by Kurt Winans
Turning their attention to the undercarriage, Colt took the lead role in the assembly effort. Beyond what had been needed for the mainframe, the manufacturing plant had been most helpful by providing several pieces of gear fabricated to Colt’s specifications. Having also delivered their creations the previous afternoon, those same engineers who performed the work had now returned to see how Colt and Hank intended to use them. Watching with a keen eye as assembly began, they, along with Hank, asked several questions throughout the process. Hank’s interest was further peaked when Colt said, “Ross told me once about how he used pedals, sprockets, and connecting chains just like these to power his model of Earth’s solar system for a school project when he was ten years old.”
That thought burned into Hank’s memory, as he replied, “Ross told me about that model too, but he never mentioned how it had been powered.”
Once work on the undercarriage had been completed to Colt’s liking, the next step in the process could commence. The lightweight metal boom housing the sail became part of the mast structure by slipping the attached metal ring over the stump. Then the mast was moved into position between the two long protruding flanges of the stump, and a large sturdy pin was driven through the four precisely aligned holes near the base. Colt then demonstrated to the growing and inquisitive crowd of how easy it would be to raise the mast. Turning to Hank, he said, “Could you please hoist the mast into a vertical position, and then push the mast pin through the four aligned holes at the top end of the flanges.”
Without hesitation Hank jumped up and began the process. After quickly completing the task, he turned to his father and said, “That was easy, the mast is really light.”
“That’s why I had you lift it Hank. Now all these people know that any of them would be capable of hoisting the mast into position if the need arose.”
“Should I put a locking pin through the hole at the end of the mast pin like we did with the larger hinge pin?”
Moving to a position upon the mainframe next to the driver’s seat, Colt replied, “No thanks Hank.” Then turning to the engineers and others who had gathered, he pointed to the mast while adding in a louder voice, “Unlike the locking pin at the end of the hinge pin that is permanent, this locking pin is only for use when the mast is vertical. At such a time, it is imperative that the locking pin be inserted through the mast pin.” After receiving verifying nods of understanding from all those present, Colt returned his gaze toward his son. With a softer tone, he then said, “Hank, would you please remove the mast pin and lower the mast back to a horizontal position.”
After once again easily completing the assigned task, Hank revealed his eagerness by asking, “What’s next dad?”
“I think before we go any further with the construction, we should test out the bicycle aspect. How do you feel about taking this thing for a ride?”
“That would be cool, but do we need any help?”
“You mean with the pedaling? No we don’t, because the lightweight design of the vehicle should enable a single person to pedal it forward. If you want to, you can ask the engineers if any of them want to go for a ride.”
A short time later Tori, while looking out her window, noticed a strange sight. Five people were moving past on some weird contraption, and the man at the front was Colt. Before she could emerge from her dwelling to get a closer look they had turned the corner, so she asked a passerby, “Excuse me, did you see that weird thing that just came through here?”
The old woman was suffering through a rather harsh coughing spell, but during a temporary respite, did manage to reply, “Yes I did, but I have no idea what it was.”
Tori’s impulse to locate and identify the bizarre object was delayed, as she rushed back inside for some water to ease the poor woman’s suffering. While tending to her needs, they were both suddenly surprised when Colt said, “Hello Tori, how are you doing today?”
Apparently Colt and his party had routed themselves so as to return to Tori’s dwelling, and now she spun around to find that their apparatus had come to rest within twenty feet of her position. Instinctively placing a hand on her pregnant belly, Tori smiled and replied, “I’m fine Colt. How are you?”
“Great thanks. With the help of some engineers from the manufacturing plant, Hank and I started building something that could be beneficial to the community.”
“Well that’s good to hear, but what is it?”
“It’s an alternative mode of transportation that anyone can use, but we haven’t finished building it yet. Actually, I was hoping that you could help us with a design problem?”
“Perhaps, but first tell me what the problem is.”
“Well, one aspect of this vehicle will be solar power, and a portion of the collector panels will be placed at an angle along each length of the mainframe. That will capture some energy, but we need a larger overhead surface area as well.”
“So you need to speak with a solar engineer. That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll need to check their schedules, but one of them could probably help you tomorrow.”
“Thanks Tori. That would be great.”
The following morning, a young woman approached Colt and Hank while they worked on the vehicle. With a smile she said, “Hello, I’m Kenna Hayden. Tori mentioned that you’ve encountered a design problem, how can I help?”
Colt turned and said, “You must be the solar engineer that she spoke of, and thanks for the offer to help Ms. Hayden. What we need is a large collector panel above the seating area of the vehicle, but it can’t be one solid piece.”
“I understand, and please, call me Kenna. Now, can you tell me why the panel can’t be one solid piece?”
Looking at Hank, he said, “Could you please show Kenna how the mast will work?”
After repositioning the mast to its upright position and locking it into place, Hank said, “Because we will need to raise or lower this depending on the wind conditions.”
“Did you say the wind conditions?”
“Yes ma’am. Wind will be one source of our power.”
Kenna nodded her head as she suddenly grasped their intended concept. Then looking back at Colt, she said, “I think I have an idea that could help.”
“That’s great. Tell me about it please.”
Their subsequent discussion led to sketches, and then a trip to the manufacturing plant. Later that same day, Colt and Hank, with help from Kenna and others, were able to fit the final pieces of their vehicle into place. Supported by several vertical struts, the overhead solar array began at a point near the nose of the vehicle and then split into two sections just forward of the mast position. Never exceeding the width, but protruding beyond the back of the vehicle, the two slightly curved panels with a wide gap between them reminded Colt of the large folded wings of a bug.
With construction complete, Hank remained true to his word. That evening he informed Janet of everything that the vehicle was capable of, and the altered state of transportation that had been created in the process. Then he asked her, “So mom, when can we take you out for a ride?”
With Colt having assumed the drivers position, he, along with Janet and Hank, had peddled the prototype vehicle to the northern edge of the population center. With nothing but the semi-flat and windswept open spaces in front of them, Colt asked, “Hey Hank, are you ready to raise the sail for a trial run?”
“Sure dad, let’s do it.”
Janet, who had never experienced riding the wind in a boat or any other manner, showed a noticeable look of concern. Colt was quick to ease her apprehension by saying, “I promise you, it’s completely safe. This new type of vehicle is in sharp contrast to what you and I remember from our time on old Earth. The focus is on simple technology that should have been developed more significantly back then, and I’m pleased that this modern society is more accepting of alternative concepts.”
Nodding positively, Janet replied, “Alright, I trust you.”
Within seconds after hearing those
words, Hank raised the mast to vertical, locked it in place, and said, “All set here.”
After a verifying nod, Colt pulled on the line that slid the boom up the mast above the level of the solar canopy. Once that was secure he pulled another line to unfurl a portion of the sail from within, and the vehicle began to move forward. A moment later he turned to notice that Janet and Hank were smiling, so he asked, “What do you think, should we go faster?”
Hank exclaimed, “Yes! Let’s go as fast as we can!”
Obviously outnumbered, Janet realized that a negative response would be ignored, so she replied, “Sure, why not?”
Colt then unfurled more of the sail, and adjusted the angle of the boom to maximize the winds thrust. The difference in speed was immediate as the vehicle lurched forward, and soon after that, Hank joyously shouted out, “This is really cool.”
Janet couldn’t contain that she was also enjoying the ride, which was smoother than she had originally visualized, so she added, “I agree, this is fun.”
As Colt tested the maneuverability and turning radius at various levels of sail deployment, Hank paid close attention to his father’s technique. While soaking up knowledge about the safe operation of the vehicle, he also noticed that they must have slowly circled around back toward the population center. The lights of the community were now in full frontal view, so Hank said, “We aren’t going back home yet are we?”
Before Colt could reply, Janet spoke up. While looking west through the darkness toward the last faint hint of sunlight cast upon the sets of orbital rings, she said, “I think that we should head back home. It’s getting late, and we do have to pedal this thing again after dropping the sail.”
Fully aware that Janet had been extremely patient with them during the recent days and weeks, and had exhibited graciousness while reluctantly admitting her enjoyment during the trial run, Colt concurred. He said, “I think that your mother is right Hank. It’s time to go home.”
The trials of the following night would be a different story however, as Colt stayed out until the first hint of daylight while providing numerous rides. Although each passenger understood the basics of solar power for vehicles and the everyday uses within their dwellings, the other power sources of the new vehicle were conceptually foreign. Colt took several groups of four out for a quick loop via their own pedal power, and then showcased the ease of handling and maneuverability for roughly an hour under sail. The first passengers consisted of Tori, Kenna, and two engineers from the manufacturing plant who had aided with construction. They each in their own way marveled at what they were all experiencing, and quickly realized the vast potential that wind power could offer to each of the population centers. At the completion of their tour, Tori approached Colt and exclaimed, “Thank you for enlightening us to this concept. It’s fantastic!”
“You’re welcome Tori. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.”
“How did you come to know about such things?”
“Ross taught me everything that he knew about the principles of sailing on the water. According to him, it was just one aspect of the basic fundamentals that he learned while attending the Naval Academy.”
“Well whatever the source of his knowledge, I’m glad that he shared it with you. I believe it’s important that we pass this technology along to everyone, so I will begin contacting the other population centers first thing in the morning.”
“I guess that proves that at least some of the ancient technology of Earth could be considered a benefit to those living within the present time.”
“True, and beyond those beneficial uses, there was one aspect of the ride that was also quite liberating.”
“Really, what was that?”
“It felt good to move as fast as we did, and experience the wind blowing through my hair.”
Planet wide cooperation was once again exemplified, as Tori spent the entire next day within the communication center conferring with representative administrators and engineers from the other fifteen population centers. She spoke highly of the new transportation mode that Colt and Hank had not only envisioned, but with the help of local engineers, had also built and successfully tested. While using the computer to forward all of the notes, sketches, and design specifications associated with the prototype vehicle, Tori also informed her counterparts that construction on several more of the vehicles would begin in her community within the next few days. Armed with that information, and Tori’s promise that Colt or Hank would be available for subsequent questions, each community felt they had the tools they needed to proceed with assembly.
Throughout the next few months, Tori would receive, and subsequently share with Colt, any news from the various population centers with regard to their current stages of vehicle development. Although a few communities had been passive with their interest in the concept, most had been quite eager to move forward with developing an altered state of the vehicle that would best suit their respective needs.
One example of such exuberance rose from the former Canadian province of British Columbia. Within the settlement just east of where Vancouver had been located, the alternative modes of transportation came as a welcome relief. While speaking with a team of their engineers via the communication center, Colt learned that although solar energy had been employed as a power source for centuries, it could not be counted upon for much of the year. The weather patterns in and around the mountainous region unfortunately caused cloud cover more often than not, so the use of solar powered vehicles had been abandoned. What limited solar energy that had been available and harnessed, had always been prioritized for the desalinization and hydroponics facilities. Beyond that, needs of the manufacturing plant or those within individual dwellings were met before anything else could even be considered. Consequently, those that remained of their ever dwindling population were some of the most physically fit citizens on the planet, as trudging up and down the often steep and heavily wooded terrain became the only way to perform their daily activities.
Colt’s distant and somewhat fuzzy memory of the region was brought into sharper focus when an engineer said, “Your design concept developed from a combination of old Earth technologies will be an extremely beneficial addition to our community. Although we often lack consistent sunshine, wind is abundant throughout the region.”
Colt quickly replied, “Thank you, and in spite of all the turmoil that this planet has endured through time, it sounds as if, at least in your region, that the atmospheric conditions have returned to the patterns of the era before the asteroid and moon impacts.”
“You speak as if you know this area. Did you live near here before the apocalypse?”
“No, but I did visit once for an extended fishing trip.”
“A fishing trip, was that common back then?”
“For avid fisherman it was. I remember that the city of Vancouver was very nice, and the surrounding countryside was beautiful with forested landscapes, rugged shorelines, and lots of fish in the ocean, lakes, and rivers.”
“You have just described our region with incredible accuracy, so that is apparently another aspect that has returned to pre-apocalyptic times. Fishing remains a major aspect of our daily survival, and the introduction of wind aided craft will enhance our ability to meet the supply needs of our citizens. As to what remains of the abandoned city to our west, I was not aware that it was once known as Vancouver. Evidence of a few old structures in crumbled ruins can be seen along portions of the neighboring hillsides, but thick vegetation has overtaken most of them. There are records of how unsafe the ruins were as many former citizens were either killed or injured during various collapses, and those areas were subsequently declared off-limits. Other much taller structures still rise through the water of the bay, but I learned as a boy that all of them have been unoccupied for many centuries. During extremely windy days, we can sometimes see large waves pounding against those structures, and I wonder if another will fall over.”
“Another one, does the ev
idence you spoke of mention any of the taller ones collapsing?”
“Yes it does, but I also witnessed one of them falling when I was a boy. My friends and I were dodging the big waves on a clear windy day when all of a sudden we heard a loud cracking noise. We looked over just in time to see that one of the structures was breaking apart not far above the surface. It crashed into the bay in basically one large piece, but it took us all a minute to realize that it also created a much larger wave that was coming towards us. We ran up the hill away from shore as fast as we could, and then turned to watch the wave come in. It caused minimal damage to our community, but not long after that day, the administrators decided to relocate our population center a little further to the east.”
“That’s amazing! You and your friends were in the right place at the precise moment within a twenty-six century timeframe to witness something like that happen.”
“I suppose that’s one way to look at it, but there must have been countless people around the planet throughout the centuries to witness a similar poignant example of Earth’s past civilization disintegrating before their eyes.”
The man had made an astute observation, and it sent a chill up Colt’s spine. As a consequence, Colt suddenly became lost in the thought of how many global seaside communities, be they small hamlets or large mega cities, had been obliterated. The number was uncountable with any true level of accuracy, and it was a wonder that remnants of other coastal skyscrapers could still exist anywhere on the planet. If the nearly endless salvo of massive tsunamis created by the impacts of the apocalypse hadn’t done them in, then the eventual dramatic rise in the ocean levels would have finished them off. What hadn’t been permanently submerged had simply become sets of pillars surrounded by the relentless erosive power of water and surf. Given enough time, no tower of corporate arrogance from the early twenty-first century society could stand defiantly. They would all eventually crumble into the sea.