Aerospace II : The Island Cycle
Fox Planet
A Short Novel
Chapter 1 : The Family from Mercury
I remember Ted. I remember the day his family arrived in town. It was like a strong wind. A change in everything. From that day on. No more boredom.
Bruce, Ted's father, burst in the door of the bakery. I was playing legos by the window. I could see the white van parked in front of the empty shop next door. People were out looking in the dirty shop windows. A boy my age was running around and following his father with his eyes. Then this woman grabs his hand they come in here. I thought it was his mother.
There was an older couple still outside talking to another older couple. They look excited and were looking over at me through the window.
The father, Bruce, was talking to my uncle Bjarni, standing behind the counter. The stranger was speaking English, and I knew he was asking about the old shop. They mention Frida and the house. That caught my interest.
The boy Ted came in and sat across from me. He spoke English but I understood enough. I offered him some legos and we started building. Soon we were out the door. Ted looked up at the sky and over to the mountains. Mountains and fjord everywhere. It was like he had never seen such things before.
He pointed up at the mountain side that the town was built beside. I said fjall. He pointed to the water. I said fjordur. He repeated those words several times. He pointed to the ground. I said jord. And so it went. He learned and remembered what he learned. House is hus. Shop is bud or verslan. Road is vegur. Sky is himinn. etc. He was learning.
He wanted to go running. But he was very tired. We sat on the sandy ground and he began to draw circles. In the centre was the sun. Then Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. He pointed to himself. Then at Mercury.
I had a hard time believing it. I ran in to talk with my uncle. "He says he is from Mercury." I said out loud. My uncle asked Bruce. He said yes. They had lived there several years.
I ran back out. My uncle Bjarni, was right behind me. He had the key to the empty shop. I remember the old man, who ran the music store. Just about nobody went in there. I would visit him and one day he gave me an auto-harp. He showed me how to play it. He picked up a violin and we played something silly together. I left the auto-harp in his shop, because I was afraid my uncle would not let me have it.
Then there was the day they found him dead in the shop. I went to the funeral. Afterwards, when we came home, dad showed me the instrument. "The old man gave it to me for you. That was about a week ago. I guess it is yours."
As I went into the shop, behind the crowd of newcomers, I thought about him. He would be happy to see this new family.
All the instruments were gone, but the mess was still there. Paint peeling and a funny smell. It was the water getting in from the roof.
They were very happy. Ted's grandfather's name is Keith. He is a carpenter and Bruce is also a carpenter. They could fix the place up. They were all anxious to get started. But it would take a week to do all the paperwork. They left and I did not see them for a while. They were staying with Billa. She is the caretaker at Frida's house.
It takes time to adjust to Earth gravity.
Chapter 2 : The Sphere
This is Eskifjordur, on the east coast of Iceland. There was a TV series here once (BBC?).
The upholstery shop began to take shape. They were all working on it. The second week, they took off for Egilsstadir and bought out the old music shop there. They worked on that place, until Mel and Gladis could stock it. He had a music shop on Mercury. Ted told me.
Then Ted said Gladis is his mother. Finally everything was falling into place. They were just like Icelanders. Having children long before they get married. But things around this family were not that simple.
So when they had Mel's Music Shop up and going. He ordered from Akureyri and Denmark. The others finished their own shop here and named it 'The Silver Chair'. An apartment was built in the back, where Mel and Gladis lived with Ted. The others bought an old house, just up the hill, which they divided up into two apartments. Mel bought a small car to drive into Egilsstadir each morning. It is about an hour's drive.
Now that Ted was feeling more rested, he wanted to explore. Eskifjordur is a small place. Only fifteen hundred people and a long way to the next town. He looked up. I did not think it wise to go up that steep slope. But there was no stopping him. He ran up. He was faster than me and I could not understand where he was getting the speed.
It was steep, but he was finding footholds and zig-zagging on the steep face. He found a rock to rest on and I caught up. It was a spectacular view. You could see over some of the mountains and looking east all the way out to sea.
He looked up the slope and there was a small fox looking down at us. Ted stood up suddenly. Then he walked over to a rock face. Stood there for a few minutes. Then the light changed. I saw the cave. I walked in and he was standing there looking around inside. Bright red lights shown from the walls mixed with lighter greens. It did not feel normal.
Then we were out and he was moving down the slope at a dangerous speed. I looked back and the cave was gone. I took my time walking down. He had waited for me in the parking lot. I said my good-byes. It was meal time.
The next morning we ran together down to the container dock. A freighter had come in during the night. Ted found the container number. There was a Danish flag on the door. The rest of them came soon in the van.
The forklift driver looked at their papers and said to not worry about getting a truck. He wheeled the forklift up to the side of the box and drove it out and down the road. He dropped the box in front of the shop. Personal service with a smile. All the stuff they had ordered was inside. I got to see them unpacking and organizing the workplace. Soon they would be making furniture.
Ted came out the next morning. It was a sunday and we headed for the mountain. This time I saw why Ted was moving so fast. When the light changed, I saw the ancient forest on the slope and the deep path swerving up the hill. It was now easy to follow him. We reached the cave.
Ted turned to me. "I want to build a sphere in the cave." The light shifted and I saw the rock-face. Ted climbed up and started digging his fingers between the rocks.
We sat and talked for a while. He kept looking up to his right. Ted said, "What does she want with me?"
I asked him who he was talking about. "The girl up there."
I saw a fox.
"Tomorrow I bring a crowbar." said Ted.
And he did. We tore the rocks loose and I tried with all my strength to stop them from falling down to the town.
Another day and we had the hole large enough to crawl in. It was dark and deep. Maybe 20 metres. I asked him what kind of sphere.
Ted said, "If you help me, then you will know. It is hard to describe. My father built one in the mall on Mercury."
That night we started gathering materials. He had strong twine from his shop and eye bolts from the hardware store. Then we found some hardwood doweling behind an old warehouse. There we cut all the pieces to size. Screwed the eyebolts in the end of the cut dowels. It took ten trips to carry all the pieces up to the cave. Then we needed batteries and lights, because it was dark.
Ted did most of the work. I looked at the plans he had, but I was just a second pair of hands. The dome would sometimes disappear and a glow would grow. Then Ted would wake me and I lent a hand again. The last piece was placed two months after we started.
The glow turned to a bright flash of light. The ground shock and I wondered if rocks were raining on the town. I ran out. The town was fine, but small rocks were sitting against the landslide barriers and the towns people were out and looking a little dazed. I started down then looked back. A girl was standing near Ted. They seemed to know each other.
I turned and hopped home. I did not notice Ted come home. I never said anything about the sphere. Not then and not about the girl.
* * *
The news that night talked about the planet Mercury moving out again from the Sun. Earth had moved and the Moon was a little more erratic. Vesta was now coming close to Venus. It should be in orbit in a month. None of this was explained.
The next day, Yellowstone Caldera blew. It destroyed most of the farmland in America. Sailors, and seamen were now confused about high tides. The temperature of the water about Iceland, rose a degree higher. Many places around the world, that had managed flooding, were now swamped. The winter was going to be difficult in Europe, because many of the large farms were failing.
Here in Iceland it was fine. I looked up at the trees on the slope and was amazed how much they had grown in my ten years. My uncle told me he could remember only small patches of trees in his youth. The cool arctic air was blowing over us and keeping the Yellowstone dust away.
Chapter 3 : Ari
Ted barely waited for me the next day. It was that girlfriend of his. I asked him, but he would not say much. We went into the cave and stood to say prayers in the glow. Then he left and was off to be with her. I sat on my rock thinking of what the future would be.
A short old man sat down next to me. "You are Hjalti?"
I nodded, "And you?"
"I am Ari. That is my daughter, Xeni, who took Ted away. I cannot tell her anything these days."
"He is only ten. Too young for a girlfriend. We were just starting to get to know each other." I was feeling sorry for myself.
"She is older than he. I hope she is wiser as well. Hjalti. I know things about you. You know Billa. You have been to her house."
"She is a nice old lady." I said.
I turned to him after a silence and he was gone. Then I went home.
I spent time with Ted, when he was learning woodworking from his father or upholstery from his step-mother. It was interesting and I might have learned as much as Ted. But I did not go into the mountain again. He was off, always on sundays to see his girl. For two years I watched him leave those mornings and never saw when he got back. He must have really liked her.
We were sitting quietly at the dock, throwing stones into the water.
Ted said, "Xeni has a child. She says it is mine. It is a boy." I was not surprised. There was a boy at school. He had a child with one of the teachers.
"What is his name?"
"I call him Shep." he said. "Xeni is older than me. She says that she is very young to be having a child, but when she saw me building the sphere..."
I asked, "Do you love her?"
Ted said without hesitation, "Very much. It is wonderful to have someone to love. You will know some day."
I asked him, "Will you tell your parents. They would want to know. They love you. A grandson they will love too."
"I don't know how."
I said, "Your father will understand. Look at how young he was when your mother had you."
"I don't think so."
So for a couple more years nothing much changed. On Sundays, Ted was gone.
But his father came to me one sunday, as I sat out on the porch.
"Do you know what Ted is doing up in the mountains. I have tried following him but..."
"Yes, it is time I told you. He has a wife up there. She is different. Not like us. They have a boy. About three years old now."
Bruce was very quiet. He saw that I was not kidding him.
Ari came down the mountain the next sunday. I saw him in my meditation. I asked him to come behind the shop so we could have some privacy.
Ari said, "My fox daughter is addicted to your Ted. She will not separate from him. This is going to cause trouble. My people don't approve of our people and yours mixing. Something must be done."
First I talked to Bruce. Told him all that Ari told me. Then I rode my bicycle to talk to Billa.
She met me at the door and invited me graciously in. But I put it straight to her.
"Those fox people have a problem and it is going to become our problem. I know about the sphere in Vidfjordur. I can go right up to the rock-face and show you. Ari told me."
Billa turned grey and I thought she was sick. I made her sit down and take some hot tea.
I explained, "I will not tell. I am still a child but I understand. We need to bring Frida in."
Billa thanked me. And soon I was on my bike and heading home.
I waited for a month. Then the news came that Frida was at the house. Teigarahus.
I rode my bike there that same day. Frida and her husband Gohan were on the porch. They offered tea. I accepted.
Frida said, "We have a problem. I hope you are keeping it to yourself."
"Ted is my only friend. But on sundays he is gone. Having a child does change everything."
"We need to talk to Ari. Can you help us." Frida asked.
I asked, "Can you change?" I switched into vision. They were both there. "Good we need to go to the cave in Vidfjordur. You could never make the climb to the other cave."
"What other cave?" asked Gohan.
"Where we built the sphere. Ted and I built a half-scale of the Mercury sphere."
Gohan said, "That explains a lot."
"We will go in the car." said Frida.
We were standing in front of the cave.
Ari spoke from behind us. "I have wanted this pleasure for many years."
We turned around. He was smiling. We walked down to the shore together and sat on some large rocks.
Frida said, "We have to talk. You have a problem."
They spoke for hours. I was getting sleepy, so I went back and laid down in the car. The next I knew they were dropping me off in Eskifjordur. My bike in the back.
Two days later there were three large trucks in front of the store. All the contents of the shop was moved. I know they did the same in Egilsstadir. What people missed, but I caught, was the stopping up the road and hundreds of little brown foxes hopping in the back of the trucks.
The following day, I went to talk to Billa. "You have to tell me what is happening. I do not want to be left out. You will have to trust me."
Billa looked at me standing on the porch. "I guess it would be wrong to keep you out. They have all gone to Mars. The foxes will find a better life there. It is more like the old Iceland. And they have a rodent problem. Ted and Xeni will be together. They are going to get their own habitat. Maybe start a new race."
I was very sad. Ted was my best friend and I could not see my life ahead. I started visiting the sphere in Vidfjordur. There I met Ari sometimes.
Ari said, "I am sad as well my boy. We can be friends. I will tell you stories. Many are even true history."
And he did.
Chapter 4 : Bruce
When I turned 17, Bruce started writing me. Bruce is Ted's father. It was a secret email account Billa had arranged for me. She said it was secure.
Bruce wrote, "Let me tell you a proverb or just good advice. When Rosa and I married, a friend told us this... There is a reason for marriage. It is above everyone's expectations. A man and woman should marry for unity. One result is children, but even more than that is unity. They must grow more united as the years pass. That means all their differences, will become stepping stones. They will wish first for unity with God. As they grow closer to Him, they also grow closer to each other. There is a great mystery in unity."
Then he said that Ted was doing fine with his new family. They have three children with another one coming. He is the leader of their group. We built a shelter for them west of the Mars sphere and we asked Ted not to build another sphere. Those who live as foxes in our world, range wide and they are seldom seen. Their numbers are growing. Where they live and west, there are thousands of gem caves and they are happy there. Ted tells me that the vision land is very strange and ancient. They are trying to tend the old vegetation and bring it around. It will take a long time. I can only take his word on it.
Bruce has included a history of his life. He feels that I was left alone. My only friend torn away. Here is what he sent me.
Buckhorn
A bicycle can get you in a lot of trouble. In a town like Buckhorn, a chair can get you in the door. An older woman has her ways of attraction.
Buckhorn is not the backwoods. But it is a small town built on a rock. Kawartha Lakes is a beautiful paradise, in summer and a frozen wasteland in winter. And it was my home.
My mother, Janice, is an upholsterer. She builds chairs and couches from the frames, my father provides for her. He is a carpenter. When Keith Wicks is not building decks, docks and boathouses, he builds frames that my mother webs, pads, springs, wads and finishes with fine floral fabric. Finishing nails, brass heads are hammered against fresh hardwood. She is an artist, and from the time I was fourteen, she has been teaching me her chair building craft.
Dad has a little woodworking room in the back of the shop and he shows me how to mold, cut and sweat a piece of wood. Stain and lacquer, wax and polish a leg and an arm. Legs have fine carved feet or hardwood curved rockers. I loved the jobs I got to do, in the evenings and I worked hard on the weekends.
As I reached into the last year of high school, I got a driver's license. Dad let me drive the old truck, so I could deliver finished chairs, in the neighbourhood. There are a lot of older women with nothing to do in town. They did not just want the chair I was delivering. They invited me in. With some marvels of grace and beauty, they got me into their living room and sometimes offered me extra, to join them in the bedroom.
But I was brought up better than that. I told mom and she told me. "A man is what he does and what he refuses to do."
But there was this one woman. Maybe the ugliest of the women I met. Gladis Smith. She was single, her son is the same age as me. She invited me in with coffee and cakes in the kitchen. Never did she offer money. She was funny, with her stories and jokes, I felt like a good human being, when I was with her. She worked in a restaurant in the evenings.
I stop by, when I finished school. The bicycle was parked in the backyard. We would sit in the kitchen talking, until it was time for me to be home for supper. Such good times. Her son would come home around five and I was gone by then.
It was Easter, her son was away with his father. I visited and something was different. She soon stopped talking and led me into her bedroom. For a week she taught me about love. We fed on each other's desire. I was there one hundred percent.
But then I got busy. My father was introducing me to his friends on the work sites. Mother was needing me more at the shop. And soon it was summer and I was working full time. Sometimes you would find me out on the sidewalk bench playing my guitar. Singing a raw Hank Williams song. People seemed to like it. It was a Buckhorn kind of music.
Close to the middle of summer, Gladis came into the shop. She said to me. "Come to see me tomorrow. I will be home."
I went and she had this sad face, that I had never seen before. "I am pregnant, Bruce. I am going to have the child. I was just wondering what you were going to do."
I stood up and hugged her. "Tomorrow I will be gone. I will help with support, if it is the last thing I do. But I cannot marry you. I am too young for that. I need a life."
The next evening, I was gone. I took an old trunk and filled it with tools, with bits and pieces. I mailed it to Saskatoon. I had this one address that a friend of dad's had given me. I trusted that person. Then I was gone, on the bus, to Saskatchewan. My parents got a letter, where I explained that it was time for me to find my own way. I would be in touch.
The bus ride was long and there were changeovers on the way. It gave me time to think. No more midnight swimming in the lake with friends. No more working in close with mom. No more carpentry lessons from dad. No more Gladis. Mom and dad would be worried. If I told them I was going to the Moon, would it reassure them? I needed to send money to dad for the borrowed tools. I needed to figure out how much money to send Gladis. Ah, Gladis, I hope you understand. I do love you.
In Saskatoon, I found the house in the oldest part of town. A brown stone building, butted up side by side with others. I knocked and an old chinese woman opened the door.
"Yes, young man?"
"I need to talk to Mister Nickels. It is about a job." I said.
"Please come in. He will be down in a moment." She walked to the kitchen in back. The old man walked slowly down the stairs holding tightly to the railing.
"Please come in the living room. I am Albert Nickels, at your service." he said.
I said, "I am looking to find a job with the Moon colony."
He replied hesitantly, "No jobs there. All roads don't lead to Plato Crater anymore. Our shuttle base up north is shut down."
I asked, "Is there somewhere else I can go? Mars maybe?"
"No, Mars is only taking specialists. You are too young for that." He looked at me. "But I see you are healthy and strong. I have an offer I will put on the table."
"Anything! I need a good income."
"There is this planet opening up. Nobody knows anything and I don't want you talking to people about it. I am retired you know."
I asked, "But Venus is not open yet. Much too hot."
"Mercury, boy. It is the next big thing. They went there and found gems and minerals. That Kess and her husband Joseph. They just got back. If you hurry, they are gathering a mining team. You have to go to Iceland. Ask for Frida."
I said, "Hotter still. I know it is close to the sun."
Albert explained, "Yes, if you want to broil, most of the planet will do that. But near the north pole... They got this crater called Prokofiev. It has ice in and around it."
"I don't have that much money."
"I will get you to sign a contract. You send your money, through Iceland to me. It is all in the contract. I will take my cut. You get to be on an adventure." His wife served tea and cookies.
"What did they find there?" I asked.
"Oh, many things. But you will be mining silver. Good price on the world markets right now." He arranged the tickets and I flew from Saskatoon airport to Happy Valley. From there to Saudarkrokur, Iceland. I asked for Frida.
Chapter 5 : Mercury
Frida is this lovely old lady. A kind heart, who has seen it all. For some reason, she gave me extra attention. She had a break coming up and asked me to coffee. We were sitting comfortably in a cafeteria hall.
She said, "It is my daughter flying the wheelship. She will take you to Mercury. She, her husband Joseph and the crew own that ship. She will take you there safely and is bringing many tons of equipment to get the project started. There are several sites already located with good seams of silver and one with platinum. The gems are located about fifty kilometres over the pole."
I said, "I understand they only make you work five hours a day. That gives me time to do other stuff. I was thinking of starting in furniture and upholstery."
"A man after my own heart. To be young again. Follow what you are thinking. It will be lonely for you otherwise. No sun, hard work, most of the people will be away from home for the first time."
"And no women. I understand the women coming are already married." I said.
Frida continued, "You are young. Don't be in a hurry. Make friends. Find your talents. Reach down and learn everything you can. You have all the history of the Moon settlement. Read it. Mars was never easy, but learn what they did. Cream rises to the top. Look for opportunities and treat others well."
I arranged a bank account through her. She told me I could expect another ship in six months to a year after landing. I should have my stuff ordered and at the base with that in mind. My contract was two years.
The tug plane lifted the shuttle up and flew us south toward the equator and out over the Atlantic Ocean. At twenty kilometres in height, we were dropped and the rockets lifted the shuttle up into orbit and we docked with the Ravenchild.
Our vessel was the smallest and oldest of the lunar wheelships. But it had been rebuilt. From hub to jets. From residences to soil. It was a new ship. Spit and polish still lingered. The garden stretched out the whole circle. Every 100 metres was a hobbit hole leading into underground flats. I had my room, sharing the kitchen and showers, with a bunch of seasoned miners from Mars.
We started the morning with a workout. In 0.5Gs it took a lot to work up a sweat. Many ran the middle path. A four kilometre route. I did weight-lifting and yoga.
350 were crew and 400 were people destined for Mercury. I got to know a few through my music.
I learned as much as I could. Mornings, I worked with the composting people. The gardens were our food supply. Afternoons, I did research as Frida asked me. I learned everything about the spacesuits, the inflatable habitats and the ones we would build by tunneling. I studied the little info we had on Mercury. We would not lack for water and we were not going to broil. Mercury may look like the Moon, but it is a little bigger. The gravity is only slightly less than Mars. 0.37Gs. (Mars 0.38Gs) It has a soul of metal and a large heart of iron.
The days are long but it does not mean much, when you live in a hole and you need high powered lighting to work outside.
The Moon was only slightly involved. They had a ten percent stake in the Ravenchild venture. Mercury would now be linked to Iceland and Mars.
Sometimes I would see Kess and Joseph walking by. She loved to talk to the children. Then there was that odd one Blossom who was going to get us into orbit around Mercury.
I met Mat the carpenter, then a woman named Glin, who I met at the swimming pool most nights. The wheelship does not have windows but it has monitors that show you a real-time view from the hub cameras outside.
I am told our speed is unprecedented. Blossom was trying some new technique. It was not long before Venus path was behind us and we were in Mercury orbit after only five months. They planned on staying in orbit for a couple of months, while a pair of mineral dousers (a young couple) searched the surface.
We had time to get everything in place before they left. A hopper took 200 of us down first. We lived in the inflatables. TBMs were sent down crated, then assembled by experts. Tunneling started into the Prokofiev crater wall. Fifteen tunnels. Six kilometres deep. Three rows of five. It was the beginning of a permanent habitat for Mercury.
I worked on the conveyor crew. We made sure that all the debris was out of the work area into a holding area. A crew crushed and sifted the debris piles to extract the ice and collect the substantial water content. One tunnel was sealed and used as a water reservoir. After the tunnels were finished a team went in and cleared many walls and some floors to create a habitat smaller but similar to the Moon habitats.
There were flat residences, living quarters for 20 or so people. There were atriums, garden areas to grow the food we needed. We were living still off the food from the Ravenchild. But that would be gone soon. There was a small mall area where people could set up businesses. Restaurants, a bank, stores, repair shops, etc.
When everything was finished, air sealed in, garden soil in place, the habitat became our home. I did spend some weeks as a plumber installing pipes, toilets, showers, irrigation systems. Then I was off to join the miners.
Silver seams have to be followed with special remote equipment; hammers, drills, spinning cutters and laser cutters. Again I was on conveyors. Always aware of spacesuit mishaps. There were a lot of gases, but the suits sheltered us from sulfur, arsenic and lead. With silver came zinc, copper, tin and nickel. They would all be processed near the site. Giant cloth tents were erected to contain dust and gas. Heat came from electricity. Large towers were built somewhat south of us to catch the sun. Spread between towers was solar sail material, in this case used as a solar collector.
When the water was removed from the ore, the caked dust went to dryers and separators. Out came the silver to be made into one kilo bars marked with the company logo. Lead was the heaviest and easiest to separate with a low melting point. This was made into larger bricks and put to one side. The other metals were processed as a side project. Only the lead would not be shipped back to Iceland.
I had no ambition to develop my mining expertise. I was thinking about the people in the Klondike, during the gold rush. Who were the people that made it into prosperity? Not the miners. It was the business men that set up shops in town. I wanted to have my upholstery business on the mall.
But first I got to use a room in the flat right next to my bedroom. There were a lot of empty rooms throughout the habitat. The Hab was built for a thousand we were only 400. I figured by the size of the garden, we would be doing well to support 800.
My afternoons were spent with three hours of garden work. By doing this I was guaranteed free food. But it was all a bit free form since we shared food in the flat and took turns cooking in the kitchen. I spent a good hour each day, just learning about cooking. Through books and others, who lived there. Again food was a little different with the martian plants and the Earth nuts and fruits.
I started practicing my guitar in my upholstery shop. Soon I had a woman base player making up a duo. This is when I started feeling that I was home. Sharon is a married woman, but she needs to play her base and sing R & B, just like I need to sing Hank Williams. After a couple of weeks of practice, we were ready to play public. This started first in the flat dining hall, then after a couple of weeks, we played in the mall. Just for fun.
The silver vein we mined ran out within six months, so we moved to a platinum find. That kept us busy with a little nickel and copper on the side. Sulfur gases were always a problem and Kess was bringing scrubbers with her on the next trip. Kess would be happier now that we had hundreds of silver and platinum bars ready to go.
It was Glin, who introduced me to the water reservoir. It had taken time for the water to warm up. Enough to be used as a swimming pool. The water was only halfway filling the tunnel. It was used for irrigation of the garden and went through a filtration process before being recycled back to the reservoir. But 17C was not everyone's choice of swimming water. I loved it. Just like home in the lake. We could swim for hours, but the cold always conquered. There were ten of us, who would be there twice a week. We had to be freshly showered first.
My upholstery business was going very slow. At one point I chose to make it a priority. It was the day I sent a letter to my parents, email. I finally told them I was on Mercury, and I was mining. But I wanted to get more into upholstery. I sent them money to pay for the tools I had taken. I asked if they could find me materials and send it in a couple of trunks to Iceland. I gave them an address. There was enough money to buy a small car.
Albert was deducting from my pay and sending a monthly check to Gladis. I figured I still had 120,000 dollars Canadian at the end of the first year.
But I was short on wood, so I talked to the people making the radiators and pipes from ceramics. They showed me how to make a mold and how to add color. I was soon producing chair materials and frames using ceramics. I could not nail to it, but I could screw into it, drilling pilot holes first. It was not elegant but it worked. I made cloth buttons to sew over the screw heads.
Chapter 6 : The Mall
The container I received from Alice Ladas was full sized. She had not exaggerated when she promised me all the standard tools and materials she uses in her upholstery business in Plato Crater. Frida was already on a trip to Venus, when I wrote her. She used her fame to ask Alice to help me.
Frida said, "I don't know this woman. But I figured that if I told her to charge you full price, that might motivate her. Good luck."
The bill was in the first item. I got three friends to help me unpack it all. It filled the room I used for upholstery. Now I definitely needed a workplace and shop on the mall. Bruce Spruce Chairs I called it.
When I got the trunks from dad, I started seriously working on a line of chairs. In it was a small air compressor and two staple guns. Now I had good floral patterned materials and some wood for runners and facing. I started with a mission chair. I needed to make a series of molds to produce all the 'wooden' pieces. When I finally got it so that everything seemed to work, I faced all the spots where I needed to nail with thin strips of wood. These I could screw tight to the ceramic. It was a shame to cut down all my wood into thin strips, but it looked like ceramics was the future of chairs on Mercury. Much of the chair was mortise and tenon. A little glue held it tight.
As usual, it is the seat of the chair that takes all the work. I did not have springs nor would I. I needed to find a substitute. This would be a whale bone type crosspiece, that I made from thin ceramic. I told the girls in the factory what I needed. They had noticed a springy aspect to slats they used in wall-mounting strips. I needed a curved version for which I provided the mold.
The gravity on Mercury is 0.37Gs which means that people here are less than half the weight of people on Earth. This means they don't need the softness of an Earth chair. My slats worked fine. I tied them across with cord to stop any slipping. Covered the whole seat with a cloth. Then some rock-wool padding. I had found a substitute for excelsior padding in the atrium garden. There they grew bamboo. They provided me with soft glossy fibers for a price. Finally I covered the seat with a waterproof material. It was an old fashion rocker.
This was the test case. I had it in my shop for a month, allowing my customers to sit in it. I worked on smaller items. I got fifteen orders for these rocker chairs. I was charging two thousand bucks. It was costing me 2000 bucks. But it was a start. The chairs were virtually indestructible. They are elegant. I got another fifteen orders. I charged 3000 bucks. No problem. And so it went. Love seats, small sofas, divans, I refused to do anything larger. I had a regular order of hardwood lumber. The rest I improvised.
I raised my prices to slow down the demand. I did not slow it down. I quit my job as a miner and hoped I could afford to stay here. I took on a high school apprentice. She was small and sweet. Rosa Petrov, she loved the materials and was learning faster than I expected. She made suggestions on better ways to do things. She redid the window display. I could see she enjoyed life and the job. We were a team. She had strengths and they complimented mine. When the year was up, she had finished school and could go off and start her own business.
Rosa said, "I don't want to leave you. We are happy. We work well side by side. Would you consider marrying me?"
It had occurred to me. But I am always in waiting mode. I had to tell her about Gladis and my four year old son, Ted. She was fine with that.
She suggested, "We could invite them here. She could join the business. As long as she knows her place. We will find her a husband. Lots of lonely men here."
Quite a woman, my Rosa.
Rosa wanted to visit the sphere on Mercury. She had told me about the sphere near her home in Ruby Canyon, Mars. An alien device with almost mystical qualities. She compared it to a Fuller tensile structure. I knew nothing of Fuller or the geometry of domes. She organized a small group of interested people to visit. We needed a guide from the Hab administration.
As we approached the cave, I checked to see my pad was handy. When we stood in front of the three metre open sphere, I started taking hundreds of pics through my helmet camera. Then we were standing in a circle. Spread out around the sphere. We each touched a connector. A couple of prayers were said. Rosa's voice raised and soared in a Persian chant. I had never heard her sing like this. A wave of something passed through the nine of us. Then we left.
I was now interested in Fuller spheres. I started making solid models. Then I started making tensile spheres. So much to learn. But I still had to make a living. Gladis and Ted arrived seven months later. It was a bit awkward, but we got over it. Gladis took a room a few doors over from us. I became daddy to Ted. He was in school, while Gladis and Rosa worked side by side. Rosa was quite open about finding Gladis a husband. It did not take long. The fellow down the mall, Mel's Music, running a music store, wanted her. A good woman Gladis.
She would work mornings with us and afternoons in the music store. I went back to mining. A year to build up our equity. They were mining gems at this point. Emeralds and rubies.
Rosa and I talked of a visit to Earth. To Buckhorn, and swimming under the blue sky and in the cool lake. That did not happen. Frida sent me the news and told me to stay away from Earth for the next couple of years.
Montreal had been wiped out by an asteroid strike. Toronto was drowned and swamped, when another asteroid plowed westward into Lake Ontario. Dad complained in a note. Tens of thousands of people were flooding Buckhorn and all cottage country. Refugees with nothing, from the Toronto area. Earthquakes were a constant disruption. I used our money to get mom and dad to Mercury. They sold their shop for a good price and used that money for shipping all the equipment they knew they would need.
My shop grew into the next shop. I bought out my shoe repair neighbour. Dad and mom went right to work. I showed them everything I had learned. But I had to work another year in the mining to replace the money I had used. Frida suggested I change my Canadian dollars to Iceland kronur. So I did. The following year, North American markets crashed, making their money worth only a tenth of its former self.
Dad and mom enjoyed having a grandson running about the shop. They had seen him about in Buckhorn and wondered. Finally Gladis had told them.
I bought an auto-harp from Mel's music shop. I knew Rosa would enjoy it. I wanted to hear her singing voice. I started playing my guitar with her. And then she joined Sharon and I with our open concerts in the mall. I bought an electric guitar to match Sharon's base sound. Rosa liked folk songs, so we added those to the mix. Rosa started to write new songs that Sharon thought were wonderful.
Chapter 7 : Sphere
I went to the administration of the Hab and explained what I wanted to do. It must have impressed them because they gave me an empty store front to construct my alien sphere. I had a hundred tiny Fuller structures that showed my skill. I had a small model of how I thought the sphere was. I was ready now for the third-sized version. There were ten different sizes of struts. Ten different lengths of cable. And many hundreds of connectors. I could only devote two hours a day. Ted came in after supper and helped me. He had a good sense of what I was doing. He studied the model. He looked at the Fuller models. It took me six months.
That evening, I connected the last cable to the last strut. Everything went strangely quiet and then there was a shaking of the Hab. Glass was vibrating. A train was passing by. (it felt like that) It did not stop. Ted and I both ran out into the corridor and saw all the people from other shops out there as well. I took Ted by the hand we hurried to the chair shop. Mom and dad ran to me. Rosa was right behind. We could not talk. So we went home.
Rosa and I spent the next three days in bed. With the shaking, there was nothing else to do. Then it stopped. I turned on my pad radio and searched for news. There was news of disasters on Earth. Then there were reports of planets moving out of their orbital paths. Then finally a report on Mercury.
Mercury had moved ten percent of its distance further from the Sun. But it seemed to be alright. All planets had moved. But Mercury the most. I was relieved. It could not be my little model?
Then scientists were talking of the moving of Vesta. A meteor close to planet size. Kess had moved it out of the asteroid belt and it had just crossed the Mars orbit path, now approaching Earth. They thought Vesta was readjusting the orbits. Kess wants Vesta to be a moon of Venus.
The sphere stayed as a display for the public for many years. People would come by and beg to clean it. They just wanted to be close. It did get dusty.
* * *
It was a couple of years later that Rosa started telling me stories about her school friends on Mars. She told her friends about my building of a third-scale of the Mercury sphere. Their Mars ball was easy to approach and you could take accurate measurements. They found thirteen different strut and cable lengths. Rosa sent pics of my work and her Mars friends started working on my model.
We forgot about it. It was four months later when we got the shaking again. Not nearly as bad, but the results were startling. Yes they had just completed the sphere. They felt something, but Mars shook often enough. Mercury was now fifteen percent more distant from the Sun than when we arrived.
I listened for news of Earth and Vesta. Not much. But Mercury was mentioned. The weather where we were was unchanged. Maybe a degree cooler at the north pole. Ten degrees at the equator. But the day and orbit frequency had changed. We were closer to Venus and Earth and that meant something. We were lucky that Mercury's orbit did not get more erratic.
Rosa did not tell anyone but me, about her friends and things seemed to be fine. I left it there.
Chapter 8 : Iceland
Rosa is pregnant. I am happy. And it is time for me to stop working the mines. Our bank account has enough that we could settle in Iceland, when the time comes. Earth is suffering a batch of volcanic eruptions right now, but I figure that will clear up. The sea around Iceland has warmed up and the glaciers are seriously melting. I would like to see that. Maybe go swimming in one of the deep fjords.
I talked to Frida about that and she offered her house near Eskifjordur. I think she meant for a visit. I looked it up. Nice place, fine house.
We took on some apprentices. Two girls from Rosa's old school. It would take us a year to arrange the move. Gladis' husband was a little hesitant. I promised to get him a shop next to ours in town. If we found a large house, we could all live together. How difficult could the language be. Easy as pie.
So there was that year Nattie and Olive got their training and then the six months delay before the wheelship came. The girls would take over the chair shop. We were off on another adventure. Not likely to return. I was told I would get a high priority if I applied. I could go to any planet I wanted.
So we went home. Not the home I left. That no longer existed. Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn were now one small city. We went where our money was. On landing at the shuttle base, there were seven of us. Mel, Gladis and Ted, Bruce and Rosa, Keith and Janice Wicks. Baby had a couple more months of peace before entering this world.
I was quite surprised at the temperature. There was still a cold breeze coming from the arctic ocean, but it was an early summer day and the temp was above 20C. I bought a van in Akureyri. Something to move people and furniture. We shopped at the stores and warehouses for materials and tools we needed. Then we drove over the high desert and were not afraid of getting lost. There was only two roads here. Turning left over the bridge at Egilsstadir, we stopped for a charge and to stretch our legs. It was a lovely spot. In fact I was falling in love with the country's beauty.
It was only an hour later and we were passing through Eskifjordur. I stopped the van in front of an empty shop. Next door was a bakery with great smells coming from it. Inside was a man about my age and his wife. A little boy played quietly at a table at the window.
"We are just arriving from the shuttle base. We have been invited to Frida's house. Now I see there is a old shop next door. Is it for sale?"
The baker said, "You are a friend to Frida. I can tell you where the house is."
I said, "Yes, I think I know. Three kilometres east? But who owns the shop?"
"That was a music shop for years. The man got old and his son lives in Akureyri. They asked me to take care of sale."
"I am Bruce Wicks, this is my family. We are upholsterers and this is Mel. He had a music shop on Mercury. How much does the son want for the store?"
He answered, "I am Bjarni, my wife Sophia and that is my nephew Hjalti at the table. You want to sit. I will get you some coffee and sweet breads."
So we sat down and began the negotiations.
* * *
I will stop here because you were there and saw it all happen. I liked it there. We might have had a good life. I hope that yours is good.
* * *
That was the last of what he sent me. I hope it explains all that has happened.