensure that it was all cleaned and packed properly. We then used a forklift to bring the boxes of fruit all the way forward to the loading docks.
    This is where we saw Spader at work. It was a busy place. There were all sorts of transport boats coming and going, bringing shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables back to their habitats. The habitats themselves were never allowed closer than a half mile to Grallion. That would have been dangerous. Instead they would send in small boats that would safely enter the docking area. Spader’s job was that of traffic cop. He’d travel just in front of the incoming boats on his skimmer, calling back instructions to get them safely docked. He’d then jump on the dock, tie up the boat and signal the dock workers to begin the loading process. Once a cargo boat was loaded, he’d reverse the process and guide the boats safely out of the docking area and send them on their way back to their habitats.
    But that’s not all Spader did. He was also on the pilot’s crew. The pilot was like the captain of a ship. He was in chargeof the vessel and its safety. Spader was still kind of a junior crew member, so most of his duties were of the lookout variety. At any given time there were ten lookouts stationed around the habitat to warn of any impending problems. It was a boring job, but an important one. It was probably pretty boring being a lookout on the Titanic , too. For a while, anyway. That will give you an idea of how important that job was.
    I can guess what you’re thinking. I made working on Grallion sound as if it were actually fun. Well, fun isn’t exactly the word. It was work and some of it was hard, but I didn’t mind it. I felt like I was an important part in keeping the wheels turning.
    No, working the farm wasn’t exactly fun, but there were plenty of other things to do that were definitely fun.
    Spader took me on adventures. You know how much I like to dive, and on Grallion, hanging out below the water was a pretty normal thing. I already described how easy it was to swim underwater using the air globes. These gizmos made swimming underwater almost as natural as walking on the deck of Grallion. Actually, it was better. This is the closest to flying that I think a human will ever come. Spader and I would have races underneath Grallion. I really got the knack of using the water sleds. I found that by subtly shifting my body position, I could turn faster and move quicker. It was all about becoming aqua-dynamic. It didn’t take long before I was almost as fast as Spader.
    Spader took me fishing, too. I’m not much of a hunter, so he did most of the spearing. I acted more like a scout who found the larger fish and alerted Spader. I guess that makes me kind of like a hunting dog. Oh, well, that was my choice. But I have to tell you, I didn’t mind eating the fish afterward. (Spader was a pretty decent cook, too.)
    At first I was nervous about quigs, but Spader assured me that the sharks never came near Grallion. I knew that was because quigs only patrolled near gates and flumes, but I wasn’t about to tell Spader that—yet.
    Spader also showed me something that was really bizarre. Near where Grallion was anchored was another farm. An underwater farm! The people of Grallion didn’t just farm on the habitat, they had crops growing on the ocean floor, too! This submerged farm had its own vators who tended the place wearing air globes. They grew everything from fruit, to long leafy vines that were cut at the base and brought up whole. Spader explained to me that these underwater farms were even more important to