New Title 1 (The traveler)

by Robin Marienus Miller

The lake was small enough that we could still see the shore. Which was a great comfort to me as we were in a rather small boat, at least it seem that way to me. Anything too small to stand up and walk around on is a small boat to me.

  We put our sails down and let out the net.

  Owsee said, "now we just sit back and wait until the net is full."

  He opened the bottle of wine and emptied it into the large mugs he had brought. It was a berry wine, a little tart with a sweet aftertaste. Our mugs were empty in a short time so we opened the other bottle. It was another berry wine but sweeter with a flowery aftertaste, I enjoyed it. I drank this one a little slower, but before long the both of us were asleep and adrift in the currents of the lake.

  By the time we woke up it was afternoon and we had drifted back to the shore where we put the boat in this morning, not far from the trailer. The net was heavy, so much so that we pulled it in from on shore. There were so many fish in the net that we were soon throwing back the small ones. Even though we just kept the big ones the boat was still filled by the time the net was empty. To keep them all in the boat we even had to put the net on top.

  I said, "is your walk-in freezer big enough for all these fish?"

  Owsee, "yes, but if we take them all home we will have no reason to go fishing again for a long time. Besides, it would take the rest of the day to clean them all, it's better to sell some."

  So we drove to town and pulled up behind the dinner.

  Owsee asked me to go in and ask if they wanted any fish well he took off the net.

  The woman said yes and we came out the back door to see Owsee pulling the net off and saying, "we caught some fish."

  She said, "well I guess you did, I'll take half."

  Then she brought out a tarp, and laid it down for us to put the fish on until the boat was half empty.

  "I'll deal with you later when I have had a chance to weigh them," she said. So we drove home with the rest.

  We made a place to work in the barn, and after a good deal of work, we got them all cleaned. We then started bringing the fish to the walk-in freezer in the cellar.

  Owsee, "good thing I turn this thing on yesterday, it's good and cold now."

  We dipped the fish in clean water and laid them on the racks to freeze them. It was a good thing the racks were close together or we would have run out of room.

  After getting cleaned up a bit we went to see how Goo da wa was doing. The place had been cleaned up and he was taken a nap.

  He woke up to the some of us coming in and said, "that was sure one hell of a party last night." Yes it sure was, we said.

  Goo da wa, "by the way, I'm looking to buy a force field for the front of the cave."

  Owsee said, "I think I have the parts on the big ship. And I'll scrounge up a thermal generator while I'm at it."

  I said, "I see that stone is still there."

  Goo da wa said, "yes, I was thinking of moving it but some people said it should stay there as a reminder of what happened."

  I said, "we don't need a reminder, better if it was forgotten."

  And with that I stretched out my hand and move the rock outside.

  Owsee said, "I didn't see you turn your device on."

  I looked down at my hand and the light in the gem was on, then it turned off by itself.

  Goo da wa, "it's responding to his wish to be used now."

  Owsee, "yes, try to reach out and crush that rocked into small bits of stone."

  So I reached out with my hand and mind while trying to envision it breaking like sandstone between my fingers. The light came on in my ring and the large rock broke into many small bits of stone. Then the telekinetic enhancer turned itself off again.

  Owsee, "amazing, how do you feel?"

  I said, "I feel fine, not tired at all."

  Owsee, "remember what the man at the store said, it only enhances your abilities. Before long, you may not even need the device."

  I said, "it's still good for opening locked doors."

  Owsee, "maybe one day you will not need it for that either."

  Owsee and I flew in my ship to his ship in the desert. Finding the parts we needed was not hard but it took a while to load them all onto my ship, then there was the unload at the cave. There were many small parts.

  Goo da wa used a 3 foot wide lift plate to stand on while putting the parts in place on the top of the mouth of the cave entrance. I had never seen an antigravity lift plate before. Owsee said he took it in trade for some repairs he did on someone's ship, and it was the only one he had ever seen.

  We handed the parts to Goo da wa and he put the reflector plates in place. With the help of the lift it did not take long to get it working. Owsee asked Goo da wa if he would like to come to the house for a meal.

  He said, "no, people may be coming back soon and I want to be open. Besides I have lots of leftovers from last night. Enough to last me a month."

  We said we would see him later and flew the ship back over to the lake. It was starting to get dark as we walked home from the lake. And we could see Goo da wa lighting his torches.

  When Owsee and I got home we sat on the porch with mugs of beer and smoke our pipes as we watched the last rays of the sun set behind the mountain. It had been a full day, despite the time we spent napping.

  "What's the plan for tomorrow?" I asked.

  Owsee, "I want to take you mining on the backside of the mountain. I also want to finish picking all the berry bushes that are next to the house, so I can cut them down.

  I said, "there does seem to be a lot of them in other places."

  Owsee, "there are so many next to the orchard that you could pick all day, all year around, and never picked them all. But they have those little pickers, and I don't want them pricking me when I try to sit on the side of my porch, your porch, I forgot for a moment I gave the house to you. Maybe you like them where they are."

  I said, "if the bushes are pricking my good friends then they got to go. That's assuming we have permission to pick around the orchard."

  Owsee, "of course you have my permission, and with a little work we can make this a working farm again. Or at least as much as we want to, farming for living is hard work. But if you're just doing it for yourself it can be satisfied."

  I said, "I can use all the help I can get. And you should feel that this is still your place, and that there will always be a room and a meal for you."

  Owsee, "I appreciate that. But the barn is big enough for me, once I get around to building a room in the loft. It never gets any colder than it is right now, and there are lots of things around the farm to keep me busy, when I’m not working as a storyteller. That's another good thing about me living out there, I could stay up late telling stories and not be bothering you. I may even make some more wine."

  I said, "or maybe some of that bud liqueur."

  Owsee, "yes, I may make some of that as well. And I'll tell you something, that I think you will understand without being offended. Sometimes I just need my own space to think, I think you are the same way."

  I said, "I know what you mean. With the children coming even a large house like this will seem small at times. I may wish to sleep in the barn from time to time myself."

  Owsee, "you will always be welcome."

  There was still enough light that we could see Kitty and the doctor coming from town. I tuned in my earpiece, but only heard some small talk about how nice the town was.

  Owsee said, "Kitty is going to flip when she sees how much fish we have."

  In a short while Kitty and the doctor were walking out of the shadows and into the light of the porch.

  Kitty said, "I invited the doc for supper," and they went inside, each with a bag of food in their arms. Owsee and I followed.

  Kitty, "one of the women in town gave me a recipe for something called smorgesh pie. That's what we are heaven for supper."

  It was then I realized I was hearing her through the translator in my ear, and we may not be having pi
e for supper at all, so I asked what was in it.

  She replied, "all this stuff, now you boys go sit and talk while I get to work."

  I saw a number of things she had bought that didn't look like the fixings for a pie, unless it was a pizza pie. We went out to the porch and I asked Owsee if you knew what smorgesh pie was.

  He said, "yes, it's good, lots of things in or on it. You start with a flower shell and put sauce, meat, vegetables and cheese on it, then you bake it."

  I said, "maybe I'm just thrown off by the name pie. To me a pie is something with berries in it and a crust on top."

  Owsee, "you can make it with a crust on top, but most of the time we don't."

  After lighting my pipe I said, "so how was your day doc?"

  He said, "many things from the city came and the Mayor told me they will start bringing parts of my new house tomorrow. You may also like to know that I scanned Kitty and she will be having twins, a boy and a girl."

  Owsee, "Twins, ah I told you it would most likely be twins."

  I said, "you said it could even be quintuplets."

  Owsee, "yes, but this being her first time it would most likely twins."

  Dr., "it's her first time? I'll need to download everything I can find out about her kind."

  Owsee, "good luck. They don't share medical information off world. But I can tell you she will have them in three to five weeks."

  Doc, "that soon? Well maybe she should start to think about getting off her more."

  I said, "I doubt you can keep that one off her feet for long doc."

  Owsee, "that's right. These Catalacks will work right up to the last minute, then after they give birth they are back on their feet and ready to go again."

  The doctor said, "sounds like they have an easy birth."

  Owsee, "not according to the women, but by our standards -- yes."

  I said, "and their young grow up in a year."

  "Remarkable," the doctor said.

  I then asked the doctor if he would like a smoke.

  He said, "no thank you. I have sworn an oath to not smoke or drink until my four years are up to the community. I may be called upon at any time and must be at my best. There is no one to take over for me here so I can't incapacitate myself in any way."

  I said, "yes, this stuff will make you drowsy. But we have a cure for that, it's called fire water powder."

  He said he had never heard of it and asked what it was. So we took him inside, to the small bar, and broke some out.

  Owsee said, "it's like bean juice in the morning but with a bigger kick."

  Owsee put some in a small glass of water for him and some in small glasses of bud liqueur for us, then we drank it down.

  Owsee then put some on the bar and said, "taste it."

  The doc put a wet finger to it, then his tongue, and said, "it's not bitter, but my lips feel a little numb."

  "Try it this way," Owsee said, and he made some lines out of the pile, then we snorted them up. Before long we were all feeling wide-awake.

  "You're right," said the doc, "it does have a bigger kick than been juice. With this I could get drunk and wake up again."

  And I said, "well, it will keep your eyes open but you would still be drunk. If you want to go from all fucked up to sober you need detox water."

  Owsee, "yes, detox water. I think we have about two cases. It's hard to come by but it works."

  The doctor asked what it does and I said, "it takes all the bad things out of your body and works in just a few minutes."

  Owsee, "you can go from drunk to sober in just five minutes with detox water. But it's hard to get at it puts a strain on your body, you can't use it every day. And I will only hand it out if there is a great need."

  Doc, "sounds like great stuff, but it is no reason for me to break my vows."

  Owsee, "you're absolutely right. Don't let us be a bad influence on you. After all, we are not doctors, we are storytellers. And everyone knows the best stories are told by old men with a pipe in one hand and a drink in the other."

  "Old man," I said, "speak for yourself."

  Owsee, "I was, and I said the best storytellers."

  I said, "I can live with that, after all I count myself as a writer first."

  Owsee then said, "something sure smells good from the kitchen."

  Kitty, "it needs to bake. Did the doc tell you I'm having twins?"

  I said, "yes, that's wonderful."

  Kitty, "sorry it's not quintuplets."

  I said, "two is just fine to start with. Have you looked in the walk-in freezer since you have been home?"

  Kitty, "no, why?"

  Owsee, "we caught some fish for you, go see how many are in the freezer."

  So she went downstairs, and when she came back she said, "well I guess you did go fishing. What did you do, bomb the lake then net the fish?"

  I said, "no, we got bombed in the lake while netting the fish."

  Kitty, "well we won't run out of fish for some time."

  Owsee, "and that's only half of what we caught . We sold the rest to the restaurant."

  Kitty, "when you men go fishing you don't kid around."

  "Do you like to go fishing?" I asked the doc..

  He said, "yes, but I don't get to go very often."

  I said, "the lake is just behind us. It's close enough for someone to get you if need be, and Owsee has a boat."

  Owsee, "yes, you are welcome to use it anytime."

  Dr., "well maybe after I get settled down a bit. The first month I will be trying to get to know everybody, and see how they are doing. Because we are two hours from the nearest clinic, I bet there are many people that have been putting off seeing a doctor. It's best I see them as soon as I can. Once I have given everyone a checkup I will think about fishing."

  Owsee, "and that's why we need a doctor here. Not because people are sick, but to keep them well."

  We sat and talked as our supper baked. The smell just about had us drooling.

  Then Kitty said it was done and she cut it into four pieces and put it on plates for us. It looked, smelled and tasted like pizza. To think, I spent 30 years of traveling through space to fine my favorite food out here on this planet. I told Kitty this was like a food I liked back on earth. She said that was good and that she had a number of things she wanted to try.

  After supper we sat on the porch for time, then the doc said he needed to get some rest. Kitty said she was tired too but was not ready for bed. I said I wanted to go see if Goo da wa had made any progress with the thermal energy converter, and Owsee said he wanted to go see as well.

  Kitty said, "you two go ahead, I just want to sit here for a while."

  So Owsee and I went to the cave. Goo da wa had a few customers and looked as if he was enjoying himself. We asked how the T.E.C. was coming. He said he had all the parts put together but wanted to wait until tomorrow to test it.

  I noticed Goo da wa had two overhead projectors going at the end of the bar. One had the alphabet on it, the other a short poem. Three men were working on sounding out letters and words.

  I asked Goo da wa what was going on and he said, "we are learning how to read. I plan to change the poem each day. They come for the words and pay for the brew, but I will need more poems than I have, I will give you a cut of the profits."

  I said, "no need for that, you are welcome to as many poems as I can think of. I'm just glad it's working for you."

  Goo da wa, "and I want it to keep working. Paying for words is the way these people run their lives, and soon you will be the hottest thing on the market. I want in on the ground floor, I'm sure Owsee will agree that your poems are worth paying for."

  Owsee, "he has got you there, I keep telling you your stories are going to be worth a lot. Before long people will be coming from the city, two hours away, to see what the poem of the day is. And they will not just spend their credits here, they will spend in the town as well, everyone will benefit from this."

  I said, "I know y
ou have a grand vision, but right now all I see is a few locals learning to read."

  Owsee, "that's right, just a few for now. But it will grow like a fire, I'm sure of it."

  I said, "well, your fire would grow faster if we had some paper to write on. At the moment all we have is those projectors to work with, and you can't walk around with one of them under your arm."

  Then Goo da wa said, "look at this." And he pulled out a piece of paper with a sticky side to it. He slapped it on the wall and made a letter “A” on it with some charcoal.

  Owsee, "yes it's sticky side."

  Goo da wa, "they use it to catch flies, but what if it had no sticky side to it?"

  I felt it and said, "paper, don't you get it Owsee its paper."

  Owsee, "okay so its paper. Now what do we do, stick it on the walls and right on them?"

  I said, "first we need to find out who makes the stuff, and get a lot of it with no sticky side. I don't think I can explain to you how big this is. With paper words can travel far and wide. Before long, people all over your world will be learned to read. One day they will say it all started here, in a place called the poet's lounge; when a fad called reading took the world by surprise and found its way into everyone's home."

  Owsee, "you know, I think he's finally getting excited over something."

  Goo da wa, "and all it took was a piece of paper."

  He then handed me a small mug of bud liqueur. I drink it right down without thinking and Goo da wa said, "oh dear, that was."

  Owsee, "I know what that was. I better get him home before he can no longer walk."

  I said, "don't worry about me, I feel fine."

  Owsee, "you will not in five minutes or so, let's go home."

  I said, "okay, I'll see you tomorrow Goo da wa, goodnight."

  Goo da wa, "goodnight teacher."

  “Paper day”

  Day 7

  I remembered the walk home and saying goodnight to Kitty on the porch, then walking into the bedroom, but not taking off my boots. Yet in the morning, there I was in bed without my boots.

  I could smell fish cooking, so I put my boots on and went to the dining room table.

  I said to Kitty, "is anyone else up yet?"

  Kitty, "not yet. There is fresh juice on the table."