Timothy placed the Galileo in a stable orbit over the planet Rowkin. Then he and Addalyne teleported down to the Telopad located inside of the Rowkin Flight Operations building. Once they were stable, Timothy took hold of Addalyne’s hand and said, “I will introduce you to my brother, Phillip, before we begin our journey to my village. If I don’t stop and visit him for a moment, he will be certainly be pissed with me.”
When the two stepped into the flight operations office, Phillip turned to see who entered and then quickly embraced his brother. Then he turned to Addalyne and said, “So you are the one who has angered the Yutaka clan. I have heard much about you, both from Jill Yutaka and my brother. Welcome, Addalyne to the planet Rowkin. I just arranged transportation for the two of you to our village. Father is expecting you within the hour. You should arrive just in time for the evening meal. Mother has prepared one of the guesthouses for the two of you.” Then Phillip stepped up close to Addalyne and hugged her. When he stepped back he said, “I have to get back to work now, we have another vessel arriving. My mate, Sandra, and I will join you both in an hour or so, please be safe in your journeys.”
William took Addalyne on a tour of the Flight Operations building and took her to the top floor of the building. There, they could look out through the large glass windows, out over the entire city. The sprawling metropolis was the largest city Addalyne had ever seen. As they walked around the circular viewing area, Addalyne could see that the mountains mostly surrounded the city, placing the city in the center of what looked like the crater of a gigantic extinct volcano. Huge dams held back millions of liters of water, probably potable water to hydrate the huge population of entities that shuttled around the city in Aircars and surface transportation.
As Addalyne looked off into the distance, she could see mammoth skyscrapers, all in lines, and built at the base of the mountains. The buildings looked to be housing for the residents of Alliance. She could see huge manufacturing and shopping centers closer to the Flight Operations building, suggesting that the building was the major transportation hub for the city. She could see that the ground transportation vehicles all seemed to come and go from underneath the building where she was presently standing. As she looked out over the mountains, expecting to see some smog, she realized that the air was crystal clear, something that surprised her as she stood looking down over such a large city. As she returned her gaze to the skyscrapers in the distance, she realized that the Aircars were entering a large garage type structure at the very top of the building. When she quizzed Timothy about that, he said, “The Aircars pickup and drop off their passengers inside of the covered top floor, through the side entrance. Without the Aircars having such access the residents would be forced to move about on surface transportation, which would truly clog every street in the city: no one would ever arrive for work on time if they had to resort to ground transportation.”
When Addalyne stepped out of the air-conditioned flight operations building and into the afternoon sunshine, she felt as if she could not breathe. The heat and high humidity were unbearable. She had only been on the surface of the planet Rowkin once before, but she did not remember the heat being so stifling. She spoke to Timothy and asked, “Is this heat normal. I do not remember it being this warm on my last trip?” Timothy took hold of her hand and said, “You were probably here during the winter season when the mountains had snow covered tops and the air was cool. During the summer months, the snow on the mountains melts and the water flows down into the reservoirs. The sun evaporates the surface water in the reservoirs and makes the air in the city feel very hot and steamy. We will be out of the city in a few minutes and the air will turn dry and comfortable.”
When they stepped into the Aircar, Addalyne realized that the top and sides of the Aircar were glass. When she sat down and strapped herself in, she could see for miles around her. The city was beautiful. Just as the Aircar began to move, a recorded message welcomed them to the city of Alliance and announced their arrival in the village of Bassick in twelve minutes. As they left the busy city, the Aircar made a long sweeping turn out over the reservoirs. The view out the windows of the Aircar was breathtaking. Mountains surrounded the city and a large dam at one end of the reservoir contained the runoff water from the mountains. Below the dam was a large river that meandered for hundreds of kilometers down into fertile valleys. Huge hardwood trees, much like what grew on planet Earth, produced plush forests that went on for as far as Addalyne could see. As they continued along the river, large settlements began to sprout up from the forest. The farmers had planted fields of what looked to be crops in straight rows, many ten or so kilometers long and often times two or more kilometers wide.
On one stretch of the river, logs floated downstream, sometimes in strings a kilometer long. Down the river a little further, the logs had jammed up and stopped moving. It appeared as if the logs could go no farther. A large Aircar was lifting the logs out of the river and stacking them onto piles. A ground-based vehicle much like one of planet Earth’s tractors moved the logs from the pile onto a large conveyor. From there the logs moved into a table where six or more huge band saw blades sliced the logs lengthwise into boards. Addalyne spoke to Timothy and asked, “Where does all the lumber go from here. Is it used to build homes?” Timothy said, “The cut boards are used around the planet to build homes, learning centers and barns. The remaining waste material goes into our digesters to produce electricity. All waste material from the planet is recycled and either turned into a new product or sent to the digesters. If you poop on this planet, the digesters will turn it into fertilizer to grow a tree or plant. Nothing goes to waster here on Rowkin.”
As the Aircar moved down closer to the river, it turned and followed a wide cut section of forest. As they moved along, they were high enough above the trees that Timothy could point out an area with buildings in neat little rows. Behind each building was a two or three story barn. Behind each barn were fenced in areas that contained animals, every kind of animal and bird Addalyne had ever seen lived in the fenced in areas. Timothy said, “You are looking at the village of Bassick. My grandparents cut the trees and built the first home on this tract of land. Later they named the homestead, The Village of Bassick. Now there are over three hundred residents in the village. Most are farmers, but many also work for the logging companies. You must remember that Rowkin practices what the people of Earth call Socialism. We consider everyone here on this planet equal and we practice public ownership. The Guardians of the planet feed and provide shelter to each person at no cost. Each resident of the planet works and does their fair share of work to support the masses. If you should become injured or fall ill, the medical doctors make the repairs to your body at no cost. We here on Rowkin live even longer lives than the people of planet Earth and planet Quantum do. We on Rowkin have a life expectancy of 2000 years of age. I have checked with the demordian council and since you are a True blood Demords, your life expectancy will follow the same 2000-year cycle. That I am certain you already knew.”
When the Aircar hovered over a grassy field in the middle of the village, two people came running out of a large two-story farmhouse to greet them. Timothy waved and Addalyne realized that the man was Timothy’s Brother, Phillip. Addalyne suspected the woman holding his hand was his mate, Sandra. When the Aircar settled to the ground and the doors swung up and open, both Timothy and Addalyne stepped out into the cool air. Once the introductions of Addalyne and Sandra concluded, they all headed to the house. The house had a large front porch with wicker style chairs and two small tables. When they stepped inside, Addalyne stepped into a world she had never been part of before. The house was warm and well lit. The ceilings were high and large fans slowly turned, circulating the air. As Timothy moved her farther towards the interior of the house, she realized that the fireplace was in the very center and was open on two sides. One open side faced into the front living area and the other side faced towards the kitchen. It was obvious that the fireplace on th
e kitchen side served as both a source of heat and a place to prepare meals. A large wide staircase off the front living area led up to the second floor. At the rear of the house, behind the kitchen, was another large porch.
When the four of them stepped out onto the back porch, an older man and woman stood up to greet Addalyne. Just as Timothy had finished with the introductions, two young women stepped up to the door leading out to the porch and said, “Dinner is served. If you all mess around much longer, I will feed the meal to the animals.” Addalyne giggled at the woman’s remarks, but quickly followed her instructions when Timothy took hold of her hand and led her back inside. One of the women stepped up to Timothy and asked, “Shall I take you and Miss Addalyne’s bags up to your room, Timothy?” Timothy turned to Addalyne and said, “Yes, Addalyne can sleep in the second twin bed. I have always wanted to have a female sleep over guest, but Mother always objected.” Timothy’s Mother stepped up behind him and said, “Keep your hands to yourself tonight or I will redden those ass cheeks with my wooden spoon, Mister.” Addalyne began to giggle again and Timothy turned to face her. He said, “Addalyne, please don’t support my mother’s old fashioned ideas. She still believes a man and woman should have a connubial ceremony before they even kiss. I have tried to move her old fashioned beliefs into this century, but she still refuses to listen.”
When they sat down at the table, Addalyne was unsure what some of the food items were. Timothy realized her concerns and began explaining the name and nature of each food before passing anything to her. She was a good sport about some of the foods eaten on a working farm, but some things she simply refused to have on her plate. As the meal progressed, Timothy’s Mother began explaining how each dish was prepared and what the main ingredient truly was. Once Addalyne understood what she was about to eat, she began tasting the items Mother had explained to her. Before long, Addalyne had tasted most everything on the table, with the one exception of blood pudding. She had drawn the line there.
When the meal was over, the entire family went for a walk around the homestead. Addalyne was impressed with the entire village. The villagers raised and harvested most everything locally. They even built and repaired the tools they used for farming. They had a blacksmithing shop, harness shop, barns for the animals to shelter in, their own barbershop and an icehouse where they stored meat and dairy products. They even made their own cheese. They seemed completely self-supporting.
As they toured the remaining sections of the village, Addalyne realized that one of the young boys had a laptop computer sitting on a small table on his porch. Addalyne turned to Timothy and asked, “Do you have electricity here in the village? I see a computer sitting on the table over there.” Timothy laughed and said, “Yes, we have electricity, maybe not as you understand it though, but we do have it. We here in the village are not connected to the hydro plants from Alliance or any other city, but we do have advanced Airlink systems available to everyone on the planet. The Airlink system not only provides wireless communication connections, but it also provides wireless charging of one’s laptop or communications device.
Our children take their education from classes on the Airlink systems. They listen to live lectures given by their teachers or professors and then are tested on the information they learned. This method allows parents to insure their children are completing their work. If the children fall behind in their studies, their teachers send the parents a notice over the Airlink system. If the parents cannot resolve the problem, the teaching administrators pay the child a visit and help get them back on course. I often connect to my office or with Rowkin Flight Operations through the Airlink system to keep in touch with them. I schooled for much of my first two years of engineering right here in the village. Later on I needed hands on training and moved into Alliance to complete my engineering degree.”
As they returned to Timothy’s house, the sky began to darken. Addalyne realized that the sun had set in the eastern sky, but a new sun was beginning to rise in the western sky. She laughed aloud when she realized that the planet Rowkin rotated in the opposite direction of any planet she had ever visited, and it had two suns. When one sun would set, shortly thereafter, the second sun would rise. She wondered how she had missed that tiny bit of information.
When the family decided to go to bed, Addalyne checked her travel watch and realized it was almost midnight. She had not realized the time since it was still daylight. Timothy took her by the hand and said, “Come my darling. Your bed awaits you.” When they got to the top of the stairs, Addalyne realized there were a dozen or more doors along the circular hallway. The stone fireplace chimney occupied the center of the second floor and a circular table with chairs surrounded the fireplace. Addalyne placed her hand on the stone fireplace and realized that she had just found a warm and inviting place to sit her laptop and do her work. The heat radiating off the stone warmed the table and everything around it. Located on the outside of the circular hallway were the many rooms. She assumed they were bedrooms, but she was uncertain of that fact. When she asked Timothy about all the rooms, he said, “Let me show you around.” She noticed that each door had a nameplate on them. One room was marked as bedding; a sign designated another room for blanket storage. One room was marked with an upside down metal horseshoe. Timothy opened that door and stepped inside. This room was his office and study area. The next room was his bedroom. As they moved along the hallway, he opened each door; with the exception of the rooms identified as his parents room, and two other rooms intended for the housekeepers.
When they returned to Timothy’s room, he opened the door and stepped inside. After Addalyne stepped inside, he said, “I will lock this door to insure you have privacy. No one in this house knocks before entering so remain aware of your own modesty.” Timothy showed Addalyne around the bathroom and explained how to operate the shower. Then he showed her where to find clean towels and bed linens. He showed her where to dispose of her dirty clothing so the housekeepers could do the laundry. When he completed his introductions to the facilities, he stepped up to her and put his arms around her waist. She stepped up close and rested her head on his shoulder. Timothy said, “I would like to ask one last time about your decision to become my mate for life. It is a big step in your life and I want you to be certain you are confident with the arrangement. I love you very much, but I also understand that the life style I live is much different from the one you are accustomed. I simply want you to know that you have the option to back out of this arrangement any time before Father begins reading the words to the connubial ceremony. You can still join me in the Galileo even if we are not joined; however, I hope we are mated for that adventure.”
Addalyne remained quiet for a moment or two and then stepped back from Timothy. She said, “I fell in love with you a few hours after we first met. I fell in love with the Galileo the first time I teleported aboard. I fell in love with the city of Alliance when we entered the Aircar. I fell in love with this planet as we flew out over the vast forests and lakes. I fell in love with the village of Bassick when we first stepped into the front door of your family home. Each moment I am in your presence, I fall deeper in love with you and your lifestyle. I have no reason to doubt my love for you, nor do I wish to step away from the incredible adventure we are about to embark upon as mates. I do truly love you.”
A knock at the door brought the two lovers back to reality. When Timothy opened the door, Phillip and Sandra stood outside. Timothy spoke to them and said, “Please join us. We were just discussing our future together and were making certain we had our heads screwed on straight. I am now certain we are in agreement that we can join Father in the connubial ceremony whenever the family is ready.”
Sandra stepped up close to Addalyne and said, “We girls need a shopping trip for clothes. Shall we visit the shopping district after breakfast tomorrow? We dress informally around here most of the time, but Father and Mother will expect you and me to wear dresses for the ceremony. After that, whatever you
wish to wear will be appropriate.” Phillip said, “If we males stay out of the way, can we join you in the city? I need new shirts and pants.” Sandra giggled and said, “That is true. You have worn the collars of your shirts down to bare threads.”
When Sandra and Phillip headed off to bed, Timothy again shut and locked the door. He said, “You can shower first. I will shave and then take my shower after you finish.” As they prepared themselves for bed, Addalyne turned down her bed and crawled under the covers. When Timothy crawled into his bed, he said, “Goodnight,” and pressed a button to close the blinds and block out the sunlight. When the room got quiet, Addalyne got out of bed and moved over to Timothy’s bed. He pulled the covers back so she could slide in beside him and then pulled the covers up around her. As they lay together for a while and talked, Addalyne finally said, “I need to get some sleep. Wake me as soon as your eyes pop open in the morning. I have much to do tomorrow.”
Soon after Addalyne returned to her own bed and pulled the covers up over her head, she fell asleep.
The Chronicles of Addalyne Yutaka Page 13