[ifspuds]

Walter Sebring sat down on a recently felled tree and mopped sweat off his forehead. Hard to believe, as cold as the spring had been, that he could still manage to sweat, but clearing forest was hard work. He'd been at it all morning with his brothers and father, more for something to occupy himself with than any real need to cut down more trees. That and the fact that he was probably going to spend most of the spring and summer away from home, playing baseball. Leaving the hard work for the rest of his family. It was a job, sure. Whoever he ended up playing for would at least pay for his room and board and give him a job to earn spending money when he wasn't on the field, but here in North Reach, at the edge of the Outposts, they needed all the hands they could get. Not just here at his family's home, but all around town. Without a maglev train line into town, it was a lot harder to get supplies and materials, so everyone ended up having to share what they could get. Nice for community, but not very easy to get by with.

So it was hard not to feel a little guilty.

George Sebring, Walter's father, had played baseball back Earthside. Might have even had a shot at playing in the minor leagues for a while, had Walter's mother not gotten pregnant. Suddenly, it was time to grow up and get a steady job, rather than chasing some far-off dream. When the jobs had started drying up in 2006, the Sebring family jumped at the chance to start a new life in the Outposts. And now, little Walter Sebring was 18-year old Walter Sebring, 6'2" and still growing into his body, with his father's baseball skills running in his blood. And his father wouldn't hear a thing of him staying home to help out.

Walter went to the Bay League tryout in Marsein, the closest tryout to North Reach, a few weeks ago. He'd played well enough, he thought, but he could've played better. His head wasn't in it. Half his thoughts were on trying to hit a dirt-smeared lump of baseball and half were wondering what in the Outposts he was doing there. He could've played better, yeah. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad if none of the teams wanted him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay home.

"Hey Walt!" That was his younger brother Tom, yelling at him from down the hill. "Mom says you've got a vidcall waiting for you at town hub."

Walter Sebring stood up and looked down the rise across his family's property. If that was the vidcall he thought it was, it might be a long time until he saw this place again.